Despite making the playoffs this past season with an impressive 3-1 series win in Qualifying Round against Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks won’t run it back. Instead, the franchise is aiming towards a rebuild.
Speaking with ESPN on Tuesday, Blackhawks’ general manager Stan Bowman said that the team is far from being a finished product and will undergo many changes in the future.
“But what I don’t want it to mean is we’re trying to tear this team apart and trying to bring in a whole new group of players in the next year and a half,” explained Bowman. “But we do need to rebuild the depth of our team.”
According to Bowman, the Blackhawks are not a contender as currently constructed and can’t compete with the top teams in NHL.
“We don’t have enough players, top to bottom, to compete with the top teams,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of good players, we’ve got a pretty good start on the makings of a good team, but we still have a ways to go yet, and I accept that.”
Chicago previously made their new direction public by sending a letter to season ticket holders in which they said the organization is now “committed to developing young players and rebuilding our roster”.
Blackhawks already kicked off the process by parting ways with veterans forward Brandon Saad and goalie Corey Crawford earlier in the offseason. Both Saad and Crawford were important pieces in the Stanley Cup-winning squads in 2013 and 2015.
