Yesterday, our staff took a swing at who we think will be picking up hardware following the 2017-18 NHL season and then took our best guess at what the standings will look like earlier on Wednesday. Now we’re keeping things a little closer to our home with our predictions for the Chicago Blackhawks upcoming season.
Among the prospects, Graham Knott is the favorite for a significant improvement in the next year, while Dylan Sikura in North America and Maxim Shalunov in Europe are our picks for the best performers on their respective continents. Northwest of Chicago, Kyle Baun and Matheson Iacopelli split the ballot for our picks as the Rockford IceHogs MVPs.
As for our thoughts on the Hawks, we’re all pretty excited about the return of Brandon Saad, with him as a unanimous selection as Chicago’s biggest offseason addition. Alex DeBrincat and John Hayden split the best rookie vote, and Nick Schmaltz leads the way as our vote for the most improved Hawk. Team MVP? No surprises there, with Corey Crawford and Patrick Kane the most popular choices.
The picks are detailed below. Are we right? Are we wrong? Are we crazy? Don’t answer that last one. But let us know what you think about our picks in the comments!