I can’t do it, folks.
I know the reasons behind this type of thinking. I can see the logic in opting to go that route. I can understand why so many Blackhawks fans are clamoring for it to happen. But not matter now many different times I hear it or how many different ways I have it explained, I. Can. Not. Do. It.
I cannot embrace the idea of the Blackhawks tanking the rest of the season.
I acknowledge the appeal of a player like Jack Hughes. I admit that having Kaapo Kakko in a Blackhawks uniform would be appealing. But the odds of landing either one of those players aren’t encouraging. As of Tuesday morning, Chicago is tied with the Vancouver Canucks for sixth place in the draft lottery standings. An outright sixth-place finish would give the Hawks a 23.3 percent chance at a top-three pick and just a 7.5 percent shot at No. 1 overall, according to this article from the Detroit Free Press. But falling any lower than that will require some effort, with the Anaheim Ducks four points behind as the next closest team.
This aversion to tanking stems from the belief that its effects are not confined to the standings. All that losing is not without its side effects. Losing breeds losing breeds losing. It becomes the culture of the team, and that’s why total rebuilds are often needed to change from a losing culture to a winning one. That’s the difference between true, complete rebuilds and whatever retooling/reorganizing/re-whatever the hell it’s called that the Blackhawks are doing right now.
Look at some other rebuilds that have happened. the 2014-15 Toronto Maple Leafs don’t look anything like from the current version of the team. Using another sport as an example, check out this 2012 Chicago Cubs lineup, a team that lost over 100 of its 162 games. Now look at the 2016 Cubs that won the World Series. Head over to football and repeat the exercise with the dismal 2014 Chicago Bears and the division-winning 2018 Chicago Bears.
The Blackhawks are NOT rebuilding the entire franchise like those teams did.
There are several players currently on the roster who aren’t going anywhere: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are chief among them. Add in Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome as roster locks, too. On defense, Connor Murphy and Henri Jokiharju are probably in it for the long haul. Drake Caggiula, Brandon Saad, David Kampf, Dominik Kahun, Dylan Sikura and others could also be part of upcoming Blackhawks rosters. Many of the future pieces on a potential Cup-contending team are already here.
Losing cultures can be tough to shake, too. The Detroit Red Wings have shown no signs of turning around their free-fall into the NHL basement. The Dallas Stars have been in a state of perpetual mediocrity since 2008, winning just one playoff series in that time. The Buffalo Sabres spent nearly all of the 2010s rebuilding and are about to miss the playoffs yet again. Save for one fluky 2017-18 season, the New Jersey Devils have been largely irrelevant since making the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. The Edmonton Oilers have four No. 1 overall picks in this decade and are currently wasting the prime years of the best hockey player in the world.
Instead of tanking, this team needs to do the opposite: it needs to learn how to win games. It succeeded for about one month, before this downturn over the last 10 days.
Get back to a red-hot stretch on the power play. Find ways to outscore opponents again if the defense isn’t going to help. Maybe hop on a run of games where Corey Crawford looks like his pre-concussion self. Whatever adds more tallies to the win column will work.
It’s won’t result in a playoff berth this season. But it can be part of the reason why they get back to the playoffs in 2020. And, from this perspective, it remains a better idea than punting on the final 16 games of this season.