On Monday night, Anaheim center Ryan Getzlaf went down with an ankle injury. He was sent for a MRI on Monday night, which came back negative, but his status is still up in the air for the Olympics; Team Canada could make a decision to replace him as early as Tuesday afternoon. This injury could have a number of impacts on the Blackhawks’ roster.
First, the most obvious is that the Ducks will be without one of the their better players for at least the next three games before the Olympics. There is no sense in Anaheim rushing their best player back from an injury for two games against the Oilers and one at the Flames this week. Getzlaf, 24, is the Ducks leading scorer with 57 points (15 G, 42 A) in 55 games this season.
The direct impact of Getzlaf’s absense for the next week isn’t obvious. But the trickle down potential should be.
Anaheim snapped the Kings’ 10-game winning streak on Monday night, and has won four of their last five games. However, their dismal 10-16-5 record on the road and lack of scoring outside of Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry has them tied with Dallas for tenth place in the Western Conference, three points behind Nashville with Detroit between them.
If the Ducks drop a couple games between now and the Olympics, the mindset in southern California might quickly turn to the future. If that happens, the likelihood of the Ducks moving expiring contracts like James Wisniewski and Scott Niedermayer becomes significantly better. Obviously, the Blackhawks have interest in adding depth on the blue line (and getting rid of Cam Barker), and both of these players would be near the top of the list of potential trade partners for the Blackhawks. With other names the Blackhawks have been linked to starting to suffer injuries (Atlanta’s Boris Valabik reportedly has a torn ACL and is done for the year), the focus on the Ducks could become more intense in the near future.
The second trickle down impact on the Blackhawks will come if Getzlaf is either A) replaced on the Canadian Olympic team or B) stays on the roster but isn’t 100 percent. As the roster stacked up for Canada, it looked like the top line would be centered by Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton would be in the middle on the second line, and probably Getzlaf would center the third. If Getzlaf is replaced/not healthy, the role of Jonathan Toews could increase dramatically. There was a pretty good chance that Toews would see more opportunities in the circle than Getzlaf based on their faceoff win percentages this year (Toews – 57.3, Getzlaf – 48.2). Getzlaf is more experienced, though, and would have likely seen more ice time.
As the news of the decisions, from Getzlaf, the Ducks and Canada Hockey, are made, we’ll see how it impacts the Blackhawks moving forward.
Should the Blackhawks inquire about James Wisniewski's availability?
A number of Canadian media outlets are reporting that the Anaheim Ducks, who are currently in last place in the Western Conference, are looking to become active in the trade market. Because of their poor performance so far this year, the Ducks appear to be ready to make some bold moves.
Perhaps the Blackhawks should give Ducks’ GM (and former Blackhawks player) Bob Murray a call.
Though the most popular names being rumored around Anaheim are Scott Neidermeyer and Bobby Ryan, one deal that could make sense for both teams would include bringing a fan favorite back to Chicago.
James Wisniewski, who the Blackhawks dealt to Anaheim for Sami Pahlsson last year at the deadline, is having a career year already in southern California. The 25-year old defenseman has 14 points (1 G, 13 A) in 24 games, and is averaging a career high 24:26 of ice time a night. He’ll be a restricted free agent when his contract, which has a $2.693 cap number, ends this coming spring.
In exchange for Wisniewski, the Blackhawks could send a younger defenseman to Anaheim that’s under contract for two more years. Cam Barker is two years younger than Wisniewski, and will make $3 million for each of the two seasons following 2009-10. Barker’s offensive production wouldn’t be much of a drop off for the Ducks from what they have received from Wisniewski so far this year (4 G, 8 A, 12 pts), so the Ducks wouldn’t be giving up a lot of offense to add Barker.
The benefit to Anaheim is that they would have Barker under contract for two more seasons. The 23-year old should enter his prime in the NHL in the coming seasons, and he could serve as a good point man for the Ducks’ power play, which currently ranks third in the NHL. The Ducks would also be getting younger by moving Wisniewski back to Chicago.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks would unload Barker’s $3 million cap number for next year and bring back a popular player with an expiring contract. Wisniewski was moved last year because of his injury history, but he’s playing more than four minutes per game more than he has at any point in his career. The Blackhawks would be able to cut Wisniewski’s minutes but also suck up some of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson’s minutes by bringing back Wisniewski.
I would be in favor of making this trade, and I think the benefits to both of these organizations could make this deal a real possibility.
The Blackhawks had a matinee in Los Angeles that could have extended their winning streak to nine and won coach Joel Quenneville his 500th game as a coach. From the looks of their play, however, they were ready for a night game.
After dominating one of the best teams in the Western Conference in San Jose on Wednesday night, the Blackhawks were shut out by an Anaheim team that beat them in every aspect of the game.
The Hawks have been one of the best, in my opinion the best, defensive teams in hockey to date but didn’t show up on Friday. They gave up an uncharacteristic 34 shots on goal, more than 10 better than their average, and Cristobal Huet let three get past him as the Hawks were shut out 3-0.
Despite the Hawks having the second-ranked power play killing unit in the NHL, they allowed all three Ducks goals with the man advantage. The Hawks only killed two of the Ducks five power plays on Friday, and Jean-Seabastian Giguere took care of the rest. The Ducks goaltender stopped all 28 of the Hawks shots to earn the shutout.
Also contrary to the Hawks recent stretch of great play was the number of dumb penalties they drew on Friday. The Hawks took two nearly consecutive penalties late in the first period, the second of which allowed the Ducks to score their first goal of the game. Dustin Byfuglien also drew two bad penalties in the game.
Teemu Selanne scored two goals, giving him 14 for the season, for the Ducks.
Newly acquired Blackhawk forward Andrew Ebbett
In a surprising move, the Blackhawks announced Saturday that they have claimed forward Andrew Ebbett off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.
Ebbett, 26. has experience playing both center and wing, and played in 13 playoff games for the Ducks a year ago. He accumulated 32 points (8 goals, 24 assists) in 48 games with Anaheim last year. He has not scored in two games this season.
The addition of Ebbett, who won’t yet be available for Saturday night’s game against Dallas, gives the Blackhawks a crowded roster full of forwards. The Blackhawks again recalled Jack Skille from Rockford for Saturday’s game, putting the Hawks into an intriguing situation moving foward with Ebbett.
Given Ebbett’s versatility, he might steal the playing time from Skille or Colin Fraser with the fourth line. Ebbett is listed at only 5′9 and 180 pounds. According to the Blackhawks, he will wear number 15 when active with the team.
