As A Reminder, Playoffs Are Always Better Than No Playoffs
I just want to address this quickly because I've received a decent amount of tweets saying that the Blackhawks would be better off if they were to lose to the Oilers and thus being in the lottery picking 8th or 9th. To those people, in a calm, controlled tone, I would say "fuck" and "off". I feel like we have had to discuss this very thing every spring for the past few years when it comes to pushing for the 8th seed vs tanking. I am off the opinion that winning is always better than losing and playoffs are always better than no playoffs. The Blackhawks aren't ever going to totally rebuild with Toews, Kane, and Keith still playing at a high level. This is a retooling period. A development period. And now the Blackhawks have the opportunity to evaluate their own young guys in a high pressure environment. They get to see who is ready to be a pivotal piece for the future
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And who has been eating twinkies and working on their tan all quarantine
There are benefits to playing games for the organization that outweigh a few extra ping pong balls. I don't think the math lines up perfectly, but the odds of the Hawks lucking their way into the top 3 picks two years in a row seems impossible. And honestly, that is fine. The Hawks need one kid and one kid only and if previous history is any indication the Hawks will probably be able to get him in the middle of the 1st round.
The Blackhawks NEED a goalie prospect for the future and this is him. Yaroslav Askarov. I have no idea how to pronounce his name but his game is legit. Look at the goalies the Hawks have drafted since Crawford
2019: Dominic Basse...gonna go ahead and the kid they drafted out of bantams or whatever isn't going to make it
2018: Alexis Gravel...didn't get signed
2016: Wouter Peeters...literally sucks
Their goalie draft history is littered with guys like Josh Unice and Mac Caruth. This is a chance for the Hawks to get their guy and being one of the worst 7 teams would certainly help them get Askarov, but being the playoffs wouldn't prevent them from getting him either necessarily.
Final analysis...shut up. Watch the playoffs, have fun, fire Stan, draft Yaraslov, be ready to be a real contender in 2020-21 with Toews, Kane, Keith, Crawford, deHaan, Boqvist, Dach, and Mitchell. Buy a god damn shirt