Red Rising: Five Chicago Blackhawks Poised to Elevate Their Game

No, hockey world, the Blackhawks have not banished themselves to the cellar of the standings thanks to their offseason acquisitions. Let’s take a deep breath, and briefly glance at reality.

The Hawks are still one of the most talented teams in the league. Regardless of what else transpires this offseason, the core of last year’s team is still pretty much intact, and the kids are one year older.

Chicago was the youngest team in the league last year, and guys like Niklas Hjalmersson, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews are only going to improve.

Holes need to be plugged, and the Hawks have the pieces to remain amongst the NHL’s elite.

Here are five players ready to break out and help keep the Hawks dominant.

Jonathan Toews

The 22-year-old captain was the team’s third-highest scorer during the regular season and ranked second in the league in playoff points. Those stats render him ineligible for this list, right? Wrong.

As Toews demonstrated in the playoffs, he is capable of producing much more than the 25-goal, 68-point line he turned in for the regular season. He posted 29 points in just 22 games.

Last postseason’s Conn Smythe winning performance should serve as a launching pad for a breakout season.

With all the departures so far this offseason, Chicago needs "Captain Serious" to pick up the slack and pick up where he left off in early June.

Jack Skille

It seems as if Hawks fans have been hearing about the potential of the former No. 7 overall pick forever. It’s time for that promise to come to fruition on the West Side.

Salary cap shredding has opened up roster spots for cheap, young, talented players like Skille. The 23-year-old Wisconsin native has five goals in limited time with the Blackhawks, and racked up 45 points in just 58 games in Rockford this past year.

The speedy winger should slide into one of the vacated spots on either the 2nd or 3rd line.

A 40-50 point season is well within his reach.

Dave Bolland

As fellow B/R writer Tyler Juranovich also wrote, Dave Bolland is ready to bust out. He missed over half the season and totaled just 16 points in 2009-10, but it was his playoff performance that has him on this list.

A healthy No. 36 posted 16 points during Lord Stanley’s games; matching his regular season total. It was his lockdown play in the Hawks' zone that really turned heads. Isn’t that right, Daniel Sedin, Jeff Carter, and Joe Thornton?

His numbers for the coming season will be reduced a bit since he is the center on the checking line, but a 50-60 point performance is within his grasp if he remains healthy for a whole season.

Viktor Stalberg

Time for a little meet and greet.

Hi, my name is Viktor Stalberg, and I came to the Hawks from Toronto in the Kris Versteeg deal. I will be donning the Indian-head sweater this season and will soon be a household name in the Windy City.

For those of you that don’t know, the Hawks didn’t just give Versteeg away as a charitable donation to the carnage otherwise known as the Maple Leafs.

Stalberg was one of the Leafs' top prospects, tallying 14 points in just 40 games last season. Sure those numbers are far from eye-popping, but he was surrounded by mediocrity in Toronto.

Now, the 24-year-old Swede is on what is arguably still the most talented team in the game.

Filling the void left by Andrew Ladd’s departure to Atlanta, Stalberg will likely skate with the third line next to Bolland.

Fifty points is not an unrealistic expectation.

Corey Crawford

Nobody knows how the goaltending situation will shape out, but the one thought you’re best off taking to the bank is this: Corey Crawford will be on the NHL roster full-time this season.

Regardless of who the starter is, Cristobal Huet will in all likelihood not be on the team. Thus opening up the back-up role for Crawford.

The 25-year-old has seen playing time over parts of three seasons with the Hawks, posting a .915 save percentage over that eight-game span. That is better than that of current starter Antti Niemi, and the majority of Crawford’s time came with a much weaker group of skaters in front of him than what Niemi was treated to last year.

Crawford will likely have the opportunity to start in roughly 20 games for Coach Quenneville this upcoming season. As long as he doesn’t regress, this should be the year he finally sticks with the big club.