Last season the Blackhawks had the second best penalty kill (PK) in the NHL, successfully killing 83.6% of penalties. After losing PK staples like Connor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev, it seems reasonable to expect the PK to take step backwards this season.
However, according to head coach Jeff Blashill, the success of the PK is dependent on the system, not the personnel on the ice.
Last night’s preseason effort in St. Louis may have resulted in a 1-0 loss, but the PK was once again a positive.
The Blackhawks killed seven of seven penalties, and they managed to do it without Alex Vlasic, Bowen Byram, Cole Smith and Ian Cole.
Despite the fact that it was only a preseason game, there are still reasons to believe the PK can be a success once again.
Last night, the four-man unit was led by Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov, who both logged over five and a half minutes of short-handed ice-time. The pair was good, they boxed out well, cleared the front of the net well, and Levshunov had multiple successful clearing attempts.
Levshunov is a very gifted offensive defensemen, who has major gaps in his defensive game. Seeing him hold his own on the PK is a good sign. If he is going to pan out as a number one, all-situation defenseman like the Blackhawks hope, he needs to be able to kill penalties.
The rest of the PK was filled in by other young players such as Ryan Greene, Sam Rinzel, Ethan Del Mastro, Oliver Moore, Frank Nazar, and Anton Frondell. Seeing the Blackhawks youth successfully kill seven penalties in row, not just by surviving, but by thriving in some ways, is a really good sign.
Speed is going to be a factor on the PK this season, we saw it last night. Oliver Moore, Frank Nazar, and even AJ Spellacy were aggressive on perimeter pucks, forcing the Blues to make quick decisions, often resulting in mistakes.
The young core will also have the support of proven veterans such as Ian Cole, Cole Smith, and Teuvo Teravainen who will be looked at to help guide the young players.
There is reason to be optimistic about the Blackhawks PK this season. Will they finish second in the league again? probably not, but top half of the league should absolutely be the expectation.