With nothing left to play for but development, expect the Chicago Blackhawks lineup to resemble a game of musical chairs for the final 10 games.
Coach Derek King shook things up Sunday by pairing Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane — with Philipp Kurashev on the left wing — and reconstituting Dylan Strome’s old Erie Otters line with Alex DeBrincat and Taylor Raddysh.
After the 6-4 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Hawks’ seventh straight defeat, King said, “We’ll stick with” the Otters line.
But by Monday afternoon, he already had changed his mind, saying he would swap Raddysh and Lukas Reichel for Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings at the United Center.
King said he wants to give Reichel “that second-line spot to see if anything goes well” while putting Raddysh with Sam Lafferty and Kirby Dach on the third line.
Caleb Jones also will draw into the lineup after a one-game scratch.
Here are three things we learned at practice at Fifth Third Arena.
1. Collin Delia gets the start, but how much has Kevin Lankinen’s confidence been shaken?
Delia will get his third start in less than a month Tuesday. He gave up a goal in relief Sunday after Lankinen got shelled by the Stars for five goals in the first two periods.
“We’ll give him the start,” King said of Delia. “He’s earned that.”
As for Lankinen, King said: “Goalies have bad days just like players do. That was my message to Lanks today: Just shake it off here and get right back in.”
Lankinen prides himself on his confidence, but it appears to be eroding.
He has been more demonstrative after mistakes or coverage breakdowns end up as goals, such as breaking his stick after the Buffalo Sabres scored a fluky last-minute goal off his skate — an uncharacteristic burst of emotion.
“You can see him frustrated,” King said. “For us to win, we need to play three periods of some pretty good, perfect hockey. There’s going to be hiccups. A goalie can’t afford to have hiccups. That’s the problem.”
King said good teams can mask those moments by making up for it on the scoreboard. The Hawks don’t have that good of an offense.
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“This is how it’s going to be the rest of these 10 games. We’re just going to have to deal with it,” King said. “Hopefully he doesn’t lose his mind.”
2. Does Philipp Kurashev belong in the top six forwards?
Kurashev got a big opportunity playing on the top line with Kane and Toews, and he made the most of it, scoring on a crazy bounce off the Stars’ Esa Lindell.
Kurashev wore a sly smile after practice: “Yeah, I wanted to do it like this.”
Last season he got to center some games with Kane and DeBrincat or Mattias Janmark, but this season he has spent most of his time on the third or fourth line — when he isn’t a scratch.
Kurashev said of his role, “If it’s in the top six or bottom six, it doesn’t really matter.”
But when pressed, he added: “Most of my life, I played on the top two lines. That’s where I’m trying to get to here at this level too.”
King sees that potential: “Ideal world, he’s got to be a top-six player” in the future.
King said consistency and work ethic were holding Kurashev back, something he hopes Kurashev learned from having to work without the puck as a depth forward.
“All that work he’s put in over the months of being on the third and fourth line, (he needs to) bring that to the first line and stay with that the way he plays,” King said. “He’s a creative guy. He’s got some skill. He’s got some hockey sense.
“But it’s just the working part he’s got to get. Hopefully all those practices, not playing, getting bag-skated or being on the third and fourth line during games — when he is in — helps him now these last 10 games.”
3. Jake McCabe is showing up on the business end of too many highlight reels.
Against the Stars, McCabe’s half-hearted attempt to rim the puck in the defensive zone was knocked away by Jason Robertson and ended up as the first of Robertson’s two goals.
The memory of Seattle Kraken center Alex Wennberg effortlessly deking around McCabe on Thursday is still fresh.
Earlier last week, Arizona Coyotes center Travis Boyd left McCabe looking aimless when he scored from the doorstep with McCabe right there.
“Caber is playing on his off side, which doesn’t help,” King said.
McCabe started the season playing on the left side, but the Hawks had to shuffle with Connor Murphy, one of only two right-shooting defensemen, out on concussion protocol.
King also revealed this about McCabe: “He had a little bug going through his body there for the last week. That one game, he sucked it up and fought through it, but it wasn’t pretty, the Seattle game, and he’s just recovering now.”
Said Seth Jones: “It’d be nice to get him back on his left side, but we don’t have the luxury of all right-handed shots. We only have the one.”