One preeminent issue plaguing the Blackhawks is their defensive depth chart. During the course of the 2018-19 season, the Blackhawks gave up the second most goals at 5-on-5, led the NHL in scoring chances and high-danger chances against and finished with the worst penalty kill success rate (72.7-percent). All of the onus should not fall on the defensemen’s shoulders, since the forwards’ forechecking, defensive zone coverage and neutral zone positioning affected those aforementioned statistics.
Nonetheless, it is clear there needs to be personnel changes on the blue line if the Hawks are to get back to the playoffs.