- Steven Ellis says Chicago has stacked up so many young centers that trades are coming
- Bedard, Frondell, Nazar and Oliver Moore are all fighting for the same minutes
- Read below for what Ellis said about Frondell moving to the wing and where he sees Chicago finishing
Chicago owns the deepest prospect pool in hockey. Steven Ellis thinks that is turning into a problem the Blackhawks have to trade their way out of.
Ellis joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton on Daily Faceoff LIVE and was asked what Chicago should do with the pile of young talent it has collected down the middle. He said some of it has to go, and that it should have gone already.
“I’ve made an argument that they should have actually been shipping off prospects at the last two trade deadlines. This is the year where I feel like it’s probably going to happen because this is a team that is going to take steps forward.”
Catch the full segment:
Roster math is what makes it awkward. Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell and Frank Nazar all play center, and so does Oliver Moore.
Moore is the one Ellis singled out as the squeeze.
“I don’t think he’s a fourth-line player. I think he’s now a third-line guy.”
Something has to give, and Ellis expects Frondell to be the one who slides.
The 19-year-old opens the season in the middle while Bedard recovers from July shoulder surgery that should keep him out until around November. Once Bedard is cleared, Ellis figures Frondell shifts to the wing.
Frondell has been around the rink for weeks already:
Defense is a similar story. Ellis pointed to a stack of right-side blueliners as another spot where the Blackhawks have more good players than jobs, which is a big reason they jumped to No. 1 in the league’s prospect pool rankings this summer.
Patrick Kane is the tell for Ellis. He does not believe Chicago signed a 37-year-old in July planning to lose again.
“You don’t sign a guy like Patrick Kane and not think, ‘Okay, we’re going to try and at least be somewhat competitive, right?’”
That is not a playoff call. Ellis compared this group to last season’s Sharks, a team nobody enjoyed playing that still came up short.
Preseason opens Sept. 19, which leaves Kyle Davidson about three weeks to decide whether four centers is depth or currency:
