Scotty Bowman Walks Away From Blackhawks, Still Wants to Win

The Chicago Blackhawks are unabashedly tanking this offseason. They traded Alex DeBrincat, arguably their most valuable asset, neglected to qualify youngsters Dylan Strome & Dominik Kubalik, and named a first-time head coach to lead their team. Precisely none of those things indicate a franchise with any intent on fielding a remotely competitive team. The futures of Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews have flooded the rumor mill, and there is reason to suspect one or both of them will not finish their careers in Chicago. Reasonably, a player might not want anything to do with such a blatant & thorough teardown.

But players aren't the only competitive ones in the organization. Coaches, executives, and trainers alike could understandably want no part in it, as well. As it turns out, the winningest NHL coach of all-time, Scotty Bowman--a Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations--also wants no part of it:

Bowman, 88, left the organization of his own accord & asserts that he still loves the game. It is unclear where Bowman lands a job, but he likely won't have a shortage of eligible suitors. Even in his old age, Scotty Bowman's vast knowledge of the game could be invaluable to any team, really. But it is doubtful he would trade one rebuild for another; he wants to win & he wants to contribute.

The Blackhawks' direction is questionable, but what is almost certain is that they are interested in tanking for Connor Bedard or Matvei Michkov, the #1 and #2 rated prospects for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Both Bedard & Michkov project to be special players; generational has been a word tossed around as well. As it stands, the Blackhawks have six rostered players whose annual average value don't start with a '1' & have 15 of 23 roster slots assigned. They have one goalie under contract & 9 draft picks in the 2023 draft. So they are well on their way to securing a bottom-3 spot in the NHL standings for the 2022-23 season. But will they have lottery luck? Guess we will see.

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