Throughout the past two years, one factor has been steady for the Blackhawks – the third line including Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson. The tandem has consistently been a safety net of sorts for Chicago, turning in a positive plus-minus last season despite the team finishing with the second-worst record in the NHL. They’re on the same track again this year, shutting down the opponent’s top line every night with responsible, smart two-way play.
While Dickinson and Anderson have been successful, the same can’t be said for the rest of the Blackhawks’ forward lines. Some of that blame falls on Connor Bedard, who is currently in the worst slump of his hockey career. On Tuesday, the Blackhawks are rolling out the group of lines we least expected to try to get Bedard going.
When Chicago hosts the Ducks Tuesday night, their top line will consist of Dickinson, Anderson, and Bedard. That means this will be yet another new line combination for Bedard, who has rarely played alongside the same skaters twice. Additionally, it’s a rare opportunity for Dickinson on the top line, as he’s been the most consistent lineup piece as the third-line center. Anderson will also have to get used to a role inside the top six, which is an understandably foreign concept for him.
This line swap is more than just another combination for Bedard, however. While it’s a bit of an unorthodox approach, the Blackhawks are hoping that keeping things simple up front and taking some of the pressure off Bedard in their own end will help free him up.
“Joey and I play a pretty simple, straightforward game. The idea is to just keep doing that and let the play come to us from just doing good things. We don’t have to do anything crazy. [I’m] not thinking too much about where Connor’s at personally; it doesn’t really matter to me. I think what we want is just to play hard, be an impossible line to play against, and let his talents kind of take over once we get to the o-zone. But we’re going to work from our end up just as we normally would and let the game happen.”
Putting Bedard with defensively sound players like Dickinson and Anderson is a great idea in theory, and we’ll have to see how it plays out Tuesday night. Bedard’s defensive talent wasn’t exactly top-notch last season, but it’s become much more steady in his sophomore campaign. There’s no evidence of a direct correlation, but could that renewed focus on the back end be hurting the 19-year-old in the scoring column? If he’s able to keep his foot on the gas instead of covering in his own end, the combination could be just what he needs.
