Blackhawks mailbag, part 2: Who could be traded? Who should be called up?

Dominik Kubalik (No. 8) is one of several players the Blackhawks could consider trading later this season. | Elsa/Getty Images

Blackhawks beat reporter Ben Pope answers more questions from fans on Twitter.

This is the second part of Blackhawks beat reporter Ben Pope’s mailbag, answering questions from fans on Twitter.

If the Hawks don’t make the playoffs, which players will be considered to trade?

We can assume for now they won’t make the playoffs.

The Hawks have been trying to trade Dylan Strome since last spring, but haven’t received any significant offers. Any improvement in those offers will likely mark the end of his Hawks tenure, rightly or not. The same goes for Calvin de Haan, a pending unrestricted free agent, who has openly discussed the tenuousness of his future with the Hawks. Ryan Carpenter is a pending UFA, too.

The most intriguing trade questions involve Marc-Andre Fleury — more on him below — and Dominik Kubalik. There are many conflicting factors with Kubalik. He was great his first two seasons; he has struggled in his third. He’s only a restricted free agent, but he requires a $3.7 million qualifying offer and holds arbitration rights. Interim GM Kyle Davidson, who signed Kubalik to this contract two years ago, must make a really tough call here.

Will the Hawks consider trading Fleury?

The Hawks would probably happily trade Fleury for assets come February. Despite his terrific on- and off-ice impact, that’s simply smart business for a non-playoff team with a veteran UFA.

The bigger question is whether Fleury would consider another trade. His reluctance to move to Chicago last summer demonstrated his family-first attitude. Now that his family has grown accustomed to Chicago — “School’s good, the house is all settled, [so] yeah, it has been good,” Fleury said recently — the same reluctance works in reverse. Maybe he’d use his no-trade clause to block a deadline move, or maybe he’d like to chase another Stanley Cup ring, but it really all depends on him.

Why can’t anyone on this team finish?

Indeed, the Hawks’ finishing is bad. Only 51.8% of their even-strength shot attempts make it on goal — 32nd (as in worst) in the NHL. And then only 7.7% of those shots on goal are goals — 25th in the NHL.

It’s harder to say conclusively if the bad finishing is a specific problem or if it’s alternatively a reflection of an overall bad offense. They’re also 29th in even-strength shot attempt frequency, after all. And while their shooting percentages were significantly better last season, they got rid of two of their more efficient finishers (Pius Suter and Mattias Janmark) and have seen another, Kubalik, worsen significantly.

Who should replace Pat Foley as play-by-play broadcaster?

I truly can’t answer this question, because I’m at most games and therefore not listening to the commentary.

But I do find it interesting to observe how resistant to change Hawks fans are. The vast majority seem to want Foley to stay, or — if that’s not possible — to have longtime radio broadcaster John Wiedeman replace him. The Hawks seem keen to hire an outside voice, and understandably so, but they’ll encounter significant backlash if/when they do.

Will Alex Nylander and/or Lukas Reichel get NHL opportunities this season? Which other Rockford IceHogs players are worth call-ups?

Lukas Reichel is in his own category among the AHL prospects. The Hawks know he’s an NHL-caliber player. Their sole priority is to not rush him — basically, to not screw up a golden ticket. The organization will be very careful with the timing of his long-awaited first call-up.

Outside of Reichel, the IceHogs are tough to judge, because they’re loaded with players who have played lightly in the NHL but haven’t stuck yet. Nylander has the name recognition, but I’m more interested in the order and length of call-ups that each of the defensemen — Ian Mitchell, Wyatt Kalynuk, Isaak Phillips, Jakub Galvas, Nicolas Beaudin and Alec Regula — will receive.

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