FEATURE: Blackhawks feel depth is improved following trade

It was just a few years ago that Dylan Strome was a highly touted prospect preparing for the 2015 NHL Draft. The consensus top-five pick went third overall to the Arizona Coyotes.
The year before that, Brendan Perlini was taken 12th overall.
Both players, ages 21 and 22, have yet to tap their full potential. The Blackhawks organization is hoping they do that here in Chicago. On Sunday evening, the club traded Nick Schmaltz to Arizona in exchange for the pair of young, promising forwards.

While Schmaltz has produced the best season of the bunch - a 21-goal, 52-point campaign in 2017-18 - the two incoming forwards possess high ceilings of their own, and create roster options the Blackhawks simply did not have before.
"Watching both Brendan and Dylan play, I think there are a lot of attributes to their game that are going to translate well to how we want to play," said Bowman. "They bring some size, they're both big guys. In the case of Perlini, he's a great skater. Fantastic wheels, great shot. He can really get the puck up the ice and put the puck on net and he's got a great release. From that perspective, he can play a lot of different roles. He can play sort of up and down the lineup because he's got that ability to skate and shoot. In Dylan's case, he's got incredible hockey instincts and skill level, passing… When you put it together, we got two NHL players on our team now for one."
Strome adds a high level of skill and a great hockey mind. He's a playmaker with good size. With the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, he scored a whopping 114 goals and added 240 assists for a total of 354 points in 219 regular season games, spread out over four seasons. The expectation is his best professional hockey is yet to come. He's only played 48 NHL games but recorded 53 points (22G, 31A) in 50 American Hockey League games last season.

"I've only played 48 games, I think, in this league," said Strome. "Just trying to keep working hard and keep going. Just come to the rink every day, work hard and good things will happen."
In Chicago, Strome is expected to get plenty of opportunities to showcase his talents.
"Obviously, with Dylan we have a need at center ice and he has that profile of being a dominant player at every level he's been in," said Bowman. "Even last season in the American League, to average over a point per game in the AHL is pretty impressive. You look at all of our guys who have come through our system, to make it to Chicago, they weren't able to do that at that age. He had a really good season last year, he just didn't get a lot of NHL time. This year, he's working his way up. I think in the minutes he's had, he's done pretty well. He wasn't in a higher profile [spot], they've got a lot of good, young forwards in Arizona. I think sometimes it's just a situational thing where guys might get a good opportunity here that they didn't have elsewhere."
Perlini is another asset with good size, skates very well and has a decent shot.
"I like to play with the puck," Perlini said. "I bring a lot of speed. Every time we played the Blackhawks, it seemed like they play kind of a puck possession game. For us, it was a different style in Arizona. Hopefully, I can utilize my speed a little bit better here and my skill set a little more. I'm excited. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Perlini is coming off a 17-goal, 30-point sophomore season with the Coyotes.
"Looking at Perlini last year, I thought he had a really strong season. 17 goals in the NHL for a second-year player is a pretty good start. The potential for him is to build on last year," said Bowman.

The two arrived later in the morning and took the ice after the start of practice to a stick-tap salute from their new teammates.
"Fun to get them out there," said Head Coach Jeremy Colliton. "Two young guys who both have a lot of potential, a lot of untapped potential. Get them in our group. I think it's important not to have too many preconceived expectations. Let's just let them play. But I think they improve our depth and can maybe increase the pace of our game, increase the tempo of our game by just having that depth. Looking forward to seeing them."
Bolstering the center crop with Strome also allows the coaching staff some flexibility to try other players on the wing and move pieces around.
"I feel good about what they can bring," said Colliton.
And both Strome and Perlini feel good about the new challenge.
"Obviously, I want to be a little bit more productive," said Strome. "I don't think that's a surprise to anyone. I want to put up numbers and help whatever team I'm on win. I want to come here and help this team win. I know I'm a Chicago Blackhawk now, I'm proud and I want to help the team win."
"It's a new, fresh opportunity for me," said Perlini. "You can tell in practice, there are great players and a lot of veteran guys who have done great things in the game. For me to come in, I just want to learn from them, improve and get better every day."
Bowman says he feels the team is better today than they were before the trade, and the message to the locker room is simple.
"The message is we're just trying to get better," said Bowman. "We're trying to make this a stronger group. We're sitting here today with two players who I think strengthen our top-nine forwards."