What Should The Blackhawks Do With Dominik Kubalik?

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Jared
May 31, 2022 (1:23)

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Dominik Kubalik burst onto the scene as a rookie during the 2019-20 season. Making his NHL debut at 23 years old, Kubalik broke out with 30 goals and 16 assists over 68 games played. During his first postseason in the bubble, Kubalik tallied an additional 8 points in 9 games played. On October 9th, 2020, Kubalik cashed in on his big rookie season and inked a 2-year extension worth $3.7 million dollars a season.

After signing the contract extension, Kubalik was never able to replicate his special freshman season. In his sophomore year, Kubalik was only able to score 17 goals, but still managed to tally 38 points in 56 games. While it was still a decent clip for that AAV, he wasn't burying scoring opportunities like he had and seemed lost out there at times: conflicted between passing the puck across or taking the shot. In his junior season, Kubalik fell off the face of the earth, only tallying 32 points in 78 games played. He was also a healthy scratch in a few games as well. With Kubalik set to become an RFA, what should the Blackhawks do with him?

The Blackhawks are set to have slightly over $20 million in cap space entering free agency since Connor Murphy and Jujhar Khaira are still on IR and don't count against the cap. While it may seem like a lot, the team has zero goalies under contract at the NHL level. They also have Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome, and Caleb Jones to resign and need to work out an extension with Alex DeBrincat. With big decisions coming on all the players listed, plus having to sign other players to fill the glaring holes on the roster, it is unlikely that Kubalik will be brought back.

While it is unlikely that Kubalik will be a Blackhawk come training camp, I think he may deserve another opportunity. Given that there was little to no interest in Kubalik at the trade deadline, it would be safe to assume that he would not command a pay raise above his current $3.7 million dollar cap hit. Kubalik is also still only 26 years old and does have the ability to score goals, make big time plays, and play up and down the lineup. With the Blackhawks rebuilding, having a player like Kubalik around would not be a bad thing. He could very easily find his touch again and begin scoring like he did in his rookie season. If he can get back to that style of game and play with some consistency, Kubalik may have a place on this team after all.

In my opinion, I think it would be a low-risk high reward signing for the Blackhawks. I would expect Kubalik to sign anywhere for around 1 to 2 seasons. You would be hard pressed to see a team sign Kubalik to any type of contract with term because of his lack of consistency and quick freefall from the level he burst into the league at. If Kubalik is resigned and doesn't turn it around, he will be off the roster before the Hawks are ready to compete again. If he has a career resurgence and Davidson decides to move him, then there will certainly be significant draft capital coming back to a franchise that desperately needs it.

What do you guys think? Should the Blackhawks try to bring Kubalik back to see if he can turn it around?