Blackhawks need Ilya Kovalchuk

Nearly 2/3 through the season, the blackhawks have established themselves as a top 4 team in the western conference and should contend for the western conference finals. However, the last 6 or so weeks, a weakness has arisen within this young and talented team. That weakness is the lack of consistent scoring from the forward positions. Sharp, Kane, Versteeg, among others on the 3rd and 4th lines have gone extremely cold. Kane has tallied one goal in his last 21 games, Sharp 4 in his last 21, and Versteeg 3 in the past 15. The only consistent forward for the group has been Havlet and Toews has been hot since being voted as an All-Star starter.

The Chicago defense is definitely the strong suite of the Blackhawks. As i recently heard from the Fighting Illini hockey coach, forwards are a dime a dozen. This may not be completely true given the talent of NHL forwards, but finding good defensemen is no easy task. But by bringing in a playoff proven defenseman in Brian Campbell, along with the development of home grown stars like keith and Seabrooke, the Chicago blue line is set for years to come.

To truly complete in this year's as well as future playoffs, this team needs a stud offensemen who puts fear into the opponents eyes the way Ovechkin, Thornton, Staal, and Nash do just to name a few. The best option on the market is the uber talented Ilya Kovalchuk. He has been exiled playing for the Atlanta Thrashers his entire career, constantly finishing at the bottom of the standings. The team has always been strapped for money, unable to hold on to talent around him in the form of danny heatley and marian hossa. With rumors swirling that the franchise may need to fold, or move to another city, this would be the ideal time for the blackhawks to swoon in and steal kovalchuk away. We can give up Khabibulin, who's contract expires at the end of the season, and aquire a premier scorer. The past 4 seasons, Kovalchuk has tallied 41, 52, 42, and 52 goals respectively. Already with 29 goals this year, he would join the team as the top scorer. He's still only 25 years old and I think Dale Tallon should continue his string of good decisions find a way to bring Kovalchuk to the United Center. I mean he only has 8 goals in his past 5 games.