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Chicago Blackhawks Number Six Defenseman Spot Becoming Major Problem

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By @seansarcu

Michal Rozsival Chicago Blackhawks

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The trade of Nick Leddy made it clear that the Chicago Blackhawks would choose to rely on their top two defensive pairings even more than usual this season, but it wasn’t generally thought that they would have to do so. With how terrible Michal Rozsival and David Rundblad have been in 2014-15, however, it hasn’t been much of a decision at all.

Rozsival is a turnover machine, particularly in Chicago’s defensive zone. He has had major trouble with opposing forechecks this season, constantly coughing the puck up along the boards when pressured. As the slowest player on Chicago’s roster, Rozsival needs to pick and choose his spots very carefully on offense. He has not done this; his over-aggressiveness at the offensive blue line has left his defensive partner Trevor van Riemsdyk to deal with slews of unnecessarily difficult situations in nearly every game.

Rundblad has been better than Rozsival, but not by much. The fourth-year pro has never been able to translate his impressive success in the Swedish Elite League to the NHL, and that has remained the case in 2014-15. Rundblad isn’t as turnover-prone as Rozsival, but he plainly lacks defensive awareness and hasn’t shown much of the offensive promise that would otherwise be a source of justification for keeping him in the lineup. It’s difficult to defend Stan Bowman trading away a second-round pick for him last season.

Neither Rozsival or Rundblad are the solution to what is evidently the biggest roster hole that the Blackhawks have. Bowman will undoubtedly be in the market for a veteran defenseman at the trade deadline.

Sean Sarcu is a Chicago Blackhawks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.

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