DETROIT — It’s only fitting to be in Detroit and ask: Will the real Dylan Strome please stand up?
There has been the Dylan Strome who has failed to produce, not done enough away from the puck and driven two head coaches to healthy scratch him this season. Then there has been the Dylan Strome of late, the one who is consistently producing, winning faceoffs and playing on the top line and power play. Over the past four seasons, we’ve seen both variations of Strome.
On Wednesday, the latter Strome came to the rink and took over, to a degree that he hadn’t yet in his NHL career. He scored his first career NHL hat trick and could have had even more goals thanks to some prime scoring chances. He added a primary assist to give him four points in the game and won 10 of 17 faceoffs to key a wild, 8-5 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
As much as the offensive output and the win will be welcomed by the Blackhawks, the focus for much of the remainder of the season is on the bigger picture. Entering Wednesday, The Athletic’s probabilities gave the Blackhawks a 100 percent chance of missing the playoffs. Obviously, the Blackhawks aren’t mathematically eliminated and 39 games are remaining in the regular season, but it would take something special for them to get back into the playoff hunt.
As a league source said earlier this week, the Blackhawks should have two clear objectives for the rest of the season. One, they should figure out what they have in their players. Basically, whom do they want to build around? Two, they need to create trade value.
And that brings us back to Strome.
