Even an aging Patrick Kane makes the Chicago Blackhawks dangerous. But how close are they to being a Stanley Cup contender again?

Patrick Kane isn’t getting any younger.

With the Chicago Blackhawks star set to turn 33 in November, his days of carrying a franchise are numbered.

But as long as he remains a game-changing weapon for the Blackhawks, an argument can be made they’re closer to winning a Stanley Cup than many teams. A healthy Jonathan Toews would be a monumental piece to that puzzle, too.

The Tribune’s Phil Thompson and Chris Sosa discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Hawks roster and what they might have to do to get back into Stanley Cup contention.

— Chris Sosa: All right, Phil. Let’s start with the goaltenders. The only one for whom the Blackhawks have a decent sample size from 2020-21 is Kevin Lankinen, and he was ... fine. That assessment is meant to communicate the fact that he was terrific in some games and forgettable in others. Between him and Malcolm Subban, Lankinen seemed to allow soft goals less frequently and, more importantly, responded better to pressure situations. He gave the Hawks a decent chance to win in high-scoring games by shutting down the opposition for long stretches, though the Hawks offense didn’t always have the final say.

I don’t know that the Hawks need to see more from Subban. As for Collin Delia, I’m not sure he can fill Corey Crawford’s skates, either, but if a backup role to Lankinen is his fate next season, I think most fans could live with that. You here to tell me I’m wrong?

— Phil Thompson: Chris, they all had their moments, good and bad. I would’ve liked to have seen Lankinen stand up to more of those solo breakaways when there’s a turnover in the neutral zone or an opposing skater storms out of the penalty box and gets the puck. Subban is good at stopping those, as he is with shootout attempts, but Lankinen seemed vulnerable in those situations.

But overall I agree that Lankinen was by far the most consistent of the three. It’s for that reason, and the contract situation, that I believe that he will start next season. All three will be up for unrestricted free agency after next season, and I believe that the Hawks have seen enough of Subban and Delia throughout their careers to know who they are as goaltenders. Lankinen had just one pretty good rookie season, and that’s during a shortened schedule.

The Hawks have a season to determine if he can be the foundation for a contender before they have to commit to him long-term or look elsewhere. The bigger question is whether this team has been built to become a contender.

— Sosa: As you know, the Hawks won’t be able to answer that question with a definitive “yes” without rebuilding their blue line. They don’t have to worry about fitting Brent Seabrook into the rotation anymore. That’s a relief on some level, though the effort to find his replacement — never mind Duncan Keith’s — has been a shaky process.

The Blackhawks are good at finding defensemen with strong offensive skills (Erik Gustafsson springs to mind). There are things to like about Wyatt Kalynuk — nine points in 21 games is something to build on. Nicolas Beaudin and Adam Boqvist might be able to hold their own in that department as well, though the Hawks likely expect more of Boqvist given his age (20) and where he was drafted (eighth overall).

Now, let’s say they get sufficient offense from the blue-liners they have. Will those same defensemen be competent enough on the back end? Given the Blackhawks’ lousy penalty kill (28th in the NHL in 2020-21) and all the shots they allow (dead last each of the last two seasons), it’s hard to say they’re trending in the right direction. What they wouldn’t give to find the next Niklas Hjalmarsson, probably the best lockdown defenseman they’ve had the last decade.

My next question to you: Is there any defenseman in the organization who will be a core piece three to five years from now?

— Thompson: First of all, it’s ironic that you would use “Seabrook” and “relief” in close proximity to each other. Although they’ve gotten some cap relief from having Seabrook on long-term injured reserve, he still is on the books for the next three seasons and at some point President of Hockey Operations and general manager Stan Bowman will have find a way address Seabrook’s $6.785 million annual albatross. As the young guys come up for new contracts and the Hawks try to sign other free agents with a cap that might not grow much over the next couple of seasons, Seabrook’s deal just looms larger.

So, what, now you’re going to find an all-around defenseman via free agency or trade — an offensive threat who’s not a liability on defense — for a price that’s not going cripple you? Your best bet is to develop one. I don’t see how the Hawks have a choice. I don’t think they can afford to keep Calvin de Haan after next season (if he’s still around) and Connor Murphy’s contract runs out next year, too. They’ll probably extend Nikita Zadorov, but you for sure aren’t looking for offense there. Kalynuk showed a lot of promise, but it’s a small sample size.

The Hawks feel Boqvist made strides on defense but I still wouldn’t call it a strength. They committed to Riley Stillman for three more years with the hope he’ll help give the defense some teeth, but I wouldn’t call him a lockdown defenseman.

I’m feeling generous, so I’ll give the Hawks the benefit of the doubt that at least one of the young blue-liners — Kalynuk, Boqvist, Beaudin, Ian Mitchell or perhaps the recently signed Jakub Galvas — will pan out as at least above average if not All-Star caliber.

But I’ve got one for you: Do you think the Hawks have reliable scorers beyond Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kubalik?

— Sosa: Hmmm, is Artemi Panarin still around? No? OK, before Hawks fans cross-check me the next time they see me out and about, the answer is yes.

There are caveats, however. Figure Toews at full strength can be penciled in for about 60 points, maybe more. Throw in a healthy and improving Kirby Dach and you’ve got the makings of two dangerous lines when combined with Kane, DeBrincat and Kubalik. Toews and Dach also make the Hawks better defensively, particularly on the penalty kill.

That to me is the best-case scenario as the Blackhawks try to rebuild while Kane and Toews still are in the picture. There should be enough top-line firepower in that group — especially after DeBrincat bounced back — to do some serious playoff damage.

Now, let’s say Toews and Dach don’t contribute as much as I project. Where do the goals come from? That’s where it becomes dicier. If you asked the Hawks, they likely would point to Pius Suter, Dylan Strome, Philipp Kurashev and maybe Henrik Borgström. Suter probably is the best of that bunch at the moment, and he puts himself in the right place at the right time fairly often, hence his 14 goals and 13 assists this season. That said, he’s a restricted free agent, so who knows if he returns.

The Hawks hope Borgström is similar to Kubalik in that he breaks through more or less out of nowhere. If Borgström is healthy, that will only help him potentially live up to the “Magician” nickname he earned in college.

How do you see the Blackhawks’ crop of forwards shaking out next season?

— Thompson: Let me get to that, Chris. But first, allow me to throw a little bit of cold water on your optimism. We don’t know enough about Toews’ situation to assume he’ll be back close to 100%. Some would also argue that his offensive game showed signs of decline before his absence. And with Dach, his development has been interrupted and he’ll be focused on rehabbing his wrist over the summer, so I wouldn’t pencil in any expectations as far his production is concerned.

Now back to your question. If your best-case scenario pans out, here’s how the forward lines might look, assuming no one gets picked during the expansion draft. (I’m also taking some liberties, projecting that the Hawks carry 14 forwards in the belief the young defensemen are more likely to spend time in the minors than young forwards such as Kurashev and Brandon Hagel, and given the fact there’s likely no taxi squad next season).

— First line: Alex DeBrincat-Kirby Dach-Patrick Kane

— Second line: Dominik Kubalik-Jonathan Toews-Philipp Kurashev

— Third line: Brandon Hagel-Pius Suter-Dylan Strome

— Fourth line: Alex Nylander-David Kampf-Ryan Carpenter

The Kane-Suter-DeBrincat line was the Hawks’ most productive with 20 goals and a 60.6% goals-for percentage, according to leftwinglock.com, so expect to see that combination again, either to mix things up during games or to try out if the lines aren’t working.

But for next season, we’ll start with the notion that the Kane-Dach-DeBrincat group will form the base for the other lines. One of Kubalik’s primary lines in 2019-20 was with Toews and now-former Hawk Drake Caggiula, and Kurashev spent most of his minutes with Kubalik.

Like you mentioned, the top two lines are stocked with elite scorers with good support in Dach and Kurashev, who in turn will have veteran playmakers to help build their games.

You can write any of the lines in pencil, but particularly the bottom six. Suter and Kampf would be the obvious anchors, but Suter easily could switch with Kurashev or Dach if either struggles or gets hurt.

Strome would have to accept playing the wing again next season, though he prefers center. He was scratched from five games last season, so the pressure’s on to show he can jell with what might be changing units.

Nylander should be fully recovered from knee surgery by training camp, but he has to show he can be consistent to solidify a role in the bottom six and perhaps even move up. Otherwise, there will be plenty of candidates to take his spot.

Now, let me immediately start poking holes in my own lineup. Borgström can play center or wing and could force his way onto a line with a strong camp.

Adam Gaudette, Vinnie Hinostroza, Brett Connolly or even a prospect such as Evan Barratt could make a case, depending on who’s on the roster by the season opener.

So let’s mix things up a bit and see what another lineup would look like with Strome and Nylander as scratches.

— First line: Alex DeBrincat-Pius Suter-Patrick Kane

— Second line: Dominik Kubalik-Jonathan Toews-Kirby Dach

— Third line: Brandon Hagel-Philipp Kurashev-Adam Gaudette

— Fourth line: Henrik Borgström-David Kampf-Ryan Carpenter

(Note: Not to complicate things too much, but there’s a strong chance Lukas Reichel gets a look. The Hawks want to bring him over from Germany, and he’ll at least get time in Rockford if he doesn’t stick right away.)

This would allow Suter to continue to build chemistry with Kane and DeBrincat. It could be an interesting experiment to put Dach on the right wing (which he played for Canada during the World Junior Championship) and to maybe spark his offense and relieve some defensive pressure.

Kurashev played a good amount with Hagel, and maybe he and Gaudette would mesh well with Hagel’s hard-charging style.

Borgström would form a big line with Kampf and Carpenter, yet by putting Borgström on the wing he’d have the room to develop his natural offensive gifts (without the added defensive responsibilities) and perhaps add a scoring threat to the fourth line.

But you can mix and match lines all you want. The bigger question is: When can we stop judging the Hawks as a developing team and start judging them as a potential contender?

Bowman said he was “really impressed” with coach Jeremy Colliton’s developmental approach, and the Hawks played 10 rookies in each of the final two games.

But Bowman added: “We talk a lot about the growth and development of young players, and that’s true, they haven’t established themselves yet, but even experienced players, they all need to keep pushing to improve themselves.”

So, to wrap up, do you believe the veterans push themselves? And, putting development aside, do you believe Colliton has the system that can turn the Hawks into a winner?

— Sosa: What I can say is we learned in the team’s exit interviews that Colliton wasn’t afraid to bench Strome when he saw something he didn’t like. That appeared to be a rare occurrence, which likely indicates veterans mostly were on the coach’s good side.

Kane said he played through an injury “issue” toward the end of the season, and he still led the team’s forwards in ice time, so there’s no doubt about his commitment (not that anyone expected otherwise). Equally unsurprising: Keith led the Hawks in ice time for what feels like the billionth consecutive year.

For what it’s worth, the Blackhawks seem to have weathered the “can Colliton be an NHL coach?” phase of their rebuild, aided by their qualifying-round win over Edmonton last year. Beyond that, however, the arrows aren’t necessarily pointing up.

The Hawks are worst in the NHL in shots allowed per game over the last three seasons, and as much as Colliton likes to downplay that, no coach would call that a path to success. The Blackhawks also have the second-worst penalty kill since 2018-19. The Hawks teams that won Cups shut down the opposition better than most, and to compare these Blackhawks to those champions is foolhardy.

The most obvious sign the Hawks are making strides was their power play excelled in the early part of last season before fading.

But there still is room to give Colliton a slight benefit of the doubt. The roster has been tweaked dramatically since he took over, stifling continuity, and trying to install a system and groom young players during a pandemic can’t be easy.

On the other hand, the Hawks might be inclined to make a change if they aren’t in playoff contention deep into next year. That might be harsh treatment for a guy the organization had enough faith in to fire Joel Quenneville, but I don’t think a short leash will surprise anyone.

The Blackhawks were surprisingly active at the trade deadline, which indicates their rebuild might be accelerating. But if they want it to put the Stanley Cup within reach in the short term, bold moves are a must.