The Chicago Blackhawks finished 31st in the league in 2023-24 and their goal was to get a whole lot better in the offseason. On paper, mission accomplished. Though Chicago added the most up front, its defense has gone from a place to give a lot of young, unproven players opportunities to a stable core group of six. Heading into training camp, the Blackhawks' defense pairing are expected to be as follows: Alex Vlasic - Seth Jones Kevin Korchinski - Connor Murphy Alec Martinez - T.J. Brodie Vlasic established himself as a top pairing defenseman and formed some strong chemistry with number one d-man Seth Jones. As far as top pairings go, this isn't elite, but it is very serviceable and solid. Korchinski came in as a 19-year-old rookie and did alright. It's very tough to be thrown into a top-4 role at that age and he didn't get a lot of consistency with partners as Murphy missed a chunk of the season due to injury. With a full season together and a year under Korchinski's belt, these two should form a formidable second pairing with high upside. The new part of this defense are veterans Martinez and Brodie. Martinez can still play and has always been a staple defensively wherever he's played. Though he will probably provide a little more value in experience and mentorship, it's very likely he gets into most of the games for the Blackhawks on the third pairing. Beside him, Brodie can arguably still be a top-4 defenseman and really shores up the right side. He will have much better matchups than last season in Toronto higher up the lineup. Both these veterans offer more in the way of consistency than the younger defensemen who competed for roles last season. COLORADO AVALANCHE The Colorado Avalanche have had one of the best defense corps over the past number of seasons with Cale Makar and Devon Toews as the helm. The team still has a strong second pairing behind that with Samuel Girard and Josh Manson if health holds up, but the third pairing is a question mark. There are three left-shot defensemen competing for playing time on that pairing between Calvin de Haan, Oliver Kylington, and Erik Brannstrom. The Avalanche should expect the most stability from de Haan, the ceiling still may be the highest for Brannstrom, but Kylington has the potential to put up the best numbers. At the very least, with Jacob McDonald in the mix as well, there is some depth when the Avalanche inevitably deal with injuries. Overall, Colorado has Chicago beat due to the high-end talent. DALLAS STARS The Dallas Stars made some changes defensively like the Blackhawks did. Dallas saw Ryan Suter out the door and doesn't have Jani Hakanpaa this season, but added Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin. That's a bit of an upgrade as Suter really slowed down and if healthy, Dumba might be able to regain his old form. The top pairing looks elite with Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley. Heiskanen is a top defenseman in the league and Harley broke out in a major way, scoring 15 goals and 47 points in his first full season. Esa Lindell is still a great second pairing defenseman that will cover all aspects of defense, but the major concern is Nils Lundkvist. The Stars had no trust in Lundkvist at the most important time of the season, the playoffs. He averaged just 4:28 through 12 games in the playoffs and will have to take a major leap forward this season. In terms of being compared to the Blackhawks, the top three in Dallas are much better, but the bottom three have to go to Chicago. I still give the edge to the Stars though. MINNESOTA WILD When healthy, the Minnesota Wild have a very underrated and strong top-4 with Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Jake Middleton, but the third pairing is really lacking. Rounding out the top six defensemen will be a mix of Jon Merrill, Zach Bogosian, and Declan Chisholm. Faber, the Calder Trophy runner-up to Connor Bedard, may already be considered elite. He does it at both ends of the ice. With Spurgeon healthy, this is a very strong right side on the top two pairings. Brodin has been underrated for so many years and Middleton is a solid player. Alec Martinez talks about how he approaches being a leader and helping mentor younger players. Chisholm is young and inexperienced and Bogosian is on the back half of his career. Merrill is a decent 6th/7th, but I don't expect a lot from the third pairing in Minnesota and it may be a bit of a problem at times. With both the Wild and Blackhawks' back-ends healthy, they are very close in what each can bring. NASHVILLE PREDATORS The Nashville Predators made waves in free agency, but mostly by bringing in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. We shouldn't forget about D-Man Brady Skjei though, who has gone about scoring 40 goals over his past three seasons and posting at least 38 points in three consecutive seasons as well. He will either play alongside one of the best defensemen in the world, Roman Josi, on the top pairing, or take the lead on the second pairing. It is more likely the pairing of Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier stay together. They have great chemistry and are a solid mix of physicality and quickness. It isn't an elite second pairing with these two together, but don't overlook their impact on the game. Like Minnesota, the third pairing is where things get dicey. Luke Schenn isn't a great option anymore, the Predators are still hoping Dante Fabbro can return to how he played a couple of years ago, and Spencer Stastney is inexperienced. Again, the high-end talent on the Predators overshadows what the Blackhawks have right now, but the third pairing in Chicago is better. Advantage Nashville. ST. LOUIS BLUES The St. Louis Blues definitely have the most options on defense out of any other team in the Central Division, but none are elite and there are definitely question marks with members. Kyle Davidson talks about how Korchinski and other young Blackhawks have to earn their spot next season. Torey Krug could miss the entire season for the Blues, but they also just acquired Philip Broberg through an offer sheet. It is an aging group with Nick Leddy, Justin Faulk, and Suter, while the Blues are still waiting for Colton Parayko to reach his full potential. It gets less likely he does as the years go by. There is no number one d-man and Matthew Kessel and Scott Perunovich will also be duking it out for playing time, so the defense is a mess and unpredictable. There are too many question marks and I give the Blackhawks' d-core the edge here. UTAH HOCKEY CLUB Utah definitely made the right moves in the offseason by acquiring Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Ian Cole, but everyone has to fit in and form chemistry. There is a new member of the defense on each pairing. Sergachev definitely brings high-end talent to the back-end and Sean Durzi should continue to get better. Is he a top pairing defenseman? That remains to be seen. Juuso Valimaki may be playing above where he realistically should be in the lineup. He is slotted in as a 3rd/4th d-man on the second pairing, but should ideally be in the 5th spot this season for maximum efficiency by him and for the team. Cole is older and slowing down, but beside him, Utah has Michael Kesselring who is inexperienced. There will be some more growing pains, but he also isn't being thrown into the fire in this role. There is good upside for this group, but the Blackhawks have a step on Utah all the way through the top six defensemen. WINNIPEG JETS The Winnipeg Jets have an interesting defense this season. Nate Schmidt is gone after being bought out, but Brenden Dillon also left to sign in New Jersey. The group is weaker, especially the bottom three. The Blackhawks have a big advantage in terms of comparing Korchinski, Martinez, and Brodie to Dylan Samberg, Logan Stanley, and Colin Miller. The Jets have Josh Morrissey though. He is the best defenseman on either of the two teams. Neal Pionk is a very good second pairing defenseman. He plays very physically and will put up over 30 points consistently. Dylan DeMelo complements Morrissey well, but is a 4th d-man on a contender. Once again, Chicago comes away better than this defense core overall. WHERE DO THE BLACKHAWKS FIT? The Blackhawks sit right in the middle in terms of how the defense compares to the rest of the teams in the Central Division. 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