NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fifteen years into his NHL career and four years into an eight-year contract now regarded as the worst in the NHL, Brent Seabrook’s future with the Blackhawks organization has reached a critical moment.
The 34-year-old defenseman will be benched for the second consecutive game on Tuesday night as the Hawks face the Predators.
And he’s truly upset.
“I think I’ve been playing good,” he said early Tuesday afternoon, in a tone somewhere in between somber and angry. “I’ve obviously been on for some goals against. Tough situation, but I feel like I’m skating better, I feel like I’ve got a lot to offer this team.”
“I’m 34. You guys seem to want to write articles about my age and my speed. I feel like I’ve still got a lot to offer in this league and still be a good player for somebody.”
Those final two words — “for somebody” — might be the most consequential Seabrook has uttered publicly in years.
Unless Seabrook agrees to waive his no-movement clause, the Hawks will be saddled with his $6.875 million cap hit for the remainder of this season as well as the next four. It’s an albatross of a deal that will not only limit general manager Stan Bowman’s ability to re-sign young stars but also require protection during the 2021 expansion draft, when the new Seattle franchise joins the NHL.
He’s never made any references to a willingness to waive that clause before. Tuesday, regardless of its subtlety, was the first time.
But for now, Seabrook remains a member of the Hawks, and his situation must be monitored carefully.
He stayed out on the ice with goalie Corey Crawford well after the morning skate. Crawford, another aging core member, also won’t play Tuesday. That will be the fourth time in five games.
“I’m just going to try and do my thing out here, skate today with Crow, try to work hard and get back in the lineup when I can, if I can,” Seabrook said.
Prior to Sunday, when Seabrook came out of the lineup and the Hawks promptly snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Kings, he’d been scratched just once in his career: back in January 2018, when Joel Quenneville was still coach.
This is Jeremy Colliton’s first venture down this road.
The young coach — just three months older than Seabrook himself — attempted to dispel the commotion Sunday by saying Seabrook was out for rest purposes, plausible given it was the second half of a back-to-back. But on Tuesday, that rhetoric wasn’t going to fly.
“We feel he can help us win,” Colliton said. “He’s going to get an opportunity. There’s been other guys who have sat out and come in and been really good, so he’ll get that chance, too.”
Asked how he’s handling the situation, Colliton said he’s emphasizing “communication and being clear.” But Seabrook said he and the coach hadn’t spoken since Sunday, when he was first informed he’d be scratched.
“There is no conversation, he just told me,” Seabrook said. “That’s it.”
The Hawks won’t return to Chicago before playing three more road games, starting with a back-to-back this weekend against the Kings and Ducks, so this potentially defining moment in Seabrook’s post-dynasty career won’t be easily defused.
He could return to the lineup for good. He could accept a new role as the team’s seventh defenseman — but based on his comments Tuesday, which included admitting “not fun sitting out,” that seems unlikely.
Or he could become the defining storyline of the Hawks’ 2019-20 season.
