Five key questions that will determine the Blackhawks’ 2019-20 fate

From veteran Duncan Keith to bubble forward Brendan Perlini to new star goalie Robin Lehner, the Blackhawks are filled with uncertainties this season. | AP Photos

The Blackhawks might be the most unpredictable team in the NHL entering the 2019-20 season. There are a number of paths their season might follow. Sun-Times Blackhawks reporter Ben Pope poses five crucial questions that will determine which road the Hawks eventually will take:

Is the defense fixed enough?

There’s little question Calvin de Haan — once he’s healthy — and Olli Maatta will improve the Hawks’ porous back end.

Both players are in the middle of their primes and have established track records as solid, albeit unexceptional, defensive defensemen.

But are they enough? They aren’t stars, and the Hawks’ historically awful defense from last season might need more than two good complementary pieces to rise to respectability.

Whether de Haan and Maatta are enough ultimately might be determined by how much Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook (who so far has looked revived alongside Maatta) and the rest of the returning defensive corps can improve.

Olli Maatta was brought in from the Penguins over the summer to add a conservative presence to the Hawks’ defense.

Is the penalty kill fixed enough?

Given how bad the Hawks’ penalty kill was last season — 72.7 percent, last in the league and the worst by any team in 30 years — it’s basically a foregone conclusion it will improve in 2019-20. As they say, there’s nowhere to go but up.

The aforementioned defensive additions should help, as will the arrivals of scrappy two-way forwards Andrew Shaw, Ryan Carpenter and Anton Wedin. Carpenter and Shaw being right-handed faceoff-takers can take some pressure off Jonathan Toews, especially with new NHL rules heightening the importance of special-teams faceoffs.

Fan favorite Andrew Shaw is back for another Chicago run, and he could help on the penalty kill, among other areas.

How will Jeremy Colliton survive, post-honeymoon era?

Winning six of 15 games to start last season got Joel Quenneville fired. Winning only four of the next 20 was dismissed as Colliton’s adjustment period.

We all know how things went after those rough first two months, but the underlying statistics indicated the Hawks still weren’t a good team — or even an average one — during their spring run, a fact Colliton has admitted.

The Hawks not only will need to maintain positive results, but they must do so in a way that suggests more long-term viability to make 2019-20 a success.

Colliton has had the full summer to flesh out his staff and the much-discussed full training camp to implement his strategies. We soon will see how well it works.

Jeremy Colliton filled out his staff over the summer, making the Blackhawks definitively his team now.

Who will emerge as the long-term starting goalie?

Corey Crawford, 34, and Robin Lehner, 28, have drastically different career backgrounds, drastically different personalities and somewhat different goaltending styles.

But the fact remains they both will be unrestricted free agents after this season, and the Hawks probably won’t be able to afford both.

It should be an enthralling joust — with many expected twists and turns — all season long to win the job moving forward. The Hawks hope the competition can make the tandem an elite one this season.

Corey Crawford will battle newcomer Robin Lehner for the starting job this season.

Who best maximizes the Toews-Kane line?

In the preseason, Colliton rotated between Alex Nylander and Drake Caggiula as the first-line winger next to the Hawks’ two superstars.

Nylander has the playmaking skill but struggles with consistency. Colliton likes how Caggiula forechecks and wins puck battles, but he doesn’t have top-six scoring capabilities.

Other options include Brandon Saad, a proven asset — like Caggiula — but with more productivity, and Dominik Kubalik, a dangerous shooter best described as the wild card.

Colliton’s goal should be getting the most out of his superstars, not just finding a passable player to fill the hole. After all, the Hawks don’t have a whole lot beyond Kane and Toews that guarantees success.