Who gets the coveted open spot in Chicago’s talented top six? Libin investigates

Any time a top team has a spot open on one of the top two lines there is going to be a scramble to fill the void. There is generally an assumption that any player who lands the top-line gig will be in for a major bump in production. That is not always the case though as landing the gig does not always mean top unit power-play time. For many of the league's top scorers power-play points now make up 35-50% of their point totals. Therefore a player getting the top minutes without the top power play will not finish with the production that many expect from a first-line forward.  

This summer Chicago, facing a cap crunch, traded Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad. That opened up two of the top three wing spots in Chicago this year. With a cap hit of $71.8 million and Marcus Kruger yet to sign we should expect yet another trade. That means that Kris Versteeg and/or Bryan Bickell will find their way out of town before the start of the year. As such there is potential for Chicago to ice two new wingers on their top two lines. It remains to be seen how much those spots are worth.