Hawks will get best from Kane at wing

Let’s flash forward to a week from Friday when the Blackhawks open the regular season at Dallas.

Will Patrick Sharp be in the lineup?

There’s no way of telling at this point. The Hawks hope Sharp is there, but he has missed all of training camp after undergoing an emergency appendectomy and only resumed skating by himself Sunday.

Will Patrick Kane be playing center?

If I were a betting man, I would say there’s no chance of that.

All coach Joel Quenneville said following Sunday’s exhibition game in Detroit was that he planned to at least look at Kane at center in the finals days of training camp.

That’s it. He didn’t say he was moving Kane to center, or that the Hawks had a serious problem down the middle, because they don’t.

How is a team with Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland and Sharp considered thin at center?

The Hawks would prefer to play Sharp at wing, that’s a given, but he has proved to be a terrific center when asked to play there.

Michael Frolik can play center. So can Jamal Mayers. Rookies Ben Smith and Marcus Kruger are still in the mix. Kruger is a natural center, and Smith has experience there.

“We just counted the guys that could potentially play center,” Quenneville said. “I think we almost got it to 10. You’ve got a number of guys. There’s options there. We’re trying things at this stage. We think that no matter who is in there they can play center.”

This still is the preseason, remember, when the opportunity is there to try things. That’s all Quenneville is doing with Kane at center.

Kane is willing to try it, although his heart didn’t seem to be in it when asked about the potential switch Monday.

“I’m willing to try it out, I guess, to see if it works,” Kane said. “With it being something they wanted to try, it’s preseason, so why not?”

Kane is a two-time all-star at right wing, a guy the Hockey News just ranked the sixth best at the position behind only Corey Perry, Martin St. Louis, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash and teammate Marian Hossa.

Kane is a star right wing and wants to be a right wing. Remember when the Hawks wanted Kane to try left wing last season? That experiment didn’t last long.

“Obviously, I’m pretty comfortable on (right) wing,” Kane said. “The biggest thing is you’ve developed so many different plays and become comfortable in a position that I played for the last seven years of my life.”

The Hawks are deep enough and talented enough to get by with what they have at center for now.

Don’t forget general manager Stan Bowman has about $3.4 million in cap space, and sooner or later a very good center will become available. Trust in Bowman to fill that void at No. 2 center for the playoffs before the trade deadline.

Beach bounced:With former No. 1 draft pick Kyle Beach being among the players cut and sent to Rockford on Monday, it#146;s fair to wonder if he should still be considered one of Hawks#146; top prospects.It certainly doesn#146;t feel like it.There#146;s obviously something about Beach the Hawks don#146;t like, even if Stan Bowman will tell you the 11th pick in the 2000 draft still is a young guy, only a second-year pro, with a strong upside.Is Beach too slow, too uninterested, too undisciplined, too irresponsible on the ice defensively?Maybe all of the above?Big suspension:The NHL laid the hammer to Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski on Monday night, suspending the former Hawk for the rest of the preseason and the first eight games of the regular season for a deliberate head shot on Minnesota#146;s Cal Clutterbuck last week.New league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan said Wisniewski#146;s history of head shots played a factor in the length of the suspension, part of which was his cheap shot on Brent Seabrook two years ago.Not only will Wisniewski lose $536,000 in salary, he has let down the Blue Jackets, who spent huge bucks on him as a free agent.Campoli signed:Former Hawks defenseman Chris Campoli finally landed on his feet Monday when he signed a one-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens worth $1.75 million.Campoli had been a free agent since the Hawks walked away from his $2.75 million arbitration ruling during the summer.tsassone@dailyherald.com