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Rozner: Youth will be served on Blackhawks' blueline

It is a tricky business, this business of trying to win the Stanley Cup every year.

The Blackhawks are in that position because of an exceptional core of players.

What makes it complicated is that core is also very expensive and getting more expensive all the time.

The trick is to work young players into the lineup whenever possible, moving them slowly from the third and fourth lines toward the first and second, and from the third and fourth sets of defense toward the first and second.

It must be done every season or soon a team finds itself old and expensive and with no room to maneuver against the salary cap, but it must also be done without sacrificing the opportunity to win that season.

That's tough to do with inexperienced players, but the only way they get experience is to play, ideally with increased minutes each season. The more young players are added and effective, the more you can move out older, more expensive players, remain under the cap and continue to compete for the big prize.

Welcome to the Chicago Blackhawks' cap conundrum, and no one has a more difficult task than head coach Joel Quenneville.

“We definitely want to win the Stanley Cup this year,” Quenneville told us on the “Boers and Bernstein” show on the Score on Tuesday. “We always look at the next game and the next shift from a coaching perspective.

“But we do have moments where we have to face reality. We have to look and we are aware of what's gonna happen down the road where some of these kids have to get injected into our lineup.

“They're gonna have to play and they're gonna have to play meaningful minutes as we go along.”

With Nick Leddy and Sheldon Brookbank gone and Michal Rozsival getting older and more fragile by the moment, the Hawks are adding new faces on the back end.

After Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya — Rozsival is injured at the moment — the Hawks are auditioning 23-year-old Trevor van Riemsdyk, 23-year-old David Rundblad and 27-year-old Kyle Cumiskey to begin the season.

That doesn't even include — in the AHL — 23-year-old Klas Dahlbeck and 21-year-old Adam Clendening — both of whom are NHL ready or close to it — and coming quickly is 22-year-old Stephen Johns, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound beast from Notre Dame and the appropriately-named hometown of Wampum, Pa.

“We have three young guys on the back end to start with, which is a big number, and we'll see how it all evolves,” Quenneville said. “There's probably a couple guys in the minors who probably feel they're ahead of these guys as well, so you could argue who's deserving or who's gonna be better at the end of the road.

“But that's part of our development and part of the process where these guys will tell us where they all fit. It's a healthy situation to be in.”

That's potentially a lot of youth for a coach who's been criticized in the past for preferring veterans with whom he's familiar over youngsters who might just be more productive.

“I don't mind playing these guys,” Quenneville said. “I think with play they're gonna get better, and that's kind of the big picture.

“I think young guys on your team makes it a healthy environment. They bring energy at critical times of the year when their enthusiasm is infectious. That's a good thing.

“Whether up front or on the back end or in the net, I don't really care how old they are, but I do know we're gonna be in a position where these guys are gonna have to play, whether it's this year or next year.”

As for Leddy, he clearly lost the trust of his coach and confidence in himself as he regressed last season, but there is no denying his spectacular skating and puck-moving ability that few defensemen in the league possess.

Whether he ever fully develops into a good player is still to be determined, but in New York he'll need a patient assistant coach who is willing to teach him what he doesn't already know.

“Nick's got a lot of room in his game to grow and I still expect him to be a better defenseman than he was the last couple years,” Quenneville said. “More quality ice time will give him a chance to develop.

“He didn't get a great opportunity here. You have four in front of him who get a lot of the important minutes. Nick didn't get a lot of that time.

“Everybody was healthy the last couple years and he never got the chance. I wish him well and hope he takes advantage of a better situation where he gets a chance to play more quality minutes.”

Credit Quenneville and GM Stan Bowman for working together on this, for understanding there are certain players the coach doesn't want to play, but also getting the coach young players he needs to play.

They both know it has to happen and for a few lucky kids it's happening now.

And not a moment too soon.

brozner@dailyherald.com

•Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.

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