Duncan Keith 2018-19 expectations

[Rolo]

How do you guys think Duncan Keith does in 2018-19?

He's turning 35 years old, but is one of the best NHL defenders of this decade.

His endurance, athleticism, and drive separates him for the rest. Is Keith going to continue his decline, or return to his 'vintage' form?

Unlike Toews, I feel like Keith can bounceback. It is hard to be a prolific player at age 35, but guys like Sergei Gonchar, Nick Lidstrom, Dan Boyle, Zdeno Chara where able to have great seasons at age 35 and beyond.

Keith claims he feels like he's 22 years old:

“I want to play until I’m 45,” Keith said, according to Mark Lazarus of Chicago Sun-Times, before the Blackhawks lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. “Honestly.”

Now 34, Keith has a long way to go before 45. But he has yet to lose a step almost two months into his 13th season.

Keith has appeared in all 21 of Chicago’s games this season and leads the team in ice time per game at 25:09. For his career he’s remained mostly healthy, appearing in 934 games with his only season below 74 games coming in 2015-16 when he had knee surgery.

When asked to expand on his comment, Keith said he’s feeling like a kid again.

“I feel like I’m 22 right now; I do. I’m 34, and I feel great,” he said. “I feel better than I did at times when I was 27, 28.”​

Keith to go ‘above and beyond’ to regain lost form

“I feel good,” said Keith, who will turn 35 in July. “I know I’m not getting any younger. But at the same time, I don’t feel old. I know I have a lot left in the tank. I know that question kind of comes up as you go along. It’s something to be expected — especially in a year where you don’t have the success you want, that kind of gets magnified."

“I’m looking forward to having a good summer of training … try to be in the best shape of my career and give me the best chance to feel good and do the things I want to do out there.”​

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[CallMeShaft]

I don't see an option to vote "slightly better than last year", so I shall not vote.

Keith had a lot of issues last year, notably his whopping two goals. But his play was still at a top pairing level until around February where he, and most of the guys, just gave up. Keith has developed a bit of a track record of not giving a shit once the season seems like a lost cause.

With a hopefully more solid goaltending situation, the Hawks should, hopefully, be in the playoff hunt for a much longer amount of time, and thus, Keith will give a shit because the games will actually matter.

Just my opinion.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I think he was ok until the Corey injury and then stopped caring. I'm not overly concerned with him going forward. Or at least, he's not high up on my list of Blackhawk worries

 

[featherhawk]

out of all the hawks who sucked balls last year I think he is the one that will turn it around and become 80 % of what he used to be so I will say much better than last year as he will never be vintage keith for a full season ever again.

 

[Rolo]

I don't see an option to vote "slightly better than last year", so I shall not vote.

Added.

 

[JaegerDice]

Slightly better than last year.

I've always compared Keith to Neidermayer as a player. And Keith is approaching the age that Neidermayer retired.

I think he can be better than he was last season. But we are coming to the end. Enjoy as much of him as you can, while you can. We won't see another like peak Keith in a Blackhawks sweater for a long while.

 

[jls24]

If he stopped over thinking things when the puck's on his stick it would do wonders for his game. He should only be allowed to take one-timers and wrist shots.

But yeah, I'll say slightly better.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Slightly to much better than last year. I thought he really "let go of the reins" year when it was clear the season was lost. He won't be Norris Keith but he'll be a low end #1 defenseman

 

[Enyaw]

This coming year will be slightly up from last year .... and then the real decline begins

 

[Robsker]

He is going to have to carry someone on his pairing who is not a 1st pairing-caliber player --- in fact, it is likely that he will have to carry a partner that is, at best, a fringe 2nd pairing guy. Well... check that --- with Q at the helm, he likely will have to carry 4-5 such different players as partners (none who are 1st pairing guys). That is difficult when you are his age and with the miles he has on him and while playing on a bad overall team. So... I expect he will be about like he was last year --- or, maybe a stitch better. He is, after all, an amazing athlete. So a slight improvement --- even given the rough context, is quite possible. I would not "expect' such, but would not be surprised overly to see it. So... I would expect him to be about the same and hope for a slight improvement.

 

[Spirit of 67]

I don't see an option to vote "slightly better than last year", so I shall not vote.

My feelings exactly.

 

[hawksfan50]

The problem of his pairing partner is one thing...but the focus and attitude issue is another..that he quit competing after CC went down and so finished -29 was deplorable. .Even Seabrook ....horrible as he is...still came in at just -3..It was the absolute quit in Keith that upset me.."CORE leaders "do not do that ..he ought to feel ashamed..Despite his aging and I virus declining skills and energy levels, old vets need to compete harder to mitigate such declines. .you do that with more focus...more battle in pucks and use of your experience and "saabvy" to read plays and know where to position ...Offensively clearly hisxdjilkschave declined. ..No longer has a shot that beats goalies ...if it even gets through ...he fumbled pucks a lot more...failed keep in as the blue line .. bit declining skills for mid 30s vest are expected..What is not expected is total quit and do not care attitude.

He says he wants to play till 45...thus is delusionionsl and somebody has to get him back to reality.

I do not expect a rebound to vintage Keith..the Norris level production is not likely ever coming back..But I expect positive +/- ...SURELY he can manage a bit over even ...strictly by caring to compete hard for 3 periods. . Feeble I effective waives as a stick check will not cut it..not challenging rushers does not cut it...playing in a daze out of position and latex reacting do not cut it. HE simply has to play more focused..more challenging his opponents ..and having the right competitive mindset.

If he decides he wants to compete hard again...that is half the battle ..and no so IF he does play harder and smarter with more focus then automatically he should be back to positive territory rather than -29 .

BUT ..and not ghidbpintbin his career..no way should he be on either 1st or 2nd pp unit to mess them up .

So of I was Q ,I sit down with Keith...tell him to concentrate on shutdown duties ...do not over tax him in minutes on ice ...and insist he compete harder..a lot harder than last season. But we know stubborn Q will not do this because he still trusts in the golden age Jeuth of tgec3 Cups Era. .So instead Q will again good up what a more limited now by age Keith ought to be ...he will expect the same holden boy Keith that dominated the fame in the glory years and that Keith is Kong gone.This is what I fear ..

So do I expect 50 -60 points Keith and +29 ...no...

Do I expect 32 points Keith and -29 ...no ...not as bad as that either.

I expect 35-40 Points Keith and +15 ...Give me that and it will be fine.

 

[ClydeLee]

A lot of talk of him seemingly giving up or so post Janurary. Though Crawford was out before. I think his drive and the lack of goals probably got to him.

At that point is when Forsling was sent down though. He last played Janurary 20th and after that no one else but Keith was really around to play tough competition. If Forsling or Manning take that consistently that'll help. But Keith still will need to produce offensively again and the partner question is concerning still.

 

[LordKOTL]

Keith's numbers were significantly down (like 2011 down) before Crawford went down. They were still 2011-down until we lost Kempny and then the bottom completely fell out. His individual numbers ended up collectively worse than all of our other D-men combined--and were that way even when Crawford was still up and playing insanely good. I'm not talking offensively, I'm talking defensively. He was a major reason why this was the worst 'hawks defense to hit the ice since MTV *actually* showed music videos.

The expectation is he's got to be a hell of a lot better since this was his worst season on record. I'm not expecting Norris or Conn Smythe Keith. I'm expecting "Not a Liability" Keith, which is significantly better than what he did this past season. That has to be the benchmark.

 

[bwana63]

Keith should be much improved this season. Granted, last season was a tire fire. Not expecting him to be remotely close to HoF level, but he should be a passable #1.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

6 goals
34 assists
+4

A bit of an improvement over last year.
Keith never seems to have bad years back-to-back.

 

[LordKOTL]

6 goals
34 assists
+4

A bit of an improvement over last year.
Keith never seems to have bad years back-to-back.

That would be a major improvement over last year.

 

[hawksfan50]

Some project Keith will be paired with Rutta. ...that Gustaffson-Seabrook is 2nd pair and then Manning and Murphy 3rd pair (an expensive 3rd pair .but what else van you do?)...it could be Keith Murphy and Manning & Rutta,but I guess you have to ask which if Rutta or Murphy improves enough to merit 1st pairing minutes and which is the greater liability in failing to protect Keith if Keith fails to rebound from his slide over the cliff?

Now..I would think in his 2nd NHL season that Rutta would be more comfortable with the NA rinks and the NHL level of play ..and so there might be some elevation in his game ..but Murphy already being a n NHL vet for several years might already have plateaus. ..what you see is what you get
...in either case Keith is probably in trouble ...bit more so if he plays like last season especially defensively ..I doubt Keith ever again produces like his Cup winning period ,but he must get back to at least 3/4 of his greatest ability defensively to help out His d-partner.

 

[piteus]

We'll see if he mailed it in last year after the Hawks were out ... or the beginning of the end. I don't think anyone knows.

 

[LordKOTL]

We'll see if he mailed it in last year after the Hawks were out ... or the beginning of the end. I don't think anyone knows.

In spite of being the cynical bastage that I am, I think part of it also is on him being completely misused by Q and run roughshod. Sure his year was just beyond bad in and of itself and I think at some point he was like, "Eff-it." However I also think that Q was putting more on his shoulders than he could realistically handle and not even attempting to spread out the workload even when the rest of the season was futile and there was no real reason not to give the youngins a chance to sink or swim.

Barring a great acquisition which may or may not happen, D is still the biggest Hole in the team--we're talking Huet's 5-hole here. Even if Keith returns to an acceptable level of play there's still major gaps back there.

 

[Pez68]

If he's going to log top pair minutes against top competition....he can't have a #5/6 as his partner. There's not a defenseman in the NHL that can do this. It's as simple as that.

 

[icekoob]

The sucking was a collaborative effort last year. It can be contagious. Like many of the other guys I expect a slight improvement at the very least barring an unforeseen repeat of next season.

 

[jaysoneil]

I don't think it's out of his reach to shoot par for his career averages.

7g 34a for 41p with a +11.

 

[Pez68]

The guy is quite literally a freak of nature, physically, so he should be able to play as long as he wants to. He just needs a partner that belongs playing with him.

 

[TheDoorDoctor]

with Seabrook falling I dont see anyone playing with Keith that will improve him drastically next year.

Dont want to curve the discussion too much but I've recently seen some brutal hit highlights on youtube and Seabrook has been on the recieving end of a lot. Makes you think his mental status regarding his fall.