According to a report from The Athletic on Saturday, Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook is making a run at returning for the team's July 13 training camp and the NHL's 24-team playoff format beginning August 1.
At the start of the league's postseason, the Hawks are slated to take on the Edmonton Oilers in a best-of-5 play-in series.
In taking on the league's top two leaders in points at the time of the NHL pause on March 12 (Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid), the Hawks will take all the help on D they can get.
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Seabrook certainly has the experience of playing against and trying to shut down the NHL's best players on big stages and in big series during the Chicago's long Cup runs.
If he's fully recovered from his right shoulder and left and right hip surgeries, he could be a lot more mobile as well.
Where the veteran defenseman plugs into the lineup largely depends on how Calvin de Haan progresses.
NHL
de Haan, who underwent right shoulder surgery in December, joined the Blackhawks for small group skates and off-ice workouts on Thursday and is expected to be ready for camp too.
If all goes well for de Haan and he's available for the series, along with Seabrook, you could expect to see the two together as the Hawks' second pairing, where they logged time before their surgeries.
Rookie Adam Boqvist had been playing on the right of Duncan Keith for a while before the pause. Seabrook and Olli Maata didn't complement each other very well when paired together, but Seabrook and de Haan were a sound unit earlier in the season.
So here's how the D pairings could look against the Oilers:
Keith-Boqvist
de Haan-Seabrook
Maatta-Murphy
Youngster Lucas Carlsson could also be in on D with a strong showing leading up to the pause and Slater Koekkoek had some noticeable games on the Hawks' blue line as well this season.