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Input: Is  it  just me  or is anybody else worried about  Duncan Keith ?
Maybe  it ’s just the recency bias of a bad three-game trip to California in which the Blackhawks defense was exposed as if each unit has to take a turn looking awful in this season that refuses to end. Or maybe  Keith  is the last of the core players to succumb this season to the fall of the dynasty. Or maybe it’s long-lasting and irretrievable.
The last possibility is the scary one because  Keith  has always been the barometer of good Hawks and bad Hawks. The Hawks’ offense has always started with the defense  and the defense starts with  Keith   and unfortunately of late  the defense has been inept and inert  not to mention soft and slow.
In Sunday’s loss in Anaheim   Keith  aided and abetted a power-play goal by Ducks forward Rickard Rakell by doing little to prevent it. In the previous game   Keith  committed two awful giveaways that led to Kings goals. In the first game of the jaunt in  San Jose  Keith  was on the ice for four goals against while skating five-on-five. Today’s edition of Sesame Street hockey is brought to you by the letters P and U.
Only six times in the last 14 games when skating five-on-five has  Keith  been above 50 percent in the Fenwick metric that counts only unblocked shots  according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
The raw numbers in those games show  he  has been on the ice for three goals for and 19 against at even-strength for a minus-16. Now  plus-minus in isolation is an outdated way to evaluate players  but something that extreme is hard for me to ignore. It might not always be  his  fault  but  he ’s not doing enough to make it better.
By comparison   Keith ’s five-on-five Fenwick metric was over 50 percent 10 times in the 20 games before the last four weeks.  His  raw numbers were 17 goals for and 12 against.
Overall   his  goals-for percentage of 39.78 at five-on-five is the worst of the 10 defensemen the Hawks have dressed this season  according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The raw count is 37 goals for and 56 against.
Last season   Keith ’s goal-for percentage at five-on-five was 56.48. The raw count was 61-47. So  yeah   Keith  misses Niklas Hjalmarsson. A lot. The whole team does.
 Keith   then  has had to adapt to different partners while continuing to play a lot and play against the opponent’s top line. All of those are legit causes for  Keith ’s unseemly numbers. But still  it’s a problem when a team’s best defenseman isn’t delivering  especially on a team that relies on defensemen to start the offense.
The eye test – my eye test  anyway – sees a guy whose reactions can’t quite keep up with his instincts.  Keith  has played several lifetimes of hockey the past decade – a lot of regular-season minutes  then even more minutes in an astounding 126 playoff games  and  oh  two Olympics – so it would reasonable to expect that at 34 even the indefatigable one would lose a half-step. That half-step can keep a player from getting to a spot first  from breaking up plays  from getting a stick on an opponent  from taking away a puck and moving it up ice.
 Keith ’s remarkable ability seemed to make  him  a one-man neutral-zone trap.  Keith  regularly broke up plays and controlled the puck to create a lot of offense — a lot of quick offense. The Hawks were playing on a lot of short fields.
Thing is  the Hawks still control the puck at even-strength more than you’d think a bad team would  but the forwards aren’t turning that into goals. That would help  Keith ’s numbers look respectable  and maybe that changes next season. Maybe the scorers start scoring next season. Maybe another long offseason will help. Same goes for improved ability and consistency from the rest of the Hawks’ young defense corps.
This isn’t to bury  Keith .  He  can still play  even if not at  his  former Norris Trophy level. So  perhaps the biggest thing that would help the Hawks regain their contending ways is if GM Stan Bowman could bring in a defenseman who makes  Keith  only the second-best on the roster.

Is anyone else worried about Duncan Keith ?