Salary-cap constraints lead to Chicago Blackhawks infusing roster with youth

The Chicago Blackhawks have been down this road before, paying the price for success in a salary-cap system by parting with players who were instrumental in one or more of the three Stanley Cup championships they’ve won in the last six seasons.

But the extent of their latest turnover was highlighted before they faced the Kings at the United Center on Monday, when their locker room was heavily populated by players whose uniform numbers were higher than the number of NHL games they’d played.

Artemi Panarin, No. 72 in your program and blessed with 11 games’ experience, was preparing to play on the first line with Jonathan Toews. Newly promoted left wing Marko Dano, wearing No. 56, was preparing for his 36th NHL game. His linemates were No. 67, Tanner Kero, preparing for his fourth NHL game, and No. 38, Ryan Hartman, who had six games’ experience.

The changes, accelerated by defenseman Duncan Keith’s knee surgery, have been pronounced.

“Yeah, I guess probably more than we expected at the start of the off-season last year but it’s the way things go,” Toews said. “Things are pretty unpredictable these days, especially with the cap. And when you have the success that we’ve had or a team like L.A. has had, I think guys have earned that and, eventually, things overflow a little bit.

“In our case, I think it’s never fun to see teammates go that have meant a lot to your team in the locker room and on the ice, but at the same time there’s opportunity for young guys that are already there to step up. And as we’ve seen this year, we’ve had a ton of talent come in so that we know there’s tons of room to grow for us.”

Forced to make massive changes after their 2010 title, the Blackhawks had to regroup and didn’t regain championship form until 2013.

“We’ve had a lot of change in our personnel, and some new guys being injected as well,” Coach Joel Quenneville said. “In 2010, I think basically half a roster was replaced. And through our first 10, 11 games here, we don’t mind the way we’re playing but we’re not as consistent as we would’ve liked, or as predictable.”

Quenneville said the latest changes aren’t as far-reaching as the 2010 moves. Toews agreed, and cited another difference between then and now.

“Within the group of guys that have won before and have been in this room for a number of years, there’s so much more experience there on how to handle this season,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do in our division, and our conference is not getting any easier in that regard. But we have that experience there and I think we have some youth coming in that can really help us down the stretch this year.”

After trading Patrick Sharp to the Dallas Stars, the Blackhawks have a core of six three-time Cup winners: Toews, Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Marian Hossa. That group’s excellence and work ethic set a high standard for all who skate alongside them, especially for the latest crop of kids.

“It seems like Chicago, since they won that first Cup, they’ve been having to change their lineup year in, year out and they seem to figure out a way to always be a great team and make the Stanley Cup Final and win the Stanley Cup Final,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “It comes from the leadership. I think Toews is right there in the one, two, three best players in the world. His leadership, I know from experience, is phenomenal. When guys come in and they watch what Toews does on and off the ice it’s hard for it not to be contagious.

“So I expect these young guys to all be good players. They won those three Stanley Cups because they have depth and they’re going to be a good team.”

Up and down

After enduring some down seasons and dwindling crowds, the West-leading Stars are experiencing a revival on the ice and at American Airlines Center. When Tom Gaglardi bought the franchise in 2011 the team’s season ticket base was about 5,200; it’s now about 11,600. For their first six home games the Stars averaged 17,828 fans, or 96.2% capacity; for all of last season they averaged 17,350, or 93.6% capacity.

On the flip side, the San Jose Sharks are down to 93.1% capacity after four home games, from 109.2% last season, and the New York Islanders’ attendance has fallen since they moved to Brooklyn. They played to 94.8% capacity at the Nassau Coliseum last season but averaged 76.3% in their first eight home games at Barclays Center.

Avalanche downhill

The Colorado Avalanche (3-7-1) has won only one of its last seven games. Coach Patrick Roy, noting that six of the losses have been by one goal, has been blaming bad bounces and bad decisions. Or is it that they’re just good enough to lose close games and not good enough to win them?

Slap shots

Thinned by injuries up front to Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny and Patrik Berglund, the St. Louis Blues invited Martin Havlat and Dainius Zubrus to join them on professional tryouts. They previously invited Scott Gomez and Scottie Upshall to training camp on professional tryouts and signed both. ... Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price suffered a lower-body injury Thursday and is expected to be sidelined for a week. ... Islanders forward John Tavares has sat out two games because of an unspecified illness and isn’t expected back “for a little bit,” Coach Jack Capuano told reporters Monday.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen