Blackhawks’ Chris Kunitz, 39, at a crossroads in quietest season of career

Wing Chris Kunitz was under no illusions when, on the first day of free agency, he signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blackhawks: He was coming aboard to give the team whatever little things he could.

There would be limits to his game, of course, for such is life at 39 years old. But Kunitz hoped he had more to offer than merely his wealth of experience from having played on four Stanley Cup-winning teams and skated on lines alongside Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and other big-time players.

Could he contribute enough checking, defense and occasional scoring to play an important role on a team with its own championship pedigree? That was the plan, anyway.

It’s not going so well.

Kunitz — goal-less and with only two assists in 19 games — was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game and for the third time this season Wednesday against the Capitals. It’s new territory for a player who nearly made it to 1,000 career NHL games without being a healthy scratch.

Given new coach Jeremy Colliton’s desire to take extended looks at the team’s younger players — and at some who still are with the Hawks’ American Hockey League squad in Rockford — it’s fair to wonder whether Kunitz will have much of a role at all with his fifth NHL team.

‘‘Coming here on a one-year deal at this age, you want to be able to help out any way you can,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t think it crosses your mind that you’re not going to be able to play all the games. That being said, you still have to go out and be a good professional and a good teammate, and that’s what I’m trying to do here.’’

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Kunitz played in all 82 games last season after signing a one-year deal with the Lightning. He had 13 goals — well off his traditional 20-plus — and totaled a career-low 29 points.

‘‘I didn’t have a ton of offense last year, but I still found a way to be able to be in the lineup, be able to contribute in some aspect,’’ he said. ‘‘Not everybody’s going to be able to score goals. Maybe it’s defending soundly or get in on the penalty kill or fill in wherever they need it.”

After signing Kunitz, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said the ability to contribute offensively was still there. That struck some as a reach. Cockeyed optimists pointed to Kunitz’s heroic turn in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals, when he scored the double-overtime winner in Game 7 that lifted the title-bound Penguins past the Senators.

Colliton maintains there’s a place for Kunitz in this don’t-call-it-a-rebuild process the Hawks are in.

‘‘I think he’s reliable,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘We know what we get from him every day, and I think that’s a good example to our young pros on how to carry themselves. He’s won before. He’s been through it. He’s played with great players. He’s

responsible defensively, works hard, plays for the team. I can play him in a lot of different roles.

‘‘Obviously, he’s maybe not going to be a front-line player for us. Nevertheless, he’s important to the team and he can contribute.’’

Does Kunitz have enough left in the tank? He thinks so, though he admits the scratches ‘‘knock your confidence a little.’’

‘‘When you go out there, if you’re not trending in the right way or you’re having a few down games, they’re definitely going to be putting other guys in and trying something,’’ he said. ‘‘You’ve got to perform better when you’re out there.’’