It was a more eventful day in the NHL on day 2 of the NHL draft.
P.K. Subban was moved to New Jersey, J.T. Miller is now a Canuck and the Leafs paid the price to shed Patrick Marleau.
The Hawks first selection of the day came at 43rd overall. But first, Bill Daly stepped up to the podium and announced: "we have a trade." I thought surely that the Hawks were trading down to get themselves a later 2nd and a 3rd round (since they didn't have a pick in the 3rd), however, it was actually a move to send John Hayden to NJ for John Quenneville.
So, a Quenneville is back in Chicago. This time it's John, Joel's cousin and Stan said later in the day that the pending RFA will be retained. This move follows the trend of Bowman acquiring a former 1st round pick that hasn't fully lived up to his potential.
In Quenneville, the Hawks get a guy who was taken 30th overall in 2014. The 6'1 / 194 lbs forward has yet to make an impact in the NHL with just 5 points in 33 games at the age of 23 years old. He has seen success in the AHL though averaging 0.86 points per game with 119 points in 136 games.
Quenneville can play centre or wing and sees himself as a 2-way player. He will likely start in Rockford, however, if the change of scenery proves to be the boost he needs, he could find himself in the NHL with the Hawks, a team his cousin Joel coached to 3 Stanley Cups. That alone should be some serious motivation.
I had Hayden pegged as a guy that could be moved this offseason. Even though Colliton had him in Rockford for a short stint – including their 2018 playoff run, it was evident that Colliton wasn't the biggest fan.
I hope Hayden finds his grove in New Jersey.
What the Hawks lose in the big winger is a guy that could step in when they needed more physicality. Hayden wasn't afraid to throw his body around and smash faces in the odd fight. While the NHL has changed and there isn't as much fighting, I believe the Hawks should look to add a depth player that isn't afraid to drop the gloves if needed because as it stands today, the Hawks will have to lean on small, yet feisty forward Drake Caggiula to answer the bell when things get tough. Obviously not ideal.
It's not a major focus as the Hawks have only had 11 (2018-19), 13 (2017-18), 14 (2017-18) fighting majors in the last 3 years. I know it's something the guys like Toews and Kane have been vocal about in the past with management; they have specifically requested that toughness in the past which saw guys like Eager, Bollig, Mashinter, Carcillo and Tootoo join the team in year's past. We'll see if Stan adds some toughness in the form of a 12th or 13th forward.
I'll touch on more UFA business later on next week – and I'm sure we'll hear some whispers of free agents they are interested in as the UFA courting period begins Sunday AM.
Back to the draft quickly.
I'm not going to pretend I know everything there is to know about these guys the Hawks drafted, but what is evident is that the Hawks targeted some size.
They didn't do this at the expense of skill as the Hawks have always shown that they have no problem taking the small, skilled player if they truly are the best player available.
In 2019 though, this is how the cookie crumbled. Here's the full list of the 6 prospects that have been added to the Blackhawks system:
They average a 6'2 and 189 pounds in these picks.
For everyone out there saying the Hawks only draft "smurfs", while this may be the tallest crop of players in recent drafts, the Hawks have attempted to add size over the years.
Players like:
* Josiah Slavin – 6'3 / 189 (2018)
* Graham Knott – 6'3 / 190 (2015)
* Radovan Bondra – 6'5 / 220 (2015)
* Roy Radke – 6'2 / 203 (2015)
* Beau Starrett – 6'4 / 197 (2014)
* Andreas Soderberg – 6'4 / 200 (2014)
* Carl Dahlstrom – 6'3 / 211 (2013)
* John Hayden – 6'2 / 210 (2013)
Slavin is looking like a nice 7th rounder but he's still TBD as an NHLer. Outside of Dahlstrom and aforementioned Hayden, the rest of the list doesn't look too good.
So, the Hawks have tried in the past to draft for a combination of size and skill but haven't been too successful.
They look like they have a good one in Kirby Dach and the reports on Alex Vlasic sound exactly what the Hawks need.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic gave the Hawks a grade of
B this year. They were a
B+ last year.
Unfortunately, like all drafts, we will have to wait 2, 3, maybe even 5 years before the true grade of how successful teams did.
Mark Kelley seemed happy with who was available the time the Hawks turn came around to draft, so that gives me some confidence. Then again, he's not going to show any other emotion at this time.
All in all, the draft proved to be really boring in terms of trades but the Hawks appear to have added some nice pieces for the future.
Other Stuff – RFAs and Rumors
First off, FINALLY the salary cap was announced at $81.5M. That's not good for many teams as it's 1.5M-2M lower than originally anticipated. The Hawks are ok though with $16M+ in space and are a team that can take advantage (for once) of their foes in cap hell.
Stan Bowman said that they may let some of his RFAs walk. He did say that Brenden Perlini will be signed, as will John Quenneville. This must mean he's close with Perlini and he's confident in signing Quenneville. The latter will be cheap and probably on a 2-way contract and Perlini should be in the 1.5M-2M range on a 1-2 deal.
I'm curious who he was referring to with other RFAs that may be on their way out.
The first thing that I thought was that he was using the media to get a message across. I've heard the talks with Gustav Forsling aren't going very well and the Olli Maatta trade didn't help that cause. Surely the Hawks will qualify him but maybe the Hawks move him (or his rights) in the upcoming weeks.
Who's left?
Dylan Sikura will be resigned as he was mentioned by Bowman as a replacement for Kahun after he was moved. Maybe he was just building his stock up a little for a trade but I see him on the Hawks full-time next year on a 1-way deal around 900k-1.2M.
I heard Bowman is claiming he wants to resign Anton Forsberg as well but I'm not sure the feeling is mutual. He is a candidate to be moved as well although Forsberg and Lankinen would be a very strong duo in Rockford next year should Colin Delia stay up with the big club.
David Kampf is another one that should be retained. He is a perfect 4th liner for the Hawks and if he can get that FO% back up to 52-53% - which is where he was in his stint with the Hawks in 2017-18 – then he would be a lot more valuable to help take that responsibility off Toews a bit. I suspect he will be resigned.
After that, there is Anthony Louis, Victor Ejdsell (if Hawks qualify him they retain his rights, even though he's off to Sweden), Luke Johnson, Spencer Watson and Blake Hillman.
As mentioned above, the UFA courting period begins Sunday AM. Some key names that have been linked to Chicago who look poised to hit the market are Joe Pavelski, Anders Lee, Cory Perry, and Ryan Dzingel.
Other names I have heard that the Hawks are interested in are Mats Zuccarello and Colin Wilson.
My belief is the Hawks still would like to add through trades vs. going all out on July 1st.
The Hawks and Vegas have apparently been talking and once the Golden Knights sign William Karlsson – which they are expected to do in the coming days – they will need to seriously shed some cap weight.
Up front, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula and Paul Stastny all would fit and Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb and Nick Holden all make sense as well. There is a lot of smoke there but they won't be the only teams calling GM GM.
I will have more rumors and fun updates as I hear them.
See ya out there!
TC
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»