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MAILBAG: Youth Movement, What’s Next for Hawks + More

November 1, 2019, 9:17 AM ET [825 Comments]
Tyler Cameron
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


The Blackhawks have a chance to redeem themselves this weekend as they get back on the ice to take on the LA Kings (Sat) and Anaheim Ducks (Sun).

I won’t spend much time setting up the games as we have a bunch of great questions to go through below.

However, I will call out a couple things as it’s been a somewhat eventful week:

Dach to Stay – Colliton has announced that Kirby Dach will be staying with the Blackhawks for the entire season. I have more thoughts below, however, I will add that I am curious to see if Dach plays a little looser now with this news.

Adam Boqvist?
– Looks like the Hawks are going to see what this kid has at the NHL level. It feels like a reactionary/rushed decision but hey, what do I know at this point.

The kid scores his first pro goal and the Hawks now deem him ready…



It appears he will get a shot to play on Saturday. I am predicting he’s on a 3rd pairing role with Slater Koekkoek or Dennis Gilbert.

If it were me, while I would keep Boqvist’s 5-on-5 minutes sheltered, I would healthy scratch Gustafsson, and toss Boqvist on the PP1 to see what this kid has. The power play can’t get any worse so might as well try it out.

Let’s see if he’s ready.

Ok, let’s now jump into the mailbag questions:

HawkintheD:Do you think it was the right/wrong decision to keep Dach the rest of the season and if so why? How about bringing Boqvist up? Kind of premature since we haven't seen him play yet, but thoughts?

If the season does slide out of control and the Hawks decide to sell any Core players at the TDL and summer, who do you think goes and what's a realistic return?

TC: I believe it’s the right decision to keep Kirby Dach on this team if he’s going to play in the 15-19 min/game range.

I don’t love this 10-11 minute per game stuff.

The thing is, Colliton hasn’t quite found the right combinations (and yes, they do matter Jeremy), and it’s not clear where Dach will fit exactly.

I also found it odd saying that they want him to continue to do strength training throughout the year. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that – although I’m sure it has happened in the NHL with younger players.

Normally if a kid is “too light” you send him back to juniors.

Overall opinion though is that Dach can handle the NHL regular season (playoffs is a different story if the Hawks were to make it) as he’s been one of the better CHI forwards in the last couple of weeks.

In terms of Boqvist, he didn’t look ready to me. I believe it’s premature.

The first thing that came to mind is that maybe the Hawks want to see if he’s ready to play 3rd pairing / top PP minutes which would allow them to see if there is a market for Gustafsson.

The only thing is Gustafsson’s value is crazy low right now.

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HawkintheD: If the season does slide out of control and the Hawks decide to sell any Core players at the TDL and summer, who do you think goes and what's a realistic return?

TC: I think it is possible that bigger moves could be made if things get out of control.

I don’t see Toews or Kane going anywhere, however, maybe Keith, Saad and Crawford could be moved in the Spring.

The summer could be another story; if this season goes off the rails, we could see a new GM who might be looking to overhaul to the roster (again).

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Scott1977: Tyler for mailbag question: say if this continues to south and could be wrong but its not looking good right now. If rocky and mcego decides that its time for fresh eyes and bowman is bump up stairs in some capacity and coliton is also relieve of his coaching duties who in your opinion would be their replacements? Specific names would be nice.

TC: Good segue from my last comment above, Scott.

If things go sideways, Stan Bowman and Jeremy Colliton could both find themselves out of a job in Chicago.

I would be purely speculating with any sort of replacement talk but hey… just for fun here are some names:

Potential GM Replacement: Norm MacIver, Mark Hunter, Ron Hextall, Chris Chelios

Potential Coaching Replacement: Todd Nelson, Tony Granato, Jay Leach

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boilermaker100: Let's say the Hawks continue their abysmal start and are out of playoff contention by the New Year. What do you think is the most likely scenario for the franchise going forward?

1. Keep the band together and hope they gel in the 2nd half of the season?

2. Keep Stan and JC around and make some major trades to add picks and prospects to the system. Veterans like Shaw, Saad, Murphy, Maatta, DeHaan could be attractive to teams in the playoff hunt looking for help up front and on D. I'm assuming 2,7,19,50 and 88 won't be on the move due to their NMC's/NTC's, but if one or more waives they could be included in the trade talk, even though because of their contracts and is some cases declining level of play may not provide much of a return.

3. Remove Bowman and Colliton from their positions and revamp the front office and coaching staff providing the new management team the opportunity to shape the team in their vision, most likely in the off season.

TC: #1 is most likely to happen as I view it today. They will use the St. Louis Blues narrative to try to convince fans that a 2nd half turnaround is doable.

I believe Bowman would make a trade or two to shake things up but I’m not sure how “major” it would be.

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Savetheembers33: If the Hawks continue to play at this low level, will/who is Rocky going to hold accountable for it? Will Bowman get the axe for being in charge of putting the team together? or will McDonough or others in the Front Office be held accountable as well? It seems as though if changes are going to be made they need to start at the top IMO. I don't wanna se McD turn this into a nostalgia show like he did with the Cubs.

BONUS: If one, or both, are gone who would you look at as replacements?

TC: Wow. A lot of these type of questions, ha.

To answer your bonus questions first, have a look above to potential replacement that I have offered for fun.

I believe John McDonough will have no problem stepping in and cleaning house if he convinces Rocky it’s the right move for the organization.

They are being heavily scrutinized as a team right now for their performance and I can guarantee that McDonough is losing sleep over it.

He won’t let this go on all season I don’t believe, the image of the Hawks is too important.

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StlBravesFan: Do they have any idea of what they are doing?

TC: I’m convinced – at times – they do know what they are doing. Ha.

It’s been really interesting to see how Bowman and Colliton era evolve in the early parts of this season.

They appear to be on the same page, however, as per the questions I have been receiving, both are losing the fanbases trust.

With the team unravelling a bit over the years, they are becoming desperate to find answers. It's not always pretty and we'll see if it gets any better.

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Here is our Twitter question of the day from @andrewwhitesell:

Screen-Shot-2019-10-31-at-10-09-51-PM

TC: I don’t think it’s as much as distracting from the Seabrook news as it is from the team not performing well.

The Seabrook situation will most likely put in the past as of Saturday as he surely will be back in the lineup.

After the backlash from the way this one was handled - even though I believe it was the right move to scratch #7 for a game – I think Colliton will think twice next time.

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Ok, that's it for now.

See ya out there!

TC

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