Well, well, it was an eventful weekend on a couple levels.
You all know now that I am Tyler Cameron. Trust me when you say that you won’t notice any change to the way I write or cover this team.
I’ve been really happy as of late with the quality of conversation on the message board. It’s been great to see some lurkers turn into contributors as well. The more the merrier.
Also this weekend, I joined JJ and Jeff from The-Rink on their podcast. We talked about newly acquired Slater Koekkoek, Erik Gustafsson, what the Hawks might do at the deadline and if Stan Bowman is still the right guy for the job.
In case you missed my appearance on the Rinkcast, you can find it HERE
Check it out. I even got them to answer some of the questions you guys posted on here. So, thank you for that!
Speaking of Slater Koekkoek – Stan does a nice job (again!) with this move. At worse, it’s a 5th rounder for a 7th rounder in the Hawks favour.
At best, the Hawks give Koekkoek a trial and he turns out to play closer to his 10th overall draft status. He is an RFA next year so a trial is exactly what this is.
He’s got some size at 6’2 / 193 lbs but doesn’t play overly big. He was expected to be more of an offensive defender but hasn’t panned out in Tampa Bay. He’s had a few shoulder surgeries that haven’t helped him, plus when he’s gotten an opportunity he’s been nothing more than average.
Here is what EliteProspects said about him during his raft year:
A very mobile defenseman with some fine offensive skills. Hockey sense is quite good and he passes as well as shoots the puck well. Some leadership qualities too. Admirable work-ethic. Overall a solid all-round defenseman.(EP 2012)
The leadership part is something I wanted to bring up as I read in a couple places that he had a questionable character. I would be cautious to assume that when looking at his past. He’s captained the iconic Peterborough Petes (OHL) in 2012-13 and was an assistant captain the following year for Bob Boughner’s Windsor Spitfires (OHL).
Following that, he wore an “A” in the AHL with the Lightnings farm team, the Syracuse Crunch. That team in 2016-17 went all the way to the finals but lost to the Grand Rapids Griffins in 6 games.
I’m honestly not expecting too much out of Koekkoek (pronounced CKOO-KOO), but I thought Stan did a great job dumping Jan Rutta – a player that no one wanted to claim when he was on waivers. This trade was a symptom of both GMs looking to give a new home to two defencemen on expiring contracts who would be best off with a change of scenery.
The title of this blog is Points on Loser Points. Let’s get to that.
The Hawks have lost 3 times in OT out of their last 5 games. They have found different was to lose: vs. NYI they tied it in the 3rd period with a Kane PPG, vs. Nashville Anisimov tied it up late and in Saturday’s game vs. the Knights, it was Paul Stastny who tied it up in the final frame – all games resulting in an “L” for Chicago.
These OT losses can be categorized as getting “loser” points. Points in the standings for pushing it to extra innings, which could eventually bite them in the behind by the end of the year.
Today, this is where I stand:
* I will root for the Hawks to win every game.
* However, the Hawks would benefit the most from picking the highest in the 2019 draft (#duh).
* They need an impact player in the draft to continue to this rebuild on the fly. This draft isn’t looking as strong as last year’s so outside of a top 5 pick, you’re probably looking at 2+ years for that player to make the NHL. The Hawks currently sit with 41 points which puts them 27th in the league (5th pick overall sans draft lottery outcome), however have played the 2nd most amount of in the NHL at 47 for games played.
* I don’t think the Hawks are making the playoffs (sorry for bursting anyone’s bubble). They have 36 games remaining and according to HockeyReference.com, they have a 3.0% probability of making the playoffs.
* From here on out, I would love to see the younger Hawks and next wave of complimentary players play really well, despite the outcome. The Hawks need to interview as many players in the system that could have a possible future in Chicago. Colin Delia comes to mind first; play this guy as much as possible (without completely shell-shocking and hanging him out to dry) to see what you have in him by the off-season.
* Let’s just hope these “loser points” don’t hurt their draft status come June. I want them to play hard and the competitor in me would never suggest tanking – however, “failing successfully” would be the best-case scenario to be honest.
--
In other news, Brandon Davidson has been assigned to Rockford. I actually thought he played solid in his return to the lineup but I would rather figure out what Koekkoek is about over Davidson at this point.
Rockford lost a couple of 4-3 games to drop them to 7th in the division. They are 2-6-1-1 in their last 10 games. Not good. They need some help down there, mostly in the goal scoring department as they are 30th in the league (2nd last) with 92 GF.
The Hawks play New Jersey tonight. Keep an eye on the message board and/or Twitter machine for lineups and other roster notes.
See ya out there,
JL
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»