Get ready. Since absorbing hits didn't work, one of the new talking points for this series will be Tampa will be able to wear down the Hawks' D with their speed.

The bitter Ranger fans now want Rick Nash run out of town on the end of Larry Brooks poison pen. He's toast in Manhattan, its all his fault. Kevin Hayes is just as good as Nash.
- RickJ

Not only does he want him out he also said they should trade him to St Louis for Scwartz, Steen, & Oshie because obviously the Blues will just let 177 pts and 2 young core guys go for a 70 pt winger who sucks in the playoffs

I've been confident for a while now that those 2 aren't going anywhere, hope it holds true. Move Crawford, replace with Darling. Move Sharp, replace with Panarin. Get rid of Versteeg and Bickell as well(expect nothing back, nothing good at least...), and also be sure to resign Oduya and Kruger(both are very important IMO). Try and bring back Desjardins and Nordstrom for cheap which shouldn't be difficult, and also see about adding another cheap 2/3C option(will need more center depth and bottom 6 depth in general) or vet defenseman. Might be able to get one of those pieces back in a potential Sharp/Crawford trade.

Make it happen!!
- SimpleJack

Brad Richards proved that Chicago is a good spot for the vet looking for possible hardware, should see another reasonable forward contract to slot in. Bickell is a decent player just not at 4 million/year. No one takes that contract without sending baggage. Versteeg has possibilities in either case. Sharp brings value to a team who needs vet leadership and some scoring- Montreal or Florida (as pointed out earleir) Hope JJ is right about JO and the homer deal (again stated much earlier Oct)

If moving Craw, sharp and Steeg allows you to resign JO, Extend Seabs, SAAD,Kruger and get good returns for them you should do it.
SAAD-TEOWS-HOSSA, PANARIN, TT, KANE, BICKELL, SHAW, KRUGER, DANULT,
and 3 of Nordy, Hartmen, Baun, Mcneal, A FA C on Short term deal Like Richards and or a guy like desjardens.

Then a back end of DK, Seabs,Hammer, JO, Johns,Reilly, TVR and sign a guy or 2 like cumisky to park in Rockford in case of a injury.

Darling and either Raanta or Nillson.

The above team would be better on D then this years team barring injury.

Lets say we move the bare min and Let JO walk and keep Craw and he has a bad year because or D is really young and panarin, and the rookies struggle at times you might be stuck with him for the rest of his contract
- kmw4631

What about this Gustaffson guy the Hawks signed out of Sweden(go figure). Seems as though he could fit the system or at least give Johns, TVR, Pokka some competition, does anyone have any intel on him?

Get ready. Since absorbing hits didn't work, one of the new talking points for this series will be Tampa will be able to wear down the Hawks' D with their speed.
- MartiniMan

Agree with this. Who ever has to hold and hook more is going to have trouble winning the series.

Brad Richards proved that Chicago is a good spot for the vet looking for possible hardware, should see another reasonable forward contract to slot in. Bickell is a decent player just not at 4 million/year. No one takes that contract without sending baggage. Versteeg has possibilities in either case. Sharp brings value to a team who needs vet leadership and some scoring- Montreal or Florida (as pointed out earleir) Hope JJ is right about JO and the homer deal (again stated much earlier Oct)
- Cup-Bearer

Buffalo would be pretty good for Sharp. A lot depends on who he would waive his NMC for. Having Sharp to ride shotgun for Eichel would be pretty good for Buffalo.

Versteeg would be a decent pickup for some teams looking for depth scoring and his contract is reasonable and only has a year left.

Agree with this. Who ever has to hold and hook more is going to have trouble winning the series.
- 6628

Wouldn't that normally be the case?

Agree with this. Who ever has to hold and hook more is going to have trouble winning the series.
- 6628

Whichever team can play their system consistently over the length of the series will be the winner.

Buffalo would be pretty good for Sharp. A lot depends on who he would waive his NMC for. Having Sharp to ride shotgun for Eichel would be pretty good for Buffalo.

Versteeg would be a decent pickup for some teams looking for depth scoring and his contract is reasonable and only has a year left.
- Elbows15

The key is to create a market for the players to drive up the compensation. I would imagine Sharp would interest a number of teams Montreal being one of them.

Whichever team can play their system consistently over the length of the series will be the winner.
- Elbows15

And both teams can play more than one system, so it should be interesting.

Not only does he want him out he also said they should trade him to St Louis for Scwartz, Steen, & Oshie because obviously the Blues will just let 177 pts and 2 young core guys go for a 70 pt winger who sucks in the playoffs
- cmsabres48

Thanks for the laugh.

That's safe, I'm going with Chicago in 4.
- TheCalSen

I thought you were broke from losing 5Gs on your game 7 Ducks bet

I have three reasons the Hawks will win:

The key is to create a market for the players to drive up the compensation. I would imagine Sharp would interest a number of teams Montreal being one of them.
- paulr

Sharp and Montreal has made a lot of sense to me. Their cap situation is kind of ok. Actually a package Sharp and Versteeg/Bickell works. Montreal could use some skilled wingers. Plus it would be a place guys would want to play and the fact that Berrgevin is the GM would help.

I thought you were broke from losing 5Gs on your game 7 Ducks bet


- Yikes726

He made 5 Grand more when he bought Boardwalk.

Hey John. I contend that after all we went through last series, you may have been spot on predicting a 6 game series all along. If it weren't for Q playing Versteeg and Nordy over TT and Vermette, and if he went to his clincher line of 88-19-20 earlier, and if he did what most of us already knew and left KT at the hotel every night, that would have taken much of the drama out of it, especially seeing the lack of speed you mentioned from their D.

Can't wait to get started!

Sharp and Montreal has made a lot of sense to me. Their cap situation is kind of ok. Actually a package Sharp and Versteeg/Bickell works. Montreal could use some skilled wingers. Plus it would be a place guys would want to play and the fact that Berrgevin is the GM would help.
- Elbows15

And what is coming back?

Wouldn't that normally be the case?
- paulr

Well, ya. But especially in this case. I don't see Tampa trying to run em like the blues, wild, ducks... Tampa is younger and has speed so I expect them to use it. The hawks in the last 7 or 8 years have been the team everyone was trying to catch, but now it might be the other way around. I'm excited about this series to compare the systems and the results.

Buffalo would be pretty good for Sharp. A lot depends on who he would waive his NMC for. Having Sharp to ride shotgun for Eichel would be pretty good for Buffalo.

Versteeg would be a decent pickup for some teams looking for depth scoring and his contract is reasonable and only has a year left.
- Elbows15

The Sabres are starting to feel some real pressure to put something that looks like an NHL team on the ice soon. Unfortunately they have donkeys like Gionta, Matt Moulson and Cody Hodgson signed multi year for pretty big money. And no real NHL goaltender signed either. Good thing is that they are close to the cap floor.

Might be a pipe dream but I could see something like Sharp, Cro and somebody from Rockford like McNeill going there in a one sided deal in return for picks who would help the Sabres transition their young kids and Eichel into an NHL lineup with solid vets guiding them. Pegula could give Sharpie a couple more years at the same money as he's making now as the carrot.

It won't happen but I'd love to get Ristaleinen off the Sabres blue line.

And both teams can play more than one system, so it should be interesting.
- paulr

Yes they can but what I am trying to say is can TB do it game in and game out. To this point they have been somewhat inconsistent with that. Which given their ages is understandable.

Seabs is a player the Hawks can't let walk as a UFA. Just ask Bruins fans what their defence looked like without Johnny Boychuk. And Seabs is a better defenceman than him.
- RickJ

I'm going back into my broken record mode.

Seabrook cannot leave and needs to be resigned for the productive length of his career. I've always thought that he and Crawford is the choice that needs to be made, Sharp leaving lets you re-up Saad and Kruger, Crawford leaving allows you to keep Seabrook and Oduya.

Thats why I'm pretty confident Crawford will be gone, not because he is bad, but because it allows you to keep Seabrook for his career, and Oduya for a couple more years.

Remember Bowmans always build a strong D before the goalie.

id say the bolts match up better to the west than any of the other east teams. and we had i think the best record against the west of any of the eastern teams? both teams play a similar style and our top four of hedman stralman garrison and coburn arent exactly a pushover and are all well over 6'. we have the biggest d in the league. just going to have to use their size in this series. but i think our 3rd line of callahan boyle brown is going to be the difference maker. i think the top two lines are a wash. maybe slight edge to the bolts but not much. but i would give goaltending to bolts.

offense wash
defense chicago
goaltending tampa

thats why i think it goes at least 6 or 7. i think the series is split 2-2 going into game 5. whoever wins game 5 wins the series.
- boltsfan48

No. Crawford was better this year statistically during the regular season, has the same numbers career wise during the regular season and played 90 more games over his career.

Crawfords playoff save % this year is .001 points under Bishop's and their career numbers are the same and Crawford has an abundance of playoff experience (70 games vs 20 and a Cup).

Win Crawford.

You can argue that they are a "wash" at a minimum and objectively speaking Crawford has a definite edge unless you want to be some bozo Chicago fan that thinks Crawford is garbage.

And what is coming back?
- Bjm84

Cap space plus a pick or 2. If its a package, the Hawks would need to take some salary back because I think the Habs would like to resign Petry, He played very well for them in the playoffs.

Something like Eller, Tinordi and picks?

Where are Byfuglien, Ladd and Brouwer? Hedman is approaching the Keith tier, but where is Seabrook?

Very good team but I don't see this comparison. And until proven otherwise, in all aspects of the game,

Toews>Stamkos
Kane>Johnson
- John Jaeckel

Kucherov, Palat, Calahan, Killorn, Filpula,Boyle, Paquette (who plays like Kruger)

Blue line

Garrison, Hedman, Stralman, Carle, Coburn, Nesterov, Sustr...

Depth and style of play, Druin, Namestikov playing role of TT if needed. JT Brown, who most have never heard of, Hawk fans will love this guys game.

Boyle scored 15 goals as 4th line center, Calahan 20 goals from 3rd line...

My comparison is more about style of game and determination. The Rangers can skate and score and were not allowed to touch the puck in game 7 in their own building. The lightning play a structured game.

I am not suggesting the scales are heavily tipped in either direction. Smart money would bet upon Hawks and Stars...I am just trying to add something to the debate.

We'll see how well the Triplets operate with Keith and Hjalmarsson stapled to them. They'll probably get some points, but this is a much tougher test than they've seen.
- John Jaeckel

We'll see what happens when they get the Kooga treatment.