The least exciting play in hockey is a Michael Frolik breakaway: "Look! A breakaway! Oh ... it's Frolik ... "
- Q...argh

Fixed.

Hawks wind up facing Dallas in the playoffs, and in game 7 OT Daley rushes the puck through the neutral zone only to bump into Garbutt as they both fall down, causing a loose puck that gets picked up by Oduya who then sends Sharp in on a breakaway for the GWG.
- SimpleJack

Yeah. More like "Oduya who then sends Sharp on a breakaway for a direct hit into the #50 in Corey Crawford's jersey".

Fixed.
- Sandus

The Frolik break away???? Im sure Jimmy Howard remembers that...

Signs point to that guy getting a lonnnnngggg look at camp when the whole team is together.
- z1990z

Hopefully, he takes Rundblads spot at No. 6. Then Rundblad can be the back plan to the back plan. (half joking)

Erhoff for 1-2mil on a 1 year deal to win a Cup would be amazing.....but that means moving Versteeg(for a late round pick) and Bickell(taking back some salary and throwing in a very good prospect like Hartman/Danault/Pokka) for literally anything, or nothing at all even. Thinking Erhoff would want closer to 2-2.5 though. So its a tight squeeze. Might have to settle for TVR, a cheap vet(Rozsival?) and Rundblad as our 5th, 6th, and 7th D. Not all that bad if TVR develops as rapidly as he did last year in his first 20 NHL games.
- SimpleJack

Screw that. Do not "throw in" a very good prospect JUST to clear half of Bickell's salary. At this point I would rather keep him, move Versteeg, sign Kruger, and go into the season with what we have.

Jim Nill says Benn and Seguin can be the next Toews and Kane. #MvsW
- southernhawkOnly if they change their numbers to 19 and 88. Oh, and win 3 cups.
- DMCsPulledHammy

Then Nill took some pepto bismol and slept off his hangover.

Screw that. Do not "throw in" a very good prospect JUST to clear half of Bickell's salary. At this point I would rather keep him, move Versteeg, sign Kruger, and go into the season with what we have.
- Katana777

Totally agree with this. Assuming you can still get Kruger on the team, you hold on till the right deal comes along. At this point I think it's possible to get a lineup put together, while not ideal, is very workable. You can use training camp to pump up Versteeg and Bickell.

Remember some teams end up with better than expected starts, vice versa, that suddenly find themselves having to make moves to try and improve. Leverage is very much dynamic in that sense.

Yeah. More like "Oduya who then sends Sharp on a breakaway for a direct hit into the #50 in Corey Crawford's jersey".
- DMCsPulledHammy

Crow was looking behind the net?

There's really only one thing that I think Stan could/should be "blamed for" and even that has an element of hindsight which somewhat exonerates him and that is not buying out Bickell before the buyout window slammed shut. It's probably not something that should be done lightly and avoided if possible because it affect the cap for longer then the remaining years on the contract, albeit at a reduced cost. If he knew then what he knows now - that he would not be able to trade Bickell without either including a sweetener or take salary back - I wonder if he wouldn't do it differently and buy him out. As I understand the buyout, it would cost $1.5M over the next several years which would be a $2.5M cap savings. That $2.5M may be all he ends up with anyway if he has to take salary back.

Some would say not trading Sharp at or before the draft is another wrong decision, but that one turned out OK so I don't consider that a wrong decision.

We'll see how things end up and then we'll be in a better position to assess the whole body or work.
- EbonyRaptor

Can't buy out an injured player. Bickell may have still had vertigo issues.

Can't buy out an injured player. Bickell may have still had vertigo issues.
- SDHawkFan

Says who?

Kesler plays balls out for his team all the time. The guy didn't take games off or loaf around on shifts. He wants to win.
- kaptaan

yeah, I too have lots of respect for guys like that but I am not opening the wallet THAT wide, as he hasn't won a thing.

Sign Erhohh, Schlemko and Fehr for $925 for 1-2 years.
- kmw4631

Q: With WHAT MONEY?

With Kruger's money?

Screw that. Do not "throw in" a very good prospect JUST to clear half of Bickell's salary. At this point I would rather keep him, move Versteeg, sign Kruger, and go into the season with what we have.
- Katana777

Agreed i was just stating the options. I said earlier that we might as well realize we're stuck with Bickell....for now. But even in moving Versteeg and keeping 29 its gonna be VERY tight including that extra defenseman and a legit raise for Kruger(even if its considered a discount).

Anyone have a guess as to what Kruger is looking at salary wise for his new deal?
- z1990z

No one knows but when he see what a former hawk and linemate Michael Frolik just got, 4.3 MILLION I bet he's thinking well if I can't get that , I want a long security deal for max years

So, instead of getting a high draft pick for Sharp, we traded Daley for Oduya. Sharp for kaput. Gave away Stephen Johns and saved less than 2 million.

Should have let Sharp go for a draft pick. Same with Bickell and Versteeg. I wanna see these kids get a chance. There are only so many spots on a team.
- hocktock

well boohoo, the spots are now filled by NHLers and not unproven AHLers.

No one knows but when he see what a former hawk and linemate Michael Frolik just got, 4.3 MILLION I bet he's thinking well if I can't get that , I want a long security deal for max years
- wiz1901

Kind of what I think too... wonder if that will make Stan move him to dump Bickell. Then you have Danault sitting in Rockford. 600/200 lbs. 6g/20a and a +11 in the Rock. Somebody brought up Money Ball. Does Stan say its time for Danault? Younger and cheaper and Danault is being asked to play a simple D/checking C style. Dunno...

Stan must like Danault. Some of the trades involved teams asking for Mr. Danault which resulted in Stan hanging up the phone.. Bottom line is that anything can happen here.

My expecations of Panarin are that he is skilled enough to play a top-6 role and he plays well enough defensively for Q to use him in the top-6. Points wise? I don't expect him to set the world on fire, but I'll be disappointed if he doesn't reach 40 points (if he plays top-6).
- EbonyRaptor

well...my expectations of Panarin is he was plenty good in Russia, but this ain't russian, your expectation or mine mean sheet to a tree until we see him on the ice.

If it looks like it's there... he never sees a minute on any line but the top two.

If it looks like he struggles to score generate offensive he back to Russia quickly because his deal has that option with a European Assignment Clause.
Maybe the fact they signed his best friend Tikhonov may mean they BOTH agree to some adjustment time in Rockford to re-acclimate, except for the fact Tikhonov signed a one way deal....

IF...he doesn't "set the world on fire" with strong offensive numbers there is no reason that he clutters the line-up.
He's not out there to defend or kill penalities...it is plain silly to think Q plays him if he cannot provide the offense they expect, as they are not gonna put up with weak DZ coverages if he can't score and set up....

It's a script because I point out people are bashing the guy over Internet "facts"?
Not a single person here knows what offers were, that's all
- Confederate

I never claimed know many facts but I know one:

You Confederate don't seem to have any facts either...

The Frolik break away???? Im sure Jimmy Howard remembers that...
- z1990z

...so does Corey Schneider!

The Frolik break away???? Im sure Jimmy Howard remembers that...
- z1990z

Well....technically it was a penalty shot.

Bottom line is this.. Any trade that moves 29 is gonna cost another good roster player. Its just a schit deal at the moment.
- z1990z

Horsefeathers

Don't agree. Shaw is a solid depth player who plays a good role on this team but he is replacable. Moreover, his style of play does not bode well for the longevity of his career.

- Bjm84

I agree on longevity, but that is no reason for getting rid of him while the team is where they are.

Garbutt isn't Shaw.

What Dano adds is he has really quick hands too, so if rebounds off Shaw screens pop
out Dano is really good at getting that quick released shot off. He adds a different dimension.
They tried Bickell in front...how did that work out.
Bring someoen up to fill it...maybe they learn to play it in the AHL first?

Same with Ogi?? and Eli
- Al

Well now that the Supreme Court oked ...

Panarin's cap hit will be ~ $3.4MM. Kruger..... $2.5-3MM?

Need to lose about $6MM (Some combo of Bickell/Versteeg/Shaw/Morin.....) to be able to sign them both. Keeping Bickell is not an option when they have only $350K in cap space.

Prospects/roster talent will have to accompany Bickell to reduce or prevent salary holdback.

Panarin's cap hit will be ~ $3.4MM. Kruger..... $2.5-3MM?

Need to lose about $6MM (Some combo of Bickell/Versteeg/Shaw/Morin.....) to be able to sign them both. Keeping Bickell is not an option when they have only $350K in cap space.

Prospects/roster talent will have to accompany Bickell to reduce or prevent salary holdback.
- Return of the Roar

Yep.... The money is a problem. The still unsigned Kruger makes an enticing trade chip. I know he doesnt want to trade Kruger, but schit this is a mess. If its Kruger or Shaw?