Very cool article. Thank you for sharing!
- BURDA13

they are smart hockey writers, good guys to follow

Meh...a lot of outsider perspective that doesn't always cut the mustard. And not one mention of Panarin...
- CanOCorn

thought you would enjoy the Columbus view of things, they seems to be really excited about Arti and Dano

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/
- DDM-Coga

Good read thanks for sharing as always DDM...

hope your summer is going well.

No, they are not. In the just completed season, at the start of the playoffs it was obvious that CLG, VAN, MIN, OTT, MTL, at minimum, had no chance to win the Cup. The were all seriously flawed and not built to last through 4 rounds. A case could be made for the remaining 11 teams, although some had a better chance. And the best 3 chances were ANA, TB & CHI.

In the seasons that the Kings got in with the 8th seed, I don't recall anyone thinking that they had no chance.
- scottak

I would say the Rangers would be included on the list of teams with a legitimate shot at the Cup this past year.

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/
- DDM-Coga

Thanks for the link.

thought you would enjoy the Columbus view of things, they seems to be really excited about Arti and Dano
- DDM-Coga

I am as well.

They got a #2/#3 long-term solution at center, and a potential very good top 6 scoring forward. Prior to this deal, I thought very highly of Dano - VERY happy he's a Hawk.

You guys keep saying this but it doesn't make it any more true.

The truth is, he's a third line center. The Hawks don't really have a fourth line.

Or if you simply insist they're a fourth line, show me another "fourth line" that is routinely sent out against the best players in the league (when most fourth lines in the league have to be sheltered), and maintains offensive zone time like that line does.

Killing penalties matters. Every bit as much as the power play does.

Another thing you need to understand is that because of the above, Quenneville flat LOVES the guy, as does Scotty Bowman (at the very least).

The other thing that needs to sink in is this . . . he's only what, 25? He's done the job asked of him amazingly well, has improved year after year, but he can and probably will get better. He has some hands and playmaking ability and he is only just now really maturing physically.

So that's another way of looking at it that might prove helpful. You can scoff all you want, but this guy is: a) highly valuable to the Hawks and b) there are quite valid reasons for it.
- John Jaeckel

Krueger as a shutdown/faceoff/penalty killing specialist at $2.5m in ways is as important as a core piece under a hard cap. At $2.5m he still provides a high ROI and that is Stan's game plan as proven by Saad. His objective is to spend close to the cap and seek maximum ROI... on depth players in particular. That is why you see the emphasis on cost control (thru cap held elsewhere) in bottom half players like Garbutt, Desi, Versteeg IMO and why Bickell's deal is the largest issue - more so than the K/T contracts.

Yes - a good value.

So is a Masseratti at $75,000. But I couldn't afford it at that price.

I'm sure Crawford would be "plan D" as JJ says - but it may come to that.
- StLBravesFan

Always a question of how much and the consequences of not having....

Very cool article. Thank you for sharing!
- BURDA13

I think AA and Dano were good assets to pick up-actually very good under the circumstances.

The rubber meets the road with how Daley will fit in...Oduya for much of last season was only average but he came on late and was very good in the playoffs.

I think a consequence of having to dump Sharp was losing Oduya...The #'s indicate that beyond anything else to me. So if Daley can be okay to good- the Hawks may not be any worse than last year.

Injuries always matter but what has been forgotten about is ...TVR was playing significant minutes when he got hurt and he missed the entire season.

So I'm very interesting in seeing what time of player TVR is, becasue if he is in the top 4 and Daley is a #5 things could be as good or better than last year on the blueline.

You guys keep saying this but it doesn't make it any more true.

The truth is, he's a third line center. The Hawks don't really have a fourth line.

Or if you simply insist they're a fourth line, show me another "fourth line" that is routinely sent out against the best players in the league (when most fourth lines in the league have to be sheltered), and maintains offensive zone time like that line does.

Killing penalties matters. Every bit as much as the power play does.

Another thing you need to understand is that because of the above, Quenneville flat LOVES the guy, as does Scotty Bowman (at the very least).

The other thing that needs to sink in is this . . . he's only what, 25? He's done the job asked of him amazingly well, has improved year after year, but he can and probably will get better. He has some hands and playmaking ability and he is only just now really maturing physically.

So that's another way of looking at it that might prove helpful. You can scoff all you want, but this guy is: a) highly valuable to the Hawks and b) there are quite valid reasons for it.
- John Jaeckel

Agreed. Kruger's productivity in the role he has in Chicago is much greater than just a 4th line center.

I truly think there are some people on this board who are well schooled hockey observers. I also believe there are many casual fans who tend to magnify offensive numbers when assessing a player's worth. Kruger doesn't jump out at anyone with his offensive stats, but that's not the role he has been asked to play for a Stanley Cup Champion.

What do most fans do when watching hockey or basketball? They follow the puck or ball. It's not here where Kruger wows you. However, when you watch what happens off the puck or ball you see what happens which led to that scoring chance or negated a scoring chance. It's the play that led to the play. This is what coaches watch, over and over again on film. And this is where Kruger shines.

I am as well.

They got a #2/#3 long-term solution at center, and a potential very good top 6 scoring forward. Prior to this deal, I thought very highly of Dano - VERY happy he's a Hawk.
- CaptainBlackhawk

I think we will be looking at Dano as the steal of that trade in a few seasons. Saad is going to be great for Columbus, but Dano, playing with the players the Hawks have, is going to be a great player for them for a long time.

I think AA and Dano were good assets to pick up-actually very good under the circumstances.

The rubber meets the road with how Daley will fit in...Oduya for much of last season was only average but he came on late and was very good in the playoffs.

I think a consequence of having to dump Sharp was losing Oduya...The #'s indicate that beyond anything else to me. So if Daley can be okay to good- the Hawks may not be any worse than last year.

Injuries always matter but what has been forgotten about is ...TVR was playing significant minutes when he got hurt and he missed the entire season.

So I'm very interesting in seeing what time of player TVR is, becasue if he is in the top 4 and Daley is a #5 things could be as good or better than last year on the blueline.
- Al

Very interesting as its something I never really thought of after they lost Oduya, was thinking if he came back, Daley at #5 would have been an improvement.

I think you'll see a lot of #'s 2,4, and 7 being split up with the other 3 to spread out minutes, especially during the season.

Hopefully Daley's D part of the game comes around after a season under Q and playing in the system.

If that can happen, I agree that the D could actually be better next year.

Completely agree with this. I think Marner could be a game changer, but he's more likely to be a guy you'd like to have be your 2nd or 3rd best guy. I really think the Leafs need that first overall pick (or maybe 2nd) to get this rebuild moving any faster than 5ish years. I feel the same about Rielly. I think he's great, but you'd really like for him to be your #2 d-man of the future. Then you're looking at some elite level talent.

I expect either the Leafs will get that 1st or 2nd overall pick this year, or we're looking at a pretty long rebuild. You guys saw it with the Hawks... getting Kane and Toews really sped things along to becoming a contender. I don't think the Leafs are going to get those kind of guys, so it's going to take a while.
- SolidGoldBricks

Having Babcock as coach may make finishing low enough to get 1st or 2nd difficult. I think the backup plan may be Stamkos or Kopitar or maybe some RFA poaching.

Think they were very fortunate to get Monohan @#6. You want to talk about crazy drafts, take a look at '13 now.
- vabeachbear

Sam Bennett at #4 in 14 looks solid now too. His playoffs this year reminded me of Roenick's call up. Bennett stood out a lot. He really took a leap this year.

if interested, some really sharp Avs writers are doing the central division roundup and talked about the hawks.

http://bsndenver.com/cent...undup-chicago-blackhawks/
- DDM-Coga

Thanks. Liked this about Tikhonov.... Hope the guy is right.

Among the most underrated moves of the summer was their addition of Viktor Tikhonov. I profiled him as a player the Avs would have been wise to target and his low-risk deal with Chicago is exactly the kind of intelligent move on the cheap that keeps their world class forward depth at a reasonable price. He’s not a game-changer but he’s a highly skilled player capable of playing quality defensive minutes and has more scoring touch than your average bottom 6 player. He’s definitely a big-time sleeper for me this upcoming season and it doesn’t surprise me at all the Blackhawks landed him for peanuts.

This was solid too...

Casey: Man oh man is that Anisimov deal smart for the Hawks. I follow the Jackets relatively closely and for those who weren’t aware, Anisimov and Dano were tearing it up the last few months of the 2014-15 season. People who think Chicago got fleeced in that trade simply haven’t watched those two play.

I think AA and Dano were good assets to pick up-actually very good under the circumstances.

The rubber meets the road with how Daley will fit in...Oduya for much of last season was only average but he came on late and was very good in the playoffs.

I think a consequence of having to dump Sharp was losing Oduya...The #'s indicate that beyond anything else to me. So if Daley can be okay to good- the Hawks may not be any worse than last year.

Injuries always matter but what has been forgotten about is ...TVR was playing significant minutes when he got hurt and he missed the entire season.

So I'm very interesting in seeing what time of player TVR is, becasue if he is in the top 4 and Daley is a #5 things could be as good or better than last year on the blueline.
- Al

Al - great point. And how many times did members of the defensive core look lost last year during the regular season??

The last two years, I have been worried in January but the team pulls it together and plays team defense once the playoffs get going. It seems like there are always just enough Hawks individually having a rough spell at any one time from January onwards that the whole team is inconsistent. Brad Richards' comments at the end of the season about the team being "not bored, but…" were very illuminating.

I think everyone should wait and see how things are going after the first 30 games or so… Dano, AA, Panarin, Garbutt, TT, Tikhonov, Daley, and TVR will all be fired up to play with the Hawks core for the first time, in the case of the new additions, or for a whole season, in the case of TT and TVR. Maybe the team doesn't go on a world-beater run like they did this past December, but as long as they consistently win enough to make the playoffs, they've got a chance.

Sam Bennett at #4 in 14 looks solid now too. His playoffs this year reminded me of Roenick's call up. Bennett stood out a lot. He really took a leap this year.
- tredbrta

Sam Bennet is going to be one ugly SOB to play against. There is no quit in him, he just keeps coming at you. As a junior player in Kingston he never stopped with or without the puck. Seems the new age NHL star is equal parts skill and tenacity.

Sam Bennet is going to be one ugly SOB to play against. There is no quit in him, he just keeps coming at you. As a junior player in Kingston he never stopped with or without the puck. Seems the new age NHL star is equal parts skill and tenacity.
- paulr

I was watching the Van-Cal series on NHL network last week, and it was pretty crazy how Bennett got rocked so many times in that series, and then just popped back up and got back into the play. Tough kid

From what I've read, it seems his father had as much input about "show me the money" as his agent.
- StLBravesFan

If I were Saad or anyone in his family I would be praising their agent.

I know, I was just clowning.

The Leafs ownership is definitely not treating the fans as poorly as Hawks' ownership did prior to this stretch. I don't know that any fan base has been (franked) with that bad. I do think that the Leafs' execs, for a long time, haven't cared enough that they put a good team on the ice. They still make a ton of money, regardless. From a business standpoint, why try to fix the product if people keep buying it?

I think in that way, this time in Toronto mimics the end of the last decade in Chicago: ownership, management, the folks in the high rises, are finally realizing it's time to try to put their best foot forward from a hockey perspective.

I don't know if this rebuild is going to work, but the reason Leafs' fans are so optimistic right now is because for the first time, it seems like drastic changes are being made and there is actually a plan going forward. We feel like we can trust the group making the decisions (which may be a mistake, but it's nice to feel that way for once).

I am sure this is similar to how it all felt when Bowman started making the Hawks into the best team of the decade.

Not to sway things from Hawks-talk too much, the JVR rumor doesn't make sense to me, unless the Hawks were willing to give up some top-level prospects. I know the Hawks have some great prospects, but do they really have ENOUGH of them to be giving some up for a guy like JVR? He's one of my favorite players, and I actually think he'd be great in Chicago, but I don't know that there's a trade that makes sense here.
- SolidGoldBricks

I have not been much of a believer in the Leafs over the years. With all the hype leading up to a new season, only to finish mediocre at best, I've kinda taken a "whatever, prove it" approach. This year, the optimism is warranted in my eyes. Babcock is the real deal, and Shanahan respectable. They have the right folks running that club. Now, they need the time to make the necessary alterations to change the culture. As they determine who fits and who doesn't, and make acquisitions and promote from within the system while they jettison expendable so, it will take time. But, the fan base is loyal, rabid, and understanding of the situation, so the brass will be given the time and latitude necessary. Toronto is a place where a Blackhawks type resurgence could occur if things fall together.

Huge believer in Babcock is probably the biggest reason for my being bullish on the Leafs going forward. He is an amazing hockey mind and handler of people. The only rain I will throw on your parade is I'm not as high on Lou. He has rightly earned respect for what he has done, but that was a long time ago in a different cap era. Can he adjust? Or has the game passed him by? These are fair questions to be asked and he will help determine the answers.

If the Leafs have a resurgence, it will be good for hockey.

There are quite a few reasons why I'm happy the Hawks didn't sign Brandon Saad, and why Bowman might have simply just moved on....

- Signing him to a $6mil RFA is lunacy at its best. Bowman knows it, the Hawks know it.

- The return the Hawks got was unreal for the situation they got in. They got a #2/#3 center, and a potential very good top 6 forward in Dano. Sign me up for that return!

- Signing him to that contract would have left the Hawks in an even more precarious position this offseason and into the next offseason. I'm highly confident in making this statement: Bowman didn't remotely think going into this season that he would potentially be looking at paying Saad $6 mil and projected salary cap earnings as such.
- CaptainBlackhawk

Respectfully my friend, its not lunacy to pay Saad $6 million when you offer him $5 million...it was simply more than they could afford...if Bowman had the space, all things being equal, he would have made the deal with Saad. But, as you pointed out so well, the return for the Hawks was outstanding (short response time or not). From what I understand both the Hawks hockey Mgt team AND the Coaching staff agree that the Hawks might be even better after this deal, and Coach Q was a huge believer in Brandon Saad!

The one thing that I wanted to point out to all Hawk fans is to let go of these NHL "definitions" in attempting to categorize Hawk players. In Chicago under the system that Coach Q runs, we really don't have 2nd, 3rd and 4th line Centres, we have ROLE PLAYERS that perform specific functions so that we can execute team defence. Someone the other day tried to "put down" the fact that the Hawks were so high on Marcus Kruger, who they argued was nothing more than a 4th line Centre. I rarely say the word "wrong", but in this instance it is. Kruger is NOT a traditional NHL 4th line Centre, so to pay him $2.5 million per season for the next 5 years MAKES A TON OF SENSE for the Hawks! He's our #1 PK forward, he's 55% at the dot, he takes a ton of our defensive zone face-offs, his "4th line" dominates puck possession even though they start most often in their own zone! Kruger and that line (which is still in tact at this point and something that Q wants to maintain) is SO VALUABLE to the Blackhawks cannot be valued simply by the amount of goals they score...that's NOT the role that they are asked to play by Q. Shutting down the opposition's best line in our own zone IS...and how much is that worth??? Can you put a price tag on what they did as a line during the Cup finals???

As for Anisimov, who knows how much offensive production he will generate Centring Patrick Kane, the Hawks are guessing a lot because that's why they signed him LONG TERM at a guaranteed price. But point production or not, his #1 role under Coach Q will be to WIN FACE-OFFS, get the puck to Patrick Kane, go to the net, and play solid Defence. Is this a "2nd line Centre"? Next to Kane it likely is, but under Q's system Anisimov will be asked to generate puck possession and limit the opposition's time in our own end while Kaner is on the ice...this is his #1 role in CHI, and to that end he has already agreed to begin face-off work with Yannic Perrault BEFORE camp starts...the Hawks feel he can become a 55% Centre at the dot with his size...and if he can achieve these things in CHI, whether he scores 40 or 60 points, his extension will be of good value!

As for Tuevo, if he does grab ahold of the "3rd line" Centre role this season, it will likely become the most atypical 3rd line in hockey...which, again, is FINE...as long as TT is dedicated to playing as aggressively in the DZone as he does in the OZone. The Hawks under Coach Q DEFY traditional NHL labels, because Q puts WINNING FIRST and identity second!

Al - great point. And how many times did members of the defensive core look lost last year during the regular season??

The last two years, I have been worried in January but the team pulls it together and plays team defense once the playoffs get going. It seems like there are always just enough Hawks individually having a rough spell at any one time from January onwards that the whole team is inconsistent. Brad Richards' comments at the end of the season about the team being "not bored, but…" were very illuminating.

I think everyone should wait and see how things are going after the first 30 games or so… Dano, AA, Panarin, Garbutt, TT, Tikhonov, Daley, and TVR will all be fired up to play with the Hawks core for the first time, in the case of the new additions, or for a whole season, in the case of TT and TVR. Maybe the team doesn't go on a world-beater run like they did this past December, but as long as they consistently win enough to make the playoffs, they've got a chance.
- DMChi2010

Younger legs mattered a lot in the playoffs....Will those legs belong to TVR, AA and Dano this time??

I would be concerned if Shaw and or Kruger were not here-Otherwise I see no reason to think the upcoming season is a throw away.

Thanks for the link.
- MartiniMan

no worries, I think its going to be a blood bath in the division this year, feels like teams evened out a bit more. Looking forward to the season to start already

Very interesting as its something I never really thought of after they lost Oduya, was thinking if he came back, Daley at #5 would have been an improvement.

I think you'll see a lot of #'s 2,4, and 7 being split up with the other 3 to spread out minutes, especially during the season.

Hopefully Daley's D part of the game comes around after a season under Q and playing in the system.

If that can happen, I agree that the D could actually be better next year.
- vabeachbear

It is almost always a matter of the competition a player faces...where a player is slotted matters a great deal-The word from those who watched Daley in Dallas last years was he was slotted too high.

Mexico:

Thought I wouldn't quote your entire response...

- My point in $6 mil being lunacy to Saad was more a statement of what Saad was seeking on a RFA contract. Not necessarily that he wasn't worth it - of course he was, another team gave him the dollar figure. I'm very happy it wasn't the Hawks. There are a scant few who hold our common feeling that the Hawks might actually be better this season - beyond ecstatic (I know I'm beating a dead horse here) with Anisimov and Dano as the return.

- You're spot on correct about line assignments and what Q does.