Good insight here.

Other: r u still still headstrong about Samuelson and not seeing it is a lot to do with the players if they can execute. I wrote in response to your rift on Samuelson coaching, namely, the type of play he wants to see from the defensemen. I then invited you to rank the guys y ok like, or dislike the least as future third pair and depth dmen for next season. I pointed out that I was not going to respond to your ranking; in fact I might even agree with your ranking. Being keenly on top of the players, I thought you would be up to rank by them
- jhawk59

I have posted continually that the system being played by the Hawks this year was never the system played in the past. The Hawks have always played a system where the D would chip in offensively to different degrees. However, the D activated opportunistically - when it made sense, when it was safe. The D didn’t leave themselves totally vulnerable to break-outs. It has been insane/pathetic this year.

The personnel decisions have also left lots to be desired. Keith requires protection so that he can play the aggressive Rover role he always has played. That is why he was protected by Hammer and before that Seabrook. You can’t have both D playing the Rover roll.

Regarding D the 3 best most well rounded D are Keith, Seabrook and Murphy. Keith’s game has been off as he has been playing with the wrong partners. Seabrook has babysitted for year’s now and especially this year. Murphy has been treated terribly. I can’t fathom how it has been beneficial to treat Murphy this way but Q obviously is still mad about the Hammer trade. If you watch Olympic hockey on the huge ice surface the prototypical D can play physical hockey/be hard on the puck and have a certain skating level. They just don’t skate. The only Hawks’ D who can do both are Keith, Seabrook and Murphy. I thought Kempny had potential too but he was very weak on the 3rd goal last game.

Regarding the other D the Hawks have unless they can add an edge to their games they are always going to ultimately be uni-dimensional and ineffective.

I have posted continually that the system being played by the Hawks this year was never the system played in the past. The Hawks have always played a system where the D would chip in offensively to different degrees. However, the D activated opportunistically - when it made sense, when it was safe. The D didn’t leave themselves totally vulnerable to break-outs. It has been insane/pathetic this year.

The personnel decisions have also left lots to be desired. Keith requires protection so that he can play the aggressive Rover role he always has played. That is why he was protected by Hammer and before that Seabrook. You can’t have both D playing the Rover roll.

Regarding D the 3 best most well rounded D are Keith, Seabrook and Murphy. Keith’s game has been off as he has been playing with the wrong partners. Seabrook has babysitted for year’s now and especially this year. Murphy has been treated terribly. I can’t fathom how it has been beneficial to treat Murphy this way but Q obviously is still mad about the Hammer trade. If you watch Olympic hockey on the huge ice surface the prototypical D can play physical hockey/be hard on the puck and have a certain skating level. They just don’t skate. The only Hawks’ D who can do both are Keith, Seabrook and Murphy. I thought Kempny had potential too but he was very weak on the 3rd goal last game.

Regarding the other D the Hawks have unless they can add an edge to their games they are always going to ultimately be uni-dimensional and ineffective.
- Z3Hawk

THIS is the problem. Keith, while still good, no longer walks on water, Seabrook and Murphy are slow, both looking more like bottom pairing guys than the 2/3 in any team's attack.

The blue line sucks, pure and simple. You got some guys who do some good things, but by and large ONE player on this Defense would play a Top 4 role for any of the major contenders, except for maybe Pittsburgh who seems to win with limited D depth.

There were reasons that Panarin was traded that went beyond his play on the ice. In the same way TT was not dedicated to the Hawks and hockey, Panarin acted similarly. I posted about this while Panarin was still with the team. When the Hawks got beat out in the First Round, in both seasons that Panarin was here, he couldn’t get back to Russia fast enough to play for Russia at the WCs. What was appalling is Panarin would be complaining about being tired after a long NHL season but would play lights out, high energy as soon as he got on the ice for Russia. After being eliminated by the Blues Panarin partied on the ice with Tarasenko as if he played for the Blues. Other Hawks’ player knew players on the Blues and nobody else acted this way. Being eliminated is supposed to sting - a lot.

Why do AA, Ovie and other European players speak English well? They care about it and take steps to learn English. Panarin could not have cared less. While some players take intensive courses to learn Panarin did nothing.

For those who are saying the Panarin/Saad trade is one of the worst Hawks’ trades of all time - get some objectivity. Hawks still win the trade in spite of Saad and the Hawks fighting it this year. Regarding Kane’s down play this year, it is not a question of not having Panarin, it is a question of Q refusing to give Kane a proper LW replacement. DeBrincat seems prototypically fit as a sniping Right-Handed LW and Q has refused to play him there. Has also refused to play Sharp there or Saad, for any length of time. Q has now decided Bouma should be Kane’s LW - Bouma - wonderful.

I don’t see Bouma being assigned as Crosby’s LW if Bouma was a Penguin.
- Z3Hawk

So you are saying that the guy scores over 70 points in each of his FIRST two seasons , finishes 9th in scoring in the entire league one season and 11th the next season and wins the Calder Trophy in his rookie year all because he has no dedication to hockey and can't speak english. Then they trade him for a player who is little more than half as good and of course this somehow leads you to think Chicago won this trade. IMO Propaganda is still a problem on this board. See how
pissed off Kane feels about what you said.

https://www.secondcityhoc...columbus-blue-jackets-nhl

this capitals team is very beatable 3-2-2 last 7 and have given up a lot of goals; but the hawks never seem to rise up and beat them in regular season...they never win DC...every 3 years eke out a win @ home.

Hawks cant score nor defend a lead; they beat themselves with unforced and I believe lead the league in odd mans against.

keep this up vs the caps = happy 9th loss in a row...
- bogiedoc

The worst news for the Hawks all season has slumping teams or slumping opposition goalies.
This team has been an elixir for both. Double whammy tonight.
Prediction: Caps shutout the Hawks tonight.

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?
- EnzoD

Add that to the loooong list why Bowman should get canned.

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?
- EnzoD

Probably won't happen but only because almost no other GM can spell Hjallmarsson

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?
- EnzoD

The good news is that Bowman doesn't need any laxatives right now.

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?
- EnzoD

Nope. He will be there to trade Connor Murphy, his prize piece in the Hammer deal.

JJ just reported that Murphy's name has been floated around with multiple teams.

Will be a shame if he's moved purely based on the fact that Hammer should have brought back a legitimate piece to help the future of this team.

Nope. He will be there to trade Connor Murphy, his prize piece in the Hammer deal.

JJ just reported that Murphy's name has been floated around with multiple teams.

Will be a shame if he's moved purely based on the fact that Hammer should have brought back a legitimate piece to help the future of this team.
- Justin Lowe

It would be good to get that nearly $4mil off the books for a guy who Q has healthy scratched often, and has played almost exclusively 5/6D minutes. Would've rather gotten AZ's 1st round pick and nothing else for Hammer. So it goes. I have zero faith in Bowman to get this team out of the dumpster. Should be an interesting 6 months......

JJ is mentioning more talks with OTT (possibly Zach Smith as one of the targets).

I've heard Zach Smith's name out there are as well. He would be a solid addition, although fans might not love a $3.2M 3rd line C, Lord knows some had issues with Kruger for that price point in that role.

Acquiring someone like Smith makes sense from something I've been hearing for a while - that the Hawks have been looking to add more "character" players.

Another one to keep an eye on is Cody Ceci, the vibe is that Ottawa might not want to pay the kid. 24-years old, RHD, playing 22 mins/game, 120 blocks... another high character.

Bowman never trades for 'future considerations', I suppose this is because it involves a prediction about his future with the organization.

JJ is mentioning more talks with OTT (possibly Zach Smith as one of the targets).

I've heard Zach Smith's name out there are as well. He would be a solid addition, although fans might not love a $3.2M 3rd line C, Lord knows some had issues with Kruger for that price point in that role.

Acquiring someone like Smith makes sense from something I've been hearing for a while - that the Hawks have been looking to add more "character" players.

Another one to keep an eye on is Cody Ceci, the vibe is that Ottawa might not want to pay the kid. 24-years old, RHD, playing 22 mins/game, 120 blocks... another high character.
- Justin Lowe

Anisimov and Murphy for the Sens duo. Ceci would be the Hawks #2 D from day 1. Where does Anisimov slot in with Smith at 3C? $4.5 mil 4th line center??

JJ is mentioning more talks with OTT (possibly Zach Smith as one of the targets).

I've heard Zach Smith's name out there are as well. He would be a solid addition, although fans might not love a $3.2M 3rd line C, Lord knows some had issues with Kruger for that price point in that role.

Acquiring someone like Smith makes sense from something I've been hearing for a while - that the Hawks have been looking to add more "character" players.

Another one to keep an eye on is Cody Ceci, the vibe is that Ottawa might not want to pay the kid. 24-years old, RHD, playing 22 mins/game, 120 blocks... another high character.
- Justin Lowe

Kruger was okay until his offense dried up nearly completely and his effectiveness has started to drop off. 3.2M for Smith is a bit steep. I guess that is the trade off unless the Hawks want to give up more to get someone on a better contract.

Ceci wouldn't be bad.

When John Chayka in AZ trades Hjallmarsson for a 1st round pick and better prospect than Murphy, will Stan Bowman be fired on the spot?
- EnzoD

Enzo my thoughts exactly. We can look at the Caretaker's last several seasons of dreadful moves, but this year alone looks like enough to get him sh*tcanned. But will McD do anything I doubt it as long as he's Scotty's BFF.

When Hammer ends up on a Cup contender here shortly and Chayka gets a 1st and prospect you'll really want to reach for an air-sick bag. So Stan moves his best remaining core dman for what exactly over the summer? Murphy looks like a third pairing guy at best.

The Panarin deal which looks worse every moment. Here are the breadman's numbers 15 g 31 helpers...including 3 GWGs and he's a +8. Saad 14g 11 helpers - but 6 GWGs - no question Panarin is more of a playmaker than Saader. Saad was supposed to jump start your 10.5 mildo center's game and it hasn't worked out.

Both of these moves were made somewhat in part for cost control not for the betterment of the team - hey and ticket prices are going up next season aren't they? Bowman backed himself into a corner with those overpays and nmc's and it forced his hand...

The other thing that can't be overlooked was the backup goalie situation.
Forsberg the other chip in the Panarin deal, hasn't worked out either.

And there's two parts to that - by weakening your defense you put more of an onus on the goalie. But you had Crawford to pick up the slack. But like the last two seasons Crawford has gone down for an extended period and Stan had no solid backup in place. You had a kid that hadn't played but a few games in the NHL and a 32 year old rookie. And while the defense can certainly be blamed here some of these goals against have just been bad goals. How does Stan get a pass on that?

Nice to see Raanta the other night for the Yotes? What did Stan exactly get for him?

Going for #9 tonight...we'll see if the Hawks can stop the bleeding.

Enzo my thoughts exactly. We can look at the Caretaker's last several seasons of dreadful moves, but this year alone looks like enough to get him sh*tcanned. But will McD do anything I doubt it as long as he's Scotty's BFF.

When Hammer ends up on a Cup contender here shortly and Chayka gets a 1st and prospect you'll really want to reach for an air-sick bag. So Stan moves his best remaining core dman for what exactly over the summer? Murphy looks like a third pairing guy at best.

The Panarin deal which looks worse every moment. Here are the breadman's numbers 15 g 31 helpers...including 3 GWGs and he's a +8. Saad 14g 11 helpers - but 6 GWGs - no question Panarin is more of a playmaker than Saader. Saad was supposed to jump start your 10.5 mildo center's game and it hasn't worked out.

Both of these moves were made somewhat in part for cost control not for the betterment of the team - hey and ticket prices are going up next season aren't they? Bowman backed himself into a corner with those overpays and nmc's and it forced his hand...

The other thing that can't be overlooked was the backup goalie situation.
Forsberg the other chip in the Panarin deal, hasn't worked out either.

And there's two parts to that - by weakening your defense you put more of an onus on the goalie. But you had Crawford to pick up the slack. But like the last two seasons Crawford has gone down for an extended period and Stan had no solid backup in place. You had a kid that hadn't played but a few games in the NHL and a 32 year old rookie. And while the defense can certainly be blamed here some of these goals against have just been bad goals. How does Stan get a pass on that?

Nice to see Raanta the other night for the Yotes? What did Stan exactly get for him?

Going for #9 tonight...we'll see if the Hawks can stop the bleeding.
- DK002

Yep. And like I said last night if you didn't see my lenghty post......everyone wants to talk about "Cost Certainty" and "Contract Term" with both Saad and Murphy. The goal this year was to win the Stanley Cup, right? So who gives a (frank) if you have Saad for 4 years and Murphy for 5 if they are lesser players and make the team worse? If the goal was to win a Cup this year while Keith still has his legs, then Bowman failed miserably. Panarin + Hjallmarsson for 2 seasons and maybe a shot at a Cup this year? Or Saad and Murphy for 4/5 seasons and an embarrassing last place finish and Lottery Pick? Hossa loss is a factor, but considering what Murphy and Saad have done, I don't care if they are signed for 20 years....Bowman made the team worse. Every job has quotas/standards/minimum requirements. Last time I checked, the standard of the Hawks under Rocky and John McD was to make the playoffs and compete for a Cup. You don't think John McD is fuming about the Hawks JUST missing 10 straight years in the playoffs?? I'm sure he already had 20 pieces of memorabilia on deck to celebrate the "Decade of the Hawks" or some poop like that.

I think the Saad/Murphy debacles are the tipping point for Stanley to be shown the door.....at least I hope so. And no way, keep the blood pouring. Hawks won't get 10 straight years in the playoffs, but they can go for 10 straight losses and a guaranteed Top 10 draft pick

For what it's worth, Zack Smith is ranked 826 out of 915 (-25) in the league in plus minus in only 42 games. Second worst on his team. I hope it's not time to start worrying about what goes the other way in a trade.

For what it's worth, Zack Smith is ranked 826 out of 915 (-25) in the league in plus minus in only 42 games. Second worst on his team. I hope it's not time to start worrying about what goes the other way in a trade.
- Savoy

Seabrook + Hartman + Anisimov for Smith + Ceci

Yep. And like I said last night if you didn't see my lenghty post......everyone wants to talk about "Cost Certainty" and "Contract Term" with both Saad and Murphy. The goal this year was to win the Stanley Cup, right? So who gives a (frank) if you have Saad for 4 years and Murphy for 5 if they are lesser players and make the team worse? If the goal was to win a Cup this year while Keith still has his legs, then Bowman failed miserably. Panarin + Hjallmarsson for 2 seasons and maybe a shot at a Cup this year? Or Saad and Murphy for 4/5 seasons and an embarrassing last place finish and Lottery Pick? Hossa loss is a factor, but considering what Murphy and Saad have done, I don't care if they are signed for 20 years....Bowman made the team worse. Every job has quotas/standards/minimum requirements. Last time I checked, the standard of the Hawks under Rocky and John McD was to make the playoffs and compete for a Cup. You don't think John McD is fuming about the Hawks JUST missing 10 straight years in the playoffs?? I'm sure he already had 20 pieces of memorabilia on deck to celebrate the "Decade of the Hawks" or some poop like that.

I think the Saad/Murphy debacles are the tipping point for Stanley to be shown the door.....at least I hope so. And no way, keep the blood pouring. Hawks won't get 10 straight years in the playoffs, but they can go for 10 straight losses and a guaranteed Top 10 draft pick
- EnzoD

Hey Enzo...good to hear from you. The big question is does McD? Does Rocky see what's going on...because it isn't just this season alone when you start adding up Stan's mistakes going back to Leddy and then the following debacle of a summer with the Sharp/Saad/Bickell/Oduya/ etc...mistakes. I completely agree with you on the fact that if Bowman had actually made the right moves that summer there's a good chance you'd have both Saad and Panarin on your team right now.

The other thing I thought was funny was Bowman coming out from under cover to do an interview on the local CSN outlet last week. Bowman said most of the team will be here and then started say that the talent was there and we needed to get more out of the PP. Which is now actually scoring goals BTW. But for me it translated to him trying to shift the blame to Q. But what he was really saying was- well I've I franked up these overpays with NMCs boys and here's what you got for the next couple of seasons.

I'm praying that Rocky and McD really see what's going on here and make a move accordingly. But I fear they won't. Maybe when they see Hammer traded for a 1st and a pick to Tampa while Stan gets scraps for Murphy from Ott. But McD's got his Scotty goggles on - so I don't know.

One thing is for sure Bowman has done enough damage and needs to go.

JJ is mentioning more talks with OTT (possibly Zach Smith as one of the targets).

I've heard Zach Smith's name out there are as well. He would be a solid addition, although fans might not love a $3.2M 3rd line C, Lord knows some had issues with Kruger for that price point in that role.

Acquiring someone like Smith makes sense from something I've been hearing for a while - that the Hawks have been looking to add more "character" players.

Another one to keep an eye on is Cody Ceci, the vibe is that Ottawa might not want to pay the kid. 24-years old, RHD, playing 22 mins/game, 120 blocks... another high character.
- Justin Lowe

I thought the plan was to get younger bigger and faster ceci makes sense but smith 30 years old average skater good 2 way player but rather pague. Isn't wingles the same ilk as smith and cheaper next offseason. What would be the trade who goes from the hawks? To me if the hawks trade AA should go to a contender and get young center or d man in return. JJ also mention murphy for Brendan smith bowman should be fired right away if that happen smith makes more and is just as bad as murphy and older no no no!!

Hey Enzo...good to hear from you. The big question is does McD? Does Rocky see what's going on...because it isn't just this season alone when you start adding up Stan's mistakes going back to Leddy and then the following debacle of a summer with the Sharp/Saad/Bickell/Oduya/ etc...mistakes. I completely agree with you on the fact that if Bowman had actually made the right moves that summer there's a good chance you'd have both Saad and Panarin on your team right now.

The other thing I thought was funny was Bowman coming out from under cover to do an interview on the local CSN outlet last week. Bowman said most of the team will be here and then started say that the talent was there and we needed to get more out of the PP. Which is now actually scoring goals BTW. But for me it translated to him trying to shift the blame to Q. But what he was really saying was- well I've I franked up these overpays with NMCs boys and here's what you got for the next couple of seasons.

I'm praying that Rocky and McD really see what's going on here and make a move accordingly. But I fear they won't. Maybe when they see Hammer traded for a 1st and a pick to Tampa while Stan gets scraps for Murphy from Ott. But McD's got his Scotty goggles on - so I don't know.

One thing is for sure Bowman has done enough damage and needs to go.
- DK002

Even if you want to excuse Bowman for the talent reducing trades of Hammer and Panarin (as well as giving him a pass for Leddy,Sharp,Danault,Bickell trades), why does he get a pass for the downright atrocious defense group he's assembled??? The defense group and lack of a quality backup goaltender are the biggest reasons for this team being awful. If he viewed Connor Murphy as a Top Pair Dman, then it is clear his hockey talent analysis is brutal. I'm not surprised that he cannot assess talent very well (look at his draft record on The-Rink.com). Did he even play hockey past Peewee?? Hawks need a hockey guy in charge of this roster. They also need a hockey guy who has the respect of the boys club that is the 30 other NHL GMs. I just get the feeling that Stanley is viewed as "Scotty's kid" by other GMs. That is complete speculation/opinion on my part, but what qualifications did Stan Bowman have to be the General Manager of an NHL team besides being Scotty Bowman's son???

Even if you want to excuse Bowman for the talent reducing trades of Hammer and Panarin (as well as giving him a pass for Leddy,Sharp,Danault,Bickell trades), why does he get a pass for the downright atrocious defense group he's assembled??? The defense group and lack of a quality backup goaltender are the biggest reasons for this team being downright awful. If he viewed Connor Murphy as a Top Pair Dman, then it is clear his hockey talent analysis is awful. I'm not surprised that he cannot assess talent very well (look at his draft record on The-Rink.com). Did he even play hockey past Peewee?? Hawks need a hockey guy in charge of this roster. They also need a hockey guy who has the respect of the boys club that is the 30 other NHL GMs. I just get the feeling that Stanley is viewed as "Scotty's kid" by other GMs. That is complete speculation on my part, but what qualifications did Stan Bowman have to be the General Manager of an NHL team besides being Scotty Bowman's son???
- EnzoD

'hockey talent analysis is awful.' in spite of IMO a darn good scouting dept that produced the young core we have now as well as guys like Panarin and the Euro defensemen etc.

'hockey talent analysis is awful.' in spite of IMO a darn good scouting dept that produced the young core we have now as well as guys like Panarin and the Euro defensemen etc.
- Savoy

I want to see Bowman do to another GM what they have been doing to him for years.....trade the Hawks a 1st round Pick and Highly touted prospect for an overrated player like Murphy or Anisimov. I will dislike him less if he's able to make some positive moves towards the rebuild this trade deadline. If he does nothing, that's unacceptable. He should be selling who he can for 1st round picks or high end prospects. This is going to be a long, ugly few years if drastic action isn't taken this TDL and summer....

Yep. And like I said last night if you didn't see my lenghty post......everyone wants to talk about "Cost Certainty" and "Contract Term" with both Saad and Murphy. The goal this year was to win the Stanley Cup, right? So who gives a (frank) if you have Saad for 4 years and Murphy for 5 if they are lesser players and make the team worse? If the goal was to win a Cup this year while Keith still has his legs, then Bowman failed miserably. Panarin + Hjallmarsson for 2 seasons and maybe a shot at a Cup this year? Or Saad and Murphy for 4/5 seasons and an embarrassing last place finish and Lottery Pick? Hossa loss is a factor, but considering what Murphy and Saad have done, I don't care if they are signed for 20 years....Bowman made the team worse. Every job has quotas/standards/minimum requirements. Last time I checked, the standard of the Hawks under Rocky and John McD was to make the playoffs and compete for a Cup. You don't think John McD is fuming about the Hawks JUST missing 10 straight years in the playoffs?? I'm sure he already had 20 pieces of memorabilia on deck to celebrate the "Decade of the Hawks" or some poop like that.

I think the Saad/Murphy debacles are the tipping point for Stanley to be shown the door.....at least I hope so. And no way, keep the blood pouring. Hawks won't get 10 straight years in the playoffs, but they can go for 10 straight losses and a guaranteed Top 10 draft pick
- EnzoD

After the Nashville playoff debacle, Stanley decided it was his team to run and he was going to show Q who was boss. First act was he sh$t canned Q's best friend Mike Kitchen, probably due to deep seated anger over Kitchen not ever being able to turn any of David Rundblad, Michael Kempny, Ville Pokka, Christian Erhoff or Eric Gustaffson into the potential Norris Trophy winners that Stanley thought they could be.

And then he decides Connor Murphy had the potential to be great, that it was a Coyote's issue that was preventing him from realizing his potential.
And to boot, he'd be a cost effective upgrade on Hammer. And if something really went wrong, he could always fall back on Cody Franson.

Don't expect better going forward with Stan at the helm as GM, chief talent evaluator and trading desk supervisor. He's up against professional hockey men in the Central Division who can identify a real hockey player when they see one - Jim Nill, Doug Armstrong, Joe Sakic and David Poile. And those guys can spot a hockey amateur like Stanbo a mile away.

Nope. He will be there to trade Connor Murphy, his prize piece in the Hammer deal.

JJ just reported that Murphy's name has been floated around with multiple teams.

Will be a shame if he's moved purely based on the fact that Hammer should have brought back a legitimate piece to help the future of this team.
- Justin Lowe

If Murphy is traded then that is a huge failure. Q jacked Murphy around all year. Off side. Then out of the line up. It will be TD part two. Again how can anyone on this team, especially the D get into any flow with this friggin circus Q runs.

#TimeForChange