Patrick Kane still produced when it mattered most even if he wasn't physical. Schmaltz pisses down his leg and disappears. The 2013 -2015 Hawks (outside of Bickell) didn't lay a ton of lumber in the playoffs, but they would take the hits and make the plays. They were fearless. Until Schmaltz grows a pair he will be worthless for a cup contender during the playoffs. And you don't give a player like that term and dollars.
- tazer_and_diet

Schmaltz has played in 4 playoff games where the entire hawks team got dismantled, I don’t think you can put that on him.

I agree that I would like to see more pushback from some of the Hawks when it comes to standing up for your teammates, but why single out Schmaltz? His role on this team is to make plays on the offensive and defensive end of play using his high level speed, stick skills, and hockey sense.

I would like to see him add a little push back to his game, but I think this will come with time and maturity. The same thing was said about Patrick Kane when he entered the league and as he has matured he has added some physical pushback.

Also, I’m not sure schmaltz loses as many puck batted as many on here suggest. He did have the most turnovers on the team, many of which come from winning puck battles.
- LaheysBRandy

Could not agree more.
A.) He is basically new to the league;
B.) He is not a big guy, and;
C.) He is one of the players on your team the other guys should be standing up for.

Rutta odd man out or traded for pick or prospect
- Scott1977

I could end up being wrong. I think Murphy is low man on the totem pole on the right side in the coaches eyes. (not considering rookies)

I think the coaches like Rutta more than people realize and he probably is gonna be one of the top PK guys on D again. He was pretty effective on the PK considering he was playing his first NA season. Injuries kept him out of the lineup but in those 57 games he put up 20 points and I don't think the Hawks will ignore that. They will want the two way play they get out of him.

Most likely in my eyes will be...

Keith - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Rutta
Manning - Jokiharju
Murphy

#2 and #7 were back together to finish the season last year and I think they go back to it. I think they will ease Jokiharju in if he makes the team. He is a good prospect but I don't know that he is ready to face the better forwards in the NHL with success as a 19 year old. If it was the old days, where the second pair could take the tough minutes, maybe then he'd play with Keith, but likely they ride #2 and whomever he is with for the match ups again.

I could see the Hawks playing Murphy on the left side if needed again. Probably no D on the roster after #2 and #7 are a lock to play every day. Any of Gus, Rutta, Murphy, Manning, etc.. probably find themselves riding pine if they struggle.

Seemed to me that most people on this board hated him...until they saw what life was like without him. Fickle Fans.
- Ogilthorpe2

Crawford is Osgood 2.0, a $3 million t best. Stan should be following the Detroit model.

I’d bet on Kahun making the team over Sikura.

My guess on opening period lineup....


Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Kunitz
Kahun-Anisimov-Hayden
Martinsen-Kruger-Kampf

Keith-Murphy
Manning-Jokiharju
Gustafson-Seabrook

Ward
Forsberg
- EnzoD

Kunitz on the 2nd l...I certainly hope not. I agree the Kahun will make the team but I think Sikura will too. However, I do question if Sikura will be able to stick with the team for the entire season (fingers crossed that he does).

I could end up being wrong. I think Murphy is low man on the totem pole on the right side in the coaches eyes. (not considering rookies)

I think the coaches like Rutta more than people realize and he probably is gonna be one of the top PK guys on D again. He was pretty effective on the PK considering he was playing his first NA season. Injuries kept him out of the lineup but in those 57 games he put up 20 points and I don't think the Hawks will ignore that. They will want the two way play they get out of him.

Most likely in my eyes will be...

Keith - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Rutta
Manning - Jokiharju
Murphy

#2 and #7 were back together to finish the season last year and I think they go back to it. I think they will ease Jokiharju in if he makes the team. He is a good prospect but I don't know that he is ready to face the better forwards in the NHL with success as a 19 year old. If it was the old days, where the second pair could take the tough minutes, maybe then he'd play with Keith, but likely they ride #2 and whomever he is with for the match ups again.

I could see the Hawks playing Murphy on the left side if needed again. Probably no D on the roster after #2 and #7 are a lock to play every day. Any of Gus, Rutta, Murphy, Manning, etc.. probably find themselves riding pine if they struggle.
- breadbag

I agree that Murphy will probably find himself as the odd man out on D this year based on how the coaching staff used him last year, but I am really hoping he finds his game this year and starts to play consistently as a top 4 shut down guy. If Murphy continues to go relatively unused, it makes the Hammer trade so frustrating for me. I get that maybe the Blackhawks didn’t see Hammer as part of the future wave of talent and were not keen on resigning him this year, but could they really not find more of a sure thing in exchange for Hjalmarsson? He was so great for us for so many years and was a huge part of 3 cups, is relatively young compared to some of our other D, and had a cheap contract, I just don’t get how they couldn’t find a player that management and the coaching staff were aligned on in exchange for him.

Saad I'll give you, he might improve, still young enough. Though IMO he'll never be anything more than what he's been these past few seasons, and is wildly overrated by the fans here. ("he's a more complete overall player than Panarin".....LOLOLOL)

But the other 3 are who they are, and will only regress further at this point.

Which is why we're screwed because we're still trying to build around these players, who are shadows of their former selves yet still paid as if they're superstars.

Its silly, blind, and foolish to hold on to any hope for that trio at this point. They're done. Cooked. ESPECIALLY seabrook.
- SimpleJack

Saad won't take any huge leaps but he is still the better defensive player. He is able to play the PK but isn't as effective on the PP. He is more of what the Hawks need if he can get back to reasonable level of scoring. The team has been missing more on the defensive side than offensive.

Keith/Seabrook/Toews are not so old that they can only regress. That line of thinking doesn't make sense.

With Forsling’s injury I doubt they’ll have to make a move for a while. Forsling will be out for 14 weeks and he’ll need a few more to get back into game shape.

Maybe the Hawks invite a UFA defenseman to camp on a PTO but I wouldn’t count on that working out. I would expect the Hawks defense to start off something like this:

Keith - Murphy
Manning - Jokiharju
Gustafson - Seabrook
Rutta

Maybe Rutta or Jokiharju get some moved to the left side.
- DarthKane

Bang on Darth!

Check out my new blog (with a shoutout to you and these pairings).

*NEW* blog up: https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=94168

Seemed to me that most people on this board hated him...until they saw what life was like without him. Fickle Fans.
- Ogilthorpe2

Perfectly stated Ogi. Cro suffered from back-up QBitis. Now that his back-up is no longer the Darling of the NHL and Cro's work stands where it should, people are upset. Fan's should have backed Cro before he was ill.