Yeah Duchene would look great, and his less than 50 pts and -34. Let’s trade a 22 year old kid on his ELC for a older player with similar production.

The way the opinions on this board sway with each and every game is comical. It goes from Saad stinks, bench him, trade him, etc. to Saad should be in the top 6 after he has a strong game. Schmaltz shies away from contact, and now he should be dumped for someone more physical.

The Hawks already have a bottom 6 of players that will struggle to score consistently, so let’s package up any of our skilled players and get some more guys who are “tough to play against”. Who needs goals, they can lead he league in hits and 3-1 losses.
- TheTrob

Duchene - context. COL and OTT not exactly defensively oriented teams.

That said, the reason why the bottom six is so devoid of scorers is that the Hawks are elevating true bottom six guys/guys without established top six talent (Fortin for example) to the top six, and the AHL level/washed up NHL talent now fills the Hawk bottom six.

They do not have the depth of top six horses to compete at a high level on a consistent basis, and the weak pipeline of prospects is proving out to be like one in four have a shot of sticking, and for the most part, the guys who stick are the Vinnie H type who are middling at best.

So the machine hypes guys like NS because so much has been invested in them and they are just not panning out in the roles envisioned for them. Yes, he is young, yes it may be prudent to see what the guy's true upside is, but I fear the FO will over commit term and dollars on an enigma yet to be resolved.

Meh, that is secondary and Saad looked much better last night. Flipping the ice so they can at least generate opportunities in transition - where Kane is his best - is the biggest problem.
- fattybeef

Lack of forecheck is THE root cause of the problem. If they can only get legit chances to score on fast breaks, other teams have no reason to fear zone entry, and the ice is always tilted against the Hawks because the opposition is the one always able to transition.

Lack of forecheck is THE root cause of the problem. If they can only get legit chances to score on fast breaks, other teams have no reason to fear zone entry, and the ice is always tilted against the Hawks because the opposition is the one always able to transition.
- Return of the Roar

I disagree its the lack of talent that is the problem. This team showed last night what this board feared all summer.

I disagree its the lack of talent that is the problem. This team showed last night what this board feared all summer.
- riozzo

Hand in hand - what is lacking in the talent of the forward group is the ability to maintain a strong forecheck.

I disagree its the lack of talent that is the problem. This team showed last night what this board feared all summer.
- riozzo

BOD

Just a Boqvist update. After not scoring in his first 3 OHL games, Boqvist has 10 assists in his next 7 games. Sure the goals will come sooner than later. More than a point a game for a D-Man in a new league over last seven games pretty great start.

Just a Boqvist update. After not scoring in his first 3 OHL games, Boqvist has 10 assists in his next 7 games. Sure the goals will come sooner than later. More than a point a game for a D-Man in a new league over last seven games pretty great start.
- Z3Hawk

Meh! How many hits? How many fights?

Just a Boqvist update. After not scoring in his first 3 OHL games, Boqvist has 10 assists in his next 7 games. Sure the goals will come sooner than later. More than a point a game for a D-Man in a new league over last seven games pretty great start.
- Z3Hawk

Awesome, thanks for the update.
Joki is working hard for his first nhl goal. Keith might be rubbing off on him.

Awesome, thanks for the update.
Joki is working hard for his first nhl goal. Keith might be rubbing off on him.
- I Am The Breadman

Keith to Jokiharju: "If it doesn't hit shin pad or the glass, it doesn't count as a point shot."

I'm honestly not sure where some of you posters have been the past ten years, the league and Salary Cap has shown that premium young talent on cost-controlled contracts is extremely important to a winning team.

Schmaltz, Debrincat, and Jokiharju combined make less than Artem Anisimov. Let that sink in, three guys who will outscore AA this year all make a fraction of his salary.

The best teams have two things: a ton of talent, smart use of their cap space.

The cup winning Hawks had Keith on a great deal, ELC Toews and Kane. The Penguins had Murray, Rust, Guentzel, Dumoulin, Cullen, Sheary.

People calling for Schmaltz's trade might as well start cheering for the Kings, a big truculent slow team that ''takes no $hit' and wins no games. Unbelievably dumb how this thought is entertained on here. Shame on you.

I'm honestly not sure where some of you posters have been the past ten years, the league and Salary Cap has shown that premium young talent on cost-controlled contracts is extremely important to a winning team.

Schmaltz, Debrincat, and Jokiharju combined make less than Artem Anisimov. Let that sink in, three guys who will outscore AA this year all make a fraction of his salary.

The best teams have two things: a ton of talent, smart use of their cap space.

The cup winning Hawks had Keith on a great deal, ELC Toews and Kane. The Penguins had Murray, Rust, Guentzel, Dumoulin, Cullen, Sheary.

People calling for Schmaltz's trade might as well start cheering for the Kings, a big truculent slow team that ''takes no $hit' and wins no games. Unbelievably dumb how this thought is entertained on here. Shame on you.
- ObeseOprah

You are not wrong however the talent is not on par with the cup winning cost controlled team.

Will 8 every be what 19 was - Nope
Will 12 come close to 88 - possibly but my money is on 88 for a much better career
Will 28 ever be 2 - comes up short...

I'm honestly not sure where some of you posters have been the past ten years, the league and Salary Cap has shown that premium young talent on cost-controlled contracts is extremely important to a winning team.

Schmaltz, Debrincat, and Jokiharju combined make less than Artem Anisimov. Let that sink in, three guys who will outscore AA this year all make a fraction of his salary.

The best teams have two things: a ton of talent, smart use of their cap space.

The cup winning Hawks had Keith on a great deal, ELC Toews and Kane. The Penguins had Murray, Rust, Guentzel, Dumoulin, Cullen, Sheary.

People calling for Schmaltz's trade might as well start cheering for the Kings, a big truculent slow team that ''takes no $hit' and wins no games. Unbelievably dumb how this thought is entertained on here. Shame on you.
- ObeseOprah

Loving the use of shame in today's blog...

Keith to Jokiharju: "If it doesn't hit shin pad or the glass, it doesn't count as a point shot."
- breadbag

Hahaha, the man in 1000 plus games ought to know.

You are not wrong however the talent is not on par with the cup winning cost controlled team.

Will 8 every be what 19 was - Nope
Will 12 come close to 88 - possibly but my money is on 88 for a much better career
Will 28 ever be 2 - comes up short...
- riozzo

8 and 12 don't need to replace Toews and Kane, we still have Toews and Kane in their primes... They are replacing Hossa, sharp, etc

And I actually am thinking that 28 will eventually be better than 2...

8 and 12 don't need to replace Toews and Kane, we still have Toews and Kane in their primes... They are replacing Hossa, sharp, etc

And I actually am thinking that 28 will eventually be better than 2...
- ToewsdNKanefusd

Stop with the optimism already!

I don't think they're not trying -- they're certainly not productively working towards the same objective.

Crawford and Kane have been hiding a lot of this and its the same problems that got them bounced in 15-16 and 16-17 and then suck real hard last year.
- fattybeef

"You can give it all, but still they ask for more." -Pete Townshend

Loving the use of shame in today's blog...




- EnzoD

8 and 12 don't need to replace Toews and Kane, we still have Toews and Kane in their primes... They are replacing Hossa, sharp, etc

And I actually am thinking that 28 will eventually be better than 2...
- ToewsdNKanefusd

https://news.ubc.ca/2014/05/15/nhl-study/


"The study by Sauder School of Business Prof. James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age."

https://news.ubc.ca/2014/05/15/nhl-study/


"The study by Sauder School of Business Prof. James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age."
- EnzoD

Based on averages, every player is different. It is apparent that Kane is still at his peak, probably will be for a few more years at least. From Toews play so far this year, I think he finally got over back/concussion issues, and is back in tip top shape. I think this will be one of his best years regardless of what the team does.

https://news.ubc.ca/2014/05/15/nhl-study/


"The study by Sauder School of Business Prof. James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age."
- EnzoD

Without arguing your conclusion based on the study - I wonder if those ages have been increasing over the past 20 years because of (a) better training methods, and (b) higher value contracts giving players incentive to maintain conditioning and continue to improve their skills.

The study was announced 4 years ago, based on stats from 1997-98 through 2011-12. Issues like the salary cap, which creates more competition from younger cheaper players, combined with better training methods and higher valued contracts, may be leading to increasing the ages of peak performance.

- DarthKane

Enzo's is got, where is your gif from? It's not got, is it?

https://news.ubc.ca/2014/05/15/nhl-study/


"The study by Sauder School of Business Prof. James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age."
- EnzoD

Goaltenders are always odd birds.
Kane laughs in the face peaking.

Enzo's is got, where is your gif from? It's not got, is it?
- I Am The Breadman

Yeah it's from the same Walk of Shame for Cerci with the Religious Fanatics.

Yeah it's from the same Walk of Shame for Cerci with the Religious Fanatics.
- EnzoD

Okay, I wasn't sure. Thanks.
I'm so excited for that show to come back.

I'm honestly not sure where some of you posters have been the past ten years, the league and Salary Cap has shown that premium young talent on cost-controlled contracts is extremely important to a winning team.

Schmaltz, Debrincat, and Jokiharju combined make less than Artem Anisimov. Let that sink in, three guys who will outscore AA this year all make a fraction of his salary.

The best teams have two things: a ton of talent, smart use of their cap space.

The cup winning Hawks had Keith on a great deal, ELC Toews and Kane. The Penguins had Murray, Rust, Guentzel, Dumoulin, Cullen, Sheary.

People calling for Schmaltz's trade might as well start cheering for the Kings, a big truculent slow team that ''takes no $hit' and wins no games. Unbelievably dumb how this thought is entertained on here. Shame on you.
- ObeseOprah

Of the current ELC guys you mention, only ADB seems value versus production. Remember NS wants to get paid next year, and his ELC goes away. He and Joki are not "top talent" in the mold of 19, 2 or 88, or any of PB's second wave. They are too young and too inconsistent to make that claim. And a guy in Saad making $6MM a year sure isn't worth anywhere near that in his return tenure with the Hawks.

Not to mention, none of the guys you mentioned except maybe ADB are showing they will outscore AA yet this year.

Also hard to make the argument that SB has managed the cap very well either. Even with the rise in the upper limit, current salaries for premium players are up substantially from a couple of years ago, making meaningful FA additions just as difficult with the combined six salaries of Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Crawford, Saad and Keith eating up $45MM or 57% of the cap.