The problem is defense, and ironically the Hawks D will be among the leagues best in a few years given the talent Bowman has drafted over the last couple of drafts, however that doesn't help the Hawks now - with that said I can see Bowman perusing a quality defensemen this summer - this UFA class for defensemen is pretty impressive. At the same time a defenseman that will take a short-term deal. The Hawks have quantity on the back-end, what they lack is quality - the Hawks need a legitimate top 4 that can help until our studs are ready to eat NHL minutes.

I know many fans believe Bowman is "rebuilding" or that the Hawks need to "rebuild" however I don't think the Hawks are in full-blown rebuilding mode, the Hawks are more in a transition phase rather than rebuilding mode. Bowman will have roughly $20,000,000 to spend this summer and IMO if the Hawks can acquire/sign a legitimate top 4 defenseman and bring Panarin back - this is a playoff team... And yes, the Hawks don't look so hot now - but that's because they don't have the chemistry they had in previous seasons.. The Hawks roster is significantly different than what it was 3 years ago and it's preposterous to think that anyone in the system could step in and fill the shoes left by Hossa, Sharp or Hjalmarsson etc.. That wasn't going to happen and last summer Bowman was still limited when it came to cap flexibility so he was unable to sign the right players that could appropriately fill those roles ... This summer will be the first time in Bowman's GM career in which he actually has cap space to improve the team..... So if the Hawks can land a legitimate top 4 defenseman and get Panarin back (which I think is and has been part of the plan all along) they will be much better.... But like I said - I believe this team sucks because they have no chemistry on D ... The Hawks have shown they can score, however they cant keep the puck out of the net .. Of course that's a big problem to solve during the season however it's not as problematic during the offseason because a UFA signing or 2 can resolve that problem.

Like I said earlier in this post - this defensive UFA class is deep with quality and experienced defenseman .. Karlsson, Edler, Gardiner, Stralman, Kronwall, Bouwmeester, Myers etc... Yes I'm aware that many of these guys are past their prime, however they're experienced and that's what the Hawks need.... The reason why our D is so damn sloppy is because these kids have little professional experience, and I will take experiece over youthfulness any day of the week.. Those veteran defenseman know how to play in this league - these kids don't and European defense is a different ball game from NHL defense, not to mention they're not familiar with the system...

With any luck the Hawks will land Patrick Kane's clone - Jack Hughes at the draft, bring Panarin back and sign Stralman to a 3-year deal..

I think a line of Panarin-Toews-Kane would be lights out..
- Savard2Secord

Responding to “...ironically the Hawks d will be among the league’s best in a few years....”

We seem to be assuming that Chicago’s blue line prospects will be better than those of other teams in the league.

We don’t know what quality is in the pipelines of the other teams - maybe several have there own Jokiharju, Beaudins, Mitchells....maybe better than the future Hawks - they scout and draft future stars, too.

Dahlstrom is really growing on me.

For all of these smaller, offensive minded defencemen coming up soon for the Hawks, he's a welcomed sight.
- Justin Lowe

If he can get better at blocking shots vs quicker forwards he can really be a solid dman. He gets burned more times on backing off the forward and creating a great screen, poor Hawks goalies

Responding to “...ironically the Hawks d will be among the league’s best in a few years....”

We seem to be assuming that Chicago’s blue line prospects will be better than those of other teams in the league.

We don’t know what quality is in the pipelines of the other teams - maybe several have there own Jokiharju, Beaudins, Mitchells....maybe better than the future Hawks - they scout and draft future stars, too.
- StLBravesFan

They just have to be better than the stallworth of forwards they face every game, but yea that's a huge assumption

I would like to see a little more of him playing 2 games is not enough to make any judgement on his game. Also, this team can find out what they have in him as a player. If I'm not mistaken he was drafted in the top ten so he must have some talent.
- BGKarras

That was my point but I didn't feel like arguing with all the heads of scouting that post here and can tell if someone is gonna be a player after a small sample size.

Make it sound like he's only played 2 NHL games? Oh that's right he was so good with the Oilers
- BetweenTheDots

He didn't play for the oilers so it shows how much you actually know.

I don't think they are talking about Caggiula. Koekkoek probably.
- I Am The Breadman

Oops but same difference, i am speaking about Coke

He didn't play for the oilers so it shows how much you actually know.
- GPHawksfan

BFD so i guess he doesn't suck now, congrats

Well he played 3 games for the Hawks this year, i guess you dont actually know much either

Responding to “...ironically the Hawks d will be among the league’s best in a few years....”

We seem to be assuming that Chicago’s blue line prospects will be better than those of other teams in the league.

We don’t know what quality is in the pipelines of the other teams - maybe several have there own Jokiharju, Beaudins, Mitchells....maybe better than the future Hawks - they scout and draft future stars, too.
- StLBravesFan

Hawks have Kane, which gives them an advantage over almost all teams for 1/3 of every game...or half the game when Colliton plays him 29 minutes....

Hawks have Kane, which gives them an advantage over almost all teams for 1/3 of every game...or half the game when Colliton plays him 29 minutes....
- EnzoD

He is playing great this year, he's so talented

He is playing great this year, he's so talented
- BetweenTheDots

If they can improve the defense, continue getting consistent scoring from Toews, Debrincat, Saad, and Strome...they are a playoff bubble team next year. Cam Ward has had some stinker games, but also some excellent games too. Goaltending has not been the problem IMO.

They discussed the Keith situation on the pre-game, mentioning TOR and CAL as two possible destinations. After acknowledging it's 100% up to Keith if he wants to chase another Cup somewhere else, they polled the crew and Burish said he believes it's a >50% chance Keith is gone by the TDL.

Considering he's part of the ex-Hawks who still hang out with the current Hawks AFAIK, we might need to steel ourselves for a 2-less roster.

Dahlstrom is really growing on me.

For all of these smaller, offensive minded defencemen coming up soon for the Hawks, he's a welcomed sight.
- Justin Lowe

Exactly!! It seems everyone here just assumes all the undersized offensive defensemen Bowman has drafted the past two years are bonifide NHL'ers. Really???? In my opinion, you don't build a Cup contender with 5 or 6 defensemen of the same ilk. Look no further than at our top 4 with our Cup winning teams. If I had to guess, we will be lucky if two of them make it to the NHL as big time players. And just how long will we have to wait for them to be able to handle the physical abuse they will face? If Colliton isn't blowing smoke up our a$$ as to why Jokiharju was sent down (and he is 6' and 193lbs) because he needs to get stronger, just how long will it take the others to "make it"????
Just asking....

If they can improve the defense, continue getting consistent scoring from Toews, Debrincat, Saad, and Strome...they are a playoff bubble team next year. Cam Ward has had some stinker games, but also some excellent games too. Goaltending has not been the problem IMO.
- EnzoD

Im with you, it would be nice if we could grow more talent on lines 3 and 4, i feel like their special teams have gotten better with JC, but these dmen are so damn important to playing good consistent defense every night.

Responding to “...ironically the Hawks d will be among the league’s best in a few years....”

We seem to be assuming that Chicago’s blue line prospects will be better than those of other teams in the league.

We don’t know what quality is in the pipelines of the other teams - maybe several have there own Jokiharju, Beaudins, Mitchells....maybe better than the future Hawks - they scout and draft future stars, too.
- StLBravesFan

I think we don't know which of these young Dmen will actually live up the hype in the NHL. If they do, it could take some years before they become solid NHL dmen. I'll be more excited when these guys are actually pushing for roster spots.

Wtf, what channel are the hawks on? I'm only getting TB and NYR. I'm not on the east coast.

2 games? one shift is the limit to make a determination around here, bub.
- Elbows15

As long as it was At 4am watching AZ game replay

Im with you, it would be nice if we could grow more talent on lines 3 and 4, i feel like their special teams have gotten better with JC, but these dmen are so damn important to playing good consistent defense every night.
- BetweenTheDots

PP has gotten better for sure. PK has actually gotten worse, just a hare better than LA and Colorado for worst around over the last 3 months.

Just went to turn on the hockey game in the Chicago market on channel 5 and got the Rangers game instead what’s going on here? Anybody know

Wtf, what channel are the hawks on? I'm only getting TB and NYR. I'm not on the east coast.
- I Am The Breadman

Me too. Where the hell are the Hawks??? I have X-Finity and can't find them anywhere!!!

Where the hell are the Hawks tonight? NBC says they should have the hawks-wild but they’re showing the rangers-lightning?

Just went to turn on the hockey game in the Chicago market on channel 5 and got the Rangers game instead what’s going on here? Anybody know
- wonthecup10

Same here. Must be a screw up at the network level.

2 games? one shift is the limit to make a determination around here, bub.
- Elbows15

I'm not defering to the so called experts here bub.

They just announced puck drop at 8:21 Eastern time for the Hawks game

So the announcers said they will be moving to hawks game at puck drop. What an absolutely sh*tty to deal with this. Freaking aholes!!!

Same here. Must be a screw up at the network level.
- blackhawks30

Puck drop in Minny at 8:21.