Dahlstrom looks decent at times but he doesn't handle a strong forecheck very well. When he's going back for the puck and knows a forechecker is on him - he prioritizes bracing for the hit over moving the puck and more times than not it results in either losing control or a 50/50 scramble. Sometimes it's not avoidable because there's no time to make a play but many times you can see him have time to move the puck one way or the other but instead he braces for the hit. That, to me, is the reason he needs to be replaced in the lineup. Forsling does the same thing. Again - every d-man does it to a certain extent based on the circumstances of the play in real time - but Dahlstrom (and Forsling) do it when a better play is there to be made.
- EbonyRaptor

I think this is also a function of the competition among the younger D guys for the open spots. They might just be playing a little more conservatively so as not to make mistakes and get press boxed or I-Passed.

Maybe Perlini's recent emergence is an indicator of what can happen when you play more relaxed - at least listening to him that is what he says has made the difference in his game of late.

I think this is also a function of the competition among the younger D guys for the open spots. They might just be playing a little more conservatively so as not to make mistakes and get press boxed or I-Passed.

Maybe Perlini's recent emergence is an indicator of what can happen when you play more relaxed - at least listening to him that is what he says has made the difference in his game of late.
- Return of the Roar

Yeah, maybe. Maybe he's scared to make a mistake so he opts for a 50/50 board battle over a pass he's not certain about. Could be, but at some point he needs to not play scared and make a better play.

Bang on.

This is why even when anyone looks two and three years down the line in search of true cap space, it still really isn't there. When CC is done, they will know if Delia is for real within a year or so of that. If he is, he will want to paid like a #1, and if he is a bust, they are now in the FA market for another #1 who will also want to be paid like one. And it won't be $6MM/year three years from now for one of those guys.

Compounding things is the paltry 3%ish annual cap increase which barely covers the extension of most squad's RFA troupes.

Player development is the only way out until the big guns' contracts are gone. I guess most people think I'm being critical all the time - I'm not really. I am simply pointing out that the rebuild process is not going to be a quick one for the Hawks. It is going to take time. Once you accept that developing their own players is the best path out you come to understand the importance of drafting well - and higher - is more important for the Hawks than say a team with cap to work with.

But when guys like McDavid and Matthews get eight figure deals, guys like Stone get $9MM, and top D guys get $6-10MM today, imagine the cost two to three years from now....
- Return of the Roar

For sure. I know I've been misreading and taking you out of context for the last 8 years or so, but mostly agree with the rest of your post.

I still think if they don't spend like drunken sailors there is easily room for a couple decent signings.

And yes, the only way to build a team with an unforgiving hard cap is through the draft...and apparently mining the Euros for FA signings.

I think the cost for us to get a legit top 4D is going to be one of our future young studs........on D. Anyone but Joki or Boqvist could probably be in play.

The K&T window is now, and unfortunately we can't wait for all of our stacked list of D prospects to develop.

Just my armchair NHL 19 GM opinion.........

Why add more to the mix of bottom 3 D-men? He is good in his role of a bottom pair D-man but the injuries to the Jets d-men, Buff and Morrisey, have forced Chariot to play up in the pairings. Coincides with the Jets play falling off. Well, that and Hellebuyck play being meh-ish
- Elbows15

So the Jets sliding a bit is all because of Ben Chariot
P L E A S E he fits the price range, otherwise you get another big long term contract ... something Hawks CANNOT do

So the Jets sliding a bit is all because of Ben Chariot
P L E A S E he fits the price range, otherwise you get another big long term contract ... something Hawks CANNOT do
- chuckdahammer

Why does he fit the price range?

So a kid playing his first year of pro hockey needs to get stronger? Well, yeah. Point is he gets in there. Has won his share of board battles. He goes to the net a lot.
- Elbows15

You have to be kidding me reporters that follow the Ice hogs said that in Rockford he was too perimeter orientated and afraid to crash the net. I see the same thing up here with the Hawks. Best advice for Sikura in the off season, see a personal trainer and put on about ten pounds of muscle .... ONE HUNDRED SIXY LBS and HE PLAYS LIKE HIS WEIGHT ... unlike the similar in size Debrinkat

Dzingel and Ferland are nice options on the UFA market, but I also like Brett Connolly (19 goals/39pts) and Brock Nelson (21 goals/44pts) as other nice mid level UFAs. This team definitely does not need to spend 7-10 million on one forward, scoring is not the issue. You need bum-slayers on the 3rd line to be a Cup Contender. Look no further when the Hawks were able to have a 3rd line of Ladd/Bolland/Havlat, or the Versteegs/Brouwers/Bickells/Sharps at various points. The Hawks would be well served to move out Anisimov, let Kunitz retire, let Kruger walk, and rebuild the 3rd and 4th lines to be more similar to the Cup winning teams.

Even if you spend roughly 7-8 million on a rebuilt 3rd/4th line, you would have another 7-8 for defense. The only issue is there are no great UFA defensemen, so as others have mentioned, you might not have a choice but to deal Saad for a top 4 D.

The other bigger problem the Hawks have on defense is they aren't able to turnover the defense because they just have to many unmoveable pieces there. Seabrook and Keith are nearly untradeable, they probably won't move Murphy, and Gus is too valuable right now to trade. If Joker plays up again next year, that really only leaves 1 defensive spot to replace, so then basically you're returning the same bad defense as the last 2 years, which isn't going to work.
- Budi1782

Boland - Ladd - Versteeg was third line during the first cup run. Excellent third line and the last cup run had Vermette - Sharp - Terraveinen, pretty good too with Vermette being great on faceoffs but I prefer the "bite" that Boland-Ladd-Versteeg provided

Everyone keeps ignoring Dahlstrom in their projections of next year's dcore.

From what I have seen, when he plays well, he and Murphy form the only shut down pair we have had all year. And we generally win.

I don't see why they wouldn't resign Dahlstrom to a minimal contract and bring him back next year to see if he can grow his game a bit at the NHL level. To me he has impacted the team already more than Forsling and Gus prior to his recent offensive outbreak after Q got purged.
- hereismike1

You make good point. Just think of Dahlstrom last year and what he has done this year. Definite improvement ... yes room for more improvement ... but that might still happen next year

You have to be kidding me reporters that follow the Ice hogs said that in Rockford he was too perimeter orientated and afraid to crash the net. I see the same thing up here with the Hawks. Best advice for Sikura in the off season, see a personal trainer and put on about ten pounds of muscle .... ONE HUNDRED SIXY LBS and HE PLAYS LIKE HIS WEIGHT ... unlike the similar in size Debrinkat
- chuckdahammer

I think he's serious. Maybe you and Elbows are watching different feeds, eh?

You have to be kidding me reporters that follow the Ice hogs said that in Rockford he was too perimeter orientated and afraid to crash the net. I see the same thing up here with the Hawks. Best advice for Sikura in the off season, see a personal trainer and put on about ten pounds of muscle .... ONE HUNDRED SIXY LBS and HE PLAYS LIKE HIS WEIGHT ... unlike the similar in size Debrinkat
- chuckdahammer

Provide a link of these reports so we can see what you mean.

So the Jets sliding a bit is all because of Ben Chariot
P L E A S E he fits the price range, otherwise you get another big long term contract ... something Hawks CANNOT do
- chuckdahammer

PLEASE explain how you came to the conclusion that my comment blamed Chariot for the Jets' meh play.

Take your time. Read it slowly.

How the (frank) do you know what his price range will be?

While that may be true and I won't even give him the excuse about not having a high draft pick til last season, let's not forget that during his time here, the "Builder" only hit on one top 4 dman.

Hammer was a great one and I'm glad that was the one Uncle Dale hit on...but top 4 or otherwise, it was the only dman he ever drafted that stuck.
- HawkintheD

Good point D !
Keep in mind too that Dale presided over 5 Hawks' junior drafts (2005-2009), while Stan is going on his 10th (2010-present) and still hasn't found 1 Hammer in the haystack.

Good point D !
Keep in mind too that Dale presided over 5 Hawks' junior drafts (2005-2009), while Stan is going on his 10th (2010-present) and still hasn't found 1 Hammer in the haystack.
- philco28

Come on Phil you know that finding a gem after the first round is more luck than good management. Just like Andrew Shaw was overlooked for two drafts and selected late in his third draft didn't make Stan a genius.

I think he's serious. Maybe you and Elbows are watching different feeds, eh?
- mohel

So what he is saying is came into this with a pre-conceived notion and is using the confirmation bias.

Got it. *adds emojis*

You have to be kidding me reporters that follow the Ice hogs said that in Rockford he was too perimeter orientated and afraid to crash the net. I see the same thing up here with the Hawks. Best advice for Sikura in the off season, see a personal trainer and put on about ten pounds of muscle .... ONE HUNDRED SIXY LBS and HE PLAYS LIKE HIS WEIGHT ... unlike the similar in size Debrinkat
- chuckdahammer

I'm not sure how much weight to give to reports from Rockford when we have first hand evidence of how Sikura has played since rejoining the Hawks. What I have seen from Sikura is not a player afraid of contact nor a player who doesn't "go to the net" for any other reason than the play doesn't bring him there. Certainly he is a slight player incapable of winning many physical battles but he competes and doesn't shy away from the physical play other than to make a better play that doesn't require he get into a wrestling match with a bigger player. He has shown enough lately to be given more time to prove or disprove if he has a role on the team next season.

LOOOOOOOOL....but Kempny wasn't drafted by anyone.
We're talking drafts.

Good point D !
Keep in mind too that Dale presided over 5 Hawks' junior drafts (2005-2009), while Stan is going on his 10th (2010-present) and still hasn't found 1 Hammer in the haystack.
- philco28

How is Dale doing in Florida? Guy gave a totally broken Bolland a 5 year 25.5M contract. He pissed away Reilly Smith and Marchessault in the expansion draft to keep a guy he eventually traded.

Tallon may be the most over-rated person on these threads.

Come on Phil you know that finding a gem after the first round is more luck than good management. Just like Andrew Shaw was overlooked for two drafts and selected late in his third draft didn't make Stan a genius.
- paulr

Heyyyy Paul, then why spend millions employing scouts with huge travel budgets ?
Hawks took a flyer on Shaw'zer and it worked out for awhile.
Saw him play a ton in the '11 Mem Cup and was super happy to see Stan snag him.

I wouldn't give up on Frosberg, he is having a solid season in Rockford. Both Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss had over 200 games prior to "emerging" this year, Devin Dubnyk floundered 6 years and over 175 games before becoming #1 with the Wild, those are 3 that are off the top of my head this year, why wouldn't the Hawks sign him?, he won't cost much. I actually have no faith in Delia, everyone is going head over heels over his first 5 games, and the fact he can make the spectacular save (mostly cause his positioning and rebound control sucks), but technically he is weak, Forsberg right now is much better technically.
- LAHawk

Nor would I.
Good post LA.
Without looking, I recall Crawford was in Rockford for quite a few years marinating. And I recall when he did come up a few times for a taste of NHL action, it was clear he wasn't ready -- I do remember this board talking about it too.

As for Greiss/Lehner -- IMO, Barry Trotz has made a HUGE difference there. He's gotten the entire team (not just the D because this is essentially same D they had last year minus Cal DeHaan). In reality, it does not all fall on the D. If JC gets the club to buy in to a 200' game, D would look a bit better along with the G.

I doubt they will as we head into final dozen games but I would have loved to see Forsberg up to see if he's made any strides. As RickJ said earlier, Delia IS one of Stan's lotto tickets. Don't know if it's a scratch off variety or Mega Millions. I'm thinking he might have gotten a dud ticket but certainly too early to write the kid off. More time in the A for him.

For sure. I know I've been misreading and taking you out of context for the last 8 years or so, but mostly agree with the rest of your post.

I still think if they don't spend like drunken sailors there is easily room for a couple decent signings.

And yes, the only way to build a team with an unforgiving hard cap is through the draft...and apparently mining the Euros for FA signings.
- HawkintheD

Well D, you have to agree Q (frank)ed us (and Stan) out of top 4 D man from Europe.
No. Not Ruuta.
Kempny

LOOOOOOOOL....but Kempny wasn't drafted by anyone.
We're talking drafts.
- philco28

Yeah, deleted my response after I realized that. . .oops

Heyyyy Paul, then why spend millions employing scouts with huge travel budgets ?
Hawks took a flyer on Shaw'zer and it worked out for awhile.
Saw him play a ton in the '11 Mem Cup and was super happy to see Stan snag him.
- philco28

How long did it take Hammer to make the NHL from when he was drafted?

Well D, you have to agree Q (frank)ed us (and Stan) out of top 4 D man from Europe.
No. Not Ruuta.
Kempny
- savvyone-1

And Led pipe right?

Nor would I.
Good post LA.
Without looking, I recall Crawford was in Rockford for quite a few years marinating. And I recall when he did come up a few times for a taste of NHL action, it was clear he wasn't ready -- I do remember this board talking about it too.

As for Greiss/Lehner -- IMO, Barry Trotz has made a HUGE difference there. He's gotten the entire team (not just the D because this is essentially same D they had last year minus Cal DeHaan). In reality, it does not all fall on the D. If JC gets the club to buy in to a 200' game, D would look a bit better along with the G.

I doubt they will as we head into final dozen games but I would have loved to see Forsberg up to see if he's made any strides. As RickJ said earlier, Delia IS one of Stan's lotto tickets. Don't know if it's a scratch off variety or Mega Millions. I'm thinking he might have gotten a dud ticket but certainly too early to write the kid off. More time in the A for him.
- savvyone-1

Also Mitch Korn is the goalie coach now with the Isle, he has followed Trotz around from Nashville to Washington and now the Isle. He is given a lot of credit for the emergence of Holtby also (along with Rinne in Nashville).