Agreed. The Hawks need to focus on filling the holes within their roster and not making big splashed in the UFA market. Defensive forwards and improved depth on defensive (with defensive defensemen) should be the priority. Offense was not an issue.
- DarthKane

Agree. I imagine Bowman will sign or trade for one big ticket item ($6 mil to $8mil). The rest should be small short term contracts for depth needs.

Dallas had trouble forechecking because by the time they got the puck out of their zone and into the o-zone, it was time for a line change.
- StLBravesFan

Sounds to me like that means the Stars couldn’t deal with the aggressive Blues forechecking.

I'm hoping Entwhistle can play that heavy game for the Hawks if he's able to make the team. In junior he isn't a banger in the Tom Wilson mode but he can and will play in the tough areas, he's a decent skater but most importantly he thinks the game well.
- paulr

Then what good is he???

Haha thanks man I appreciate it. Had to take a break for a bit with work picking up tremendously for me (usually am on here while at work ). Plus I needed to take a step away from the Hawks rollercoaster ride we've been on all year lol

Things are kinda trending how I expected them to for the team I have to say. I said like two years ago that I thought that 17-18 would be a rebuilding year and 18-19 the team would make some strides and be closer to be competing, but that 19-20 would be the year that the Hawks go for their last "hoorah" with the remaining Core players.

I just wanna walk away from this offseason feeling like the Hawks addressed their biggest needs (DEFENSE up front and on the backend) without overpaying for anyone or trading any assets that appears to be an overpay and be able to go into Training Camp with JC so that they can all be on the same page from the get go and see how this team can respond. Should be a fun summer and year for the team
- Savetheembers33

Here here. Team does seem to be trending in the right direction:

- Signing the prospects with difference making potential to ELCs and fringe prospects to just ATOs.
- Parting ways with prospects who weren’t proving to be impact players in the AHL let alone the NHL (Ejdsell as an example).
- Starting to let prospects marinate in the right place rather than rush them (Boqvist in London, Jokiharju demoted to Rockford after a promising yet struggling NHL debut, Sikura coming back much stronger after his 2nd demotion).
- Making shrewd trades like Strome and Perlini for Schmaltz, Caggiula for Manning, and Koekkoek for Rutta.
- Continuing to mine Europe for free agents (all teams do this, though).
- Letting Colliton round out his coaching staff.
- Aligning coaching philosophies and strategies at least between the Hawks and Hogs and hopefully with the Fuel, too.

Anyhoo, hang in there with work. Hope the heavy workload is behind you now or at least getting better.

Guys that are probably getting 3-6 years at $4-$8 Mil
Hayes 27, Lee 29, Nquist 30, Simmonds 31, nelson 27, Connolly 27, Dzingel 27, Zucc 32, Eberle 29, ferland 27.

there is enough guys out there and that does not include the RFA.s or the big guys that are getting more. hope we find a good value signing. front load the contract and don't give out NMC.

Here here. Team does seem to be trending in the right direction:

- Signing the prospects with difference making potential to ELCs and fringe prospects to just ATOs.
- Parting ways with prospects who weren’t proving to be impact players in the AHL let alone the NHL (Ejdsell as an example).
- Starting to let prospects marinate in the right place rather than rush them (Boqvist in London, Jokiharju demoted to Rockford after a promising yet struggling NHL debut, Sikura coming back much stronger after his 2nd demotion).
- Making shrewd trades like Strome and Perlini for Schmaltz, Caggiula for Manning, and Koekkoek for Rutta.
- Continuing to mine Europe for free agents (all teams do this, though).
- Letting Colliton round out his coaching staff.
- Aligning coaching philosophies and strategies at least between the Hawks and Hogs and hopefully with the Fuel, too.

Anyhoo, hang in there with work. Hope the heavy workload is behind you now or at least getting better.
- AEL_Fox

For as much as people wanna give Stan crap for some of the decisions he's made, it's showing that he's had a plan with this team and is sticking to it to truly bring them back to being a competitive team year in and year out. These past two years (really three) were a by product of an EXTREMELY successful Playoff run that netted us three Cups at the cost of several of our young talents we put time into. Now they are making the same kind of effort to hopefully go on another run and try to win at least one more with Toews and Kane at the front of it.

Yeah unfortunately we're heading into our busy season now (real estate) so it's only gonna get more busy for us just means more hours which leads to more money so I'm not gonna complain lol

I am going to keep ringing this bell until it is proven that I shouldn't.

Everywhere I look Joki is slated for a top 4 role next season.

Based on the stuff that has come out of Colliton's mouth about him, I am not convinced he makes the team out of camp.

Lazarus' twitter feed has this quote when Joki was sent to Rockford:

Here's Colliton's full quote on Jokiharju: "Well, we feel he's going to play more down there. And as far as our team goes, the D, the seven D we have here we feel are the ones who give us the best chance to win."

Yes Q used him on first pair and he played pretty well. But between Q going and Colliton arriving Joki's status changed and it wasn't all what you saw on the ice.

And I don't buy for a minute they thought he was a great dman but sent him down to save a year on him being eligible for UFA status. If he was deemed that valuable he would have been playing with the team helping them make the playoffs.

I think the deal is Colliton just isn't that impressed with him, whereas Q was and gave him ice time to play.

I am going to keep ringing this bell until it is proven that I shouldn't.

Everywhere I look Joki is slated for a top 4 role next season.

Based on the stuff that has come out of Colliton's mouth about him, I am not convinced he makes the team out of camp.

Lazarus' twitter feed has this quote when Joki was sent to Rockford:

Here's Colliton's full quote on Jokiharju: "Well, we feel he's going to play more down there. And as far as our team goes, the D, the seven D we have here we feel are the ones who give us the best chance to win."

Yes Q used him on first pair and he played pretty well. But between Q going and Colliton arriving Joki's status changed and it wasn't all what you saw on the ice.

And I don't buy for a minute they thought he was a great dman but sent him down to save a year on him being eligible for UFA status. If he was deemed that valuable he would have been playing with the team helping them make the playoffs.

I think the deal is Colliton just isn't that impressed with him, whereas Q was and gave him ice time to play.
- hereismike1

You are right that Jokiharju might not make it, but he has a good shot. I think Bowman answered some questions about him around the end of the year specifically that Jokiharju didn't fall out of favor or anything, just that what is best for his development was playing at Rockford and getting top minutes. It was something last summer, folks were slotting him right in the top pair, but we knew he wasn't going to stick there all year at 19 years old.

They are doing what they think is right to get the most of the guy long term IMO. He was making some rookie mistakes and I believe they wanted to evaluate other dmen more. We know that Bowman wasn't pulling out all the stops to make the playoffs. He didn't try to buy anything at the deadline, so I think this season really was about "next season" and beyond more than anything.

I am going to keep ringing this bell until it is proven that I shouldn't.

Everywhere I look Joki is slated for a top 4 role next season.

Based on the stuff that has come out of Colliton's mouth about him, I am not convinced he makes the team out of camp.

Lazarus' twitter feed has this quote when Joki was sent to Rockford:

Here's Colliton's full quote on Jokiharju: "Well, we feel he's going to play more down there. And as far as our team goes, the D, the seven D we have here we feel are the ones who give us the best chance to win."

Yes Q used him on first pair and he played pretty well. But between Q going and Colliton arriving Joki's status changed and it wasn't all what you saw on the ice.

And I don't buy for a minute they thought he was a great dman but sent him down to save a year on him being eligible for UFA status. If he was deemed that valuable he would have been playing with the team helping them make the playoffs.

I think the deal is Colliton just isn't that impressed with him, whereas Q was and gave him ice time to play.
- hereismike1

Remember that Joki made the team while Murphy and Forsling were on the IR. If they were healthy would Joki have made the team out of camp last October? Maybe not.

I am one of the ones that have him penciled in the top 4 next season, but you raise an interesting point that he may not be. He'll have to prove himself in camp. Hopefully the last half year in Rockford helped his development.

You are right that Jokiharju might not make it, but he has a good shot. I think Bowman answered some questions about him around the end of the year specifically that Jokiharju didn't fall out of favor or anything, just that what is best for his development was playing at Rockford and getting top minutes. It was something last summer, folks were slotting him right in the top pair, but we knew he wasn't going to stick there all year at 19 years old.

They are doing what they think is right to get the most of the guy long term IMO. He was making some rookie mistakes and I believe they wanted to evaluate other dmen more. We know that Bowman wasn't pulling out all the stops to make the playoffs. He didn't try to buy anything at the deadline, so I think this season really was about "next season" and beyond more than anything.
- breadbag

I think you hit it with his age. If a 19 year old isn't playing every day he should be somewhere where he can. He looked OK early on then started to struggle a bit. I'm sure he will get a fair chance to make the team next season.

I am going to keep ringing this bell until it is proven that I shouldn't.

Everywhere I look Joki is slated for a top 4 role next season.

Based on the stuff that has come out of Colliton's mouth about him, I am not convinced he makes the team out of camp.

Lazarus' twitter feed has this quote when Joki was sent to Rockford:

Here's Colliton's full quote on Jokiharju: "Well, we feel he's going to play more down there. And as far as our team goes, the D, the seven D we have here we feel are the ones who give us the best chance to win."

Yes Q used him on first pair and he played pretty well. But between Q going and Colliton arriving Joki's status changed and it wasn't all what you saw on the ice.

And I don't buy for a minute they thought he was a great dman but sent him down to save a year on him being eligible for UFA status. If he was deemed that valuable he would have been playing with the team helping them make the playoffs.

I think the deal is Colliton just isn't that impressed with him, whereas Q was and gave him ice time to play.
- hereismike1

Well, his fancy stats in the NHL were good, and he made every NHL partner he played with better. He was one of the best defensemen, and one of the 10 best players overall, at the World Juniors after the Hawks loaned him out.

There is nothing to indicate he won’t be a top 4. I believe he’ll be taking a regular shift in the upcoming World Championships, so we’ll again see how he plays against professional men.

I am going to keep ringing this bell until it is proven that I shouldn't.

Everywhere I look Joki is slated for a top 4 role next season.

Based on the stuff that has come out of Colliton's mouth about him, I am not convinced he makes the team out of camp.

Lazarus' twitter feed has this quote when Joki was sent to Rockford:

Here's Colliton's full quote on Jokiharju: "Well, we feel he's going to play more down there. And as far as our team goes, the D, the seven D we have here we feel are the ones who give us the best chance to win."

Yes Q used him on first pair and he played pretty well. But between Q going and Colliton arriving Joki's status changed and it wasn't all what you saw on the ice.

And I don't buy for a minute they thought he was a great dman but sent him down to save a year on him being eligible for UFA status. If he was deemed that valuable he would have been playing with the team helping them make the playoffs.

I think the deal is Colliton just isn't that impressed with him, whereas Q was and gave him ice time to play.
- hereismike1

I hope he can make it out of camp and stay there. The problems with keeping Gus are: 1) If he has another season again scoring around 15 goals, no matter his defensive liabilities, he is going to get paid in the $4-5M range. The Hawks certainly cannot do that in another year due to having to sign DCat and Strome. 2) Although Gus' trade value would be the greatest if he has another offensive year like this year, it would only be high at the trade deadline. If the Hawks are in the playoff race, they don't get rid of him and end up losing him for nothing. If they are out of the playoff race again, then who cares.

https://thehockeynews.com...w-for-the-2019-tournament

THN primer for the World Championships. For each team they list a player to watch. Kurashev is the one listed for the Swiss Team.

Also saw that Great Britain has a team in the tourney so wonder if Perlini was recruited to play for them. Finding rosters has been tough to find online, particularly for the non power house teams.

Remember that Joki made the team while Murphy and Forsling were on the IR. If they were healthy would Joki have made the team out of camp last October? Maybe not.

I am one of the ones that have him penciled in the top 4 next season, but you raise an interesting point that he may not be. He'll have to prove himself in camp. Hopefully the last half year in Rockford helped his development.
- boilermaker100

There have been a couple articles (The Athletic, and I believe NBC Sports Chi) that stated that he improved in handling heavy forecheck, and also got a ton of time on the PK and PP. There were also notes that there is a lot of communication between Rockford and CHI.

I hope he can make it out of camp and stay there. The problems with keeping Gus are: 1) If he has another season again scoring around 15 goals, no matter his defensive liabilities, he is going to get paid in the $4-5M range. The Hawks certainly cannot do that in another year due to having to sign DCat and Strome. 2) Although Gus' trade value would be the greatest if he has another offensive year like this year, it would only be high at the trade deadline. If the Hawks are in the playoff race, they don't get rid of him and end up losing him for nothing. If they are out of the playoff race again, then who cares.
- RaleighHawk

It all depends on what Stan does in the off season. all signs are pointing him to allocated $$'s on getting a top 4 pairing, but if he doesn't, and hopefully Gus does have a good year, the Hawks will be able to afford Gus at $4-$5 mil, as you have Keith and Seabrook at a combined $12, maybe Murphy at $3.8, then the rest on ELC's and league minimum

Jokiharju wasn´t that great after 15-20 games and had issues in gap control and defending front of the net. He was outmuscled there a lot too. I think he wasn´t ready to play 82 games in NHL and it was right thing to sent him down atm.
- MjulQvist

You simply don't rush these kids...when you see there is really something there, you take the slow processing point.
He came he saw what it takes and now he perfects it.
and there may be something to the RF stretching, but the word overwhelmed is not one you hear NHL coaches say aboutrvtheir youngsters, because you try to make things the opposite.

I just watched more Cozens and he is really strong on the puck, great jump, recognition, a true flyer...it is such a good class!

Agreed on many ways to separate, but it seems that the approach of the current roster of D players is to focus on stick checking to the exclusion of any other approach. Whether that is coaching or incomplete tool boxes I'm not sure of.

But other teams know this, and as a result, they dump and chase on the Hawk D and pin them in the D zone for endless cycles, followed by absolutely no push back on players near the crease. Way too many SOG against and A+ chances are given up because of this. Likely made even worse by the man to man D scheme which exposes slower players like Seabrook and Dahlstrom even more.

The best fixes are to have a heavier forecheck and more tenacity in the neutral zone to keep the ice tilted the other way, as well as adding D players who can throw a body check or clear a guy from the crease once in a while.
- Return of the Roar

Burns knocked more guys in the creae on their asses last night than the Hawks did all year. Just sayin.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/world-championship-preview-everything-you-need-to-know-for-the-2019-tournament

THN primer for the World Championships. For each team they list a player to watch. Kurashev is the one listed for the Swiss Team.

Also saw that Great Britain has a team in the tourney so wonder if Perlini was recruited to play for them. Finding rosters has been tough to find online, particularly for the non power house teams.
- AEL_Fox

https://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/47308076

GB squad at the bottom.

Remember that Joki made the team while Murphy and Forsling were on the IR. If they were healthy would Joki have made the team out of camp last October? Maybe not. I am one of the ones that have him penciled in the top 4 next season, but you raise an interesting point that he may not be. He'll have to prove himself in camp. Hopefully the last half year in Rockford helped his development.
- boilermaker100

I think all nhl teams' coaching staffs have to feel the any newbies HAVE TO BE penalty kill players to earn their on the job training.
If you look around the league June 3rd, you see vet dee0men added to teams you kinda wonder,"did they NEED another defenseman?", and then the season starts and they are mainstays of the PK.

This, absolutely. Hossa wasn’t a goon, but he was big, strong & fast, could throw a check when needed, was one of the best grinding fore-checkers I’ve ever seen, was great in puck battles along the boards, and a world class back-checker. He made the team better without scoring. I’d like to see the Hawks drafting more guys in the Hossa archetype
- scottak

Just quoting this because it bears repeating!!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/47308076

GB squad at the bottom.
- Rota's Rooter

Thanks for the link! I see that a Perlini is playing, assuming Brett is his brother or cousin. Brendan does come from a hockey family.

You simply don't rush these kids...when you see there is really something there, you take the slow processing point.

I just watched more Cozens and he is really strong on the puck, great jump, recognition, a true flyer...it is such a good class!
- wiz1901

Exactly. This is why I am loathe to wish any of the D prospects are rushed in to NHL service - especially to be a fringe playoff team. Take the hits to attendance and revenue, be honest with your fan base, and ensure you are growing your pipeline the right way. Maybe, just maybe they get two decent D men developed that can stick and contribute.

As for Cozens...he had better be SB's pick. To me it is a no-brainer.

I'm hoping Entwhistle can play that heavy game for the Hawks if he's able to make the team. In junior he isn't a banger in the Tom Wilson mode but he can and will play in the tough areas, he's a decent skater but most importantly he thinks the game well.
- paulr

If that means he’s also not a cement head d-bag in the Tom Wilson mode, then all the better.

Thanks for the link! I see that a Perlini is playing, assuming Brett is his brother or cousin. Brendan does come from a hockey family.
- AEL_Fox

Older brother of Brendan.

http://www.hockeydb.com/i...s/pdisplay.php?pid=107626

with the offsides reversal last night...

landeskog is going off for a change..his replacement is on the ice..

so he can still get called for offsides but not for TMOI call..

don't get it... either he was on the ice legally or not...