Yeah I’m retrospect the Sabres got fleece.
- walleyeb1

Imagine if the Avs still had ROR!?!

Paul,

No, the Hawks do not have the backline of either of these teams. But they are not far off. A big part of the Hawks problem was playing Q's system that many of them are not made for, and then trying to transition, in season, to a system many of them clearly did not fully get. The Bruins have guys like Krug, Grzelcyk and McAvoy whose strength is skating and moving the puck out of their zone, not trying to play physical or put a body on someone. Chara is old, slow and a turnover machine, yet he still can play a role. John Moore is a journeyman on his 5th team, and average in his own zone.

St. Louis looked good some games, not great in others. Binnington made their D look a heck of a lot better than it was, kinda like Crow did for the Hawks.

For the Hawks you hope Joki takes the next step forward and can play in the top pair. Keith, for all the heat he takes on this board is still a #2 or #3 d-man. Seabrook needs to be protected, but can still offer effective minutes if used correctly. Gus is cheap next year and as long as he can put up those points you take the trade off, hope he improves a little in his own end and then make the decision whether to move him if any of Boqvist, Beaudin, Mitchell, Byram, etc. are ready to step in.
- TheTrob

Nice post, it does take a mix on D for sure.

The part in bold happens for pretty much every cup winning team recently. There are times when the D will not look good and the offense might dry up and the goalie has to save the day. St Louis this year. Washington last year, Pittsburgh for two years. The Hawks leaned heavy on Crawford/Darling at times in 2015. Quick was a huge factor for the Kings. I'm not saying goaltending is all you need, but no team wins just with good blueline or team D. The way the cap has altered the landscape, no team ends up that stacked anymore.

and is another disgruntled OReillt type sitting there where his team will take a quantity of youth and vets for him?
- wiz1901

Can’t think of any... can you?

Can’t think of any... can you?
- Slofire94

Rocco Grimaldi

Not a chance Pod goes 3rd.

Can’t think of any... can you?
- Slofire94

Me neither. Maybe Claude Giroux? Hasn’t been past the first round since 2012. Doubt Philly even contemplates moving him, however.

I was a big Q supporter but I also realized he had gone stale in Chicago and needed to go. Both of St. Louis and Boston played basically the game Q preached. Without the puck maintain postion, close gaps, drive the play to the boards, win puck battles then transition. If the new Hawk defensemen can't follow those basic fundamentals do you really think they are that close? Also there are too many questions regarding the prospects, will 2 or 3 of them make the NHL? And if they do how far away are they from contributing? Until both of those questions are answered we don't know if they are close to contending or if they have the right guys to contend.

I hope you're right and the team is very close.
- paulr

What I noticed as a difference between the way Q wanted the Hawks to break out of their zone (or at least how the Hawks did so under Q), and the way the Blues did last night, was that the Blues weren't looking for the stretch passes. When they got the puck, the forwards stayed grouped together so that they could just keep chipping the pucks forward to each other to get them out of their zone, and then they would keep doing that going into the offensive zone. They kept using short passes, or if there wasn't a pass, just throw it out into the neutral zone to an area. I don't remember the Hawks ever playing like that under Q, or at least they didn't very often.

Me neither. Maybe Claude Giroux? Hasn’t been past the first round since 2012. Doubt Philly even contemplates moving him, however.
- TommyHawk

Martin Hanzal

What both teams had lots of that Chicago lacks is defensemen both young and experienced and even some over the hill. The Blackhawks do not have the backline either of these teams have. Based on that I feel Chicago are a ways off yet.
- paulr

You're giving too much credit to those defense groups imo, especially Boston. They had decent but not exceptional top 3/4 players in which the over the hill guys isn't as good as the Hawks' older top pair player (Keith) and then had who cares bottom pair guys that rotated.

And for the Blues, that same d-group was crapping the bed for half a season but give them a good system to work in with the coaching change and it elevated them. Idk if JC's system can do the same for the Hawks, but it was working pretty well the last quarter of the system (though conveniently when the forwards started really clicking).

On top of that, look at what the Pens and Caps won with on the backend - bad defense groups win all the time.

The idea that the Hawks defense group are a ways off seems weird to me - like, it needs to be better but neither of those groups as a whole are all that impressive beyond they working well in their particular systems. The Hawks forward defensive capabilities / responsibleness are farther off than their defenders imo.

No way NO HOW do I ever EVER "cheer" for the St Louis Blues in a Stanley Cup final.

When I 1st started looking at this Draft ,and we were picking 12th. I thought Pod might be a great pick .Now we are at 3 and I have learned more about his situation I would steer clear . I would take him over Turcotte .

The Hawks were 30th in goals against, 30th in penalty killing percentage, 25th in save percentage (only San Jose made the playoffs who had a worse save percentage). Figuring the Hawks would need a minimum of 94 points to be a wild card team (10 more than last year), they need to cut the goals against by about 50 (a little more than 1/2 a goal a game to do it.

Upgrade the 4th line (Kreuger, Kunitz, Hayden) with some Brandon Tanev types. bring in a solid #3/4 D man, pray CC is healthy all year, I think you will have made the playoffs, as we saw this year, once in, anything can happen.

The Hawks were 30th in goals against, 30th in penalty killing percentage, 25th in save percentage (only San Jose made the playoffs who had a worse save percentage). Figuring the Hawks would need a minimum of 94 points to be a wild card team (10 more than last year), they need to cut the goals against by about 50 (a little more than 1/2 a goal a game to do it.

Upgrade the 4th line (Kreuger, Kunitz, Hayden) with some Brandon Tanev types. bring in a solid #3/4 D man, pray CC is healthy all year, I think you will have made the playoffs, as we saw this year, once in, anything can happen.
- LAHawk

A healthy Crawford alone would have been good for those 10 points. Not hard to imagine him winning 5 games as opposed to Ward and Delia.

Bandwagon Bball fan here, Go Raptors!! Next November I won't care.
- paulr

I hate basketball, but really hate Golden State!

When I 1st started looking at this Draft ,and we were picking 12th. I thought Pod might be a great pick .Now we are at 3 and I have learned more about his situation I would steer clear . I would take him over Turcotte .
- oldduffman

Thank god you don’t get a vote that counts.

The Hawks were 30th in goals against, 30th in penalty killing percentage, 25th in save percentage (only San Jose made the playoffs who had a worse save percentage). Figuring the Hawks would need a minimum of 94 points to be a wild card team (10 more than last year), they need to cut the goals against by about 50 (a little more than 1/2 a goal a game to do it.

Upgrade the 4th line (Kreuger, Kunitz, Hayden) with some Brandon Tanev types. bring in a solid #3/4 D man, pray CC is healthy all year, I think you will have made the playoffs, as we saw this year, once in, anything can happen.
- LAHawk

Yep. I like a 4th line of Caggiula, Kampf, Tanev/Frolik (or a Tanev/Frolik type)

People hate the idea. But I would take Corey Perry at half salary for the top 9. I think it would make the Hawks much harder to play against. His physical/mean streak could be contagious up and down the lineup with forwards and dmen. He did not produce last year, but he was coming back from MCL surgery. If fully recovered with a change of scenery he could have a bounce back season. Before his injury last year he averaged 55 points the 4 previous seasons. He still moves pretty well and just turned 34. He only has 2 years left on his contract. He does have an NMC, but maybe he would like to play with Toews.

Yep. I like a 4th line of Caggiula, Kampf, Tanev/Frolik (or a Tanev/Frolik type)

People hate the idea. But I would take Corey Perry at half salary for the top 9. I think it would make the Hawks much harder to play against. His physical/mean streak could be contagious up and down the lineup with forwards and dmen. He did not produce last year, but he was coming back from MCL surgery. If fully recovered with a change of scenery he could have a bounce back season. Before his injury last year he averaged 55 points the 4 previous seasons. He still moves pretty well and just turned 34. He only has 2 years left on his contract. He does have an NMC, but maybe he would like to play with Toews.
- -Doh-

Hate the second year when ADB and Strome need to be re-upped. Marcus Johanson is another UFA along with Tanev that I would have interest in.

Thank god you don’t get a vote that counts.
- Ogilthorpe2

BPA Between POD > Turds It not even close . Still we should be taking a good Canadian boy Cozens Dach Byram .Look how many were skating last night for ST.L . 14

Kubalik/Kampf/Kahun IMO would be a stellar fourth line.

A healthy Crawford alone would have been good for those 10 points. Not hard to imagine him winning 5 games as opposed to Ward and Delia.
- TheTrob

True enough, and then they would have been one series and done, probably not taking a single game. It is difficult to compete with the goals against and PK track record the team has had for the last two years. CC will solve some of that, but the Hawks give up WAY too many chances. The Hawks are way too easy to play against, and especially in the "different rules" environment of the playoffs.

On that topic, this is the year that Connor Murphy needs to become a top-4 defenseman from an overall league comparative or that Hjalmarsson trade will turn out to be one of the worst of Stan's career. Hjalmarsson was +8 on an awful 5x5 Coyotes team. Plus taking on the heavy PK duty and blocked shot machine. Murphy was better last year, but there is not much evidence that his ceiling is going much higher than what we've seen. I hope I'm wrong.

The Hawks were 30th in goals against, 30th in penalty killing percentage, 25th in save percentage (only San Jose made the playoffs who had a worse save percentage). Figuring the Hawks would need a minimum of 94 points to be a wild card team (10 more than last year), they need to cut the goals against by about 50 (a little more than 1/2 a goal a game to do it.

Upgrade the 4th line (Kreuger, Kunitz, Hayden) with some Brandon Tanev types. bring in a solid #3/4 D man, pray CC is healthy all year, I think you will have made the playoffs, as we saw this year, once in, anything can happen.
- LAHawk

Agreed. ..thst is a horrific 4th line. None of the 3 should be back, unless John Hayden can improve his skating imo.

BPA Between POD > Turds It not even close . Still we should be taking a good Canadian boy Cozens Dach Byram .Look how many were skating last night for ST.L . 14
- oldduffman

Don Cherry? Is that you?

Kubalik/Kampf/Kahun IMO would be a stellar fourth line.
- Return of the Roar

Where does Kurashev slot in? What is his natural position, C or wing?

I hate basketball, but really hate Golden State!
- I Am The Breadman