You better believe it!

The Athletic did a 'top 50 NHL drafted' prospects list. Here are some notable mentions:

#1 - Jack Hughes
#2 - Kaapo Kakko
#3 - Quinn Hughes
#6 - Alex Turcotte
#8 - Bowen Byram
#9 - Dylan Cozens
#14 - Adam Boqvist
#18 - Kirby Dach
#25 - Cole Caufield
#26 - Henri Jokiharju
- DarthKane

Someone seems conspicuously absent from that list.

You better believe it!

The Athletic did a 'top 50 NHL drafted' prospects list. Here are some notable mentions:

#1 - Jack Hughes
#2 - Kaapo Kakko
#3 - Quinn Hughes
#6 - Alex Turcotte
#8 - Bowen Byram
#9 - Dylan Cozens
#14 - Adam Boqvist
#18 - Kirby Dach
#25 - Cole Caufield
#26 - Henri Jokiharju
- DarthKane

Perlini/Nylander for Point [/img]

Tyler, you hit the nail on the head with "too cool for school". Nylander seems to have an entitled attitude. Hopefully I'm wrong or he grows out of it.
- EbonyRaptor

I am thinking/hoping one of the vets pull young Mr 92 a side and clue him in during camp. I do not think Buffalo had such a leader where I feel we have several.

You better believe it!

The Athletic did a 'top 50 NHL drafted' prospects list. Here are some notable mentions:

#1 - Jack Hughes
#2 - Kaapo Kakko
#3 - Quinn Hughes
#6 - Alex Turcotte
#8 - Bowen Byram
#9 - Dylan Cozens
#14 - Adam Boqvist
#18 - Kirby Dach
#25 - Cole Caufield
#26 - Henri Jokiharju
- DarthKane

So I guess they think the Hawks really blew it with selecting Dach 3rd

Tyler, you hit the nail on the head with "too cool for school". Nylander seems to have an entitled attitude. Hopefully I'm wrong or he grows out of it.
- EbonyRaptor

He's 21.

Perhaps he WILL grow out of it.

Perlini, Nylander, our 1st & 3rd round pick for Gusev and the Knights 2 2nd round picks.

Perlini, Nylander, our 1st & 3rd round pick for Gusev and the Knights 2 2nd round picks.
- -Doh-

I don't think the Hawks have the cap space for Gusev, I heard he wants around $4 million. The Hawks can have about $2.5 million in cap space right now with a 21 man roster.

Next on the agenda, the Blackhawks have their annual convention starting this Friday.

I have never been but looks like the Hawks have been leaning on their stars to push out the excitement on social. I've seen Versteeg, Shaw and Murphy recently pumping it out on their channels.

Is anyone going this year?

… or has anyone been in the past? Any good stories?

Not going this year (Bit of a hike from VA) but I went last year.

Bit of a down year, which was fine as my wife (who is a big Penguins fan) and I seemed to hit on all our scratch offs, and got a lot of chances to meet past and current players. I was told that the crowds were a lot less than previous years, and I think they're still trying to sell out hotel packages this year, so it's probably going to be a bit less than last year.

Anyway, fun stories from last year (I have a few). My wife and I decided to have one jersey (a throwback Mikita) signed. We were running around the halls, getting in line, finding each other and passing the Jersey off to each other. The first scratch off winner I had was an autograph session with Q. When I got up to him I laid down the sweater (it's one of those mitchell and ness throwback jerseys, so no nameplate, just the number on the back) and Q takes one look at it, smiles and says "STAN THE MAN!" He then looks up at me and, probably noticing I'm too young to have watch Mikita play, asked if my name was Stan. I said no, that I was just a fan of Stan's and appreciated the way he played the game. He smiles, nodded his head and said "You have good taste. Thanks for coming out."

The other cool experience was actually my wife's. She had managed to grab a wristband for a photoshoot with Kunitz, who she really like when he was on the Pens. So she ran back to our room, switched into a Pascal Dupuis, and proceeded down to the photo session. She got mixed reviews as she made her way down. She did stop by the Sauk nation's table, and one of the tribal members there said he liked her jersey, and said for the most part, there's two teams the tribe likes. One is the Hawks, but alot of Sauk also like the Penguins. Anyway, she gets up to meet Kunitz, and he sees her sweater, smiles, and as he's going to put his arm around her for the picture says "Oh, who you got on there?" and then looks at the back to see Dupius' number and name. He then jokingly groans and says "Ugh... Duper."

So I guess they think the Hawks really blew it with selecting Dach 3rd
- HamiltonHawk

“18. Kirby Dach, C, 18 (Chicago Blackhawks — 3rd overall, 2019)

It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Dach finishes his career as the third-best player in the 2019 draft. And though I wouldn’t have taken him third overall in 2019, he sat comfortably in my 6-8 range (and occasionally a slot or two higher) for most of the season. Dach is big, he has range, he’s getting stronger, he taught himself to go to the net more last season and he has high-end passing ability off the cycle. Mix in decent skating for a player his size and you’ve got an extremely exciting package of skills that every team covets in a first- or second-line center.”

“18. Kirby Dach, C, 18 (Chicago Blackhawks — 3rd overall, 2019)

It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Dach finishes his career as the third-best player in the 2019 draft. And though I wouldn’t have taken him third overall in 2019, he sat comfortably in my 6-8 range (and occasionally a slot or two higher) for most of the season. Dach is big, he has range, he’s getting stronger, he taught himself to go to the net more last season and he has high-end passing ability off the cycle. Mix in decent skating for a player his size and you’ve got an extremely exciting package of skills that every team covets in a first- or second-line center.”
- Ogilthorpe2

He seemed to be better than a “decent skater” for someone his size at prospect camp. Am I missing something? No mention of his puck possession skills either or elite set of hands....

I don't think the Hawks have the cap space for Gusev, I heard he wants around $4 million. The Hawks can have about $2.5 million in cap space right now with a 21 man roster.
- DarthKane

Correct, Gusav wants $4 mil.

He's 21.

Perhaps he WILL grow out of it.
- StLBravesFan

Certainly some guys do and we've seen young Hawks players who took time to get it and learn from the vets. I think the more important thing will be what we see on the ice when it matters. Right or Wrong Nylander didn't have as much to prove in the prospects scrimmage.

History is obviously not on my side (considering the comments from Buffalo fans), but he did cancel a vacation to attend the prospects camp, and was noted by several sources to be further developed than the other players who attended.

I will reserve judgement on him until he shows his abilities with the Hawks against NHL talent. You cannot discount the effect environment (talent/experience/leadership of surrounding players, coaching staff and scheme, even the city in which you play) has on overall performance.

If he comes to camp and preseason and shows the same I will happily call this move a pile of s%$*, but to label him a turd after a week of prospect camp is absurd to me.

So I guess they think the Hawks really blew it with selecting Dach 3rd
- HamiltonHawk

They at the Athletic have a lot of pro scouts on their staff I imagine. Probably talk to Scotty Bowman a lot too. Jk

He seemed to be better than a “decent skater” for someone his size at prospect camp. Am I missing something? No mention of his puck possession skills either or elite set of hands....
- bhawks2241

Dach wasn't rated highly by a lot of media outlets but I think they based their evaluations on videos and limited viewings. I doubt these outlets had the benefit of interviewing all the top candidates like the Hawks (and other teams) did. The likes of Dach, Byram and Cozens are all great prospects now, but I get the sense that that what separated Dach fro the pack (for the Hawks) was his approach and dedication to the game.

He's 21.

Perhaps he WILL grow out of it.
- StLBravesFan

I think we need to take a wait-and-see approach with Nylander. Sometimes players fit with some organizations/systems better than others. It's not guarantee that Nylander will hit with the Hawks, but let's wait until he's had the opportunity to prove himself before judging him.

Dach wasn't rated highly by a lot of media outlets but I think they based their evaluations on videos and limited viewings. I doubt these outlets had the benefit of interviewing all the top candidates like the Hawks (and other teams) did. The likes of Dach, Byram and Cozens are all great prospects now, but I get the sense that that what separated Dach fro the pack (for the Hawks) was his approach and dedication to the game.
- DarthKane

Dach also seemed to be a natural leader during prospects camp.

I think we need to take a wait-and-see approach with Nylander. Sometimes players fit with some organizations/systems better than others. It's not guarantee that Nylander will hit with the Hawks, but let's wait until he's had the opportunity to prove himself before judging him.
- DarthKane

He just had his first opportunity, and it was an epic fail.

Perlini and Nylander seem to be two young entitled boys. I predict one snaps out of it and the other remains a turd. Which one? Who knows.

He just had his first opportunity, and it was an epic fail.
- Ogilthorpe2

Why the red font?

Why the red font?
- mohel

Just showing off: he's the only one here who knows the embedded codes that get the red font.

Correct, Gusav wants $4 mil.
- LAHawk

I want $4mil too, doesn't mean I am getting it.

Just showing off: he's the only one here who knows the embedded codes that get the red font.
- StLBravesFan

Eli taught me how to do it. Before the dark times, before the Empire.

History is obviously not on my side (considering the comments from Buffalo fans), but he did cancel a vacation to attend the prospects camp, and was noted by several sources to be further developed than the other players who attended.

I will reserve judgement on him until he shows his abilities with the Hawks against NHL talent. You cannot discount the effect environment (talent/experience/leadership of surrounding players, coaching staff and scheme, even the city in which you play) has on overall performance.

If he comes to camp and preseason and shows the same I will happily call this move a pile of s%$*, but to label him a turd after a week of prospect camp is absurd to me.
- Chunk

I agree, as much as i don't like the trade and his effort in the scrimmage, like Perlini since they've made their bed so to speak, patience is required. Both players i give an offseason and full season to see where the player was, where they are going, and if they can process coaching with playing, if not then bye bye

Just showing off: he's the only one here who knows the embedded codes that get the red font.
- StLBravesFan

he's the only one here who knows the embedded codes that get the red font