https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/prospect-need-to-know-thomsons-call-and-wjss-reports

Vlasic was reportedly heavily pursued by the London Knights but he is resolute in his commitment to Boston U. In what seems to be decreasing likelihood that Boqvist returns to London, you have to think Hawks management would love them developing together and possibly paired up.
- AEL_Fox

Nice to have options but glad to see Vlasic staying with the NCAA path. ........ Some day Vlasic and Boqvist might make a reasonable pairing but right now Boqvist is ready for the AHL and Vlasic is not. Vlasic developing at BU is a really good spot for him at this stage.

Very much like your posts and grasp of the Hawks system, Mr Fox. Very helpful.......... You watch any of the World Junior Summer Showcase?

The bolded description of Dach sounds a lot like...Hossa, especially as he got older. IIRC, Scotty Bowman or another in Hawks brass told Hossa to just play defense like only he can even if his offense was starting to decline.

That's the beauty of some of the Hawks top forward prospects: they actually gave a damn on defense and can still contribute on offense at least as middle 6 talent.

Sikura, Dach, Kurashev, Entwistle, and Hagel are the closest to the NHL but then there are others like Wise, Barratt, and Slavin further down in the pipeline.

This doesn't even count defensive-minded 4th line prospects like Highmore, Hakkarainen, Soderlund, Johnson, and Saarela (Antti the younger brother, not Skille/Morin-esque older brother Aleksi).
- AEL_Fox

I'm sold on Dach as a prospect. The NHL exec who said predraft that only a handful have Dach's combination of size, skating, IQ and hands nailed it. His ceiling is sky high and due to his 2 way high IQ game his floor is higher than I had thought until watching all there was to see of him. ........ Traverse City and Camp can't get here fast enough.

You have a better grasp of the system than I but watching Wise with the NTDP and Slavin up close with the Steel indeed they are 2 way players. Kurashev and high motor Hagel showed the same at Prospect Camp. Tehse guys seem fine with giving up offense to be on the right side of the puck......... And to me that's very encouraging.

Nice to have options but glad to see Vlasic staying with the NCAA path. ........ Some day Vlasic and Boqvist might make a reasonable pairing but right now Boqvist is ready for the AHL and Vlasic is not. Vlasic developing at BU is a really good spot for him at this stage.

Very much like your posts and grasp of the Hawks system, Mr Fox. Very helpful.......... You watch any of the World Junior Summer Showcase?
- Mr Ricochet

Thanks, Rico. Likewise on the compliment.

Haven't watched the WJSS at all, unfortunately, but do as I always do reading as much as I can online and watching whatever videos are shared. Not the same thing but it keeps me active with being in the know as much as I realistically can.

As for future pairs, a Boqvist-Vlasic duo could be in the cards: offensively gifted blueliner with a defensively rooted partner. Then have another pair featuring Beaudin and Mitchell. Excellent top 4 potential with say a veteran and expensive 3rd pair of Keith and Seabrook.

I'm sold on Dach as a prospect. The NHL exec who said predraft that only a handful have Dach's combination of size, skating, IQ and hands nailed it. His ceiling is sky high and due to his 2 way high IQ game his floor is higher than I had thought until watching all there was to see of him. ........ Traverse City and Camp can't get here fast enough.

You have a better grasp of the system than I but watching Wise with the NTDP and Slavin up close with the Steel indeed they are 2 way players. Kurashev and high motor Hagel showed the same at Prospect Camp. Tehse guys seem fine with giving up offense to be on the right side of the puck......... And to me that's very encouraging.
- Mr Ricochet

IIRC, pundits were hesitant on Scheifele hitting potential as a top 10 pick and look at him now. Something I like about Dach that I also saw in Jokiharju is swagger. Although a humble kid overall, Dach has so much poise, confidence, and drive to not only be solid across the entire ice sheet but also dominate.

The bolded statement is spot on. Contrast that with Nylander and Saarela (Aleksi). Both are great offensive talents but their play without the puck is sub par. Not the worst thing to have on the team as long as their linemates are defensively conscious and the forward ranks in general support the blueliners on the backcheck.

However, adding Nylander and Saarela to a forward roster with others who are not there yet defensively in DeBrincat and Strome isn't a good recipe to achieve this end. They all have varying potential to improve play without the puck so hope is definitely not lost.

So Tyler, I gave up coffee because your blogs were coming out very couple days and giving me the spurt of energy needed to tackle the days wars... now my hands are shaking, I'm feeling down and might have to return back to coffee if you don't get more blogs out there - your fan are addicted to your writing, so please feed us more.

So that leads to a desire for some future articles. It'd be nice to have a daily writeup leading up to the start of the season, each one focusing on one of the other 6 Central division teams, some insights, strengths/weaknesses, maybe even the last blog of that series being your overall assessment of how the central will finish. Kinda like how you did the series on the 1st round picks the hawks might end up choosing.
Maybe you could also pull in the other hockey buzz writers for those teams where they provide a short summary of insight on their team... even better, maybe the same question asked of each of those writers, like 'do they feel their team will finish ahead or behind the hawks and why?'... 'from a season start point of view, if the hawk played their team in a 7 game series, who would win and why?'... stuff like that. Could make for an exciting week of blogs heading into the season.
- DontKnowNutin

Ha. Sorry. I'll get one to you shortly.

There wasn't much going on in Blackhawks land so it gave me a little break.

I do like the Central Division breakdown. I was planning on that as we move closer to the start of the season.

I'm at the cottage but will get you your fix by tomorrow AM.

Stay tuned and thanks for the support.

Cheers,
Ty

IIRC, pundits were hesitant on Scheifele hitting potential as a top 10 pick and look at him now. Something I like about Dach that I also saw in Jokiharju is swagger. Although a humble kid overall, Dach has so much poise, confidence, and drive to not only be solid across the entire ice sheet but also dominate.

The bolded statement is spot on. Contrast that with Nylander and Saarela (Aleksi). Both are great offensive talents but their play without the puck is sub par. Not the worst thing to have on the team as long as their linemates are defensively conscious and the forward ranks in general support the blueliners on the backcheck.

However, adding Nylander and Saarela to a forward roster with others who are not there yet defensively in DeBrincat and Strome isn't a good recipe to achieve this end. They all have varying potential to improve play without the puck so hope is definitely not lost.
- AEL_Fox

There is a reason they are called prospects and maybe 1-2% are can't miss guys. Dach ain't a 1% guy and neither was Schiefele. Dach checks a helluva lotta boxes #1 for me being IQ. Excited to see this kid and where he's at after Traverse City and camp........ Would love to see him stick in some capacity and trust the Hawks to properly place him. Can't think of a prospect they stunted their growth by bringing up too early and don't expect them to start now.

Just the thought of the possibility of a legit top 6 C with size (two if Strome pans out) takes some getting used to.

Hello, does this thing still work?

Stan's asleep at the wheel yet again! How does this guy continue to have a job?

Lightning sign Shattenkirk to 1-year, $1.75M contract https://t.co/WZa7lRdqbx pic.twitter.com/PgIZptU7VI

— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) August 5, 2019

Did Barney ban everyone again?

Rumour: Rostislav Olesz (F) | HC Vitkovice -> HC Ocelari Trinec | https://t.co/GjZ0eUcZU1 #Czech

— EP Transfers (@ep_transfers) August 5, 2019

Stan's asleep at the wheel yet again! How does this guy continue to have a job?

Lightning sign Shattenkirk to 1-year, $1.75M contract https://t.co/WZa7lRdqbx pic.twitter.com/PgIZptU7VI

— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) August 5, 2019

- DarthKane

Don’t we have enough overpriced D-men? 😆

Don’t we have enough overpriced D-men? 😆
- Chunk

$1.75 million is a bargain! This signing would have been the difference between a guaranteed Stanley Cup and a guarantee to miss the playoffs.

$1.75 million is a bargain! This signing would have been the difference between a guaranteed Stanley Cup and a guarantee to miss the playoffs.
- DarthKane

Says you hoser! The second he signed here he would be the second coming of Manning. You know how this works DK.

*NEW* blog up: http://bit.ly/2M84rcP

The curious case of Brendan Perlini.