Kampf will probably slide down when they try Dach on line 3.
- breadbag

Next year? Maybe

But as Kampf is JCs stepson...he's top 9 in his eyes.

I fully expect to see Kampf getting his 3 on 3 OT shifts as well...

They may or they let Highmore take 4C to start with Dach heading back to Canada to get his poop together.
My question is where are they gonna put Perlini if Nylander takes 1LW and Shaw takes 2RW with Saad/Kubalik flanking L3?
- Assman22

Ogi can tell you where Perlini belongs.

They may or they let Highmore take 4C to start with Dach heading back to Canada to get his poop together.
My question is where are they gonna put Perlini if Nylander takes 1LW and Shaw takes 2RW with Saad/Kubalik flanking L3?
- Assman22

I’m not sure he has to get anything together, seems silly to think he doesn’t have his poop together when he’s dealing with a concussion.

Time will tell, but in all likelihood the concussion probably ended any shot he had of making the club this season. Having him play another year in Canada isn’t the end of the world.

You should add Hagel into the 2. of. the guy works his tail off and has some offensive talent.
- LAHawk

I think you'd have to consider also Quenneville and Saarela both being in the mix as well. I know Quenneville is banged up, but might be one of those extra forwards.

Just to note, the following players fighting for spots are not waiver exempt.

Perlini
Quenneville
Nilsson
Dahlström
Koekkoek
Holm

Seems likely that at least Nilsson, and two of the dmen will have to likely clear waivers.

No rush to do anything with Dach. Only desperate GMs do that
- RickJ

What value is there to have him steamroll kiddos for another year? Seems like a waste of a year. Not desperate at all.

He should be in Rockford but because the NHL is dumb that isn't an option.

Seems as the Hawks are in a good but tricky situation. They MUST start out the year better than the past two seasons, They have weatlth of depth at several positions ... need to look at many new faces and integrate them into their system. Very difficult to to in six preseason games, plus DeHann and Dach are injured, so we won't see them. Some players can hit their stride, once they have more games under their belt too ... it's just the way it is. Hope they have good start to the season, but be patient ... the best should come once all these new faces develope some chemistry with team mates. Best bet to start the season is to try and stay strong defensively as a team. If the opposition is not scoring much, Hawks should have enough offense to get through this period.
- chuckdahammer

I think you hit the nail on the head with this. They have so many new players, I could see it taking a while for them to gel. Look at the Blues last season (not saying we're winning the Cup). They were horrible in 2018, but once they developed some chemistry, and switched goalies, they took off.

That sounds like stuff that is pretty fixable. Who was he traded for again?
- mohel

Henri Orr I believe.

They really do in a 7 game series
- BetweenTheDots

They do during the year when there is injuries also. Remember last year our forward call-ups were Fortin, Martinson, Luke Johnson

Can Nylander play center? Seems to have the playmaking ability. Nylander-Saad-Kubalik appears to be a nice third line.
- LAHawk

No is the short answer although he played some Centre in Swedish Junior, bt his teams always derived his vale as shooter over a gy who was gonna get groomed to be a two way gy matching up against attackers and expected to be responsible in his end after sliding all ver the attack zone making himself an option...that is a whole lotta load, when the Scots view you primarily as a goal scorer.

I think you'd have to consider also Quenneville and Saarela both being in the mix as well.
Perlini
Quenneville
Nilsson
Dahlström
Koekkoek
Holm
- breadbag

I confess I may not know the rule, but at the start if they send down say, five of those guys, only one other team (lower than where the Hawks finished go first) can claim one of the players being demoted at the onset. IS THAT CORRECT? one player?

If any are brought back, they then must again go through waivers to be assigned to Rockford, after their stint, right?


I am curious as to whether some teams are going to try and trade contracts they need discarded for lower salaried maybe like these wavier guys to make Cap space, but that doesn't help the hawks unless they can leverage one or two of these guys for a guy they feel might fit the hawk Cap and be veteran help short term for 2019-20.


First its will come tonight and Friday the after the weekend, I guess...

How about that #50. Plays the whole game and looks like his old self.

Many here had crow done retired and burried. Not surprisingly crow had different ideas.

I don't think the hawks would spend 5 mildo for lehner as a psychological prod for craw. He doesn't need it.

As many have noted the hawks have some serious depth for the 1st time in years. A few somebodies are going to be disappointed at going to rckf or even possibly a trade. Although stanbow trades are rare at this time of year.

The nylander/perlini duel is the most intriguing...neither is suited for a 4th line role.
The kid dman will be up here for good before the end of the season. He is going to be alot of fun to watch.

Smith and Carpenter will make the team. They weren't acquired to sit or be AHL fodder.

They do during the year when there is injuries also. Remember last year our forward call-ups were Fortin, Martinson, Luke Johnson
- LAHawk

And compared to Fortin, Martinsen, and Johnson, I'd much rather see D Sikura, Wedin, and Highmore as the 13th forward instead since they play 200 foot games with some offense to boot.

I think Nylander-Toews-Kane will be a very solid puck possession line although probably would be with Me-Toews-Kane too.

Holm should be 7th D, I think we are all in agreement on that. Boqvist should play some NHL games if DeHaan cant go by opening night.

Still think they use 9 games to see where Dach stacks up if he can get a preseason game in. Will play him between Saad and Shaw to protect him a bit.

Carpenter makes this team. Face-off wins will be useful.

Perlini still more useful that the other contenders for reserve forward.

0.0% chance Quenneville, Wedin or Dahlstrom make opening roster in my mind. Sikura, Highmore & Koekkoek likely heading back to Rockford too.

After watching some meaningless preseason games, I have opening roster:

Nylander-Toews-Kane
ADB-Strome-Kubalik
Saad-Dach-Shaw
Smith-Kampf-Caggulia

Keith-Boqvist
Maatta-Seabrook
Gustafson-Murphy

Crawford

Reserves: Perlini, Carpenter, Holm, Lehner & DeHaan (injured)

curious to see what Saarela does if he gets sent down. He got all pissy about not getting called up this summer, which is why he got traded.

I confess I may not know the rule, but at the start if they send down say, five of those guys, only one other team (lower than where the Hawks finished go first) can claim one of the players being demoted at the onset. IS THAT CORRECT? one player?

If any are brought back, they then must again go through waivers to be assigned to Rockford, after their stint, right?

I am curious as to whether some teams are going to try and trade contracts they need discarded for lower salaried maybe like these wavier guys to make Cap space, but that doesn't help the hawks unless they can leverage one or two of these guys for a guy they feel might fit the hawk Cap and be veteran help short term for 2019-20.
- wiz1901

I haven't brushed up on it lately, but my understanding is that any of the 30 other teams can put in the claim on a player, but only the "lowest" rank in the waiver order will get the claim. So the teams that were worst get higher priority.

There isn't a waiver on the way back up anymore and I think if the player is send back down within 30 days of last clearing waivers or has not played at least 10 games, then they don't have to pass through again.

God it feels good to have Blackhawks hockey back!

Last night was a fun game and it was good to see guys perform well. As I stated yesterday, you see the defense improvement with more of the starters playing. I hope they can continue to build off of that.

I think we're looking at an opening night lineup of...

Nylander-Toews-Kane
Cat-Strome-Shaw
Saad-Kampf-Kubalik
Caggiula-Smith-Carpenter

2 of: Highmore, Wedin, Sikura, Perlini (mostly because they don't wanna lose him for nothing)

Keith-Gus
de Haan-Murphy
Maatta-Seabrook

One of: Holm, Dahlstrom, Koekkoek

Crow
Robin

I'm still iffy if Holm makes the team or not outta camp. I think we'd all agree (if not Boqvist or Beaudin) Holm deserves to step into the lineup if an injury happens with how well he's played. Dahlstrom and Koekkoek look like they cannot be counted on for long stretches of time. One would be fine as the 7th D-Man if you want to have Holm get regular playing time in Rockford, but if someone goes down he's likely gonna be Holm who gets the call and gets the playing time over either of them.

Overall, that's a pretty solid team going into the year. With Rockford stacked with plenty of talent. Not ready to say this team is gonna BE a Playoff team come spring, but it looks like they could fight for a spot
- Savetheembers33

That all sounds pretty accurate to me.

At forward, IMO, Kubalik is a lock but not Nylander so 92 is in that list of bubble forwards.

On the blueline, Gilbert is stating his case. Doubt he beats out Koekkoek but think he may be eclipsing Dahlstrom with his play. Holm is definitely staking his claim, too.

I'm one who is not high at all on Kampf being overslotted. If he or even Highmore are slotted above the 4th line, that signals to me lack of depth to fill out the bottom 6. Let them thrive on the 4th line than just be okay on the 3rd.

We all have different definitions or standards for what the 3rd line should be. IMO, the 3rd line should have all forwards not only committed to a 200 foot game but also the capacity to put up around 0.50 PPG.

Kampf and Highmore can deliver the former but very hard pressed to come close to the latter. Saad, Shaw, Dach, Kubalik, and even Sikura (I know many will disagree) are capable of both.
- AEL_Fox

They seem to playing Sikura more at wing than at center. I am not particularly a Sikura fan, but I could see him centering the 3rd line until Dach is ready (by ready I mean healthy and it is decided he is NHL ready). That would give the 3rd line more offense than with Kampf or Highmore. Although his weakness at the dot is an issue.

curious to see what Saarela does if he gets sent down. He got all pissy about not getting called up this summer, which is why he got traded.
- BINGO!

i doubt he makes the team...big numbers game at forward with waiver and contract issues in play

I think you'd have to consider also Quenneville and Saarela both being in the mix as well. I know Quenneville is banged up, but might be one of those extra forwards.

Just to note, the following players fighting for spots are not waiver exempt.

Perlini
Quenneville
Nilsson
Dahlström
Koekkoek
Holm

Seems likely that at least Nilsson, and two of the dmen will have to likely clear waivers.
- breadbag

Likely

That all sounds pretty accurate to me.

At forward, IMO, Kubalik is a lock but not Nylander so 92 is in that list of bubble forwards.

On the blueline, Gilbert is stating his case. Doubt he beats out Koekkoek but think he may be eclipsing Dahlstrom with his play. Holm is definitely staking his claim, too.
- AEL_Fox

Not an expert but I really liked what I saw from Nylander as far as puck possession in the o-zone. Nice pivots and uses his size to shield the puck. Obviously he has a nice shot and hands. He has been hanging around the net too.

Haven't seen him doing that much "floating". At least not anymore than a usual offensive minded top 6 forward.

Panarin did his fair share of that. Kane does. So did the older version of Sharp. Not every top 6 forward is going to be a two way beast like Toews, Hossa or the good version of Saad.

Question is can the Hawks be a serious contender with that type of offensive minded player when they already have Dcat and Kane in the top 6?

It will be a different brand of hockey than the cup winning teams that could absolutely smother other teams once they took a lead.

Chabot 8x8 for Ott.
Gravel back in the Q.

Poor baby will have to take his Thumb out of his mouth and detach himself from mommy first. Not too sure why it upsets him so much? He was the one who wrote one of his thousands of lineup cards with Dach lined up at number one and Toews at number three.
- paulr

You are a pathetic troll. I come back to the board with the season starting and I am immediately attacked with clear violations of the HockeyBuzz Code of Conduct.


Reported

Not an expert but I really liked what I saw from Nylander as far as puck possession in the o-zone. Nice pivots and uses his size to shield the puck. Obviously he has a nice shot and hands. He has been hanging around the net too.

Haven't seen him doing that much "floating". At least not anymore than a usual offensive minded top 6 forward.

Panarin did his fair share of that. Kane does. So did the older version of Sharp. Not every top 6 forward is going to be a two way beast like Toews, Hossa or the good version of Saad.

Question is can the Hawks be a serious contender with that type of offensive minded player when they already have Dcat and Kane in the top 6?

It will be a different brand of hockey than the cup winning teams that could absolutely smother other teams once they took a lead.
- bhawks2241

Regarding Nylander, Ed Farmer says "he's on the team for next year!"

You are a pathetic troll. I come back to the board with the season starting and I am immediately attacked with clear violations of the HockeyBuzz Code of Conduct.


Reported
- EnzoD

Good to see you, Edzo. Oh for the days of Barney, when calling out a poster for a hot take resulted in long bans. Those were the days.

Anyway, keep the opinions flowing - varied hot takes, even wacky ones, make the place better.

Regarding Nylander, Ed Farmer says "he's on the team for next year!"
- rpeters01

Given what Stan gave up, Nylander would have to soil himself not to make the team.