Not that anyone gives a poop or asked, but I'm with the "we might miss anisimov more that we thought" crowd.
- 6628

I’m with the “ Zach Smith will be better than you think” crowd (sorry Ogi)

Good to see everyone is rounding into regular season form!

I don't get the Kampf bashing...like if you don't think he's that good that's fine. Chances of having 12 guys who are all amazing is slim and even then there's not guarantee of winning (hello Tampa!). He's a serviceable C. Just because he starts the year as 3C with Saad and Kubaliak does not mean he will play there the entire year. After two games that might change and probably will!

By the end of the season I would put MONEY on the fact that Kampf isn't our 3C. Either the year is going well and the Hawks will either go out to add another C to fill the role OR another wing to slide Shaw down. Possibly even Dach gets the call at the end of the year depending how his season plays out.

OR, they struggle and sell some pieces off in which we'll see some rookie be given a shot. Whether that's Dach, Highmore, Kurashev, Saarela, whoever.

Relax people. Give them time to figure out who has chemistry together. No one expected Kruger to be as good as he was. Built chemistry with his teammates, found his role, committed to his role, and improved. Anyone of the bottom six guys can do that. Maybe Kampf is good, maybe is s#!ts the bed and they waive him. Either way they'll move on and figure it out

Good to see everyone is rounding into regular season form!

I don't get the Kampf bashing...like if you don't think he's that good that's fine. Chances of having 12 guys who are all amazing is slim and even then there's not guarantee of winning (hello Tampa!). He's a serviceable C. Just because he starts the year as 3C with Saad and Kubaliak does not mean he will play there the entire year. After two games that might change and probably will!

By the end of the season I would put MONEY on the fact that Kampf isn't our 3C. Either the year is going well and the Hawks will either go out to add another C to fill the role OR another wing to slide Shaw down. Possibly even Dach gets the call at the end of the year depending how his season plays out.

OR, they struggle and sell some pieces off in which we'll see some rookie be given a shot. Whether that's Dach, Highmore, Kurashev, Saarela, whoever.

Relax people. Give them time to figure out who has chemistry together. No one expected Kruger to be as good as he was. Built chemistry with his teammates, found his role, committed to his role, and improved. Anyone of the bottom six guys can do that. Maybe Kampf is good, maybe is s#!ts the bed and they waive him. Either way they'll move on and figure it out
- Savetheembers33

To my point, if worrying about who our 3C is gonna be is our biggest worry heading into the season I'll take it in a heartbeat

I'm thinking Fortin and Quenville can be launched as well. What the hell happened to Fortin? Leg injury of some sort? He's not the same guy who was here in camp a couple years ago.
- 6628

Too bad Perlini doesn't play with the effort of Fortin. Fortin is all legs, no hands it would appear.

Good news, #Blackhawks fans: Kirby Dach (concussion protocol) is back on the ice!

https://www.nbcsports.com...cussion-protocol-back-ice

I’m with the “ Zach Smith will be better than you think” crowd (sorry Ogi)
- Assman22

Count me in as well. Liked AA, but he was overpaid as a 3C. Smith should be able to bring some of the grit this team has been missing

Saw an earlier comment where Murphy belongs in Rockford.
I disagree strongly with this assessment.
He plays at an NHL level.

Too bad Perlini doesn't play with the effort of Fortin. Fortin is all legs, no hands it would appear.
- Elbows15

Yeah Fortin has speed that kills but he's got stone hands. Saw him play last year in person and he was easily the fastest guy on the ice, but he constantly lost the puck in transition or lost the puck on a pass

Imo JC has been given a pass only because he took over a team last year in mid season with a mediocre lineup.

JC needs to prove he is nhl worthy of coaching a team. Regarding kampf IMO he is way overrated and if anything is more depth than a every day player.

Saad and Kubalick deserve a stronger 2 way center who is more offensively gifted.

If JC hangs his career on kampf and the results of him playing as a 3c don't produce , then maybe JC shouldn't be coaching IMO in the nhl.

Kampf hasn't shown that he can play with gifted offensive players and be a c9ntributing factor.

Defensively his face off percentage isn't above 50% and what top line can he truly shut down?

If Dach truly isn't ready yet , Stan should look to unload murphy and Perlini for a center .

Holm and boqvist both have earned spots IMO.

Murphy , koekkoek and dalstrom belong in Rockford.

You could pair boqvist with either Keith or DE HAAN.
- Taylorst1

Murphy belongs in Rockford? And you are basing your opinion that Holm is better based on 2 games against mostly AHL players?
Yeah, no.

Yeah Fortin has speed that kills but he's got stone hands. Saw him play last year in person and he was easily the fastest guy on the ice, but he constantly lost the puck in transition or lost the puck on a pass
- Savetheembers33

I don’t see how they can keep letting him take minutes away from these younger prospects. Let him go already.

Good news, #Blackhawks fans: Kirby Dach (concussion protocol) is back on the ice!

https://www.nbcsports.com...cussion-protocol-back-ice
- walleyeb1

That's excellent news!! Three games left. Lets see how he plays (if he can in more than one, hopefully all three). Wouldn't completely rule out him making the roster outta camp, but he's gonna have to look REALLY good to convince them to give him a shot opening night

Saw an earlier comment where Murphy belongs in Rockford.
I disagree strongly with this assessment.
He plays at an NHL level.
- 35Tony0

Murphy will always suffer for being traded for Hjalmarsson.

Saw an earlier comment where Murphy belongs in Rockford.
I disagree strongly with this assessment.
He plays at an NHL level.
- 35Tony0

LOL yeah that's a HUGE no. Murphy is at worst a bottom pairing D-man in the NHL.

Murphy belongs in Rockford? And you are basing your opinion that Holm is better based on 2 games against mostly AHL players?
Yeah, no.
- Elbows15

Chicago looks their pre-season darlings thats for DAMN sure. I like what Holm has done especially over Dahlstrom and Koekkoek, but if you think he is better than Murphy or even that Murphy belongs in the AHL that's a HUGE no lol

That's excellent news!! Three games left. Lets see how he plays (if he can in more than one, hopefully all three). Wouldn't completely rule out him making the roster outta camp, but he's gonna have to look REALLY good to convince them to give him a shot opening night
- Savetheembers33

Dach skated on his own Friday morning, with Blackhawks assistant strength and conditioning coach Patrick Becker running the 2019 No. 3 overall pick through some light drills while the team practiced on the second rink.

https://twitter.com/croum.../1175064245953880064?s=21

I don’t see how they can keep letting him take minutes away from these younger prospects. Let him go already.
- Assman22

It's because of the tantalizing potential he has shown. If he can improve his hand to be at least average he could be an effective bottom six forward in the NHL. Maybe he still will at some point, but I think he's gonna end up with another organization at some point with all the young kids who are working their way up the Hawks ladder now

Count me in as well. Liked AA, but he was overpaid as a 3C. Smith should be able to bring some of the grit this team has been missing
- Savetheembers33

4.5M is about the going rate for a 3C these days. TBF, AA was being used as 2C last season when you look at his TOI and QoC. Especially in the 2nd half of the season.

Dach skated on his own Friday morning, with Blackhawks assistant strength and conditioning coach Patrick Becker running the 2019 No. 3 overall pick through some light drills while the team practiced on the second rink.

https://twitter.com/croum.../1175064245953880064?s=21
- walleyeb1

Hmm might not get all three in with tomorrow being the next game, but it's possible. We'll see what they say about how he felt after drills today to see if/when he'll be able to play this preseason

Saw an earlier comment where Murphy belongs in Rockford.
I disagree strongly with this assessment.
He plays at an NHL level.
- 35Tony0

Good news, #Blackhawks fans: Kirby Dach (concussion protocol) is back on the ice!

https://www.nbcsports.com...cussion-protocol-back-ice
- walleyeb1

Excellent news. Full contact, or skating on his own?

Edit - never mind.

LOL yeah that's a HUGE no. Murphy is at worst a bottom pairing D-man in the NHL.



Chicago looks their pre-season darlings thats for DAMN sure. I like what Holm has done especially over Dahlstrom and Koekkoek, but if you think he is better than Murphy or even that Murphy belongs in the AHL that's a HUGE no lol
- Savetheembers33

I can even make a case that Gilbert has shown more than Holm. Holm is definitely better in the O-zone. When Gilbert and Holm were paired, it was Gilbert doing all the heavy lifting in the neutral zone and D-zone cause Holm was getting lost in the shuffle a bit.

There is a lot to like about Holm for sure. The issues are correctable but in no way shape or form is he better than Murphy.

Excellent news. Full contact, or skating on his own?
- mohel

Read the link, sparky.


Working out on his own on a different sheet of ice.

Yeah Fortin has speed that kills but he's got stone hands. Saw him play last year in person and he was easily the fastest guy on the ice, but he constantly lost the puck in transition or lost the puck on a pass
- Savetheembers33

In a previous life, he was named Ken Yaremchuk....

Excellent news. Full contact, or skating on his own?
- mohel

Skating on his own.

It's because of the tantalizing potential he has shown. If he can improve his hand to be at least average he could be an effective bottom six forward in the NHL. Maybe he still will at some point, but I think he's gonna end up with another organization at some point with all the young kids who are working their way up the Hawks ladder now
- Savetheembers33

Fortin was never drafted and he puts the reason for that on display every night. His signing was a Stanbo longshot is all.

But it would be fun to see him in a race against Michael Grabner.

4.5M is about the going rate for a 3C these days. TBF, AA was being used as 2C last season when you look at his TOI and QoC. Especially in the 2nd half of the season.
- Elbows15

You're right around 4M is the going rate for a 3C these days. My comment of him being overpaid has more to do with that I don't care for it as the salaries have gone up but the cap hasn't really.

Agree that AA wasn't put in the best position to succeed at times and bounced around based on where JC felt he needed him. Given the Hawks (and league) cap crunch something was gonna have to give with them to fill out the roster (the extra 1M they saved is another body on the roster).

As much as people wanna look at this as just a one for one deal I don't think it's as simple as that (even though that was the trade). Adding both Maatta and de Haan meant that someone was going to have to be moved. So essentially by adding de Haan it meant that AA was going to need to be moved out. Given our swiss cheese defense last year I'd rather add another Defensive responsible defender than have AA as our 3C. Especially with Dach in the pipeline and other forwards (who have more speed, that's a big key there too) who could fill the role.