Respect? They get respect every time they cash their paychecks. I don't begrudge them for getting as much as they can but for crying out loud, Toews should spend less time b#tching about not being consulted in how management manages the team and more time looking in the mirror and acknowledging he's one of the main reason management couldn't provide better teammates to win more Cups.

Getting rid of McD was the best thing that could happen to remake the Hawks into a competitive team again. He was great at what he did - marketing, but that gravy train was going to end when the winning ended, which it did. He tried to keep it going at the expense of winning and I'm glad he's gone.
- EbonyRaptor

You said it better, and got my point across better than I did

How many teams in the league do you think had legitimate interest in trading for Saad.
If we knew how many and who they were, we might be able to guess at what was being offered in return. Until yesterday, had to figure Montreal would have been very interested. How about Buffalo or NJ or Detroit? Maybe Pittsburgh for a hometown kid?
- RickJ

Correct, this isn't fantasy sports, it takes two teams who really want what you are selling. Every proposed trade we think is fair, the other teams GM probably likes the players we like and wants to keep them. Add in that the player can give a list of teams willing to be traded to, possibly all poor fits as trade partners and you get what you get. Everyone may have known Stan had to trade Saad. That lowers the return again.

The Hawks have money to spend. Even including Seabs, Smith and Shaw, and giving Strome 2.5, we have $5M available. We could easily take on a bad contract. MAF ($2M retained) ++ for Subban or Delia? Tyler Johnson (nothing retained) ++ for Reece Johnson. Take Hossa's contract back from AZ plus Hayton for next year's 2nd?
Ok I'll stop doing my Scott1977 impression now. 😆 🤣 😂
- tvetter

$5 mil available plus $3mil more when we LTIR Smith.

Has Saad improved since 2015? Has Saad performed up to his contract? I think Saad is overvalued by the board. This raised my eyebrow about Saad when I saw this a month ago. I know this is Pierre spouting off, but he is pretty plugged in to sources:

https://nhltradetalk.com/...on-saad-trade-blackhawks/

Torts was not a fan of Saad’s compete level

https://www.dispatch.com/...e-1-after-blowup-on-bench

I also am not a fan of well this player played 3 d minutes and against 3rd line players, while our guy is a top 6. Well Zadorov is a top 4 with the Hawks, and if he replaces Keith on the PK to me is a plus. Conversely there are several teams (Vegas, Rangers, Washington) where Saad would not (except for injury) not see top 6 minutes

I too thought Saad would return more. Looks like I also had home town bias in that assessment.

Maybe, I have no way of knowing what the COVID-19 impact is on their booze business.
- walleyeb1

Oh that's out there, during the lock down booze sales were definitely up

Down here in the South, State owns the liquor stores. They get a lot of revenue from it. Those stores were never locked down.

It makes sense if you think about it. There were lots of night driveway drinking parties in our neighborhood, and lots of drinking zoom calls as well.

Any surprised (besides Elbows) that 4K hasn't signed with anyone yet? Maybe he has a handshake deal with Stan to be brought back? What's one more defensemman?

The Hawks have money to spend. Even including Seabs, Smith and Shaw, and giving Strome 2.5, we have $5M available. We could easily take on a bad contract. MAF ($2M retained) ++ for Subban or Delia? Tyler Johnson (nothing retained) ++ for Reece Johnson. Take Hossa's contract back from AZ plus Hayton for next year's 2nd?
Ok I'll stop doing my Scott1977 impression now. 😆 🤣 😂
- tvetter

It smells a lot like Stan has been told to cut cost. The end result could be we have a lot of cap space in 2-3 years.

$5 mil available plus $3mil more when we LTIR Smith.
- -Doh-

I think they can’t LTIR Smith until after the first day of the season. They must be cap compliant (including Smith’s cap hit) on day one.

Meaning, again, I think, they can’t use that money (for a FA or a trade bringing more salary back than they give up) until after the season starts.

Can’t play him - he’s injured; can’t buy him out - he’s injured; can’t use his cap space...he’s a triple threat.

Respect? They get respect every time they cash their paychecks. I don't begrudge them for getting as much as they can but for crying out loud, Toews should spend less time b#tching about not being consulted in how management manages the team and more time looking in the mirror and acknowledging he's one of the main reason management couldn't provide better teammates to win more Cups.

Getting rid of McD was the best thing that could happen to remake the Hawks into a competitive team again. He was great at what he did - marketing, but that gravy train was going to end when the winning ended, which it did. He tried to keep it going at the expense of winning and I'm glad he's gone.
- EbonyRaptor

I’m Chief4Feathers... and I approve this message.

In case you haven't caught up on ALL the latest, TVR aka T Van Reimsdyck, former Blackhawk, is now also former Carolina Hurricane. He signed a one year $800,000 free agent deal with Washington. Someone I don't know, Paul LaDue, defenceman also signed a one year $700,000 deal with them. Sounds like TVR remains a 6th even depth player as Washington had other dman transactions lately.

AND as for the Maple Leafs predicament:

They traded A Johanson in basically a salary dump. Leafs received Joey Anderson, a rookie whom i am fairly certain is a middlin' prospect.

All done or most for part not much tinkering left with new roster yet I don't see much improvement on their defense. Major move breaks down, T Brodke in, Barrie out. The biggest issue is team defense and team attitude about how to play defense. I like their coach. However team some star players attitude permeates the full roster. Light regard for defensive effort in checking by forwards is a joke. They need a strong respected veteran coach to come in and change their attitude and defensive effort. Or trade one of the no defense forwards as a way to send a message to the remaining players.

Oh, regular beer/liquor sales are probably at a record high during this pandemic, I can attest to that. But the hockey operations are a separate business for the Wirtz empire, they don’t want to supplement the hockey side from their other business(s). I’m a Rocky fan, and I don’t blame him for cost reductions if that is part of the strategy as well, which in my opinion it is part of the strategy.
- Angotti

I'm just always amazed at how much some are concerned about Rocky's money, as if even if Covid lasted a decade his or his family's life would change at all............

Has Saad improved since 2015? Has Saad performed up to his contract? I think Saad is overvalued by the board. This raised my eyebrow about Saad when I saw this a month ago. I know this is Pierre spouting off, but he is pretty plugged in to sources:

https://nhltradetalk.com/...on-saad-trade-blackhawks/

Torts was not a fan of Saad’s compete level

https://www.dispatch.com/...e-1-after-blowup-on-bench

I also am not a fan of well this player played 3 d minutes and against 3rd line players, while our guy is a top 6. Well Zadorov is a top 4 with the Hawks, and if he replaces Keith on the PK to me is a plus. Conversely there are several teams (Vegas, Rangers, Washington) where Saad would not (except for injury) not see top 6 minutes

I too thought Saad would return more. Looks like I also had home town bias in that assessment.
- LAHawk

If this last is true - the free market for his next contract would be limited - and Stan could have negotiated a team-friendly deal.

To justify this deal by saying they couldn’t resign him (which you don’t seem to be doing, I understand) is too easy on Stan.

None of this matters unless we sign a tender! 6 Bobby Orr couldn’t help the Delia/Subban duo
- Boisy12

You're making the assumption they're trying to win.

I think they can’t LTIR Smith until after the first day of the season. They must be cap compliant (including Smith’s cap hit) on day one.

Meaning, again, I think, they can’t use that money (for a FA or a trade bringing more salary back than they give up) until after the season starts.

Can’t play him - he’s injured; can’t buy him out - he’s injured; can’t use his cap space...he’s a triple threat.
- StLBravesFan

They can LTIR Smith (with a doctors note) on day 1, they just can’t accrue his salary for cap space to use at the trading deadline. That is how Toronto became cap compliant last year, they LTIR’d Clarkson and Horton. That is why at the TDL they had very little additional monies to take on salary.

I would expect you to approve, you love meatheads. The top 6 forward group is every bit lacking size and physicality as the D. It’s a zero move.
- Ogilthorpe2

Why do you consider Zadorov a meat head cause he hits hard and dosnt let players get in the goalies face? That's how players should play. I like Saad but I didn't consider him physical .

If this last is true - the free market for his next contract would be limited - and Stan could have negotiated a team-friendly deal.

To justify this deal by saying they couldn’t resign him (which you don’t seem to be doing, I understand) is too easy on Stan.
- StLBravesFan

Except next year as a FA he could just sign with Seattle, and get his $6 mil. Too help them get to the floor.

The actual salary for next season is currently at $54M. I doubt Rocky would have a problem spending a little more, even in the pandemic era.
- tvetter

You will know for sure after the next few moves. I suspect Rocky is saving not spending?

Any surprised (besides Elbows) that 4K hasn't signed with anyone yet? Maybe he has a handshake deal with Stan to be brought back? What's one more defensemman?
- boilermaker100

After Murphy and deHaan go...

I think they can’t LTIR Smith until after the first day of the season. They must be cap compliant (including Smith’s cap hit) on day one.

Meaning, again, I think, they can’t use that money (for a FA or a trade bringing more salary back than they give up) until after the season starts.

Can’t play him - he’s injured; can’t buy him out - he’s injured; can’t use his cap space...he’s a triple threat.
- StLBravesFan

I am not a capologist, but I think there are work arounds. For example you only have 21 players on your opening day roster. The 20 you are starting plus Smith. You put the other subs at Rockford. On day two of the season you put Smith on LTIR and bring up your 13th winger and 7th defender.

I have made a spreadsheet of the Hawks roster. With Smith and 12 forwards, 6 defenders, and two goalies, plus the money they retained on Maatta and Saad the Hawks have a cap hit of $74.5mil. So virtually $7 mil cap available.

Paying guys for past performance and out of loyalty gets you two tickets aboard the Titanic.

Sports is a ruthless world, and you have to be constantly two steps ahead of the game. Look at what the Canucks did letting Markstrom go. They saw they had the contracts of Hughes and Petterson coming up, as well as having Demko to replace Markstrom, so they made the right call. Is it going to be popular with the fans, no...but it is the right call. Look to how Belichik handles the Patriots.

Seabrook is a perfect example. They should have offered him a short term deal, or simply let him go. A few years back, they could have drafted Vasilevsky, instead of Teravainen. Future asset management. Crawford was already up there in age, with no potential replacement in the system...how would they be looking in the net today? How is Teuvo doing with the Hawks nowadays anyways?

I liked Saad, but he never really was the sum of his parts. With his size, speed and skill, he should have been a regular 1st liner with 35 goals a year. Not a finisher. For all the hate for Toews and Kane and their big money deals, do not forget that Saad and his Daddy also went after the Hawks for big money, leading to the Hawks dealing him away, for nothing (see a theme emerging here...bad asset management). What is the net asset acquired for Panarin now? Looks to me like Nikita Zadarov?

I only hope they get rid of Bowman, and get a competent GM in here for what should be the inevitable Kane deal. That potential deal should not and cannot be screwed up. Between Kane, Toews and Keith, if the Hawks play it right, they should end up with a host of 1st round picks, and some top prospects. But, it would not surprise me to see the team let all three of them retire as Hawks and get nothing out of it.

Core reaction via Toews

https://theathletic.com/2...e-jonathan-toews-its-sad/

And, please, none of the "he's crying all the way to the bank / shouldn't have taken that much money..." BS that always accompanies these stories.
A) you would not have turned down that money when offered AND earned
B) These guys are human beings and that completely discounts that fact.

If you've never had a job where you were making lots of money, but were miserable, it may be hard to understand. Unfortunately, for them, they can't just change employers when that's the case, like you and I can. Choice is quit, a la Big Buff, or deal with a bad situation as best you can.
- pdx2ord

I don't think anyone thinks Toews should have taken less than what he could get, anyone who says they wouldn't have done the same is probably being disingenuous. That's not what "he's crying all the way to the bank" implies, at least not for me. Rather, it implies that he should take more ownership of the situation his mega contract contributed in causing the situation. The Hawks have had to play the salary cap purge game for years and I have never heard Toews acknowledge his role in causing the problem. If he had acknowledged that had he taken less it would have resulted in more cap space for Stan to use to keep the roster Cup contender status - then I would have more RESPECT for him but to my knowledge he hasn't done that so I could care less that he feels slighted by not being a part of the management process.

Saad had 33 freaking points in 58 games, what kind of a return do u want? The Hawks got a 25 year old nasty bastard that is harder than hell to play against. That most importantly fills a need that the Hawks are sorely lacking. Plus, they opened up more cap space.
- ChicagoHope

I was told yesterday that Saad was worth a first round pick plus more.

Obviously they were not going to resign Saad, so they went out and got an asset, a tough to play against defenseman to protect their young goalies and young smaller Dmen. Not the expected return for Saad, but there must be reason to this madness. I don’t care how much money Rocky has, the business is not booming at this time(understatement), no beer and/or liquor sales, Rocky is getting ready for the 20/21 NHL financial challenges as well, that’s my $0.02...
- Angotti

You and many others had an unrealistic expected return for a 20 goal 40 point inconsistent winger

I am not a capologist, but I think there are work arounds. For example you only have 21 players on your opening day roster. The 20 you are starting plus Smith. You put the other subs at Rockford. On day two of the season you put Smith on LTIR and bring up your 13th winger and 7th defender.

I have made a spreadsheet of the Hawks roster. With Smith and 12 forwards, 6 defenders, and two goalies, plus the money they retained on Maatta and Saad the Hawks have a cap hit of $74.5mil. So virtually $7 mil cap available.
- -Doh-

Yes, but you’re talking about minimum salary players whose complete salaries they can stash in the minors.

They can’t go out and pick up a FA at a higher salary who would eat up the LTIR money over the summer - they couldn’t bury the money at Rockford. I guess they could ask the FA to wait until day 2 to sign - don’t know how possible that would be.

You and many others had an unrealistic expected return for a 20 goal 40 point inconsistent winger
- GPHawksfan

If that’s the view of his value around the league, his next contract should be very affordable - even for Stan.