Yes. He would have to go through waivers and they could lose him. imagine the horrors.
- Elbows15

LOL! Yep no consequences.

Agree with you on Bickell, in terms of sitting down and having a cold one. Maybe Burish, Bolland or Versteeg too from some of the Cup teams.

My $$ is on Alex Cora....
- glennjpawlak22

Hinch or alomar be my candidates for the white sox.

Bickell was one of the most frustrating Hawk players ever for me. I always wanted more from him but never felt he was overpaid. He did come to play in the playoffs every year and that has value. I don't recall exactly what year it was in the 13-15 runs but he hit Pietro so many times that Pietro was looking for him every time he played the puck.

It wasn't just MS that slowed him down. His knees were getting worn out and he as playing with a brace that hindered him.
- Elbows15

The 15 Wild series, even playing on 2 bad knees, he hit everything in site, even though he didn't score. In the 14 playoffs he was very good as well scoring 7 goals, only 2 less than he scored in 13.

Not to worry, Stan has just signed Saad's replacement.

Janmark - Toews - Kubalik

Super!
- scottak

I don't necessarily think the hawks are rebuilding. I think what we are seeing is a change from the soft level playing we have played for years. It isn't always about having the best names or biggest names in hockey to compete, I think the hawks are giving Subban a shot to see what he is capable of. Maybe he thrives in environments where he sees lots of shots. I think if anything these moves were made to improve areas where we were weak, and we seem to handle things better and have won cups when we had defensive Defensemen handling things. Maata was way overpaid and was not really good, plus was really slow, and with Zadorov we get a big bruiser and someone like Hjarmlson who isn't afraid to use the body or take a shot block to the body. Hjarmlson was never a top points guy either, just played really good defense and maybe that is what we are going after with these two deals. Sure Saad Played defense well, but we also need better defense to manage things. Remember Jeff Hackett? He was passed over numerous times and flourished when given a chance to start, maybe this happens with Subban. We don't know what we have until we play him and see what we have. We have to take a gamble to see what this team is capable of. We were dealing with Insanity, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. We got the same results, therefore we are trying a different approach. We have plenty of offense to score, we need defensive players to keep the puck out of our offensive zone and in the back of our net. Just give the team time to see what happens, I imagine this is just a retooling to see if we can change things up. We needed the cap space, and now if anything we can go out and get a top guy next year like a Taylor Hall or maybe a top defense or Goalie comes available next year. Why not save cap space for our own guys internally in case they all develop well and then we have to purge again getting nothing for Sharp or Leddy.

Gustafsson to the Flyers, $3M for one year.

Gus signed with the Flyers, 1 year @ $3,000,000

So the Hawks do not sign Bickell, they would use that money to sign someone else. Here are some of the other fowrard UFA in 2013 that signed:

Leclavier Philadelphia 5 years $22.5 mil.
Dupuis 4 year $15 mil. (Bickell money)
Elias 3 years $16.5 mil.
Clowe 5 years $24.5 mil
Ribero 4 years $22 mil.
Horton 7 years $37.1 mil.
STAHLBERG 4 years $12 mil.
Bozak 5 years $21 mil.
Clarkson 7 years $36.5 m
Filpulla 5 years $25 mil.
Weiss 5 years $24.5 mil.

Bickell's contract in hindsight looks pretty good compared to the above. The Hawks had Pirri, Jimmy Hayes, Kyle Beach waiting in the wings to take Bickell's spot


So who would the Hawks have signed? would that have fixed their cap problems? Better yet, which ones of the above performed better than Bickell over the life of the contract.

You know if Stan didn't trade Anisimov for Smith, then Crawford would of been signed because Smith would not be on the Hawks LTIR list. Of course if Stan wouldn't of traded for Anisimov, he would not have to have reacquired Saad. Of course if Kenny Wharram didn't have a heart attack in training camp in 1969, Cliff Koroll would never have become a fixture on right wing with Mikita. If Ted Lindsay did not start the NHLPA, Glenn Hall would of never been a Blackhawk.

I can play the what if game all day long if you want to.
- LAHawk

I knew that Koroll played RW on Mikita's line but never knew about the Wharram heart attack. Learn something every day.

Bicks is prolly the guy I would most like to have a beer with off those teams. He seem to be genuinely good dude.
- Elbows15

Sure. I'd love to hang around with him on his fishing boat and have a few.

Definitely. There are plenty of candidates out there. I trust Hahn. Letting go of Coop was huge and due.
- Elbows15

agree

Gus signed with the Flyers, 1 year @ $3,000,000
- DarthKane

To play left wing? lol and red font.

To play left wing? lol and red font.
- -Doh-

That crowd is going to eat Gus up and spit him out.

That crowd is going to eat Gus up and spit him out.
- 6628

They must be trading the Ghost then, they can't have both lining up on defense.

Gus signed with the Flyers, 1 year @ $3,000,000
- DarthKane

Gus must have one helluva agent.

Gus must have one helluva agent.
- boilermaker100

Same agent as Bovquist, Peter Wallin, has a corner on the Swedes

Gus must have one helluva agent.
- boilermaker100

Or compromising pics of the Flyers GM along with the ones of Stan.

Janmark could be 4th line. But I think he could play 3rd line too.

LW? - Toews - Kubalik
LW? - Dach - Kane
LW? - Strome - RW?
LW? - Kampf - RW?

Fill in the ?'s with ADB, Shaw, Suter, Nylander, Janmark, Highmore, & Carp.

Maybe
Suter - Toews - Kubalik
AdB - Dach - Kane
Janmark - Strome - Shaw
Carp/Nylander - Kampf - Highmore

I am not giving Suter a top line spot or demoting Nylander to the 4th line. There are endless combinations. This is just one.

PK Toews, Shaw, Janmark, Kampf, Carp, Dach.

If they are able to sign Kahun the possibilities grow.
- -Doh-

Think you forgot to add one Brandon Pirri into that mix!!!!

So does this commitment to youth mean that Keith will finally be off of PP1?

Niemi, Buff and Ladd were all Cap Casualties. Ladd and Buff were traded in deal that looked like the one LVK just got for Stastny.

Brouwer didn't go til after the '12 season. Bickell was essentially his replacement. Bickell had more than one good playoff run, btw. He was one of their better forwards in the PHX series in '12 and he followed up a good run in '13 with one in '14.

Did Bickell seem unengaged on a number of nights during the regular season? Sure but the talent was there. If you could transplant Shaw's psyche into Bickell's body, that make a pretty good hockey player, I think.
- HawkintheD

Bickell did a lot in the '15 playoffs even if the stats didn't show it. Only guy we had keeping other teams honest.

Bickell did a lot in the '15 playoffs even if the stats didn't show it. Only guy we had keeping other teams honest.
- rpeters01

Yep agree and posted that earlier. Against the Ducks you could see Vatanen had the yips whenever Bickell was on the ice and Sami had to turn around and retrieve the puck in their corner.

Gustafsson to the Flyers, $3M for one year.
- Theo Fox

I thought the Flyers knew what they were doing.

As a frequent criticizer of 19, I had no issues the way he played in the playoffs. He obviously has a "regular season gear" and a "playoffs gear." I'm not sure that's a bad thing?
- rpeters01

It is if you don't make the playoffs.......

The Hawks have signed Lucas Wallmark to a 1 year deal @ $950,000. That’s a decent depth move.

I knew that Koroll played RW on Mikita's line but never knew about the Wharram heart attack. Learn something every day.
- boilermaker100

It was Doug Mohns I think on the other wing when Wharram had the heart attack?

Yep agree and posted that earlier. Against the Ducks you could see Vatanen had the yips whenever Bickell was on the ice and Sami had to turn around and retrieve the puck in their corner.
- HawkintheD

Anyone know how Bickell is doing with his MS?

Same, though couldn't he be sent to RFD without any consequence?
- HawkintheD

$1 mil salary for two more seasons and can play NHL level. Effective 3/4C. Why move him?