Whether you like it or not Stan was pretty blunt. Saad was not in the rebuilding plans, Corey wanted a 2 year contract and Stan only wanted one.

Can't wait to hear the rumors that Ek will cook up for the core now!

I just hope we are.
- mohel

Ha ha. Same here. My Pops always told me he can die in peace now that he saw not just one more but three more Stanley Cup wins. He experienced the 61' cup as a 10 year old.

Curious to see what happens next. It's going to be a very tough market to try and move some of these vets, even the ones who are still full value for the big contracts they have.
- BINGO!

Exactly why a rebuild should have been made a few seasons ago to maximize return. Can't turn back time so forge ahead with the present circumstances and make better decisions here on out.

Hopefully a formal statement to rebuild and trend towards youth alleviates that prior hestiance, resistance, denial, or whatever you want to call it.

Ha ha. Same here. My Pops always told me he can die in peace now that he saw not just one more but three more Stanley Cup wins. He experienced the 61' cup as a 10 year old.
- Popsghostly

That was the golden age, imo. Im glad I was around to see it. I'll be happy if it occurs again, but I kinda doubt it (I mean three in six years).

Would guess that McD was opposed to this direction, which would be the primary reason he was let go.
- scottak

That's my take, too. McDonough was the roadblock. None of what we've experienced this offseason would be happening if he was still in the organization.

Exactly why a rebuild should have been made a few seasons ago to maximize return. Can't turn back time so forge ahead with the present circumstances and make better decisions here on out.

Hopefully a formal statement to rebuild and trend towards youth alleviates that prior hestiance, resistance, denial, or whatever you want to call it.
- Theo Fox

Maybe Stan wanted to, and McDonough said no?

The rebuild has been on for about 3 seasons now and it doesn't seem like much change in direction based on today IMO.

Mostly seems like they are just going to give more chances to the young guys and let them sink or swim a bit more. Doesn't sound like a fire sale type rebuild, which will anger some old school folks who seem to be stuck on that being the only type of rebuild.

I think the biggest change right now is the team is being more transparent about their direction. This seems directly in response to letting Saad and Crawford leave and Toews comments to make it more publicly clear.

Statement from the Blackhawks:

.....an effort that will require a stockpile of emerging talent to complement our top players....
- Q-stache

So is the core the "top players" and is the plan for them to stick around?

How does the team stockpile the emerging talent? Don't think trading Murphy or deHaan returns that much.

A start would be to acquire a bad contract or deal with TB to get sweeteners back also. Ek (FWIW) reporting Vancouver will send a
1st along to offload Ericson.

This rebuild will take a while but I'm on board for a tear down.

on thing is they can only retain on one more contract. he talks about taking on some contract from a team up against the cap but we only have SAAD $1mil and smith coming off the books, Does not create much space. my guess is if SAAD did not fit the window then no one older then 25 does. I do feel like D men return more then forwards in mid season trade. Maybe de hann if he is healthy all year you can move him with some retention. Murph and keith I think could move on there own.

That was the golden age, imo. Im glad I was around to see it. I'll be happy if it occurs again, but I kinda doubt it (I mean three in six years).
- mohel

I don’t think we should expect Cups in the next several years - they are very hard to win.

But we should expect Cup runs - long tournaments into final four or beyond - January-February discussing who they should pick up at the TDL, not who they should be selling - April and May w ordering if there will be a June, not Marches looking to lottery positions and the draft.

That would satisfy me a lot (although not completely).

Totally agree. At the time of the draft last year, "experts" other than our own Wiz had the Hawks completely blowing it with the Dach pick at 3 vs taking say Byram or Turcotte there.

A year later many of the "experts" have done an about face on their previous sentiment.
- HawkintheD

Yeah, but it balances out, after I didn't see Reichel a whole lot , and what I saw casted him as a lightweight defensively and not a much of a shooter.
It turns out he has a hell of wall game and is extraordinarily quick in his touches and is less of a perimeter guy than I thought.
When I saw him he seemed to be running around doing everyones job, but we all know in real NHL hockey in times of necessity, the true heavy lifters take control like the teammates are passengers.
It is simply too early to tell.
Just like what happens with Guhle entire game, and Holloway's...does he actually become an impact scorer?

So is the core the "top players" and is the plan for them to stick around?

How does the team stockpile the emerging talent? Don't think trading Murphy or deHaan returns that much.

A start would be to acquire a bad contract or deal with TB to get sweeteners back also. Ek (FWIW) reporting Vancouver will send a
1st along to offload Ericson.

Chicago typically spends to the salary cap, and Bowman said he has not received any edicts from ownership about curbing spending as they transition to a younger roster. That said, Bowman said he is hoping to get the team's payroll and cap situation "in a better place" with "more cushion."

"I want the flexibility so we can bring in a good player in his mid-20s, who is signed but makes too much money for that team," Bowman said. "We can swoop in and say, 'We can take him off your hands for relatively nothing.' We're not really in that mode yet, but that's the motivation for working on our cap differently. It's not because Rocky
- boilermaker100[Wirtz, the Blackhawks' owner] doesn't want to spend money. We've been one end of the transaction, where we are offloading good players, getting little in return. I'd love to take advantage of other teams. That will accelerate our progress to become a top team again."

I am all on board, full steam forward. I embrace this philosophy and I thoroughly enjoy watching the progress of many young players arrive, improve, and hopefully become key pieces in the new Blackhawks shape.

I really have stressed that the team needs to add at least one top six forward whom willingly and effectively plays a boards game - good in cycling the puck. This player does not also need to be a big time scorer, but talented enough to play on a top line.

The playoff teams play tough hockey whete most or all lines willingly can play a boards pr cycling the puck style. We are way overmatched in this aspect. I see a #1 2021 as our biggest chip

Perhaps that is where a power forward comes from. In previous years Bowman was able to employ later round draft choices like Shaw, Brower and Sharp was invaluable in that he could step up and handle the dirty work. We may be just fine on botyom teo lines as far as toughness and playing along the boards goes. Just sometime somewhere somehow we need more toughness and boards performance player(s) on the top line.
- jhawk59

I would only argue we need one on at least 3 lines.

I wasted an entire evening watching that meathead that night.
- Rota's Rooter

ME too!

My wife and kids were in a hotel in New Orleans and sat there waiting for seething to happen...it was another reality TV let down.

Curious to see what happens next. It's going to be a very tough market to try and move some of these vets, even the ones who are still full value for the big contracts they have.
- BINGO!

Also, another way of saying they are cutting cost without saying it.

Heiskanen another defenseman i like a lot and that damn Esa is looking really really good, Dallas has got 2 very promising pieces playing the blue line.
- BetweenTheDots

Esa Lindell is not the go to offensive flyer, but yeah, he is big, does the dirty work and have good balance and IQ for his position...

That's my take, too. McDonough was the roadblock. None of what we've experienced this offseason would be happening if he was still in the organization.
- Theo Fox

Even given that (and I agree), I’m still surprised Rocky / Danny let him go.

He was an important player in getting the franchise to a billion-dollar value - yes, a lot of credit goes to $Bill’s demise, and all that led to, and the 3 in 6 run....But there is a marketing and organizational factor that McDonough made major contributions to.

Just MHO - I have no inside information about any of this.

I just hope we are.
- mohel

So is the core the "top players" and is the plan for them to stick around?

How does the team stockpile the emerging talent? Don't think trading Murphy or deHaan returns that much.

A start would be to acquire a bad contract or deal with TB to get sweeteners back also. Ek (FWIW) reporting Vancouver will send a
1st along to offload Ericson.

This rebuild will take a while but I'm on board for a tear down.
- boilermaker100

Not only are they difficult to move contract wise they have NMC's.

So is the core the "top players" and is the plan for them to stick around?

How does the team stockpile the emerging talent? Don't think trading Murphy or deHaan returns that much.

A start would be to acquire a bad contract or deal with TB to get sweeteners back also. Ek (FWIW) reporting Vancouver will send a
1st along to offload Ericson.

This rebuild will take a while but I'm on board for a tear down.
- boilermaker100

Really isn't much left to tear down. People thinking the 4 left are going anywhere are dreaming, imo. Each one has its own reason for being very tough to move and honestly, the returns won't be close to acquiring future assets.

The next moves (or not)are Tazer's, Seab's, and Keith's...I bet Kane is just gonna sit back and let things come to him about moving....

The rebuild has been on for about 3 seasons now and it doesn't seem like much change in direction based on today IMO.

Mostly seems like they are just going to give more chances to the young guys and let them sink or swim a bit more. Doesn't sound like a fire sale type rebuild, which will anger some old school folks who seem to be stuck on that being the only type of rebuild.

I think the biggest change right now is the team is being more transparent about their direction. This seems directly in response to letting Saad and Crawford leave and Toews comments to make it more publicly clear.
- breadbag

We are in a different situation, because of the dollars & the term still assigned to those contracts with no trades. 4, yes, but still take up places to this "full investment in the development of youths." Keith might be pissed about that ... Younger players come up to contract renewal years at the same time. I like what Dach showed & I have no fears about Boq that more time won't fix.

I didn't like the statement at all & I don't fully buy the transparency either. Most posters here knew what was up & could guess the direction 3 years out. They used the "rebuild" word & that means nothing to me either. Idk, there's nothing for me to hang my hat on in that statement & nothing that offers optimism & I'm usually a notch under oldduffman in the optimism department.

I will gladly eat crow if I'm wrong about keeping the core, keeping Bowman or whatever. I don't expect anything different for a long while. Drafts & trades need to be A+ to move the dial for me.

Not only are they difficult to move contract wise they have NMC's.
- rpeters01

Which is I think they're not going anywhere and they are the top players the statement referenced.

I think we will a lot of the young defenders...with rostered guys suddenly nicked up so they are "emergency call -ups." (look sees).

And you have to baptized them at their respective condition so they buy in to the work ahead for them to be NHL defenders.

Don't ask em which defenseman I am talking about because I cannot remember...but I remember how about a decade back an NHL team brought up their top yopund defenseman and played him the entire game. After each period the assist coach would pull him aside by the bench before letting him leave the ice to go to the dressing room, basically tutoring...so I expect lots of tutoring, and as I said if a vet doest like it, they have to speak up and hit the road...