I think they've made some good decisions otherwise as well.

Making the cup final and then letting klingberg walk was pretty smart. Most people would female dog about the whole letting walk for free thing but I think that is one of the more asinine ideas in sports.

Heiskanen has been their only top 10 pick in the last 10 years so they've done a good job being at the top of the league the last few years without the apparently necessary tanking process.
- fattybeef

If Korch can turn into a Heiskanen type Blackhawks fans will be thrilled.
Dallas has made good draft picks in Robo,Hintz etc...
They might not have a game changer like Bedard,but a well balanced team of vets+young guys.
And I agree,smart move by letting Klinberg walk.

Didn't hear concerns/reports Lindstrom had a herniated disc. As I mentioned I want the Hawks to eliminate as much risk as possible with that #2 pick as the reason not to take a Russian with that pick and I feel the same about serious back injuries. Catch those guys as they fall not at the top of the draft.

His medicals might be the top story at the combine.
- Mr Ricochet

If you eliminate Russians because of coming over,and the back man because it makes you worry what will happen 5 years down the line,does that mean Levshunov would be your pick?
Anybody catch Wheeler's article on Catton? Interesting stuff.

I was just pulling your chain...

The reaction, imo, was not one you'd expect from a real contender. Guys become unavailable all the time in the playoffs; it shouldn't have been THAT unusual of a circumstance.
- mohel

Oh i know, i just had to throw it out there, i was doing some paper work and was half watching the game and i kept looking at the shots on goal and thinking that can't be right. Considering the hockey culture you become family in that locket room and i know when a loved one i know is struggling with life is hard on all of us. It's just human nature.

It’s funny how Lindstrom’s back problem is getting more and more serious by the day and without any official reports.

I was reading about the Stars drafting philosophy. The head scout Joe McDonnell (who was head scout of the Red Wings from 20 03-04 till hired by Nill (who was in the Red Wings front office at the same time) when he got the GM job in 2013. Instead of a long recap of the article I will link it here.

Rico, I think you especially will find the article interesting;

https://www.dallasnews.co...dd-to-deep-prospect-pool/
- LAHawk

Thanks, LA. The site won't allow me to read the article.

Pronman mock
1 Celebrini
2 Levshunov
3 Silayev
4 D!ickinson
5 Demidov
6 Lindstrom
7 Parekh
8 Buium
9 Helenius
10 Sennecke

He has EiserMan going 17 to the Caps
Blackhawks taking Chernyshov at 20
And Wiz's fave Hage falling all the way to Carolina at 28

I remember a month or two ago,Wiz had Sennecke going to the Blackhawks with their 1st pick in the 2nd round.

Pronman mock
1 Celebrini
2 Levshunov
3 Silayev
4 D!ickinson
5 Demidov
6 Lindstrom
7 Parekh
8 Buium
9 Helenius
10 Sennecke

He has EiserMan going 17 to the Caps
Blackhawks taking Chernyshov at 20
And Wiz's fave Hage falling all the way to Carolina at 28

I remember a month or two ago,Wiz had Sennecke going to the Blackhawks with their 1st pick in the 2nd round.
- captainserious

Sennecke has been on fire the last two months and until his injury was having a great playoff.

Sennecke has been on fire the last two months and until his injury was having a great playoff.
- paulr

I read something about that a day or two ago.
Had no idea he was tearing it up. Sucks he got injured. Sucks even more the Blackhawks won't be able to draft him in the 2nd round

I read something about that a day or two ago.
Had no idea he was tearing it up. Sucks he got injured. Sucks even more the Blackhawks won't be able to draft him in the 2nd round
- captainserious

He may be available at 20? At the beginning of the 22/23 season he well was under 6’0”. He’s sprouted up in the last two years and surprisingly he’s kept his coordination the whole time and his game is progressing. He’s still a skinny guy, but he isn’t afraid to play physically and go to the tough areas.

Canada up 2-0 against Austria
No goals or points from 98
Guhle and Cozens with the goals

They really struck gold with the Robertson, Heiskanen, Oettinger draft. Then repeated with stankoven and Johnston. Hopefully the hawks have multiple drafts we can look back at with similar fuzzy memories like the Korchinski/Nazar, Bedard/Moore, and 2024 draft. Kind of hoping we move up with that second pick to get someone of that mushy second tier.
One thing Dallas has that we don’t is players excelling past the age of 30. Benn, Seguin, Pavelski, Duchene, and more are all good contributors. We need to add a few players of similar caliber just to begin to replicate Dallas’s model. Reinhart or Guentzel, Lindholm or Wennberg, Debrusk or Mantha at forward. On D there’s Skjei and Grzelcyk on the left side or Pesce or Montour on the right.
We could easily outbid any team for these guys, who almost all will want mega-deals and eventually hamstring our cap situation. Getting someone on a four year deal would be manageable, so maybe move up the age scale to Tanev, Tarasenko, Marchessault, Dillon, Schultz, OEL
- ObeseOprah

Seems like I've lost my ability to make a point in just a few sentences but let me try on a subject I find has 30 variables and waaaaay outa my league.

Any Hawk fan who lived thru the Cup yrs has some kinda PTSD from being in cap hell. Watch a powerhouse dismantled along with draining prospects. ........ I asked in maybe 2014ish is there a way to soften that strangling cap by drafting players who play a style that isn't highly compensated despite winning cups? ... No replies.

Can you build schemes, systems, that win with players that don't require more than a superstar or two? ......... Is there a way to be a top 4 club and not face cap hell evry yr or two?

Has any team done it? It seems ironic that if any team has come close to figuring out the cap conundrum it is Vegas!! Seem to face cap hell every offseason yet they get BETTER each off season. ....

Paul, for one, mentions how will KD navigate the cap, especially with the benefit of starting from a total teardown. ..... That understanding and not getting strangled by the cap is as important as drafting and developing.

Just that as a Hawk's fan always lingering is the pain that the cap can cause if not dealt with properly. And with it being so early in that process, and the rebuild, these are the beginning times when the proverbial rubber hits the road for KD.

Thanks for the article, i so agree with this line

the Stars typically get at least two players they pegged as first-round talents.

And this one

“You can’t make players up, so we’re going to take the best player available that’s there,”
- BetweenTheDots

Indeed, you can't make players up, see something that isn't really there cuz you need that to fill a hole, but the BPA at 5-10-20-45 is gonna vary for most every team to an extent. ....... Dallas simply scouts and evaluates at an elite level but just as important the process for choosing a player at the very top, Nill, is just as good.

And make no mistake you need some luck forecasting what an 18 yr old will be when he becomes a man but Dallas is damn good at making their own luck.

Seems like I've lost my ability to make a point in just a few sentences but let me try on a subject I find has 30 variables and waaaaay outa my league.

Any Hawk fan who lived thru the Cup yrs has some kinda PTSD from being in cap hell. Watch a powerhouse dismantled along with draining prospects. ........ I asked in maybe 2014ish is there a way to soften that strangling cap by drafting players who play a style that isn't highly compensated despite winning cups? ... No replies.

Can you build schemes, systems, that win with players that don't require more than a superstar or two? ......... Is there a way to be a top 4 club and not face cap hell evry yr or two?

Has any team done it? It seems ironic that if any team has come close to figuring out the cap conundrum it is Vegas!! Seem to face cap hell every offseason yet they get BETTER each off season. ....

Paul, for one, mentions how will KD navigate the cap, especially with the benefit of starting from a total teardown. ..... That understanding and not getting strangled by the cap is as important as drafting and developing.

Just that as a Hawk's fan always lingering is the pain that the cap can cause if not dealt with properly. And with it being so early in that process, and the rebuild, these are the beginning times when the proverbial rubber hits the road for KD.
- Mr Ricochet

Not me. I didn’t dwell on the negative at all, I was so happy the Hawks were so successful. But I remember the grumbling on this site where so many posters were upset even though the team was winning. The cap issues were and are part of being successful.

If you finish 2nd, you might have well finished last. No one remembers who finished 2nd most years
- vabeachbear

Cmon, VBear. You see no difference for the fan of Carolina and Chicago the last 5 yrs?..... We all want to win but winning a Cup is the hardest thing to do in sport and falling a step or two short meant you had one helluva season.

Although falling short that yr was a fantastic ride for the fan.

I'm not saying don't pick him. I'm not saying he won't be a good player.
- breadbag

Exactly my point, it's nearly a crap shoot.

Not me. I didn’t dwell on the negative at all, I was so happy the Hawks were so successful. But I remember the grumbling on this site where so many posters were upset even though the team was winning. The cap issues were and are part of being successful.
- paulr

You haven't posted about KD needing to manage the cap properly at the start of the teardown??.... It was one of my first thoughts from the very beginning. Living thru a 3 cup run and seeing the cap kill it I hoped, from the jump as they now say, KD had learned from all of that and had ideas on minimizing its effects. Especially long term.

Ok, wrong guy. .... I still hold managing the cap to me is, after watching my organIzation's best teams ever dismantled, as important as scouting and developing.

Not me. I didn’t dwell on the negative at all, I was so happy the Hawks were so successful. But I remember the grumbling on this site where so many posters were upset even though the team was winning. The cap issues were and are part of being successful.
- paulr

So true, look at Colorado,. gone from their championship just 2 years ago they do not have Kuemper, Francouz, Burakowvsky, Landesgog (ijured), Compher, Newhook, E. Johnson, Byram, Jost, Helm

Oh, and Megna played 20 games for them that year also

Dylan Guenther is reunited with Bedard in the world championships. The two had great chemistry in the 2023 World Juniors. Maybe this is the kind of target KD should consider. A tall, young, good skating, skilled winger who put up good numbers in junior.

Dylan Guenther is reunited with Bedard in the world championships. The two had great chemistry in the 2023 World Juniors. Maybe this is the kind of target KD should consider. A tall, young, good skating, skilled winger who put up good numbers in junior.
- paulr

Maybe that is why 98 is being held to 0 pts even though Canada is up 4-1

You haven't posted about KD needing to manage the cap properly at the start of the teardown??.... It was one of my first thoughts from the very beginning. Living thru a 3 cup run and seeing the cap kill it I hoped, from the jump as they now say, KD had learned from all of that and had ideas on minimizing its effects. Especially long term.

Ok, wrong guy. .... I still hold managing the cap to me is, after watching my organIzation's best teams ever dismantled, as important as scouting and developing.
- Mr Ricochet

You stated Hawk fans had PTSD about the cap hell Chicago found themselves in. I merely stated I didn’t feel that way.

I have stated KD has to try to avoid getting in cap difficulties if he wants to have a prolonged run at making the Hawks a contender. If or how that can be done I have no clue but part is not over valuing and over paying players. Trying to get players to sign for less to try to win. And maybe the toughest thing thing of all, walking from players, even the guys who’ve become heroes to the fan base, just before their skills start to leave them. But I’d still be very happy if the Hawks can win one or more championships and then end up in cap hell.

If you eliminate Russians because of coming over,and the back man because it makes you worry what will happen 5 years down the line,does that mean Levshunov would be your pick?
Anybody catch Wheeler's article on Catton? Interesting stuff.
- captainserious

I always did say the Hawks will draft a Dman cuz it's near impossible to walk away from a reasonable possibility of a top pairing Dman for any GM. It is just such a premium position. ..... And, I'm ok with that.

They probably do go Levshunov cuz he has the size, skating, skill as a right shot but I'm reeeeeeally high on Buium and D!ckinson too. .... There are always land mines, always no matter the prospect, but I think the Hawks walk away with a 10 yr NHLer who will be part of the core and a difference maker to some extent. .

And, I'm a big fan of Catton and exploring options to move up for him if he falls too far from the top 10.

Maybe that is why 98 is being held to 0 pts even though Canada is up 4-1
- captainserious

Well look who spoke too soon. Just took a period for them to get reacclimatized.

We’ll look who spoke too soon. Just took a period for them to get reacclimatized.
- paulr

Mea culpa
Goal number 5

You stated Hawk fans had PTSD about the cap hell Chicago found themselves in. I merely stated I didn’t feel that way.

I have stated KD has to try to avoid getting in cap difficulties if he wants to have a prolonged run at making the Hawks a contender. If or how that can be done I have no clue but part is not over valuing and over paying players. Trying to get players to sign for less to try to win. And maybe the toughest thing thing of all, walking from players, even the guys who’ve become heroes to the fan base, just before their skills start to leave them. But I’d still be very happy if the Hawks can win one or more championships and then end up in cap hell.
- paulr

I could see you enjoying the cups more than me if PTSD was part of the equation cuz watching StanBow give up 1sts to get rid of good players, Sharp for instance, mortified me.

I was in the stands for those 3 cups and enjoyed the hell out of it but always worried it was on shaky ground cuz of the cap. In real time.

So true, look at Colorado,. gone from their championship just 2 years ago they do not have Kuemper, Francouz, Burakowvsky, Landesgog (ijured), Compher, Newhook, E. Johnson, Byram, Jost, Helm

Oh, and Megna played 20 games for them that year also


- LAHawk

Has Vegas found the silver bullet to beat the cap to have long term success?