Not sure what EDM is thinking with hiring Bowman. They just got over the bad moves made by the idiot before Holland. Stan will likely do:
Ekholm for Murphy
Broberg for whoever signs Alex Nylander
- ObeseOprah

He's sure to trade for Saad.

I made two lists for you. The first are all the GMs who never made a mistake. The second all the GMs who won three cups but didn’t have a clue what they were doing and were dumb as (frank) to boot.

GMs who never made a mistake.

1.
2.
3.


GMs who won three cups but didn’t have a clue what they were doing and were dumb as (frank) to boot.

1. Stan
2.
3.
- paulr

Hey, he's got a Notre Dame MBA stop yourself.

Also signed Bickell to a lot of money that clearly wasn't of appropriate value when you looked at his career and then had to use TT to give him away.

The two seconds for Timonen was a head scratcher. I think he gave away a second for Rundblad lol.

Obviously drafting Debrincat was good even though he was a lil guy who should have gone earlier.

The complete body of work is not great and while they won 3 cups it probably could have been 5 if some of the really bad misses were even halved.
- fattybeef

Bickell was signed to a fair contract for what he appeared to be before the MS. He was also the only player of size we had.

Ultimately doesn't that fall on the GM? Maybe we should be looking to shift blame for any perceived bad trades during Stan's Reign of Terror to Norm Maciver.
- HawkintheD

Deny deny deny.

Bickell was signed to a fair contract for what he appeared to be before the MS. He was also the only player of size we had.
- rpeters01

This is the right take. Bickell had worked hard on his skating before that 2013 season finally started. He was a transformed player before the illness happened. And he still earned a spot on the Cup for his name in 2015 when he countered the physicality the Ducks threw at the Hawks in that series.

The Flyers have extended Konechy for 8 years at $8.75 AAV.

Bickell was signed to a fair contract for what he appeared to be before the MS. He was also the only player of size we had.
- rpeters01

Bickell was overpaid for a Cinderella playoff run. He had never had a regular season of note, and at that time $4M was a good chunk of the little space the Hawks had. We jettisoned Bolland, Frolik, and a few others after 2013, which was fine. But Bickell’s chunk of change would cost us the prime of Teuvo.

Not sure if it has been mentioned, just saw that World Junior Summer Showcase starts July 28 (Sunday).

https://teamusa.usahockey.com/2024wjss

Oliver Moore and AJ Spellacy are on the USA roster.

Janne Peltonen, LD (CHI 7th rounder in 2023) is on the Finland roster. This guy is seemingly buried in the org, but I am a little curious how he will do if he gets into some of the games. Good size, 6-4, 187; scored 15 pts in 46 games for Karpat U20 and got into a couple of Liiga games last year.

https://www.eliteprospect...yer/691486/janne-peltonen

Everyone has an opinion, unfortunately it’s not always based on fact but instead on bias, hate, hearsay and sometimes hope. Look at KFC, some have him pegged as the greatest GM ever to GM when he really hasn’t accomplished anything yet, then you have those who’ve written him off before he’s actually done anything. I don’t get the Yzerman love? And some posters will step in front of a bullet for Tallon who never won anything while he was the GM. And I get Bowman made some bad moves and made few good draft selections, but he was GM during the best decade in Blackhawk history and some fans can’t look past him trading Panarin, who was a cap casualty. I don’t get it?
- paulr

Very true KD hasn't won anything yet.

He has accomplished some things though.

He sold Danny on a tear down rebuild.

Drafted the best prospect since McDavid.

He's rid many bad contracts on this roster and is now starting with a clean slate.

He's been the most organized aggressive rebuilder I've ever seen in hockey.

Has had 7 first round draft picks over 3 year span, most since the Habs did it in the 70s i believe.

And maybe they will all be busts, i get a lot of poop for this but like the Bears i really appreciate them going after their quarterback all 3 times. I appreciate KD being aggressive and going for it with the draft picks.

Love the 2 to 4 year contracts he's signing players to as well. Except for Vlasic but i really like that deal as well.

I really hope he's more right than wrong, time will tell.

It's apples to oranges though and it just seems to be what many here don't care to acknowledge. You pay for winning. The Pens had won one Cup and it was several years in the rearview before those subsequent deals were penned. TBL had won nothing and had the advantage of no state tax in FL.

Hindsight is a great lens to have but at the time who would you have cut after winning the Cup in 2013? 2015? At the time and not in hindsight.

Like I said before, most here wanted to trade everyone not named Toews after 1st round exits in 2011 and 2012. I bought into JJ's crap about trading Kane for Rick Nash cause Kane wasn't a guy built for the playoffs. You can all be glad me and pretty much all of you weren't GM at the time.

I agree that Stanbo needed to be more ruthless but how much of that was McDonough pulling the strings in the background saying "no way do you break up the band"? You don't know and neither do I so again apples to oranges comparisons but that seems to be what most of y'all want to make.
- HawkintheD

Tampa was in a cup final in 2015. They've had a top heavy salary structure for the last 9 years was my point. Same thing for Pittsburg. Top heavy salary structure and still figured it out. The Hawks weren't able to after 2015.

Kane was one of their best playoff performers even though he doesn't play heavy so I never got that argument.

Sharp, Seabrook, Bickell, Oduya probably should have been sold higher right after that cup or let walk. Maybe Hammer too at that point. Been bad for 2 years then reload for Toews and Kane's year 28-30.

If anything the Hawks won just at or right before the prime Kane and Toews years and those were more or less pissed away.

Thank you for your perspective which I totally agree. Ok will just point out, how much did head scout Mark Kelly influence both Dach and Boqvist drafted? The idea was right both drafts but the end result was not the player they envisioned

They wanted an offensive dman who was good offensively because someone had to eventually replace Keith. They needed a center to replace Toews even if Dach was viewed more as a complimentary # 2 Line center. They saw size, defensive presence, moderate scorer. Dach must didn’t work out in Chicago but who knows if he remained here whether he stays healthy

Wiz knows how they were thinking
- jhawk59

The whole best available argument.

Very true KD hasn't won anything yet.

He has accomplished some things though.

He sold Danny on a tear down rebuild.

Drafted the best prospect since McDavid.

He's rid many bad contracts on this roster and is now starting with a clean slate.

He's been the most organized aggressive rebuilder I've ever seen in hockey.

Has had 7 first round draft picks over 3 year span, most since the Habs did it in the 70s i believe.

And maybe they will all be busts, i get a lot of poop for this but like the Bears i really appreciate them going after their quarterback all 3 times. I appreciate KD being aggressive and going for it with the draft picks.

Love the 2 to 4 year contracts he's signing players to as well. Except for Vlasic but i really like that deal as well.

I really hope he's more right than wrong, time will tell.
- BetweenTheDots

What "bad contracts" has he gotten rid of?

The only one I can kind of consider "bad" is Fleury.
ADB
Dach
Lafferty
McCabe
Kane (end of last year of contract)
Toews retired
Domi

He still has Jones and Murphy. AA is signed for too much, as is Foligno. Perry was his own doing.

There's plenty of things I think he's done right, but getting out of bad contracts isn't one of them.

You can probably argue that Grier has been better at getting out of nasty contracts (despite salary retention).

Lucking into Bedard isn't really an accomplishment.

Bickell was overpaid for a Cinderella playoff run. He had never had a regular season of note, and at that time $4M was a good chunk of the little space the Hawks had. We jettisoned Bolland, Frolik, and a few others after 2013, which was fine. But Bickell’s chunk of change would cost us the prime of Teuvo.
- ObeseOprah

Actually he had good playoff performances in '12, '13 and '14 but never let facts get in the way of an argument. I'll take Bickell before MS and his playoff performances with one 17 goal regular season over Little Arty and his spotty playoff performances.

Tampa was in a cup final in 2015. They've had a top heavy salary structure for the last 9 years was my point. Same thing for Pittsburg. Top heavy salary structure and still figured it out. The Hawks weren't able to after 2015.

Kane was one of their best playoff performers even though he doesn't play heavy so I never got that argument.

Sharp, Seabrook, Bickell, Oduya probably should have been sold higher right after that cup or let walk. Maybe Hammer too at that point. Been bad for 2 years then reload for Toews and Kane's year 28-30.

If anything the Hawks won just at or right before the prime Kane and Toews years and those were more or less pissed away.
- fattybeef

Still not a great comparison. Tampa hadn't won anything and were also able to pay their players a bit less than market value because they are in FL and have no state tax.

PGH was able to sign what amounted to bridge deals for Sid and Geno before they went on their second Cup tear.

Yours is a solid plan. I love it and wish the Hawks had the crystal ball we all now possess so they could've made those decisions in 2015.

The only guy whose prime years were somewhat pissed away were Kane's. He stilll got three Cups, but other than him and Keith, their other Core players were pretty much done. Toews had some flashes here and there but was hardly the same guy he was from 2008-2015.

Edit - I'll add on Tampa...getting to a Cup and winning it are not the same thing. If anything how many of those guys felt they were close enough to winning and were all willing to take a bit less to keep the team together?

Still not a great comparison. Tampa hadn't won anything and were also able to pay their players a bit less than market value because they are in FL and have no state tax.

PGH was able to sign what amounted to bridge deals for Sid and Geno before they went on their second Cup tear.

Yours is a solid plan. I love it and wish the Hawks had the crystal ball we all now possess so they could've made hose decisions in 2015.

The only guy whose prime years were somewhat pissed away were Kane's. He stilll got three Cups, but other than him and Keith, their other Core players were pretty much done. Toews had some flashes here and there but was hardly the same guy he was from 2008-2015.
- HawkintheD

I forgot what year Keith had knee surgery. He was never the same after that either

So how many Cups did Tallon win with the Panthers? How about these doozies of contracts (Bobrovsky $10 mil. AAV). , Yandle, Demers, Stralman, Bolland, Collony.

Drafted Eric Gudbranson 3 rd overall in 2010.

Gave away basically Vinny Troczek, partially because the Panthers were in cap trouble, before having to give Barkov his money.

Took Zito to clean up Talllon’s mess. So if you think Tallon would of navigated the Hawks better than Bowman did, history tells a different story.
- LAHawk

They don't win a cup without Bob and they don't make the finals the year before without him either.

I dunno man - he had a pretty good run with the Panthers on first round picks. Sure the Gunbranson one wasn't great. But the rest of that draft wasn't great either if you look at it.

In terms of top 15 or 10 picks;
Huberdeau, Barkov, Ekblad, Tippett, Lundell.

Weegar was a 7th round find. Trocheck turned into a pretty good player.

I think he got the guys to build around (which included Huberdeau until it didn't but got them their guy) and someone else had to figure out the rest of the puzzle. Laying the foundation for two cup winners is pretty neat even though he wasn't the guy to ultimately get them over the hump.

Bickell was signed to a fair contract for what he appeared to be before the MS. He was also the only player of size we had.
- rpeters01

Not really. He had 28 points in the 2015 cup year which was the most since his first full year at 37. Didn't get over 30 points any other time.

Only one good playoff performance.

Just because he's the only guy doesn't mean you have to pay him.

Actually he had good playoff performances in '12, '13 and '14 but never let facts get in the way of an argument. I'll take Bickell before MS and his playoff performances with one 17 goal regular season over Little Arty and his spotty playoff performances.
- HawkintheD

Not really. Had 2 goals and zero assists over 6 games in 12. Not sure how that qualifies as good.

10 points over 19 games in 14 was fine. Not 'good' but fine.

Always interesting to me how some of these guys end up some mythical hero while actually productive and exciting to watch players get poop on.

I forgot what year Keith had knee surgery. He was never the same after that either
- LAHawk

after they won the cup in 2015

Not really. Had 2 goals and zero assists over 6 games in 12. Not sure how that qualifies as good.

10 points over 19 games in 14 was fine. Not 'good' but fine.

Always interesting to me how some of these guys end up some mythical hero while actually productive and exciting to watch players get poop on.
- fattybeef

Tbf no one really had a good playoff series in 2012 but Bickell and Frolik IIRC were about the only guys who could get a puck past Mike Smith in that series.

Idk, 10 points and pancaking guys in '14 seems like a pretty good contribution to me.

He didn't provide any goals in 2015 but had Duck dmen like Vatanen hearing footsteps and coughing up the puck every time he was on the ice.

You make a fair point on the last one. I'll add, it's interesting to me how a GM is at the helm for 3 Cups in a 6 year period when the team had that exact Cup total in it's previous 84 years and somehow some fans can only focus on the negative.

Little Arty is great to watch in the regular season he hasn't exactly made meaningful contributions in the postseason...at least any that match his contract.

Actually he had good playoff performances in '12, '13 and '14 but never let facts get in the way of an argument. I'll take Bickell before MS and his playoff performances with one 17 goal regular season over Little Arty and his spotty playoff performances.
- HawkintheD

Bickell had 2 points in 6 games vs Phoenix. Had a Cinderella run with Toews and kane in 13. Had 10 points 19 games in 14, hardly a barnburner. The most points he ever had in one season was 37, and never averaged more than half a point per game. But you’d take him over hall of fame bound Panarin? I wonder if Stan’s hiring you should apply.

I thought it was just the Bears, but it seems like the Hawks/ Bulls also don't understand the value of accessibility to their fans. Spending 45 minutes at 10:00 on a Monday trying to leave the parking lot is a problem and it will make people less inclined to go to games. Who cares about green space?
- Hawkeynation

All the people that live on the west side?

Bickell was overpaid for a Cinderella playoff run. He had never had a regular season of note, and at that time $4M was a good chunk of the little space the Hawks had. We jettisoned Bolland, Frolik, and a few others after 2013, which was fine. But Bickell’s chunk of change would cost us the prime of Teuvo.
- ObeseOprah

Had he not had MS he would not have needed to be traded. I don't understand why this is so difficult?

Bickell had 2 points in 6 games vs Phoenix. Had a Cinderella run with Toews and kane in 13. Had 10 points 19 games in 14, hardly a barnburner. The most points he ever had in one season was 37, and never averaged more than half a point per game. But you’d take him over hall of fame bound Panarin? I wonder if Stan’s hiring you should apply.
- ObeseOprah

Really? Now he's HOF bound? Hadn't heard that. It's cool you guys can look up points but not remember actual contributions. Not a shocker for the BOD though.

Had he not had MS he would not have needed to be traded. I don't understand why this is so difficult?
- rpeters01

You know why it's so difficult.