Who was the better Hawks defensive pairing? Chelios and Suter or Keith and Seabrook? For my money its Chelios and Suter.

Ryan Suter in Chicago would make me a happy camper, although I am not getting my hopes up at this point. A lot can happen between now and July 1st but my fingers are crossed.
- DarthKane

Chelly and Steve Smith were pretty good too.

Serious question though:

Is there a single team in the NHL that won't be in on Suter?

#1 D man for nothing but cash is smart for any team unless it's a huge overpayment cap hit wise or too long of a deal.

Cap implications can be worked out after signing.
- gretzky

Only teams that won't be are those who don't have the cap room.

Chicago rises in the mix because of quality of the team, location and Suter family ties to the organization. I'm not making that up. Those are apparently facts.

I'm not sure Hjalmersson's contract will be that easy to move this summer. We're not the only people who know that he sucks.
- Dieselhead

He'll eat bullets though and those guys are worth their weight in gold. Problem with Hjammer is..he shows up about once every 5 games.

Not necessarily at all. In addition to cap growth, you have to factor in salaries that will/might be gone as well. Start with Hjalmarsson and Oduya.

It is very workable potentially.
- John Jaeckel

JJ,

I think the better play would be to shed Sharp's salary and keep Hammer.

Then your top 4 are Keith-Seabs & Hammer-Suter

That top 4 would be pretty damn tough to play against in a 7 game series.

Don't discount the Chicago/Madison factor. Trust me.
- John Jaeckel

JJ...make the case for Suter please. I haven't seen enough of him to really have an opinion. He plays against us a lot, but i never really notice him. His stats are decent, but what's the BIG PHUCKING DEAL ABOUT RYAN SUTER ?

Anybody that thinks you can improve the defense to the point that Crawford will be an adequate #1 is off their rocker Stan Bowman. I'm tired of either watching "Bad Corey" or of knowing he's lurking just around the corner when Crawford in a stretch when he's playing well. Go ahead, pour a ton of money into a defense with a sieve in the crease. Lets see how far that gets us.
Goalie! Goalie! Goalie! F-ing fix it!!!!

Kruger is undersized but Bolland isn't? They're the same size and kruger will likely end up bigger when he matures.

Today, I take Bolland over Kruger. A year from now? I'm not so sure. That's what you pay scouts and GMs for. And people who've made a lot more evaluating hockey players than you or I have are very high on Marcus Kruger.
- John Jaeckel

I think we essentially agree here. Maybe a year from now Kruger is the guy. He does have mad skills, will get better, and should be a long term keeper. But because he is not ready yet is why I think you don't gut the heart of your checking line on a roll of the dice until you know Kruger is really ready. The data suggest he is not.

i think 90% of the teams are interested

i think 90% of the teams are interested
- Canuckfan2006

Don't underestimate the power of proud poppa proximity.

Better player than Campbell, probably won't be for as long a term and maybe better fit under the new CBA.

Think about it: Hjalmarsson and Oduya for Suter. DONE. Montador and Olsen are 5-6.
- John Jaeckel

If the Hawks are confident they can sign Suter would it make sense to trade Hjalmarsson to Nashville for his negotiation rights? Nashville at least gets a quality defenseman to take the roster space at an affordable cap him. Would this be an overpayment?

JJ...make the case for Suter please. I haven't seen enough of him to really have an opinion. He plays against us a lot, but i never really notice him. His stats are decent, but what's the BIG PHUCKING DEAL ABOUT RYAN SUTER ?
- philco28

#1 defenseman?

He's a really, really good player. Not super flashy. I would equate him n some ways with Lidstrom. Smart, positional. pretty physical. Smooth.

JJ...make the case for Suter please. I haven't seen enough of him to really have an opinion. He plays against us a lot, but i never really notice him. His stats are decent, but what's the BIG PHUCKING DEAL ABOUT RYAN SUTER ?
- philco28

My old coach used to say that one of the biggest compliments you can get from the opposing team when you are one of your team's top pairing defenseman who logs 25-30 minutes a game playing against their top line is that they didn't notice you. The fact that he has good stats is just a bonus.

Anybody that thinks you can improve the defense to the point that Crawford will be an adequate #1 is off their rocker Stan Bowman. I'm tired of either watching "Bad Corey" or of knowing he's lurking just around the corner when Crawford in a stretch when he's playing well. Go ahead, pour a ton of money into a defense with a sieve in the crease. Lets see how far that gets us.
Goalie! Goalie! Goalie! F-ing fix it!!!!
- Hal9000y2k

I can't argue here.

My old coach used to say that one of the biggest compliments you can get from the opposing team when you are one of your team's top pairing defenseman who logs 25-30 minutes a game playing against their top line is that they didn't notice you. The fact that he has good stats is just a bonus.
- Lohaus

This

"If the Hawks are confident they can sign Suter would it make sense to trade Hjalmarsson to Nashville for his negotiation rights? Nashville at least gets a quality defenseman to take the roster space at an affordable cap him. Would this be an overpayment?" Darth Kane

Darren Dreger reported during the mid season trade deadline that the starting point to talk trading Suter was an NHL roster player, an A prospect, a B prospect and a first rounder.

#1 defenseman?

He's a really, really good player. Not super flashy. I would equate him n some ways with Lidstrom. Smart, positional. pretty physical. Smooth.
- John Jaeckel

Thanks JJ...notice too, his PIMs are pretty tidy. His uncle used to take some bonehead penalties.

Don't discount the Chicago/Madison factor. Trust me.
- John Jaeckel

Not knowing Suter well, does his family have a large influence on his decisions? I only ask because I imagine many hockey families would love to have their sons playing much closer to home.

I also seem to recall Gary tweeting something about Ryan becoming a FA this year. Can't recall the specifics though.

My old coach used to say that one of the biggest compliments you can get from the opposing team when you are one of your team's top pairing defenseman who logs 25-30 minutes a game playing against their top line is that they didn't notice you. The fact that he has good stats is just a bonus.
- Lohaus

Interesting...but you'd figure logging that kind of ice time...you might be noticed at some point, but i guess "No news is good news."

Interesting...but you'd figure logging that kind of ice time...you might be noticed at some point, but i guess "No news is good news."
- philco28

I used to notice Wade Redden a lot. Wasn't a good thing.