Eklund has his story that Gomez will be bought out. If so, do the Hawks buy in for a one year deal and park him between Stalberg and Hossa on the 2nd line?
- ikeane

Which perpetuates a philosophy of turning the roster be 1/3 each year - IMO that philosophy has failed and is no way to build a consistent contender.

I think your logic is pretty much spot on, especially from the Pens perspective. I just hate, hate, hate the extension Stan signed Sharp to, and would do just about anything to get rid of it. Huge overpayment. Huge. The very reason the Pens (and others) wouldn't want that contract is the same reason it should never have been tendered. Too much $, too many years. I know some (maybe you included) have argued that he's being paid in part based on past contributions. That may work in a cap free world, but with the cap firmly in place, it's a bad way to run a team.
- Ogilthorpe2

Hawks have way to many $5+ million players tied up in long term contracts. It's like 6-7 players now. I looked on cap geek earlier and randomly selected teams..... Not one team was even close. I can't see them picking up another big time contract without dumping an existing one. The only real value in that group are Toews (not going anywhere), Seabs (also not going anywhere), and Kane (probably not going anywhere although I think they should deal him for bigger more physical NHL ready players/prospects). No one will want Keith, Hossa, or to a lesser degree Sharp based on age and/or contract length. If they do take any of those players the hawks will get less back in value similar to the Campbell deal. To me that means much of the same crap from the last two seasons. Maybe SB will prove me wrong.... then again maybe the cubs will win the world series too.

He was terrific with Oakland - 5 years WHIP below 1.000, 2 years WHIP at about 0.6000.
- StLBravesFan

Yep, off of day baseball and off the sauce. The combo put him in the HOF.

Which perpetuates a philosophy of turning the roster be 1/3 each year - IMO that philosophy has failed and is no way to build a consistent contender.
- StLBravesFan

Not splitting hairs cuz I agree, but it has been more like 40%-50% turnover here.

Suter is not the answer to this teams issues, nor will he be signed by the Hawks.

Suter is not the answer to this teams issues, nor will he be signed by the Hawks.
- mochoson

Well, I guess everyone can stop speculating now.

Hawks have way to many $5+ million players tied up in long term contracts. It's like 6-7 players now. I looked on cap geek earlier and randomly selected teams..... Not one team was even close. I can't see them picking up another big time contract without dumping an existing one. The only real value in that group are Toews (not going anywhere), Seabs (also not going anywhere), and Kane (probably not going anywhere although I think they should deal him for bigger more physical NHL ready players/prospects). No one will want Keith, Hossa, or to a lesser degree Sharp based on age and/or contract length. If they do take any of those players the hawks will get less back in value similar to the Campbell deal. To me that means much of the same crap from the last two seasons. Maybe SB will prove me wrong.... then again maybe the cubs will win the world series too.
- moylander

Haha the Cubs, what a silly team

That has been my argument since this past year. Pissing in the wind and hoping to strike gold again after next season if they develop two or three of their meh rookies into solid 2nd tier players.

Haha the Cubs, what a silly team

That has been my argument since this past year. Pissing in the wind and hoping to strike gold again after next season if they develop two or three of their meh rookies into solid 2nd tier players.
- fattybeef

Next season the Hawks have 6 players making over $4 mill the Canucks have 8.

The issue is the bigger mkt clubs, the better teams spend to the cap more often than not.

It is hard to find teams with as many young players as the Hawks that are as good and as established in the beginning of their careers...4 of the 6 players mentioned for the Hawks are not in their prime yet.

...And that's not saying some might not be overpaid...

But that is the way of the NHL, lockup younger players and pay them more for the security of having them for 5 yrs or longer.

Haha the Cubs, what a silly team

That has been my argument since this past year. Pissing in the wind and hoping to strike gold again after next season if they develop two or three of their meh rookies into solid 2nd tier players.
- fattybeef

Next season the Hawks have 6 players making over $4 mill the Canucks have 8.

The issue is the bigger mkt clubs, the better teams spend to the cap more often than not.

It is hard to find teams with as many young players as the Hawks that are as good and as established in the beginning of their careers...4 of the 6 players mentioned for the Hawks are not in their prime yet.

...And that's not saying some might not be overpaid...

But that is the way of the NHL, lockup younger players and pay them more for the security of having them for 5 yrs or longer.

Yeah, I should have been more clear. Ek quoted this Dreger tweet in his article On Bergevin going to Montreal.
- Ogilthorpe2

According to Jesse Rogers, Bergevin was key to bringing Q to the Hawks and was one of Q's primary allies in the front office. Could we be seeing the first domino falling here? Could the Hawks change coaches and Q end up in Montreal this fall?

Hawks have way to many $5+ million players tied up in long term contracts. It's like 6-7 players now. I looked on cap geek earlier and randomly selected teams..... Not one team was even close. I can't see them picking up another big time contract without dumping an existing one. The only real value in that group are Toews (not going anywhere), Seabs (also not going anywhere), and Kane (probably not going anywhere although I think they should deal him for bigger more physical NHL ready players/prospects). No one will want Keith, Hossa, or to a lesser degree Sharp based on age and/or contract length. If they do take any of those players the hawks will get less back in value similar to the Campbell deal. To me that means much of the same crap from the last two seasons. Maybe SB will prove me wrong.... then again maybe the cubs will win the world series too.
- moylander

Makes no difference how many players have over a 5 million dollar cap hit all that matters is what a teams top 5 or 6 players cap hits are summed. You see 5 million is just arbitrary in order to support your argument. Let me explain:

The Hawks biggest cap hit is 6.3 for Kane and Toews then there is Keith Sharp Hossa and Seabrook all between 5.2 and 5.9. But other teams say Pitt has two players at 8.7 then MAF at 5 and a handful of others in the 4 range so summed up their top 6 cap hit number is similar to the Hawks. Ovis at 9.6 Backs and semin at almost 7 and Green at 5.2 Tampa had 2 guys over 7.5 and st louis at 5.7. So because these teams HIGHEST cap hits are so high they cant afford to bring on another 5 million + cap hit. The Hawks can.

Point is if you add the top 6 paid players from the teams that spend close to the cap the numbers summed up will be similar.

I think none of this really matters in the end. Buff wanted to play defense. The Hawks wanted him to play forward. End of story.

I think had he really wanted to stay and play forward next to 19 and 88, he would have shown that he wanted it. He showed no desire or will to do that for the long-term, or even for 82 games.

Sometimes players and organizations want different things and have to part ways. I don't see that as a mistake, just a difference of opinion.

Hypothetically if the Hawks kept Buff, and it was on defense, he likely would be in Hammer's spot. Do the Hawks win any more games with him instead of Hammer in that spot?

my issue with this logic is i cant see anyone being unhappy playing with kane and toews
i could see buff getting 50 goals a year and providing the protection, grit, physicality and ability to dump and chase
or as a compromise wait to play him at forward untill the playoffs and the hawks really really miss his physical presence and nick does not provide that

Scenario 2 would be to keep him and force him to play forward, resulting in him being unhappy and playing at less then full capacity, likely resulting in him leaving anyway.
- andru2797

According to Jesse Rogers, Bergevin was key to bringing Q to the Hawks and was one of Q's primary allies in the front office. Could we be seeing the first domino falling here? Could the Hawks change coaches and Q end up in Montreal this fall?
- NewToHockey

They had a relationship from St. Louis...Hammer has a better chance of being in Montreal next year than Q.

Bergevin move might not get all the dominoes falling in Chicago. But I doubt the Hawks were not aware of this, or this possibility, going back to season's end.

You can't dismiss this in terms of the overall picture in the Hawk front office. Bergevin was a key player. And was excellent in his area, where the Hawks lack overall excellence (player evaluation).

To me, this adds some gravity to the changes that are coming. I am doing some digging on this now.
- John Jaeckel

JJ, do you see something like this:
Quennville given permission to talk to the canadiens about their head coaching job. bergy hires him.
Jim Nill hired away from detroit to be co-gm & director of player personel.
barry smith hired to be the head coach !
this will have scotty's stamp all over it! good or bad???

Not to mention, Campbell was dumped for 0 and if Suter is signed he will get a Campbell like contract:
- Al

plus hawks are paying 3 mil for rusty to add to that cap hit

Going back to JJ's story of the Hawks being in on Suter, the more I think about it the more I like it. I think the Hawks will have to pick their battles on what to spend their money on. If I'm running the team I shore up the defense and or goaltending and getting Suter would be a game changer. Here's why.

There won't be money to fix everything and some of the changes will have to come from within and I'm not as down on the Hawks forwards as some are. I think they'll be fine going forward. They were up there again in goals scored so that's not a problem and I liked what I saw from younger guys like Shaw and Hayes. I like most of you would like to see the forwards play more physical or at the very least more responsible defensively (which I thought was their biggest problem). There will be some moves made when it comes to forwards but I don't think Parise or any big money UFA is coming to town and those who want the Hawks forwards to resemble the 07 Ducks will probably be disappointed.

To me defense is still the biggest issue to address. Once you get past Keith and Seabs, you have major question marks. Leddy is a nice young talent but still lacks size and toughness, Hammer is great at blocking shots but offers nothing offensively, Oduya is a UFA and IMO isn't a top 4 guy, Olsen is still very raw and Montador seems to have a pretty serious concussion that seems to be more serious than most of us think. This team IMO still needs 2 more legitimate defenseman to get back to contender status. Suter would be a big step to get back there.

Makes no difference how many players have over a 5 million dollar cap hit all that matters is what a teams top 5 or 6 players cap hits are summed. You see 5 million is just arbitrary in order to support your argument. Let me explain:

The Hawks biggest cap hit is 6.3 for Kane and Toews then there is Keith Sharp Hossa and Seabrook all between 5.2 and 5.9. But other teams say Pitt has two players at 8.7 then MAF at 5 and a handful of others in the 4 range so summed up their top 6 cap hit number is similar to the Hawks. Ovis at 9.6 Backs and semin at almost 7 and Green at 5.2 Tampa had 2 guys over 7.5 and st louis at 5.7. So because these teams HIGHEST cap hits are so high they cant afford to bring on another 5 million + cap hit. The Hawks can.

Point is if you add the top 6 paid players from the teams that spend close to the cap the numbers summed up will be similar.
- mvp0207

I understand what you are saying.... but I think you are omitting the other half of the equation... the LTC. Hawks have 6 players with more then $5 mil locked up in LTCs (4 with NMC's, 1 with a NTC, and Hossa is unmovable at this point). The Pens have 3 LTCs at exactly $5 mil each (2 with a NMC, Fleury and Martin). The Caps have 2 LTCs remaining both with NTCs (Backstrom and Ovie).

The pens and caps have much more flexibility to make moves as needed over the next 3+ seasons while the Hawks are stuck paying $35 million/yr to 6 players. That's why I doubt they pick up a 7th $5 mil+ LTC unless they unload one of the 6 they already have.

You are right I probably shouldn't have picked an arbitrary # but I was trying to find a reasonable point where long-term contracts would start to get more difficult to unload. Most of the Hawks LTCs are pushing $6 million AAV in actuality.... and remember it would have been 7 big contracts which led to SB getting fleeced on the Campbell deal.... at some point it will be the same thing all over again.

Well, I guess everyone can stop speculating now.
- Fat_Tony_Amonte

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
- Ogilthorpe2

Hellz NO...he's GREAT IN THE ROOM, but the contract and his poor playoff performance validate the anti-Sharp argument.

Bergevin was given permission to talk to Montreal right after they fired Gauthier.

He was a fit...from there and speaks French, plus a Cup winner.
- Al

One more Francophone for the jagoff French media to crucify when things go awry...still...good luck Bergy !!!!

That's about my only concern. I don't see him turning into what Brunette became this season. At least I would think the odds of that happening are lower than Brunette's. I'd almost liken him to Selanne. Even if he is a step slower, he's still able to put up good numbers.
- EKolb13

After Pisani and Brunette...let's just hide the 15 sweater for awhile...unless Ken Yaremchuk or Rich Sutter want to make a comeback

After Pisani and Brunette...let's just hide the 15 sweater for awhile...unless Ken Yaremchuk or Rich Sutter want to make a comeback
- philco28

we already have a yaremchuk! his name is stalberg! all they have to do is give him 15 from 25! same game! can't score !
20 goals? ok, how many of them came against s hit teams? 19?

He was terrific with Oakland - 5 years WHIP below 1.000, 2 years WHIP at about 0.6000.
- StLBravesFan

I remember him most for the Gibson homer in the '88 WS....and the Robbie Alomar homer in the '92 ALCS, which other than the Joe Carter Series winning tater in '93...is the most famous homer in Jays history.

In the '89 playoffs...Eck would strike out guys and being the d i c k head he is...would point and mock them.

Sweet revenge, especially Robbie's reax at 1:11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7koOZR7iqQ

we already have a yaremchuk! his name is stalberg! all they have to do is give him 15 from 25! same game! can't score !
20 goals? ok, how many of them came against s hit teams? 19?
- wonthecup10

JJ, AL, EK, All you guys !
right now , in a nut shell, our front office blows! who is gonna replace bergy? mackiver? no wonder we have small players. how tall is he? 5'5?
s hit, i hope rocky lets Q walk and then cleans house! tell stan , you could stay but you go back to contract dept.
then find the best hockey guy available!
then tells mr. cub, you stay out of this one!