Paul McCann: Scouting the Central - 2019 - Chicago

Can't say i disagree with much here... But Exactly how do you propose they tear it down to rebuild?
They gave those contracts to Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Bickell, Hossa, Etc, Etc, for winning them those cups. They then turned around and had to unload decent/excellent prospects/picks to rid themselves of a few of these contracts.. Kane's contract is fine(for now) Toews-is the revival real? Seabrook- Terrible contract, Would require giving up prospects/picks to unload, So again? Exactly how do YOU propose they tear this down, and rebuild?

Woof

I am going to love seeing the Hawks tear up Trashville this year.

Can't say i disagree with much here... But Exactly how do you propose they tear it down to rebuild?
They gave those contracts to Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Bickell, Hossa, Etc, Etc, for winning them those cups. They then turned around and had to unload decent/excellent prospects/picks to rid themselves of a few of these contracts.. Kane's contract is fine(for now) Toews-is the revival real? Seabrook- Terrible contract, Would require giving up prospects/picks to unload, So again? Exactly how do YOU propose they tear this down, and rebuild?
- camfor

Preds fan here and I agree "how do you propose they tear it down"?
Hawks didn't stagger those huge contracts so have to deal with aging players (injuries) and huge contracts for a few more years. That becomes the future problem when rewarding players after winning a cup(s) see L.A. But hey....You won a cup !
What Chicago has going for them is Kane and Toews make marginal players better when on their line. I also think Paul isn't giving credit for what a great captain Toews is.
I hope the Preds sweep the hawks this year, but Hawks still have the best sweater in the NHL.

Toews just had a career year, after many (myself included) were worried he was getting washed up. He is clearly not done at 31.

Kane is worth every penny for the duration of his contract.

Keith is a freak of nature, and his numbers were solid last year on a struggling team. Any team would take him for his cap hit - he is probably the only tradeable piece.

Seabrook's contract is awful - a reward for past performance, nothing else. Not a good business decision.

This will be Crawford's last year, so no issue there.

There is basically nothing to "blow up" as you suggested, unless you trade one of K&T, which would be suicide for the franchise and fan base. Keith is the only thing that could be moved.

Chicago has elite offense, so there is no problem scoring (ahem). The issues have been defense, PK, grit, and goaltending. They have upgraded all areas, and not just in a minor way.

Wild card is a fair estimation. And we all know, all you need to do is get in.

When the general attitude of your fan base is 'Win the Cup or your season is worthless' it's kind of hard to commit to a full on rebuild. It's hard to sell that to the casual majority, especially when most of your star players are still productive. That's why you see teams like the Hawks and Pens try to do soft resets every season instead of outright rebuilds, hoping to find a good enough supporting cast to mix with the stars that have made them successful in the past, and stay in contention year-after-year. Heck it's hard to argue with that philosophy, it was working for the Hawks up until two years ago.

I know the Hawks and Kings look like they're in similar situations, but they're really not. The Hawks aren't that good, but they're not terrible either. If the right players take steps forward next year, they can easily be in contention for the playoffs next year, plus all their big ticket players, minus Seabrook, are all still productive players. L.A. is a total dumpster fire, and all their big names decided to jump in and dance between the flames in unison. It sucks shelling out half your payroll to a handful of guys, but there's a big difference when those guys are still doing their part to earn that paycheck, and well... Not.

I don't know what the general feeling among Hawks fans about Bowman is, everything I read is decidedly mixed. I'm not going to judge him, he has a unique job in a unique market, but I've always wondered why, that just about every year, one of his key moves is always bringing back a player who used to play for the organization. He does realize there are good players on other teams that he can acquire too, ones that have never been on one of his rosters before? All joking aside, most of these moves are so transparently placating to the fan-base its not even subtle. Remember how great this guy was for us a few years ago? Yeah, let's go get him instead of addressing the actual holes or needs of the roster. Remember how good Patrick Sharp was when we were winning cups? Why wouldn't he be the exact same player he was back then? It's a quark of Bowman's I wonder about sometimes. He's going to run out of those guys eventually... In a couple of years, he'll be so far down the list of ex-players we'll probably be hearing about Ryan Hartman's triumphant return to the United Center.

Chicago will surprise people this year.

Chicago will surprise people this year.
- PREDX1

Well... considering they were nearly a league worst in goals against - you’d have to think that they should be able to shave 30-40 goals off of that total for this season. It’s not unrealistic when you look at the personnel they added on defense and the goalie tandem of Crawford and Lehner. Hopefully, a full camp will afford them to be able to implement the team defensive system under Colliton - as opposed to learning it on the fly during last season.

The Hawks had no problem scoring - they just couldn’t defend. If they improve in that area (especially the PK) - a wildcard spot isn’t out of the question.

When the general attitude of your fan base is 'Win the Cup or your season is worthless' it's kind of hard to commit to a full on rebuild. It's hard to sell that to the casual majority, especially when most of your star players are still productive. That's why you see teams like the Hawks and Pens try to do soft resets every season instead of outright rebuilds, hoping to find a good enough supporting cast to mix with the stars that have made them successful in the past, and stay in contention year-after-year. Heck it's hard to argue with that philosophy, it was working for the Hawks up until two years ago.

I know the Hawks and Kings look like they're in similar situations, but they're really not. The Hawks aren't that good, but they're not terrible either. If the right players take steps forward next year, they can easily be in contention for the playoffs next year, plus all their big ticket players, minus Seabrook, are all still productive players. L.A. is a total dumpster fire, and all their big names decided to jump in and dance between the flames in unison. It sucks shelling out half your payroll to a handful of guys, but there's a big difference when those guys are still doing their part to earn that paycheck, and well... Not.

I don't know what the general feeling among Hawks fans about Bowman is, everything I read is decidedly mixed. I'm not going to judge him, he has a unique job in a unique market, but I've always wondered why, that just about every year, one of his key moves is always bringing back a player who used to play for the organization. He does realize there are good players on other teams that he can acquire too, ones that have never been on one of his rosters before? All joking aside, most of these moves are so transparently placating to the fan-base its not even subtle. Remember how great this guy was for us a few years ago? Yeah, let's go get him instead of addressing the actual holes or needs of the roster. Remember how good Patrick Sharp was when we were winning cups? Why wouldn't he be the exact same player he was back then? It's a quark of Bowman's I wonder about sometimes. He's going to run out of those guys eventually... In a couple of years, he'll be so far down the list of ex-players we'll probably be hearing about Ryan Hartman's triumphant return to the United Center.
- Squatchy

That’s pretty accurate. Stan will make 2-3 good deals and then pull a move where you’re thinking “WTF?” However, I think most see this offseason, from the draft through free agency, as being one of his best - if not the best. It’s a fair point about the reunion of former Hawks trend, however, this year with Shaw is different because he’s not on the last year of his career - he still has game left and his style is something the Hawks have missed.

Ryan Hartman...? He’s up in MIN now, right? Hard to keep up with how many times he’s moved around.

Preds fan here and I agree "how do you propose they tear it down"?
Hawks didn't stagger those huge contracts so have to deal with aging players (injuries) and huge contracts for a few more years. That becomes the future problem when rewarding players after winning a cup(s) see L.A. But hey....You won a cup !
What Chicago has going for them is Kane and Toews make marginal players better when on their line. I also think Paul isn't giving credit for what a great captain Toews is.
I hope the Preds sweep the hawks this year, but Hawks still have the best sweater in the NHL.
- wrister

They have the best jersey in all of sports!!