Tyler Cameron: Hawks need to take advantage of struggling opponents + Murphy is close
Even though it was 57 shots against, I’m still enjoying that win against the Leafs on Sunday.

I will admit I’m mostly still thinking about that “W” because I’m in the Toronto market and have a lot of friends that are Leafs fans, so it’s quite enjoyable seeing the Hawks beat them in any fashion.

Moving on to what’s to come for the Blackhawks, I wanted to touch on their upcoming opponents, Connor Murphy’s imminent return.

Good Morning!!

Go Hawks Go!!!

First.....

“Who goes down when Murphy comes back?”

Good question.

Unless Stan has a trade up his sleeve, I think the best move is to send Boqvist back to RFD. I’m getting to the point that I really don’t care about losing Koekkoek, but it might be best for Boqvist to play 25+ minutes a night in all situations.

Good question.

Unless Stan has a trade up his sleeve, I think the best move is to send Boqvist back to RFD. I’m getting to the point that I really don’t care about losing Koekkoek, but it might be best for Boqvist to play 25+ minutes a night in all situations.
- Ogilthorpe2

Boqvist to Rockford is the easiest move, but I think he should stay. The challenge with sending 4K to Rockford would be determining who the 7D is in Chicago. 4K fits that role well, it would be challenging to find a decent rotation with everyone else. Would Gus become the 7D playing once every week or two?

Boqvist to Rockford is the easiest move, but I think he should stay. The challenge with sending 4K to Rockford would be determining who the 7D is in Chicago. 4K fits that role well, it would be challenging to find a decent rotation with everyone else. Would Gus become the 7D playing once every week or two?
- DarthKane

Gus should be the 7th D, but that doesn’t do much for his trade value.

Unfortunately Boqvist goes down, the Hawks have been a better team since he came up. He will go down and improve too, but I really think he is top 6 for this team. The Hawks "D" is not very good, I hate sending a guy down that should be playing in the top 6 and helping the Hawks in their weakest area.

Good question.

Unless Stan has a trade up his sleeve, I think the best move is to send Boqvist back to RFD. I’m getting to the point that I really don’t care about losing Koekkoek, but it might be best for Boqvist to play 25+ minutes a night in all situations.
- Ogilthorpe2

It's an interesting question on what's best for Boqvist, 25 minutes on the Rock in all situations v. 12-15 minutes in the Show getting fed situations as he develops. I'll take the option where he's best prepared for next year. Just not sure which it is....

Edit - another consideration is that Boqvist has played 5 games. If he plays 5 more, his ELC won't slide, meaning he'll only have two left instead of three.

I think you need to keep playing Gus in hopes that he revives his offensive game and raises his trade value. At some point you probably need to move Koekkoek or Gus (unless of course someone else gets injured).

Moving Boqvist down to the Rock has both positives and negatives. So does keeping him in Chicago. But either way it should not have a major impact on him or the team. We have seen enough to know he is going to be very very good at the NHL level for years to come. Lets show some patience.

Unfortunately Boqvist goes down, the Hawks have been a better team since he came up. He will go down and improve too, but I really think he is top 6 for this team. The Hawks "D" is not very good, I hate sending a guy down that should be playing in the top 6 and helping the Hawks in their weakest area.
- ChicagoHope

I’d suggest we really need to stop solely blaming the Blackhawk defensemen for the high shot totals against. The forwards are responsible for at least half of the overall defensive performance.

Right now, the Hawks don’t have nearly the quantity and quality of 2 way forwards that they did during the glory years. Not seeing many replacements for guys like Hossa, Ladd, Bolland, Sharp, Krueger, et. al. There are some, But not nearly enough.

Unfortunately Boqvist goes down, the Hawks have been a better team since he came up. He will go down and improve too, but I really think he is top 6 for this team. The Hawks "D" is not very good, I hate sending a guy down that should be playing in the top 6 and helping the Hawks in their weakest area.
- ChicagoHope

Some of the Hawks improvement after Boqvist came up is coincidental. The team has a lot of new faces and they are starting to come together. The forward lines have been adjusted. The goaltending has been stellar. The PK has been much better.

I’d suggest we really need to stop solely blaming the Blackhawk defensemen for the high shot totals against. The forwards are responsible for at least half of the overall defensive performance.

Right now, the Hawks don’t have nearly the quantity and quality of 2 way forwards that they did during the glory years. Not seeing many replacements for guys like Hossa, Ladd, Bolland, Sharp, Krueger, et. al. There are some, But not nearly enough.
- scottak

Colliton's comments - noted in the comments on Tyler's last blog - noted that they implemented changes to the dzone-play of the Hawks: a weak-side forward would move up high, facilitating an outlet pass and (hopefully) a smooth transition to the neutral and o-zones.

That means (to me) that the other four skaters can't all follow the puck to the strong side - leaving an opponent wide open on the long-side of the net (like Rust was when scoring the Pens' tying goal - Nylander, I think, was high on that side an all four other skaters followed the puck to the left of Crawford).

Players need to know what's going on and where they need to be.

It's an interesting question on what's best for Boqvist, 25 minutes on the Rock in all situations v. 12-15 minutes in the Show getting fed situations as he develops. I'll take the option where he's best prepared for next year. Just not sure which it is....

Edit - another consideration is that Boqvist has played 5 games. If he plays 5 more, his ELC won't slide, meaning he'll only have two left instead of three.
- mohel

12-15 minutes in the Show playing against NHL competition. No doubt about it. JC can gradually increase his playing time and expose him to new situations.

From the 'times have changed' department, the top 3 teams in the Pacific are:

1. Edmonton
2. Arizona (Tanner was finally correct?)
3. Vancouver

Some of the Hawks improvement after Boqvist came up is coincidental. The team has a lot of new faces and they are starting to come together. The forward lines have been adjusted. The goaltending has been stellar. The PK has been much better.
- -Doh-

Boqvist has provided a speed element to the Hawks that they did not have on the blueline. Yes, the team has come together some, but Boqvist has provided a nice piece that the Hawks needed. Can Rockford help him? Of course, but I feel like he can help the Hawks too.

Hawks are at 16 points. The Kings, Wild and Sens are at the bottom with 13.

From the 'times have changed' department, the top 3 teams in the Pacific are:

1. Edmonton
2. Arizona (Tanner was finally correct?)
3. Vancouver
- scottak

If those three are at all for real long-term, that makes the Hawks' run to the tournament much tougher.

The Hawks are effectively 3 points out of a playoff spot - but with a lot of teams in competition for the two wild-card spots: just looking at those out of the top 3 now, Calgary, Winnipeg, Dallas, Vegas, San Jose....

Watched parts of the Kings/Wild last night, Minnesota is BAAD, with a lot of dead weight contracts.

What trade value? He does not have any. Per SCH he is last in most analytical stats on the defense now, and also fails eye test, other teams scouts can see this as well. This is related to Gus, I was replying to Ogi.

If those three are at all for real long-term, that makes the Hawks' run to the tournament much tougher.

The Hawks are effectively 3 points out of a playoff spot - but with a lot of teams in competition for the two wild-card spots: just looking at those out of the top 3 now, Calgary, Winnipeg, Dallas, Vegas, San Jose....
- StLBravesFan

Hawks are 13th in the conference. Have to pass 4 teams but only 5 points from 8th with a couple of games in hand. They have to begin beating some of the teams above them and can start with wins over VGN and NSH this week. It's a tough chore but if the Hawks want to make the playoffs they have to do it.

From the 'times have changed' department, the top 3 teams in the Pacific are:

1. Edmonton
2. Arizona (Tanner was finally correct?)
3. Vancouver
- scottak

We have only played about 20% of the season.
I suggest that there will be a lot of movement in the Western Conference standings (both divisions) by year end.

You could say this shows the decline of the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks. But lets give them another 20 games to draw that conclusion.

What trade value? He does not have any. Per SCH he is last in most analytical stats on the defense now, and also fails eye test, other teams scouts can see this as well. This is related to Gus, I was replying to Ogi.
- Angotti

Stan should have traded Gus in the summer. Another example of Stan's poor timing when it comes to deals.

Stan should have traded Gus in the summer. Another example of Stan's poor timing when it comes to deals.
- DarthKane

If I only knew if this was a serious response, or not....

What trade value? He does not have any. Per SCH he is last in most analytical stats on the defense now, and also fails eye test, other teams scouts can see this as well. This is related to Gus, I was replying to Ogi.
- Angotti

What I was getting at is that if he doesn’t play, then there’s no hope of him rekindling his 60pt form of last season. That’s really our only hope that we could potentially get something useful for him.

Was At the game Sunday night ,love every minute of it .HAWKS played with jump and bump . Love the City of CHICAGO had a blast

Stan should have traded Gus in the summer. Another example of Stan's poor timing when it comes to deals.
- DarthKane

Maybe Gus had no trade value over the summer either. How long was it that Jake Gardiner waas available before he signed with Carolina? You would think there would be several other clubs that needed defensive help that would of been interested. I know Gardiner had back troubles, but I have come to the conclusion that all that would of been offered for Gus was a mid-level prospect, and a mid-level draft pick.