Blackhawks '18-'19

#102      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Forsberg waived. He'll probably be claimed. If he isn't, great. He's going to see a lot of playing time with the Hogs.
 
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#103      

bdutts

Houston, Texas
Forsberg waived. He'll probably be claimed. If he isn't, great. He's going to see a lot of playing time with the Hogs.

Not claimed and sent to Rockford. Lots of line changes for tonight's game:

Nick Schmaltz moves from 2C to 3RW
Brandon Saad returns as 2LW
Artem Anisimov moves from 3C to 2C
Chris Kunitz moves from 3LW to 4LW
David Kampf moves from 3RW to 3C
Marcus Kruger moves from 4LW to 4C
Alexandre Fortin moves from 2LW to 3LW
 
#104      
Saad, Schmaltz, and Kane should be the nightly second line. They should compliment each other well. Anisimov is such a poor shooter I don't see how you can have him play in the top 6...
 
#105      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Good win, over a depleted team. Gotta win those and they did. Hawks controlled the puck. Saad emerging from his funk is great news. Crow was excellent, again. Dare I say it? Seabs-Gus may be the Hawks' best D pair. Gus has been VG lately and was outstanding last night. Seabs has bounced back strong from last season. How 'bout the snarl from Cat?
 
#106      
Good win, over a depleted team. Gotta win those and they did. Hawks controlled the puck. Saad emerging from his funk is great news. Crow was excellent, again. Dare I say it? Seabs-Gus may be the Hawks' best D pair. Gus has been VG lately and was outstanding last night. Seabs has bounced back strong from last season. How 'bout the snarl from Cat?

The team remembered they had to defend. Only 25 SOG for the Ducks, impressive after giving up 33 in a period their previous game. Agree on the Seabs-Gus line, they are playing above where I thought they'd be. Shame Keith has taken such a big step back, but considering Q ran him into the ground for the past decade, I can't say I'm surprised. The offense will be fine this year, probably borderline top 10 honestly, but we have a bottom 5 defense.

If (huge, huge if) we can somehow be in contention for the central this year, are we intense buyers? Hawks are caught in a cap purgatory, I find it hard to see any success sustainable for the next 3ish years.
 
#107      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
Gotta hand it to the Hawks so far. They're off to a much better start than I thought they would have and they seem to be playing hard. The talent level is still at a point that they are going to have occasional stinkers like the game against Tampa Bay Sunday. I'm probably misusing statistics by saying this but having a healthy Crawford in goal seems to make them 40-50% more likely to win on a given night.
 
#108      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
If (huge, huge if) we can somehow be in contention for the central this year, are we intense buyers? Hawks are caught in a cap purgatory, I find it hard to see any success sustainable for the next 3ish years.

I don't think the Hawks will go all in, even if they are killing it. The big move will be next UFA season. Panarin or Stone, end of story. As to cap hell, that was then. Not even close now. If there's a compliance buyout in the next PA contract, adios Seabs ($6.875 AAV). Early projection is a $3M cap rise.
 
#109      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Gotta hand it to the Hawks so far. They're off to a much better start than I thought they would have and they seem to be playing hard. The talent level is still at a point that they are going to have occasional stinkers like the game against Tampa Bay Sunday. I'm probably misusing statistics by saying this but having a healthy Crawford in goal seems to make them 40-50% more likely to win on a given night.

Crow, especially the way he's playing, is an utter game changer. Not having Cup delusions, but this team should make the playoffs (even with a substandard defense). Forsling and Murphy will help.
 
#110      

bdutts

Houston, Texas
Good win, over a depleted team. Gotta win those and they did. Hawks controlled the puck. Saad emerging from his funk is great news. Crow was excellent, again. Dare I say it? Seabs-Gus may be the Hawks' best D pair. Gus has been VG lately and was outstanding last night. Seabs has bounced back strong from last season. How 'bout the snarl from Cat?

He’s lucky Manson didn’t go after him full bore. But yeah, like the fact he stood up for himself.
 
#113      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Reverting back to form.

Pretty much. I still think they have a legit chance at the playoffs (wild card), but they are in no way a legit contender. Forsling and Murphy will help, a lot. Manning was a terrible signing (Q driven?). Hawks need to cut their losses. The PP is horrid.

As to Keith, really, really dumb move. I'll be surprised if he escapes a suspension.

The ice is getting thinner for Q.
 
#114      
So what do you do as the Hawks? Hard to believe they stay pat. This team has top 15 potential, but probably finishes between 20-25. Do you try and sell some guys for the future? Can they do a make shift rebuild where they can be back on top in 3/4 years? Will Toews/Kane be around for that? I dont think theres enough young talent to think like that. I fear the worse for this franchise, no matter the course of action.

As it stands now, this is an interesting team. I think the offense is legit, but the defense is so bad, not sure even one high end rental guy gets us to where we need to be. And to even consider cup hopes, we'd need someone on the offensive end too. Bowman is in a pickle to say the least.
 
#115      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
So what do you do as the Hawks? Hard to believe they stay pat. This team has top 15 potential, but probably finishes between 20-25. Do you try and sell some guys for the future? Can they do a make shift rebuild where they can be back on top in 3/4 years? Will Toews/Kane be around for that? I dont think theres enough young talent to think like that. I fear the worse for this franchise, no matter the course of action.

As it stands now, this is an interesting team. I think the offense is legit, but the defense is so bad, not sure even one high end rental guy gets us to where we need to be. And to even consider cup hopes, we'd need someone on the offensive end too. Bowman is in a pickle to say the least.

Help is coming, in a big way. Boqvist and Mitchell are legit high end d-men. Don't sleep on Beaudin and Krys either. Bowman needs to keep his powder dry. If they're going to spend (and they are), much better that it be in FA market (Panarin, Stone). As to this season, sink or swim with what you have (our D will be much better with Forsling and Murphy).
 
#116      
Help is coming, in a big way. Boqvist and Mitchell are legit high end d-men. Don't sleep on Beaudin and Krys either. Bowman needs to keep his powder dry. If they're going to spend (and they are), much better that it be in FA market (Panarin, Stone). As to this season, sink or swim with what you have (our D will be much better with Forsling and Murphy).
Sure, but will those guys be ready by next year? or the year after? This team is not as old as it once was, but as far as D men, I saw little out of Murphy to think he's anything other than a bottom 2 guy (his issues with Arizona persisted last year), I'll give Forsling a top 4 designation, but his games gotta pick up too, and the old guard is exactly that, and not getting younger thats for sure.

Guess what I'm saying is, Toews/Kane might have 3 years left in their latter prime years. Kanes obviously got more going for him, but honestly who do we have offensively? Saad's shown flashes, but not 6m worth. Schmaltz has been mediocre, and really we don't have any high end young offensive guys coming up (Debrincat being the large exception).

I understand theirs d talent in the system, and it should improve mightily in the next few years, but I worry the old guys are going to carry down the team in terms of cap space for Bowman to sign offensive talent. I have plenty of hope, but Bowman's gonna have to show a side of himself this org has never seen.
 
#117      
What is up with 3rd periods? Teams know what we going to do before we do pass the puck. Crow was getting pissed halfway through the 3rd on Saturday and starting clearing the puck up the middle. Flames had guys all over the clear out guys.
 
#118      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Sure, but will those guys be ready by next year? or the year after? This team is not as old as it once was, but as far as D men, I saw little out of Murphy to think he's anything other than a bottom 2 guy (his issues with Arizona persisted last year), I'll give Forsling a top 4 designation, but his games gotta pick up too, and the old guard is exactly that, and not getting younger thats for sure.

Guess what I'm saying is, Toews/Kane might have 3 years left in their latter prime years. Kanes obviously got more going for him, but honestly who do we have offensively? Saad's shown flashes, but not 6m worth. Schmaltz has been mediocre, and really we don't have any high end young offensive guys coming up (Debrincat being the large exception).

I understand theirs d talent in the system, and it should improve mightily in the next few years, but I worry the old guys are going to carry down the team in terms of cap space for Bowman to sign offensive talent. I have plenty of hope, but Bowman's gonna have to show a side of himself this org has never seen.

One of Mitchell and Boqvist will be on the Hawks next year. Possibly both, though am certainly not counting on it. Yes, there's a timing issue. Better to be patient, than try to fix the unfixable (especially, at a high cost to the near future).

2 seasons from now, Seabs is gone (compliance buyout), Crow may be gone, Keith is 2nd pairing.

In the present, fix the horrid PP and replace Rutta and Manning. Murphy didn't have a good season, but he is far better than the aforementioned.
 
#119      
In the present, fix the horrid PP and replace Rutta and Manning. Murphy didn't have a good season, but he is far better than the aforementioned.
Really, this is what I'm concerned about, I agree the talent currently in the system is good enough to not worry about right now. The issue is, can this team make the playoffs standing pat? I'm fine with the team getting wild card spot, becuase the parity in the NHL is so extreme, making the playoffs gives you a better shot at winning it all than many other sports. But if we finish somewhere 10-15, I feel like the season was a waste. Why not ship some guys out now for future picks/players. Not sure who that would be, but if this team is obviously out of playoff contention in a couple months, why try and limp to the finish line when you can bolster the roster for the next couple years.

I worry this team will be stuck in mediocrity for the next decade if we refuse to accept this isn't the same team it was 5 years ago.
 
#121      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
Interesting comments by all...I think this team is just going to have to take its lumps in the next few years and get high draft picks and build that way, like they did to build the core of the Cup winners. I doubt Q will be here much longer, and will Bowman still be doing the drafting? Who knows. I'm sticking with my prediction for this season, bottom three in the conference.
 
#122      
What do you mean "we," kemosabe?
Maybe I work for the Hawks front office? Who knows, it's the internet so maybe I'm also Rocky Wirtz, though I'd probably troll through the NW forums if that was true.

There's nothing more I hate than a sports franchise that always both on the upswing, but also spiraling downward. Being a middling team is worth exactly nothing. Either suck for a while, hoard talent, and hope enough of it grows into a championship caliber roster, or you better hope your current roster can take you there and spend money to keep it that way. It's absolutely pointless to finish 15th in the NHL (at least with the current Hawks roster makeup.)
 
#123      

bdutts

Houston, Texas
Maybe I work for the Hawks front office? Who knows, it's the internet so maybe I'm also Rocky Wirtz, though I'd probably troll through the NW forums if that was true.

There's nothing more I hate than a sports franchise that always both on the upswing, but also spiraling downward. Being a middling team is worth exactly nothing. Either suck for a while, hoard talent, and hope enough of it grows into a championship caliber roster, or you better hope your current roster can take you there and spend money to keep it that way. It's absolutely pointless to finish 15th in the NHL (at least with the current Hawks roster makeup.)

They are kind of mirroring Detroit after their cup runs.
 
#124      

Neale Stoner Fan Club

Tailgreat
Chiraq
Blackhawks sack Coach Q. And the great Stan Bowman keeps his job. Sad!

Shoulda known something was coming after the Chicago Cubune ran that puff interview with John McDonough yesterday. :mad: