yave1964 Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 PRESEASON OUTLOOK: After winning a cup for the third time in six seasons, they were forced to make some major changes, trading Sharp and Oduya to the Stars in a cost saving measure, donating Raanta to the Rangers, Kris Versteeg sold off to the Hurricanes, Brandon Saad to the Jackets. In addition, Vermette and Brad Richards were not invited back leaving as free agents. Lots of folk were going so far as to say the Hawks would miss the playoffs after turning over half their roster and receiving very little in return. FINAL RECORD: 47-26-9-103 points. Lost in first round to St. Louis Blues. STRANGE STATS OF THE YEAR: The Hawks won by the Sword by finishing second in the league in PP percentage for the year, and died by the sword finishing 22nd on the Penalty Kill. Here is a strange stat for ya, there is literally no difference between what Patrick Kane did at home (23-31-54 with 17 PPP) and on the road (23-30-53 with 20 ppp). Not so with Captain Serious, Toews had 35 points and was plus 17 at home, only 22 points and minus 1 away. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR: They proved the skeptics wrong right off the get go, starting hot and serving notice that they were going to be in the conversation all year. To me, the High point tho was the trade deadline moves for Andrew Ladd and Thomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise to add the depth that all playoff teams must have. At that point the Hawks were probably the favorites to win the West. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: I have never been kind to Corey Crawford, but if the Hawks ever needed him to step up it was this year, he had a nice season until he went out March 14th with vertigo missing the final month of the season returning the last game before the playoffs. He was out of sync against the Blues, and that injury more than any other cause is why the Hawks were sitting at home in mid April. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Kane had an MVP season, shaking off the rape innuendo of the previous offseason. Artemi Panarin (30-47-77) will win the Calder as the leagues top rookie. Toews (28-30-58) was damn solid at both ends fo the ice. Brent seabrook stepped out of the shadows of his more famous defensive partner (14-35-49) to have a great year. Artem Anisimov who came as part of the return from Columbus for Saad (20-22-42) was solid. Corey Crawford (35-18-4 2.37 goals against) was top flight pre-vertigo. WHAT WENT WRONG: Other than Anisimov nearly every offseason addition backfired. Trevor Dailey and Ryan Garbutt, the return for Sharp were sent out by midseason because they sucked. For these two they added Sekac and Scuderi who sucked even more. Viktor Tinhonov who came from the KHL was awful and donated to Arizona. Marko Dano looked lost and was given up on to Winnipeg. Other than Panarin who came from nowhere, the rest of the endless amount of kids who suited up brought nothing to the table. Duncan Keith was good but human. Teuvo Terravainen (13 goals) was a non entity. Andrew Shaw played all year on the second line with Toews and only managed 14 goals and 34 points. Marian Hossa 13-20-33 looks near the end fo the road. The continuation of Marcus Kruger deterioration is painful to watch. He simply cannot play in any situation anymore. The only thing worse is the erosion of Bryan Bickell. Between them they played 66 games with a combined zero, repeat ZERO goals. MVP: Kane carried his team like nobody in the league this year. Without him, they are out of the playoffs. FREE AGENTS: The deadline acquisitions, Andrew Ladd, Tomas Fleischmann, Dale Weise and Christian Ehroff are all free agents. So is steady but unspectacular Michael Rozsival. TOP PROSPECTS: Nick Schmaltz may make the move from the U of North Dakota to the second line with Toews in one year, a two way skilled forward with dynamic offensive upside and explosive speed. I consider him a dark horse for the Calder in 2016-17 if he makes the team out of camp. That is it. Literally. Oh they have bodies such as Ville Pokka who is a middling defender, Ryan Hartman is supposed to be a good winger but has more holes in his game than swiss cheese. Hinostroza and Mark McNeill will get some ice time because of available jobs but neither one can realy play much. Tanner Kero and Kyle Baun are a step below them. Lots of bodies in other words, guys who cannot really play but they will anyway because the Hawks are in need.If it were not for Nick Schmaltz I would rank them below the Rangers as the worst 'ready now' prospects in the NHL. Oh, one more. Viktor Svedberg is six foot eight and likes to hot but is a pylon and has shown zero offensive accumen at the pro level. With several defenders moving on, he may take the 7th d-man spot. OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: Everything that everyone said about the Hawks was proven true and only the amazing season by Kane and Panarin allowed them to break the century mark in points and hang around all year. They are an aging team and their two biggest stars take up a quarter of the cap. It may be time to trade either Keith or Seabrook to fill two or three needs, both personnel and cap wise. Stan Bowman is one of the elite GM's in the game and if he does, it will be the right trade at the right time. Is Hossa done? Is that all that there is for Terravainen? Can Kane keep this up? Can Panarin avoid a sophomore slump? Tons of questions in Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Basically it was their "out in first round" year. Next year is cup year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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