Blackhawks down!! Offseason primer

[yave1964]

 

 

 

 

FINAL RECORD 2017-18 33-39-10 76 points 19 points out of a playoff spot dead last in division.

 

  The Hawks did their usual bring players back on a farewell tour, Sharp returned from exile in Dallas, Saad came over from Columbus for his second tour in the second city in a confusing deal for the bread man, Marion Hossa went the other route and the league let the Hawks bypass the system, his contract was allowed to be buried in LTIR because he found his sweater itchy. A couple of solid kid prospects and the Hawks hoped for yet another run.

  It never happened. Crawford was brilliant early then injured Forsberg who came over from Columbus in the Panarin deal was innefective and 30 year old 'rookie' Glass was good, bad and ugly. Seabrook was benched at times as his age has caught up to his skill set, Saad with 35 points in 82 games was a bust, Duncan Keith had 2 goals and was minus 29, the team wasted a solid year by Kane and great seasons by young Debrincat and Schmaltz and a return to form by Toews and they stumbled bumbled and fumbled all year, looking very unhawkish and missed the postseason by a mile.

  The big thing killing this team even with circumventing the cap with the ludicrous Hossa situation is long term deals to aging vets, Seabrook, Kane, Toews, Crawford and Keith have been the backbone on a near dynasty team but they have 40 million in commitments to those five for each of the next several years. Crawford comes off the books in two seasons but the others all have five or more years remaining. Getting creative with the cap is their only hope and that is unlikely to work as Debrincat and Schmaltz have very little help in the minors that is close to ready.

 

 TOP PROSPECTS:

Here is the problem, a problem a lot of contenders face is trading picks for vets at or near the deadline and picking in the late twenties or early thirties every round due to your own success doesn't help. They have little if anything close to ready for the NHL.

 I suppose Dylan Sikura and Victor Edjsell could be considered forward prospects but neither is much to write home about, Karl Dahlstrom is an okay defender who will make the team by default but is really an AHLer. Darren Raddysh might be a real defensive prospect but he is raw and might land a job but make a lot of mistakes. Collin Delia is a goalie who the Hawks are high on and he was pretty good with Rockford but will likely be returned there this season.

 

 FREE AGENTS Michael Rozsival is about it and he hasn't been relevant in at least four years. 39 years old he will likely retire.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS

 

BOWMAN SAYS WITH A SLOW START HE MAY BLOW IT UP, CAN HE? Seabrook is a financial albatross, a shell of his former self and untradeable he may be buried in Rockford. Keith probably is untradeable and needs to rebound for any prayer. Crawford with only 2 years might find a taker if the Hawks would be willing to go with Forsberg and Dellia in net. 

  The intriguing thing would be to go for max cap relief and deal Toews or Kane to alleviate 10.5 million a year off the books but there would be limited takers and they would have to settle for 80 cents on the dollar to move the cotnracts. 

 

WILL QUENNEVILLE SURVIVE ANOTHER ROUGH SEASON? It seems ludicrous to me to blame one of the greatest coaches in Hockey history for the failings of figuring out how to make a top power play work with guys like Hinostroza and Jurco but rumors have swirled for two years that Bowman and Quenneville don't always see eye to eye and the coach cannot fire the GM it usually goes the other way. Nick Kypreos among many others has spoken for years about the unhealthy relationship between coach and GM. My guess is Q survives the year but if they miss the playoffs again he will move on either of his own will or by the teams choice. He will not lack for suitors.

 

CAN THEY BOUNCE BACK? Crawford, Saad, Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook eat up 46 million, Anisimov and Connor Murphy eat up a little over 8 million more so 8 players eat 54 million in salary leaving 24 million for the remaining 12 players. with Schmaltz, Duclair and Debrincat due for raises it means either inexperienced kids or vets playing out the string willing to play cheap. This has been the Hawks way during their impressive run and it has worked in the past but 1) Hossa and his 35 or so goals are gone and 2) the rest of the core is showing signs of wear. They may be able to but I seriously doubt it.

[jammer2]

 Another Great off season primer by Yave!!   Unrelated to his thread, but nevertheless cool....just thought I'd throw it in here due to the obvious Hawk content....got this off hockeywriters.com....

 

 The 3 greatest Hawk centers in history....enjoy!

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/blackhawks-top-three-centers-all-time/

[RichardS2492]

I think the Hawks need to re-sign Panarin & Shaw back to the team. I can't explain how easy the hawks gave up their efforts to be the "Best" their losing easy games & giving up offensively/ defensively. Do t get me started on the goalie (Crawford) is good enough to beat opposing teams but, he's giving up EASY GOALS!  ONCE Shaw & Panarin return to this team....THEY WILL BE A FORCE TO RECON WITH! 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 hours ago, RichardS2492 said:

I think the Hawks need to re-sign Panarin & Shaw back to the team. I can't explain how easy the hawks gave up their efforts to be the "Best" their losing easy games & giving up offensively/ defensively. Do t get me started on the goalie (Crawford) is good enough to beat opposing teams but, he's giving up EASY GOALS!  ONCE Shaw & Panarin return to this team....THEY WILL BE A FORCE TO RECON WITH! 

 

Welcome to the boards.

 

I think the Panarin ship has sailed.

Columbus now would have NO good reason to trade him back to the Hawks.

As for Shaw (I am assuming you are talking about Andrew Shaw), he would be nice to have back if you are a Hawks fan, but for the almost $4M cap hit he presents, I am not so sure he brings enough to help fix the Hawks.....especially when they are so near the cap limit already.

 

Honestly, I think the top 4 forwards of Kane, Toews, Saad, and Anisimov are good enough for Chicago to still build around, but that DOES mean other young talents like DeBrincat, Schmaltz, and maybe Dilan Sikura are gonna have to grow up a bit faster than normal, step up their games, and contribute to the offense regularly to help out the top 4 players.

 

Crawford is still a viable goaltender (assuming he doesn't have lingering injury issues), however, what REALLY is killing the Hawks (and Crawford) is the defense....or lack thereof... both in speed, coverage, and production.

Right now, Duncan keith may be the only real good defenseman they have.

Brent Seabrook, a once capable and feared hitter, seems to have forgotten how to cover guys and he looked awfully slow at times last year too.

 

The rest of the Hawk defense is a collection of also-rans and 'who are these guys' types who really don't figure on being impact players.

 

Chicago is in a bad spot.

Close to the cap limit, with still some very good players in their primes....but hampered by a large gap in ability between the top players and the bottom players.

 

The Hawks probably don't want to go into full rebuild mode (it would mean selling off pieces like Kane, Toews, etc), but they might have to.
But if I were them, I'd start looking at ways to improve that defense.

Unless that gets better, Crawford (or whomever else is in net) will continually get exposed, AND the top players, instead of being offensive weapons, will find themselves constantly trying to play defensive forward roles to compensate.

NOT a good thing.

 

Panarin is not an option, and Shaw just doesn't bring enough to help in the areas where the Hawks have the greatest need.

[yave1964]

@RichardS2492

 

Welcome to the forums first of all!

 

 As @TropicalFruitGirl26 pointed out the Panarin ship sailed, it was a strange trade giving up the bread man even up for Saad who is not a bad player but clearly inferior. I am not convinced that Panarin isn't a bit of a prima donna as the rumors are that he wants out of CBJ land and wants to play near water, such as Florida or California. Well I always wanted a date with Heather Locklear. My wife even laughed and said go for it if I could make it happen. Never did lol. Anyway, Panarin would certainly be a help but I doubt he is coming. As for Shaw, I am certain Montreal would happily give him back to you, he has too many years on his current deal for too much money and coming off knee surgery and will be out until Thanksgiving give or take. 

  An aside, aren't you tired of all the old Hawks come back in for a farewell tour when they are past their prime like Shaw is? Sharp clearly had nothing left in the tank, Kruger is back, he has been done for years. Saad coming back was fine but for a serious overpayment. Brian Campbell, more that I am too tired to look up right now, lol. They need fresh blood and new ideas. 

  The big problem is how much money they have tired into Kane/Toews/Crawford/Seabrook/Keith and they are never in a million years going to be cup contenders again until they fix that. Seabrook is an albatross, the others are slowing and I would not be surprised if one of the others slips badly this year. Debrincat can play, so can a few of the other kids but this team is going to get worse before it gets better. They are pretty much where my Wings were a few years ago, an aging core without much in the pipeline ready to step in right now and help so they throw bandaids on the problem and hope for the best. The cap nonsense that they just pulled with the Hossa contract may allow them to add a Faulk or someone but it is not nearly enough.

[wild.source]

As a Minnesota Wild fan I think the Blackhawks should not get an outdoor game almost every year...it is getting very annoying. I am glad that the Wild won the Stadium Series on February 21, 2016 6-1.