Maybe the Blackhawks are just sleeping off a long hangover from the week long Stanley Cup party that took place. Or the notoriously tight-lipped organization is busy, but, as usual, not letting any details slip.

Either way, not much to report right now on the salary cap, impending trades or the draft intentions of the Cup champs.

There was a rumored deal with Anaheim that supposedly fell through late last week. I don't know who was involved, but I do recall that the two teams were rumored to have discussed Kris Versteeg before the trading deadline.

Eklund was also reporting on some trade scuttlebutt between the Hawks and the Sabres. Again, I'm not sure where this stands.

The Blackhawks did sign three (yes, three) European centers last week: SEL products Mathis Olimb (of Norway) and 2009 draftee Marcus Kruger, as well as KHL center Niklas Persson of Sweden.

Olimb is small, competitive and more of a set-up guy than a scorer. Persson is more of a two-way center with decent size and supposedly very adept hands. The only knock on him is he is an average skater. Kruger, a fifth round selection in last year's draft, really raised some eyebrows with his play in the World Juniors and subsequent dominance (at times) in the Swedish Elite League. He has vaulted up to become one of the Hawks Top 10 (if not top 5) prospects. At 20, Kruger is still physically immature, but he has both the hockey sense and hands to make great plays at top speed.

Of the three, Persson likely has the best chance of making the hawk roster as third or fourth line center.

We had some lively discussion on the message board last week after I laid the challenge out to be Stan Bowman for a day.

As promised, here are the winners:


Habs fan willey101 and Pri$ey both had a Brian Campbell/Kris Versteeg for Tomas Kaberle deal.

There are a couple of flaws with this one, but I think surmountable. One is Campbell's limited no-trade clause. Would Campbell make Toronto (near his hometown of Strathroy, ON) one of the 8 teams he would accept a trade to? Also the dollars would be a bit one-sided to Chicago, but the Leafs could make that part work.

Nerko77 had the beginning of an interesting thought: Huet and a top forward to Florida for Vokoun. First of all, this deal almost went down at the deadline. I don't see it happening right now for a variety of reasons, mostly Vokoun's trade value in terms of the draft picks and prospects Dale Tallon will want for him. However, a three-way deal involving these players (plus) is a real possibility.

Make no mistake, because elite goalie prospect Jacob Markstrom is a year or two out for Florida and Vokoun is UFA in 2011, the veteran Czech is going to be dealt. Just a question of when.

Kentxo had a nice idea (though not a money saver) of dealing Patrick Sharp and top defensive prospect Shawn Lalonde to Pittsburgh for Jordan Staal.

Staal is the true center for the Hawks second line. Sharp adds a lot ot Pittsburgh, with Crosby and Malkin centering the top two lines.

My next blog's featured interview guest wizd1901 had a nice idea: Anton Stralman, Mathieu Garon and the Jackets' 2nd round selection in 2010 for Huet and Sharp.

This makes some sense, however Jackets' fans would likely choke on Huet after seeing him give up 7 goals at Nationwide this past spring. Also, my sense is Columbus needs defense moreso than forwards. But . . . this is the kind of unexpected move the Hawks likely will make. And a marquee, marketable player like Sharp helps the Jackets do something they desperately need to do: reinvigorate their fanbase and sell tickets.

Lots of good ideas though. And sorry i couldn't print more of them. There was a lot of the "Hawks are screwed" mentality and a few pie in the sky scenarios that really favored the Hawks.

The truth is, neither are going to happen. The Hawks will get their cap worked out at a net cost in talent. The real question is, can they do it and still be odds-on favorites to defend the Cup next year? And will the futures they add in the process ensure a steady flow of talent around their core over the next five years?

Funny, a lot of the better ideas involve dealing Patrick Sharp. You have to give to get, Hawk fans.

With the draft coming up (my interview with Wiz, aka Bill Placzek, is on the draft), we could know more about what the Hawks will do this week. If the Hawks want to dig deep into this year's above average draft pool, then any deals involving getting picks back should happen prior to the draft.

Thanks for reading,



JJ

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