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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger •
As I blogged yesterday, the Dylan Olsen pick is a solid one, possibly very good value for where he was picked. He is a low risk, high reward pick. Meaning, his ceiling is very high, yet he will probably be a at least a decent player regardless.
So what did the Hawks do on Saturday? To my mind, they are now very much following the Red Wings' approach to the draft now. They are picking kids with obvious skill(s)/positive attributes, but also somewhat out of obscurity and with years of development ahead of them. The 2nd and 3rd round picks, Brandon Pirri and Dan Delisle are great examples of this.
None of these kids are going be with the Hawks within 3 years. And that's OK, because the hope is 4-5 years from now, at least 2-3 of these kids will be our Ville Leinos, Jiri Hudlers and Darren Helms.
These are high character kids with certain characteristics that you can develop around. Pirri can fly and score. Delisle is huge, a natural leader and a great kid off the ice. Byron Froese, the 4th round pick out of Everett wasn't even drafted in the WHL, but really emerged this year and was chosen to represent Canada in the World Under 18s. This kid literally came out of nowhere.
Now, I'm not leading the applause in the lunchroom. Not all or even half of these kids (likely) are going to make it. I'm just saying, there's a pattern here. And to my mind, and as I've been saying for a while, it was time for the Hawks to begin to emulate the Detroit player development model more.
Many of you will recall the Bryan Bickell, Matt Blunden, Adam Berti, Matt Keith, etc., picks. Much ballyhooed CHL kids who've never panned out. GIve Tallon and his staff credit. They've gone looking for diamonds in the rough. Maybe they found one or two.
BOLLAND: Apparently the Hawks are about to re-sign Dave Bolland to a five year, $18 million deal. My guess is, they had some intelligence that Bolland was going to receive a big offer elsewhere.
Some would argue this is a lot for Bolland. I'm not sure I totally disagree. Still, he's a pretty good player already and will probably get better.
Further, while some want to put the signing and the salary all on Tallon, in truth and as some have alreayd pointed out on the blog, he is in no way working in a vacuum, and both Bowmans (at the very least) are just as responsible for the decision.
MARTY HAVLAT: I don't have a good feeling about this.
So what did the Hawks do on Saturday? To my mind, they are now very much following the Red Wings' approach to the draft now. They are picking kids with obvious skill(s)/positive attributes, but also somewhat out of obscurity and with years of development ahead of them. The 2nd and 3rd round picks, Brandon Pirri and Dan Delisle are great examples of this.
None of these kids are going be with the Hawks within 3 years. And that's OK, because the hope is 4-5 years from now, at least 2-3 of these kids will be our Ville Leinos, Jiri Hudlers and Darren Helms.
These are high character kids with certain characteristics that you can develop around. Pirri can fly and score. Delisle is huge, a natural leader and a great kid off the ice. Byron Froese, the 4th round pick out of Everett wasn't even drafted in the WHL, but really emerged this year and was chosen to represent Canada in the World Under 18s. This kid literally came out of nowhere.
Now, I'm not leading the applause in the lunchroom. Not all or even half of these kids (likely) are going to make it. I'm just saying, there's a pattern here. And to my mind, and as I've been saying for a while, it was time for the Hawks to begin to emulate the Detroit player development model more.
Many of you will recall the Bryan Bickell, Matt Blunden, Adam Berti, Matt Keith, etc., picks. Much ballyhooed CHL kids who've never panned out. GIve Tallon and his staff credit. They've gone looking for diamonds in the rough. Maybe they found one or two.
BOLLAND: Apparently the Hawks are about to re-sign Dave Bolland to a five year, $18 million deal. My guess is, they had some intelligence that Bolland was going to receive a big offer elsewhere.
Some would argue this is a lot for Bolland. I'm not sure I totally disagree. Still, he's a pretty good player already and will probably get better.
Further, while some want to put the signing and the salary all on Tallon, in truth and as some have alreayd pointed out on the blog, he is in no way working in a vacuum, and both Bowmans (at the very least) are just as responsible for the decision.
MARTY HAVLAT: I don't have a good feeling about this.
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