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Watch What Bowman Does Next |
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Lots of good, lively debate on my message board thread the last few days—and typical of this time of year, maybe a it of overreach as far as prospect projections, possible regular season lineups, etc.
But a couple of things are fairly clear: the Hawks roster—as Hawk fans have come to expect it—has some holes at the forward positions, and what GM Stan Bowman does next will be very telling as far as what fans can realistically expect this year.
Should Bowman land a Jiri Hudler or a Brad Richards, it's safe to say the Hawks are loading up as best they can, for another Cup run, with proven veterans who have been there.
If we see 2-3 or more rookies on the opening night roster, it's probably fair to say we are looking at some kind of rebuilding or retooling period that could last a season or more, and make several. In other words, the "window" sort of closing.
Nick Schmaltz may end up being a heckuva NHL player, don't get me wrong. But the operative term there is "may end up."
Same with Tyler Motte.
Ryan Hartman, if he can minimize his emotional and mental mistakes, could be a nice lower line add, even this year.
But the operative term there is "if," and maybe "when."
Typically, teams loaded up for a legitimate Cup run don't have a lot of "ifs" and "when's" attached to rookies, and not really blue chip rookies at that.
Nice, projectable prospects. Who will have a learning curve. Because anyone who thinks that a modicum of NCAA hockey success automatically translates to the NHL is dreaming.
I am reminded of a tweet last Spring from my former colleague here, Travis Yost, that went something like "it's amazing how many Chicago fans fail to see that their team is not as good as it was last year."
Yost was right.
Applied to today, meh, sutract Ladd, Teravainen and Shaw, add Campbell and Kempny, you're sort of where you were last year. Just better on D and worse upfront.
Do Richards or Hudler make that much of a difference? I don't know.
Well, I think Hudler would.
Richards? You have to look at how good he was a little over a year ago, centering the Hawks' second line, and ask yourself, how much, if at all, has his skill fallen off since then. Throw out last year in some regards, because he wasn't centering Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin in Detroit. So Richards could be a nice domino as far as allowing, say, Artem Anisimov to play LW with Jonathan Toews—a position Anisimov can play, and with a playing style that nicely complements Toews.
Regardless of what Bowman does or doesn't do to improve the team before camp, realistic expectations need to take hold. Both for this season, and perhaps beyond.
All I have for now,
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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