Carcillo is just a guy...who's injured ALOT...who takes many penalties.

He contributed little during his tenure as a Hawk, and I for one will not miss him.

Next up...
- ArlingtonRob

I'm not going to miss him either. I think part of the penalty problem is his rep. The refs will simply not give him a break or benefit of the doubt when he gets physical...

...But I'd have preferred a straight-up trade: Carcillo for Anze Kopitar, instead of the conditional draft pick. LOL.

I'm not going to miss him either. I think part of the penalty problem is his rep. The refs will simply not give him a break or benefit of the doubt when he gets physical...

...But I'd have preferred a straight-up trade: Carcillo for Anze Kopitar, instead of the conditional draft pick. LOL.
- Tugboat

I'm not greedy either...Carcillo for Clifford....

yeah, this!

Those still pushing that Hawks can't handle physical teams and need to go out of the system to acquire these pounders with less skill, slower feet and that solves it...LET IT GO.

If they get a cahnce to add a outside grizzled vet they may, but he or the giant robots from Paciifc Rim are not getting ice time over the attack guys.
- wiz1901

Wiz, I'm really hoping Kyle Beach absolutely sees this as a great opportunity to take advantage of. most think I want a slug, not so. sure I would like a guy like milan lucic ,but those don't grow on trees either. I would like Kyle Beach to turn into a good hard nosed 3rd or 2nd line winger who will be a 20 & 200 guy. kind of like what mark bell was supposed to be until he drank himself out of hockey.I think scotty Bowman is the perfect guy to work with a kid like Kyle Beach.

That's the question Cup


Lot of guys struggle trying to live up to the pressure of suddenly being RICH.

I hope Bicks gives us his best effort every night but saves his VERY BEST for the playoffs and I hope ALL THE BOYS pace themselves heading into a full season after a short off season....especially with a freshly painted target on us.
- philco28

I think Bickell is a smart kid, just hope his intensity is there. 4 mill is alot more than 500k, he should respect that .
I agree with your thought also as I was saying, "we are gonna be the measuring stick, the hunted, the 1's with the bullseye on our backs, every team will bring their best effort nightly against us next season. this will be 82 not 48!
smart fans know that while we celebrate the cup, we didn't dominate anything in the playoffs, 1 game away from elimination against the wings, ot against the kings , & a 2 minute brain fart by the Bruins, it fell our way this time. I just saw how these kids were all beat up & thought 82 is gonna be alot harder than 48.

In case no one saw, conditional pick is a 2015 6th, which turns into a 5th if he plays more than 40 games for the Kings. http://www.nhl.com/ice/ne...htm?id=6...d=nhl:topheads

Didn't see that posted
- ikeane

Stan is the man !!! Did I read that right that the Hawks have 2m in cap space ?

I think Bickell is a smart kid, just hope his intensity is there. 4 mill is alot more than 500k, he should respect that .
I agree with your thought also as I was saying, "we are gonna be the measuring stick, the hunted, the 1's with the bullseye on our backs, every team will bring their best effort nightly against us next season. this will be 82 not 48!
smart fans know that while we celebrate the cup, we didn't dominate anything in the playoffs, 1 game away from elimination against the wings, ot against the kings , & a 2 minute brain fart by the Bruins, it fell our way this time. I just saw how these kids were all beat up & thought 82 is gonna be alot harder than 48.
- wonthecup10

Great insight. The Hawks dominated with top end depth in 2010. In 2013, in a shortened season, they were a walking infirmary by the end of the playoffs. Now, we are looking at a potential 3 rookies offering the depth, and Zues and company are another year older. Shorter offseason + reduced offensive NHL proven depth + older vets + full 82 game season = much tougher chance of repeat in 2013-14

Just no to Bollig. Good guy but terrible hockey player.

I want someone who can play more than 3-4 mins a game.
- JoeHawks88

Plays solid positionally, finishes checks (and does so with some authority), tough along the board, and a surprisingly dangerous shot Should he ever play more than ten minutes a game? No. Terrible player? Only to the lemmings who have attached themselves to that belief.

And those guys are at a premium in the NHL. Hopefully Bickell is that guy. Same with a mix of Kruger and Zeus between Sharp and Hossa. The Carcillos, the Smithsons, and the Hendricks of the league provide other things but they aren't going to change the way Toews or Kane play since they are rarely on the ice together.
- Kentxo

I shouldn't have wasted the time two finger typing mine...
you said it ...
thanks!

just trade Hjalmarsson to EDM for Gagner. 2C solved
- TheNugeIsHuge

That is SOOOOOOO not happening

Plays solid positionally, finishes checks (and does so with some authority), tough along the board, and a surprisingly dangerous shot Should he ever play more than ten minutes a game? No. Terrible player? Only to the lemmings who have attached themselves to that belief.
- John Jaeckel

I am betting that Bolling still hurts from that lack of hands on that outlet and he spends the entire summer getting ready to be a regular guy and will work on feet and hands...within the month.

But I just don't see his name getting called in the post season until their is a qualitative jump in a few areas...

Stan is the man !!! Did I read that right that the Hawks have 2m in cap space ?
- mrpaulish

That is what capgeek was saying first thing this morning. Moving things around for a projected opening night roster based on curent roster players, here is what I come up with:

FORWARDS
Bryan Bickell ($4.000m) / Jonathan Toews ($6.300m) / Patrick Kane ($6.300m)
Patrick Sharp ($5.900m) / Brandon Pirri ($0.870m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)
Brandon Saad ($0.894m) / Marcus Kruger ($1.325m) / Andrew Shaw ($0.578m)
Jeremy Morin ($0.887m) / Michal Handzus ($1.000m) / Ben Smith ($0.563m)
Brandon Bollig ($0.575m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Brent Seabrook ($5.800m) / Duncan Keith ($5.538m)
Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.500m) / Johnny Oduya ($3.383m)
Nick Leddy ($2.700m) / Michal Rozsival ($2.200m)
Sheldon Brookbank ($1.250m) /
GOALTENDERS
Corey Crawford ($2.667m)
Nikolai Khabibulin ($2.000m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,504,295; BONUSES: $677,500
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $1,473,205

Really hoping Hawks can convince Larose to come in at about Carcillo's salary on a 1 year deal

Yea, I really hope this was a move because there was interest for a quality depth player or veteran to come in for cheap to try and win with CHI.

Not that Carcillo was a shiny penny, but he was still an experienced NHLer that could fill in if needed.

I am very wary of trying to bring up Morin, Smith, Pirri, Hayes, and possibly Danault in the same season. Thats the workings of a team on the rise, not a team that is defending the cup

Keep the "Icehog Tryouts" at a minimum and let the guys who actually belong there win those spots, let the guys not quite there go back to Rockford. No need to create concession price spaces on the roster
- FourFeathers773

DING DING DING DING

I am betting that Bolling still hurts from that lack of hands on that outlet and he spends the entire summer getting ready to be a regular guy and will work on feet and hands...within the month.

But I just don't see his name getting called in the post season until their is a qualitative jump in a few areas...
- wiz1901

No disagreement, just saying, Bollig has become the whipping boy for some and it's not really based on anything factual. He's a 4th line NHL player. Worse than some, better than others. He can also kill penalties too.

Some of the same people saying he's terrible are always pumping all the clowns in Rockford as the next Bpbby Orr. Then why is Bollig in Chicago most of the last two years and those guys aren't? Because he fills a role when called upon and it isn't always fighting..

yeah, this!

Those still pushing that Hawks can't handle physical teams and need to go out of the system to acquire these pounders with less skill, slower feet and that solves it...LET IT GO.

If they get a cahnce to add a outside grizzled vet they may, but he or the giant robots from Paciifc Rim are not getting ice time over the attack guys.
- wiz1901

Well put. Can we please agree to hang up these red-faced proclamations that this team can't survive the physical game? This same group of guys (for all intents and purposes) put down two of the more physical teams the league in back-to-back series.

Everyone now claiming that Stan needs to add toughness in the wake of the Carcillo departure needs to wake up. I for one, liked Carcillo’s game (in the brief moments when he found it when wearing the Indian head) , but he was a waste of a roster spot. The team already has a token tough guy in the fold, and a better one. If fighting is what you’re worried about, Bollig’s a head and shoulders above Carcillo, and I’d put money on the fact that – IF you think either of these guys is a deterrent to cheap shots on stars (which I don’t think to be the case, necessarily), more guys would fear fighting Bollig at 6’2 223 than Carcillo at 5’11 201. Bollig will be available to dress and play five minutes when the ‘Hawks play St. Louis.

Let’s also not forget about Bickell, who finally asserted himself physically last post-season (hopefully this continues). He’s a load, and will be sharing ice with the kids. Also, don’t discount some of these new-comers, Smith, Morin, etc. Morin’s amassed some serious PIM’s in the AHL, and smith isn’t exactly a smurf at 5’11 205.

The hits and grit will come, they just won’t be the primary focus, as has been the case in recent history.

And if memory serves, recent history has been quite good to the ‘Hawks.

I'm thinking Bowman is actually done for the summer, wants to save a little space for another deadline acquisition each of his years as GM he's brought in at least something at or near the deadline (Handzus, Oduya, Leddy/Johnsson) I think thats the move so we can properly assess the Rockford guys..... Im certainly in favor
- Jagbears

agreed... i think you save that cap space for trade deadline and give rookies a chance to prove themselves to start season. then at trade deadline, you can use the $1.5M+ to acquire veteran talent making up to $3M (pro-rated) to address weak areas.

DING DING DING DING
- John Jaeckel

I agree here too.

I think the timing is appropriate to give these guys a shot, it does make me a tad nervous to think that the team is just handing two or three roster spots over to prospects. I like the idea of having one or two spots, and making four of five guys battle for them. Competition brings out the best.

Ultimately, I think the 'Hawks add another veteran PK-type guy if not in the next 48 hours, then during camp, where many of these type of players will be looking for a gig, and possibly be had for less money.


Concerning a breakdown of the following roster which in some iterations, as been discussed:

29-19-88
10-37-81
20-16-65
FA Vet - 26 - 52/11/28/Hayes


I don't really have a problem with this set-up from the onset. I think it's prudent to give Pirri at least an 8-10 game look with Sharp and Hossa. It's crap-or-get-off-the-pot time for him, He's proven he can be a dominant AHL center, now it's time to see if that will ever translate. If he can't succeed between 10 and 81, he's never going to make it.

I also like the idea of having one other roster spot in the bottom six open for the others to fight for. Assuming unspecified FA Vet can is of the quality penalty killing variety, it gives this team the depth and flexibility it needs.

Now, let's say Pirri doesn't pan out - now they can do this:

29-19-88
10-16-81
20-65-FA Vet
52/11/28/Hayes - 26 - 52/11/28/Hayes


The fourth line here is a little green, but still has a solid veteran presence in Zus, and it's not as if none of the above said guys are completely devoid of NHL experience.


All in all, I think this team is going to be solid - but I would like to see one more veteran forward added.