Well, I'll see you boys here in a month or so.

The endless debates on who is or wont' be going just will drag on. I think it's safe to say baring a major change in theory: 19,88,15,4,2,7,50,72,81 will not be moved. From there, I think the Hawks should/will listen on the rest.

Sadly hockey is going to put up horrific ratings. I'll watch Dallas/STL and Pitts/Wash but I have zero interest in the other 2 series. I doubt most of America will watch much of these games and the playoff gates will only hurt HRR more and the final cap number. Especially with no Canadian teams involved.

I wouodn't sleep on the sharks or blues or Caps. Caps are probably the only team in the east who can beat the Sharks, Blues or Stars. I'm not buying Pittsburgh, Islanders are over achieving and Tampa has lost some key players already.

Igor Eronko ‏@IgorEronko 19m19 minutes ago
It appears Artem Anisimov won't join #TeamRussia, he needs a surgery #BlackHawks

Igor Eronko ‏@IgorEronko 19m19 minutes ago
It appears Artem Anisimov won't join #TeamRussia, he needs a surgery #BlackHawks
- DarthKane

Was this his lower body injury or his late season upper body injury from the Vermette boarding penalty?

And if the results are so bad, do they do anything about it?

Obviously there's a lot of differing opinions among the posters here on whether the Hawks can be a contender next year. I think they definitely can be, the rest will help, we know that Seabrook among others was injured, you know there is no way Toews doesn't come back on fire next season after the early exit, Panarin will only get better, TVR was solid and can likely still improve, Hossa has regained some of his scoring touch...

But besides the rest this summer what makes me think they can be contenders next year is that changing of the guard/as more parity is achieved. As the teams even out skill-wise, the trump card is going to be championship mentality, experience, and energy level. At the beginning of this season a lot of people were predicting the Ducks in the SCF. A lot of people said the only team they were worried about beating the Hawks in 7 were the Kings. If Hawks had made it past the Blues I think they would have only gotten better, and without having to go through the Kings or the Ducks they could have had a nice road to the WCF. I can see next year playing out quite similarly as the Kings cap hell is only getting worse and the Ducks are gonna have to do something about their allergy to winning game 7s. I know their will to win wasn't enough this year, for a variety of reasons (health, exhaustion, roster mismanagement among others), but like people have pointed out they were still a bounce away from eliminating a very good Blues team. A non-broken backed Seabs, a healthy Toews, a rested Hossa, if they have all of that next year I think they're completely capable of a deep run, especially as the teams that have normally been their roadblocks are getting weaker.

I know JJ mentioned they would be 5th in the West if Stan doesn't fix some serious holes, but we can't forget the toll that a deep run is going to take on the Blues, and Dallas, and the Preds, who are used to longer summers, and the Ducks and the Kings have a lot of their own holes to fix. I don't know that there are 4 WC teams that I would give a huge edge over the Hawks next year barring some moves of their own
- maria_wyeth[/quote.
Agreed Maria......... but I for one can not count on Bowman and Quenneville to "fix some serious holes". The riff between them can't be overlooked and whoever made the decisions to move young future players like Dano, Danault and Johns should be held accountable. It's so easy to say...... yeah we're all in and going for it....... then acquire the likes of Fleish, Weisse, Erhoff, and the almighty Ladd for the 1 year go for it ??? Now a 1st round exit to a much younger and physical team is alarming. We were all so Happy that we got Ladd, but there were a few of us that was hoping for Boedker instead, just for the sake of adding some youth and speed to that top line. Look what Panic did with his speed alone on that line. Now Ladd will be gone because he'll be asking for top dollar and will probably get it. Cudos to him but a horrible misplay by our GM, IMO. Just way too many moves on rentals and I guess we'll never know if giving Dano a shot at RW at any time ever, and keeping Danault would have helped us in the round 1. Now that it's over, the future of our youth and speed is highly questionable....... and in more Cap Hell all over again. I'm wondering if anybody has even asked about the disconnect between Bowman and Quenneville on the trade deadline moves. Anybody know ??

Brad E. Schlossman ‏@SchlossmanGF 14m14 minutes ago
Drake Caggiula expected to make a decision sometime next week when he gets back to Grand Forks on who he will sign with.

Crawford not even nominated for the Vezina
Holtby Bishop and Quick

Was this his lower body injury or his late season upper body injury from the Vermette boarding penalty?
- EnzoD

Yikes

I knew Q was full of poop when he said everyone was healthy

Sharp on playing the Blues

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=15421331

Putting all that Hawks media training and playoff confidence to good use.

Yikes

I knew Q was full of poop when he said everyone was healthy
- maria_wyeth

How many more need surgical repair? My guess is Anisimov is NOT the only one.

Not saying GeneralFanager is infallable, but they have Scud salary for 2016/17 at $2.5m. I kinda agree with you that a player at the end of their shelf life probably doesnt walk away from $833k. But I definitely think he doesnt walk away from $2.5M!

Any talk of him retiring and helping the Hawks erase $1.2m of cap hit next year falls in the category of "I'll believe that when I see it" for me.
- Cmonalready

Yep, you're right. I was only looking at the Hawks portion on HB. No way Scuds walks away from that amount of money. Hawks will be on the hook for a $1.125 cap hit next year.

Q will have NONE of that kind of silly talk. Doesn't play the right way.

On another note, TOI leader (nearly 25) last night, +2, on ice for 4 of the 5 Isles goals (1 a PP) and facing top lines. But in Q's mind, would never be even a #3 or #4 here.
- savvyone-1

Hi Savvy, I sometimes check the stats on yahoo sports app after NYI games and did last night as well. Saw all this and still shake my head. And then I see JJ commenting about Pokka and lack of speed. Salary cap is a beautiul thing?

Yep, you're right. I was only looking at the Hawks portion on HB. No way Scuds walks away from that amount of money. Hawks will be on the hook for a $1.125 cap hit next year.
- Lido_Shuffle

That was such a bizarre trade.

Well, I'll see you boys here in a month or so.

The endless debates on who is or wont' be going just will drag on. I think it's safe to say baring a major change in theory: 19,88,15,4,2,7,50,72,81 will not be moved. From there, I think the Hawks should/will listen on the rest.

Sadly hockey is going to put up horrific ratings. I'll watch Dallas/STL and Pitts/Wash but I have zero interest in the other 2 series. I doubt most of America will watch much of these games and the playoff gates will only hurt HRR more and the final cap number. Especially with no Canadian teams involved.

I wouodn't sleep on the sharks or blues or Caps. Caps are probably the only team in the east who can beat the Sharks, Blues or Stars. I'm not buying Pittsburgh, Islanders are over achieving and Tampa has lost some key players already.
- SteveRain

good summation. offer an opinion on whether you think TVR will / should be the Hawks 4th D-man next season.

So, what's on everyone's minds today? How screwed are the Hawks? Bowman overpaid everyone and is the worst GM ever? Q on the hot seat? If only we had Leddy instead of Seabrook, right? Well, it was a nice run while it lasted. Too bad the armchair GMs posting here weren't in charge instead, we'd probably have 4 or 5 Cups by now.

good summation. offer an opinion on whether you think TVR will / should be the Hawks 4th D-man next season.
- etchtech

He's gotta be. And he'll do just fine as long as we can find suitable bottom pairing guys that can eat up 15ish minutes a night. Gotta do better than Rundblad and Gustafsson.

So, what's on everyone's minds today? How screwed are the Hawks? Bowman overpaid everyone and is the worst GM ever? Q on the hot seat? If only we had Leddy instead of Seabrook, right? Well, it was a nice run while it lasted. Too bad the armchair GMs posting here weren't in charge instead, we'd probably have 4 or 5 Cups by now.
- SimpleJack

ha -- yes, it's probably safe to say that Bowman wasn't reading this board for advice

As was pointed out to me some place else, there are two tournaments - the IIHF, which starts in May, and the WCoH.

The World Cup starts on September 17, goes through October 1 at the latest. The opening of the new NHL season is on October 12 - about a week later than this year (the Hawks' first game last fall was on October 5).

I would guess that the camps for the WCoH would be about a week before the tournament starts - and the Blackhawks' camp about the same time (about 3 weeks before the season starts?).

For those players who don't participate in the IIHF tournament, it looks like a normal summer off.
- StLBravesFan

Thanks for the information! Wasn't quite sure.

Hi Savvy, I sometimes check the stats on yahoo sports app after NYI games and did last night as well. Saw all this and still shake my head. And then I see JJ commenting about Pokka and lack of speed. Salary cap is a beautiul thing?
- 6628

Hi 66, the kicker on that deal is the lack of speed. When I saw him earlier this year, his skating and speed wasn't even up to TVR-level (who I'd rate as adequate in terms of form and a minus in terms of speed). Doesn't portend him making any kind of leap and impact at the NHL level. Of course, IMO only.

If Stan is the one assessing skills -- we know he doesn't know much. Still don't understand how the scout(s) that told him to go after Rundblad (presumably) still have a job. Total fail there.

Look at teams that just got bounced from the 1st round (or missed the tournament entirely):

-Chicago
-LA
-Rangers
-Ducks
-Boston

Those 5 teams have been the class of the entire NHL, making deep playoff runs every spring, since 2009/10. These teams all being beaten in the 1st round or missing the playoffs completely demonstrates the Salary Cap driven parity that Bettman desires. Chicago, LA, New York and Boston are the largest hockey markets in the USA. When the TV results for the rest of this playoff season come in, will Bettman and the Owners be so happy with the results?? IDK, but it is clear that a changing of the guard is happening in regard to the NHL's elite teams....
- EnzoD

Great post.

So, what's on everyone's minds today? How screwed are the Hawks? Bowman overpaid everyone and is the worst GM ever? Q on the hot seat? If only we had Leddy instead of Seabrook, right? Well, it was a nice run while it lasted. Too bad the armchair GMs posting here weren't in charge instead, we'd probably have 4 or 5 Cups by now.
- SimpleJack

Pretty excited for the Crosby-Ovi showdown tonight, TBH.

Pretty excited for the Crosby-Ovi showdown tonight, TBH.
- EnzoD

I'm mostly interested to see if the Pens can play any D against a talented offensive team that is peaking, vs. a Rangers team that faded down the stretch

I must be reading the cap wrong or something. It's 74 million next year. After the Panarin bonus, Bickell buyout, and adding Scuds hit...I'm showing 66.4 million for 16 rostered players. Leaving 7.6 for 7 players. If you pay Shaw 3.0 million it leaves 6 spots for the remaining 4.6 million. That leaves $750,000 per player. Why is that not doable? I know its a lot of young guys from Rockford. So what am I missing? Does Shaw want more?

I'm mostly interested to see if the Pens can play any D against a talented offensive team that is peaking, vs. a Rangers team that faded down the stretch
- phantasmo

Anyone know if Orpik is still out for the Capitals? That loss, and the subsequent thinning of their blue line depth, may level the playing field for the Penguins. I've got Capitals in 7

Hi 66, the kicker on that deal is the lack of speed. When I saw him earlier this year, his skating and speed wasn't even up to TVR-level (who I'd rate as adequate in terms of form and a minus in terms of speed). Doesn't portend him making any kind of leap and impact at the NHL level. Of course, IMO only.

If Stan is the one assessing skills -- we know he doesn't know much. Still don't understand how the scout(s) that told him to go after Rundblad (presumably) still have a job. Total fail there.
- savvyone-1

before what Bow did is trade guys for picks and load up on them. Some would Hit SAAD and some not. then you would bring who ever was up. Then he started trying to add younger players but ones that might be a little farther along. Runblad, pokka, and that failed so then he started trading NHL players for cheaper NHL players and in generally we gave up the better player and got back a slightly cheaper but worse player. The leddy year Since he was a RFA, I would have traded sharp that year and kept Leddy. Sharp was coming off a great year and we could have gotten a 1st and a good prospect for sharp. then resign Leddy as a RFA for 4.5 x 3 or 4 and then move him the next year if you cannot afford him. that is why I trade both seabs and Craw this year. Then you can give panarin a 5 mil X 5 deal. Shaw a $3 X 5, Darling $1.5 X 3. BTW TVR is not OK when it comes to speed by D men. He is below AVG especially considering his age.

Brad E. Schlossman ‏@SchlossmanGF 14m14 minutes ago
Drake Caggiula expected to make a decision sometime next week when he gets back to Grand Forks on who he will sign with.
- DarthKane

Too bad Rome doesn't have an NHL team. Because that would be the ideal spot for Caligula.