I don' think the rule should be changed the NHL has to enforce it properly. Certainly the Hawks wouldn't want to lose Kane for 5/6 weeks...And for the record Vermette was coming here one way or the other...The Kane injury and added cap space was overstated, the Hawks still won the Cup with 4 dmen playing 96% of the time...

The NHL has bigger fish to fry...How about actually getting a concussion protocol that protects players and can actually be enforced??
- Al

And some sort of uniformity of punishment for on-ice incidents... And actually enforcing the rules to open up scoring.

Closer to your first point, I keep envisioning something like either the NFL has where you can rework contracts to make more room under the cap, or maybe even a luxury tax. The strict cap is too rigid and as we saw last year, there were a lot of good to serviceable guys that barely got PTOs (Stempniak is the first that comes to mind).

Exactly what small market owners wanted. Think Bettman and the wonks wanted to see 3-in-6? The best hope small market teams have ever had is a result of the last CBA. Betchya a "new" thing next time is extending the cap thru the playoffs. Can't have more "Kane injury cap circumventions" any more.
- blackhawk24

Be that as it may, I can't believe that point's driving the CBA dialogue since the Phoenix's and the Carolina's who can't fill their building much less sell merchandise depend on teams like the Hawks to fill their stadiums.

Not yet....others may disagree....

East is a joke....really is....I've watched these games and the Hawks would have smoked most of these teams, and they weren't even at their best.

NBC is praying Pittsburgh makes it....and then I don't care who plays them I will pulling HARD for the WC. I HATE Crosby. What a whiny girl......loved seeing oVi smack him across the wrist last week.
- SteveRain

I'm pulling for PIT for 3 reasons. I like Sullivan, Kunitz went to my Alma Mater (not too many Ferris State Bulldogs in the NHL), and I may get to see the cup because I know one of the player's dads. As for Crosby...good player, but can't stand the whining!

On Sirius XM this morning, a TSN analyst said that the Miami owner wanted to go with a guy more versed in analytics than Dale in the GM's chair.
- StLBravesFan

Was the TSN analyst named Tanner?

Rain Man, I love your passionate posts!

In your honor, I am re-posting my ode to the Bolus man. Hope you enjoy!

“The Ballad of Davey Bolland” (by Savvyone)
(sung to the tune of “Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald”)

The legend lives on from the UC on down
Of the player they called "The Rat."
“The Rat”, it is told, is always playoff gold
When the season of hockey turns frightening.
With a aching old back and a melon made mush
You know that this rat is hurting.
With a groin that is pulled, how did this happen to you
In the season that saw Hawks win plenty.

“The Rat” was the pride of the Blackhawks side
Coming back from all of his inj’ries.
As this hockey player goes, he was more hurt than most
And his legend lived on for seasons.
Including this year when he played a new role
And was the new 2nd line center.
Well the Hawks soon found out his legend was for naught,
Fourteen points was all he could muster.

Could it be true, “The Rat” was only foolin’ you
With his playoff performances before then.
Now he was broke and couldn’t be fixed
Yet Q kept trottin’ him out there.
His fans couldn’t believe “The Rat” was but gone
When his injuries were not gonna’ be healing.
Like a ship good and true, it’s “The Rat” and Q
That will be thrown overboard at the end of this season.

The legend lives on from the UC on down
Of the player they called "The Rat."
“The Rat”, it is told, is always playoff gold
When the season of hockey turns bold.
With a aching old back and a melon made mush
You know that this rat is hurting.
Now a groin that is pulled, what more can happen to you
In the season that saw them come up empty.
- savvyone-1

I always end up with a huge smile when reading this...

Thanks savvy.

Good post Savvy.
- TexasFlood

Thanks Tex, hope all is well with you.

It's going to interesting (and agonizing) to see what Stan decides to do this summer.
Will he attempt to go "all in" again. What will that look like with Q's proclivity to find a guy (Mashinter) that shouldn't be in the lineup yet is?

Or, does Stan try to get ahead of the Cap and trade one of the big contracts. If he does, does he only get picks or picks/prospects? Or multiple players to fill holes in return?

Other than Kimmo and Rundblad, Stan's done a decent job of assessing quality of guys he's brought in the last few years. The rest has fallen on Q. Speaking of which, whatever scout(s) recommended either of those guys should be working for Rocky's liquor business seeing as how they must have been inebriated when making their assessment.

Thanks Tex, hope all is well with you.

It's going to interesting (and agonizing) to see what Stan decides to do this summer.
Will he attempt to go "all in" again. What will that look like with Q's proclivity to find a guy (Mashinter) that shouldn't be in the lineup yet is?

Or, does Stan try to get ahead of the Cap and trade one of the big contracts. If he does, does he only get picks or picks/prospects? Or multiple players to fill holes in return?

Other than Kimmo and Rundblad, Stan's done a decent job of assessing quality of guys he's brought in the last few years. The rest has fallen on Q. Speaking of which, whatever scout(s) recommended either of those guys should be working for Rocky's liquor business seeing as how they must have been inebriated when making their assessment.
- savvyone-1

How would a scout even know: They both never played that was the part that made no sense. Not that we a took a flyer on the 2 guys but that we paid that much for guys that we either hurt or press box.

Side note: TRying to find something positive to think about this off season.
Pokka 3GP 1A +1 3SOG in 19:13. 15:41, 15:14
GUS 3GP 1A + 1 5 SOG in 18:48
Kempny 3GP 1A +2 7 SOG has lead the team in MINs and has been above 7mins every period since 3 period of game 1.

Assuming we are able to sign him I would guess he would jump into the top 4/5. IMO.

http://www.bostonherald.c...bruins_will_be_on_my_list

“I’ll look at what a team has in terms of NHL roster, and also what it has in the prospect pool,” he said. “I’ll also be looking at the coaches and what style of play is going to fit me the best. The city, definitely. All of that seems like we end up in his top couple, but I would think we might end up 3rd-4th when its all said and done.

Thanks Tex, hope all is well with you.

It's going to interesting (and agonizing) to see what Stan decides to do this summer.
Will he attempt to go "all in" again. What will that look like with Q's proclivity to find a guy (Mashinter) that shouldn't be in the lineup yet is?

Or, does Stan try to get ahead of the Cap and trade one of the big contracts. If he does, does he only get picks or picks/prospects? Or multiple players to fill holes in return?

Other than Kimmo and Rundblad, Stan's done a decent job of assessing quality of guys he's brought in the last few years. The rest has fallen on Q. Speaking of which, whatever scout(s) recommended either of those guys should be working for Rocky's liquor business seeing as how they must have been inebriated when making their assessment.
- savvyone-1

Morning Savvy...just catching up on what 4 days of posts...you and the Rainman are gold. I think I've calmed down a bit, but I'm still pissed at Stan and his summer of suck last season. Bowman continues to be the caretaker out over his skis. This garbage with Q needs to end.

At the same time Q was delusion in his post presser - stating that the defense was fine and that not being able to roll 4 lines was a killer. Then why was Weise not in the lineup in game 1 onward.

Assessing quality is one thing, but being able to make moves that benefit and not hurt your club is another particularly with no wiggle room at this point. Every move counts. I think when Stan is on the edges he makes some nice moves. But what we've seen recently has been a trainwreck. Overvaluing his own players - and holding his cards way too long. And it really cost this team this season. And some of the TDL moves as well as the overpay for Kruger have put him in an even more desperate spot.

And I agree with your comment regarding the fact that we could easily be looking at 5 or 6 Cups had the GM and the coach been on the same page. I know you left this pretty much in Q's lap while I fault Stan.

Meanwhile all roads lead to McD and his control. He loves having Scotty as his BFF which means Stan will continue to 'run the show' and the infighting and indecision with his coach and vice versa will continue.

What are the odds Stan thinks someone will still take Bickell's contract this summer...?

Tampa was my pick at the start of the season and they still are in it...we'll see what happens. Would have loved to see TT moved for Drouin...oh well.

Morning Savvy...just catching up on what 4 days of posts...you and the Rainman are gold. I think I've calmed down a bit, but I'm still pissed at Stan and his summer of suck last season. Bowman continues to be the caretaker out over his skis. This garbage with Q needs to end.

At the same time Q was delusion in his post presser - stating that the defense was fine and that not being able to roll 4 lines was a killer. Then why was Weise not in the lineup in game 1 onward.

Assessing quality is one thing, but being able to make moves that benefit and not hurt your club is another particularly with no wiggle room at this point. Every move counts. I think when Stan is on the edges he makes some nice moves. But what we've seen recently has been a trainwreck. Overvaluing his own players - and holding his cards way too long. And it really cost this team this season. And some of the TDL moves as well as the overpay for Kruger have put him in an even more desperate spot.

And I agree with your comment regarding the fact that we could easily be looking at 5 or 6 Cups had the GM and the coach been on the same page. I know you left this pretty much in Q's lap while I fault Stan.

Meanwhile all roads lead to McD and his control. He loves having Scotty as his BFF which means Stan will continue to 'run the show' and the infighting and indecision with his coach and vice versa will continue.

What are the odds Stan thinks someone will still take Bickell's contract this summer...?

Tampa was my pick at the start of the season and they still are in it...we'll see what happens. Would have loved to see TT moved for Drouin...oh well.
- DK002

Morning to you DK,
Regardless of where blame can be placed (Stan, Q, McD, Rocky, etc), I think we can surely agree that between Stan and Q there is definitely a disconnect and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Did scouts recommend Kimmo? Scotty? Stan's own doing? Was it an idea that was conjured up and then brought to Q and he approved? IDK, like many things we'd love to know the real, full story on it. Q's love for vets past their due date is certainly a factor here. To give up 2 2nd round picks too, yikes. But like all/any moves where subsequently we won the Cup, I think all of us would say we'd gladly make those same moves if we get the Cup as a result.

We could easily go down the list of moves Stan has made, what Q has done with them and debate merit. My sense is more of this is on Q than Stan (and Stan has had his own share in this). His use/misuse of NHL quality players from TDL forward has been baffling. It caught up with him this year and may next year as well.

If I had to guess, Stan is going to attempt another all-in for 16/17 season because the core is aging and he likely doesn't feel great about how many more kicks at the Cup he will get.

What are the odds Stan thinks someone will still take Bickell's contract this summer...?
- DK002

Hopefully good!

Bickell has a year left on his deal. I'd assume that some team out there needs to hit the cap floor and will take him...at the cost of a pick or prospect going with Bickell.

Hopefully good!

Bickell has a year left on his deal. I'd assume that some team out there needs to hit the cap floor and will take him...at the cost of a pick or prospect going with Bickell.
- EKB13

you are the optimistic one...if he can rid of 29 plus a midland pick and/or prospect with no salary with hold...and avoid a buyout =


he needs every cap $$ he can find

you are the optimistic one...if he can rid of 29 plus a midland pick and/or prospect with no salary with hold...and avoid a buyout =


he needs every cap $$ he can find
- bogiedoc

I guess.

Honestly, I hope Bowman can move Bickell. As you said, the Hawks need every spare dollar in cap room they can find.

you are the optimistic one...if he can rid of 29 plus a midland pick and/or prospect with no salary with hold...and avoid a buyout =


he needs every cap $$ he can find
- bogiedoc

What I would look for is a team that has a Few guys making 1 mil slightly more on one way deals. Clement in CARO or Vitlale in AZ. and so you send out 4 mil in salary and take back 1.2 but you can bury all but $250 of it. Actually a team that had few guys that are on 1 ways like (morin was) and take back as many guys as they do not want that make less then $950. Maybe look for a team that is almost at the 50 limit and take back 3 guys on 1 ways, They get an extra 1-2 mil in salary but also free up 2 contract slots. Carolina has 8 picks in the 1st 3 rounds the next 2 years maybe they have a few 22-24 year old guys on 1 ways that are not part of the plan and they can free up contracts and we can take back salary we can bury. Maybe we give them a 3rd and take back 6th next year.

interesting to watch these playoffs and observe how difficult it is for teams ahead in series to close out...

remarkable the hawks record since 2009 in elimination games where they lead in the series...14-0!!!! When this team had a chance to put teams away on the road or at home they were cold blooded

this does not include series they trailed and forced a G7; in 5 G7 they never lead in those series series and are 2-3 a combined facing elimination record of 12-3...

you are the optimistic one...if he can rid of 29 plus a midland pick and/or prospect with no salary with hold...and avoid a buyout =


he needs every cap $$ he can find
- bogiedoc

There is ZERO chance the Hawks move Bickell. At best, there will be a buyout coming, leaving the Hawks still on the hook for a percentage. It took moving a top prospect just to entice Dallas to take Patrick Sharp (you know a proven, dependable, top 6 winger). To take a player barely even a fraction of Sharp isn't going to happen.

Matt Martin is a UFA. Toss him at 4LW instead of Monster Mash.

There is ZERO chance the Hawks move Bickell. At best, there will be a buyout coming, leaving the Hawks still on the hook for a percentage. It took moving a top prospect just to entice Dallas to take Patrick Sharp (you know a proven, dependable, top 6 winger). To take a player barely even a fraction of Sharp isn't going to happen.
- kwolf68

If Johns (and essentially Oduya) was the sweetener for taking Sharp's cap hit, it's probably Schmaltz++ to take Bickell's dead $4mil off Stan's books. Wishful thinking, but here's hoping!

Matt Martin is a UFA. Toss him at 4LW instead of Monster Mash.
- EnzoD

Wonder if he will be looking for a raise from his previous salary..? Plays solid and does a good deal for kids in charity.

I know Strome has a hard time sticking in the lineup. Nielsen's contract is up soon.

LW options for Stan this summer...LOTS of big name RFA's due for a raise on this LW list....


Eric Staal NYR UFA 31 LW 83 13 26 39 $8,250,000
Teddy Purcell FLA UFA 30 LW 76 14 29 43 $4,500,000
Andrew Ladd CHI UFA 30 LW 78 25 21 46 $4,400,000
David Perron ANA UFA 27 LW 70 12 23 35 $3,812,500
Tuomo Ruutu NJD UFA 33 LW 33 1 1 $3,800,000
Mikkel Boedker COL UFA 26 LW 80 17 34 51 $3,750,000
Marcus Johannson WAS RFA 25 LW 74 17 29 46 $3,750,000
Rene Bourque CBJ UFA 34 LW 49 3 5 8 $3,333,333
Milan Lucic LAK UFA 27 LW 81 20 34 54 $3,250,000
Michael Grabner TOR UFA 28 LW 80 9 9 18 $3,000,000
Jamie McGinn ANA UFA 27 LW 84 22 17 39 $2,950,000
Steve Ott STL UFA 33 LW 21 2 2 $2,600,000
Alexander Killorn TBL RFA 26 LW 81 14 25 39 $2,550,000
Brayden Schenn PHI RFA 24 LW 80 26 33 59 $2,500,000
Brandon Prust VAN UFA 32 LW 35 1 6 7 $2,500,000
Chris Kreider NYR RFA 25 LW 79 21 21 42 $2,475,000
Jaden Schwartz STL RFA 23 LW 33 8 14 22 $2,350,000
Shawn Matthias COL UFA 28 LW 71 12 16 28 $2,300,000
Nick Spaling SJS UFA 27 LW 58 3 10 13 $2,200,000
Kris Versteeg LAK UFA 29 LW 77 15 23 38 $2,200,000
Darren Helm DET UFA 29 LW 77 13 13 26 $2,125,000
Mike Hoffman OTT RFA 26 LW 78 29 30 59 $2,000,000
Raffi Torres TOR UFA 34 LW 0 $2,000,000
Marcus Foligno BUF RFA 27 LW 75 10 13 23 $1,875,000
Travis Moen DAL UFA 34 LW 23 2 2 $1,850,000
Nathan Gerbe CAR UFA 28 LW 47 3 4 7 $1,750,000
Shawn Horcoff ANA UFA 37 LW 59 6 9 15 $1,750,000
Trevor Lewis LAK UFA 29 LW 75 8 7 15 $1,525,000
Drew Miller DET UFA 32 LW 28 1 1 2 $1,350,000
Viktor Stalberg NYR UFA 30 LW 75 9 11 20 $1,100,000
Viktor Tikhonov AZ UFA 27 LW 50 3 3 6 $1,040,000
Matt Martin NYI UFA 27 LW 80 10 9 19 $1,000,000
Riley Sheahan DET RFA 24 LW 81 13 12 25 $950,000
Jiri Sekac AZ RFA 23 LW 39 1 5 6 $925,000
Johnny Gaudreau CGY RFA 22 LW 79 30 48 78 $925,000
Brandon Tanev WPG RFA 24 LW 3 $925,000
Sergei Plotinkov AZ RFA 25 LW 45 3 3 $925,000
Brandon Pirri ANA RFA 25 LW 61 14 15 29 $925,000
Jason Zucker MIN RFA 24 LW 71 13 10 23 $900,250
Sven Baertschi VAN RFA 23 LW 69 15 13 28 $900,000
Filip Forsberg NSH RFA 21 LW 82 33 32 65 $894,167
Brian Ferlin BOS RFA 23 LW $875,000
Kirill Petrov NYI RFA 26 LW $875,000
Vladislav Namestnikov TBL RFA 23 LW 80 14 21 35 $874,125

Wonder if he will be looking for a raise from his previous salary..? Plays solid and does a good deal for kids in charity.

I know Strome has a hard time sticking in the lineup. Nielsen's contract is up soon.
- 93Joe

Garth owes StanBo a solid for giving him a #1D for a #6D...maybe Stan can pry a young power winger like Brock Nelson for a package around TT?

Garth owes StanBo a solid for giving him a #1D for a #6D...maybe Stan can pry a young power winger like Brock Nelson for a package around TT?
- EnzoD

That's an interesting one. Teravainen plus Shaw? Hate losing Shaw.

I guess.

Honestly, I hope Bowman can move Bickell. As you said, the Hawks need every spare dollar in cap room they can find.
- EKB13

Did Bickell show enough in Rockford to get any teams interest or would he be strictly a signing for someone that needs to spend to hit the cap floor?

Wonder if he will be looking for a raise from his previous salary..? Plays solid and does a good deal for kids in charity.

I know Strome has a hard time sticking in the lineup. Nielsen's contract is up soon.
- 93Joe

Would love MM on the Hawks, but can't see how they could afford him with all the other holes they need to patch.

Hopefully good!

Bickell has a year left on his deal. I'd assume that some team out there needs to hit the cap floor and will take him...at the cost of a pick or prospect going with Bickell.
- EKB13

The problem with that is Bickell's salary is higher than his cap hit. I think a cap floor team would be more likely to bite if it were the other way around. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just overpay a useful free agent by $0.5-1 million?

If Johns (and essentially Oduya) was the sweetener for taking Sharp's cap hit, it's probably Schmaltz++ to take Bickell's dead $4mil off Stan's books. Wishful thinking, but here's hoping!
- EnzoD

Yep. I see NO ONE that would be interested in this guy. I guess it's all hindsight, but Bickell was the perfect "let him walk" candidate after his 20 good games in 2013. The guy was ALWAYS know to be horribly inconsistent. Basically useless since he signed his huge deal.