The Blackhawks have extended their affiliation agreement with Rockford for 5 more years.

To be fair, i think the reason toews does not take as many shots as Kane is because he cant create as many shots as kane. Getting shots on net isnt like taking a shot in basketball. Kane creates way more shot chances for himself and others. Toews is a great player but cant create shots like Kane can so I dont think its a fair argument to say "kane takes more shots so he scores more, if toews took that many he would too" because yea kane getting more shots means more goals....but getting those shots is part of the equation. Toews cant get it on net as much because he is not as good on offense
- kevndevries

I agree 100% that Kane far better at creating his own shot. I was just saying when Kane scores at a 16% and Toews is at 15.6% it's not like he isn't scoring goals like he should. Plus he has a lot more responsibility than a player like Kane. I'm just surprised people will complain about Toews with everything he does for the team. Was last year a down year? Yes, but is he the worse issue currently with the team? Absolute not.

Are you a Goon (avatar)?
- stashu

I haven't been in the trenches in a while but I hear things are hot might go get me some.

I agree 100% that Kane far better at creating his own shot. I was just saying when Kane scores at a 16% and Toews is at 15.6% it's not like he isn't scoring goals like he should. Plus he has a lot more responsibility than a player like Kane. I'm just surprised people will complain about Toews with everything he does for the team. Was last year a down year? Yes, but is he the worse issue currently with the team? Absolute not.
- spudrock512

Agreed. Also how much of his down year was because of Hossa's down year? If Kane isn't producing offensively he becomes a liability to the team. With everything else Toews does he is still a significant contributor when he isn't scoring.

Can't agree he looked off all year. It was not just the lack of a steady LW. He looked sluggish all year. Snapitupstairs also hit on it a month or so ago. Toews has not really improved himself in any area of his game. It has been stagnant. Kane on the other hand continues to get better. I know Toews came in more developed but he should be able to work on and develop some new moves/or skills.
- bhawks2241

Honestly, I think it's a little of both. Toews has a lot of hard miles on him since the 09-10 season. He draws the top line for defense when Kruger's line doesn't. He draws the top d-pairing, except for last year, probably. Toews is an all-around player, moreso than Kane (although Kane's is remarkably better since he's been in the league).

It will be interesting to see what this extra rest does for him and the rest of the team.

Remember Pat and 2241, no team has played more hockey in the HISTORY OF THE NHL over the last 7 years than the Blackhawks.

5 years for Ladd is too long. Year 4 and 5 that contract will look bad. 2 or 3 years would be much better. The last thing they need to do is screw the cap up in the future by giving long term contracts to aging players.
- pjm901

What if you sign him to that contract but leave him open to expansion? Again, Ladd would be a fantastic captain for an expansion team.

The one guy the Hawks have traded that will haunt them will be Saad, until they can close that 1LW hole with 19. There's nothing a GM can do when you have X amount to spend and players wants Y. Too bad, because we saw in the cup run a young kid who finally put it all together and blossomed into a power forward. he had a pretty decent year on a crap team in Columbus.

As much as some rip on 15, I though without him 88/72 don't have the years they did. Very underrated player. Liked him in the return. I was never, or will be, a huge fan of Dano. Maybe he becomes a good nHL player but I dont' see him IMO becoming the star everyone hoped him to be, much like TT.

And for the love of god, this whole Q bashing on prospects has to stop. You aren't moving 88/81 off of RW. So if guys like dano or TT can't adjust to a LW spot OR be a very serviceable bottom 6 player then what good are they? Exactly why they were used to acquire better assets/cap space in Ladd and Bickell's $$ gone.

As far as Garbutt goes, he was a nice player, but hardly worth crying over. Sekac was a train wreck but it did free up LT cap space.

Daley...again.....didn't fit, and I beiieve he saw TVR standing in his way for top 4 minutes, and being expected to playing a constrained game which isn't his style. Just like Campbell, and jus t like Leddy based on his playoff benchings. As Al has pointed out, the cup win takes some sting out of the sharp return, but overall Bowman got fleeced but had zero leverage and had to move Sharp to make the cap work, as Kruger and Oduya, for awhile, sat by and waited......

Time will tell if I'm wrong, but I dont' plan on ever regretting the day Dano or TT left the Hawks organization.
- SteveRain

A lot here and even though you quoted my post I'm guessing everything you posted wasn't directed at me.

I've been a fan of AA going back to the Rangers. I like big centers with middle 6 hands, think the game well that don't take shifts off.

I was ok with moving Dano in the Ladd deal, but still thought Q gave him a bad shake especially considering the revolving door at LW. Kid is young, has holes but has what can't be taught and that's the grit and hands to work 5 feet from the goalie and along the walls. You can teach the other stuff and IMO a guy worth taking a chance on and developing, but still ok with moving him if it means a deep run at the cup.

And as far as Q I live in real time with him. You win a cup skating Mash over Weise I'm fine with it, if you don't you deserve to be pounded.

Good Lord on Daley. Man you have a vet of 10+ years who's healthy, a + plus minus player over that span, a ++skater, at a 3.3 hit in a hard cap world to play a 4/5 Dman you find ways/reasons to make that work!!! You do that, make that work!! Especially when the alternative shown was Rundblad and Gus in a Game 7... I mean cmon how that's debateable with anyone other than some who come in packs to support each others mistakes is beyond me, and as you know this isn't said in hindsight.

And Garbutt, yea I'm a fan of a guy who is the fastest skater on the team to play bottom 6, have 2 hits a game and throw two pucks a game at the net. Yea, count me in on those kind of guys.

I haven't been in the trenches in a while but I hear things are hot might go get me some.


- gifman

Haven't played for well over a year, but was always a highsec carebear.

The Blackhawks have extended their affiliation agreement with Rockford for 5 more years.
- EKB13

Good news on all counts. Now paint that joint another color inside other than black.

James Mirtle @mirtle

Sounds like the NHL will release the 2016-17 salary cap figure by middle of next week. Talk is around ~$73-million. Inflator not final yet.

Again, not the point. They have to know what they have in order to make an offer on a contract before he is UFA. You play Darling and make a decision by the TDL. If he doesn't sign you move him for value. Enough of these fire sales or losing young assets for little value. Maybe the Swede being signed on a one way deal was to grant them that possible option as a back up? They will need to make a decision with Darling this year. He is obviously the best option within the system to replace Crow - whenever that is.
- tredbrta

The point in the real world is the more Darling plays the more he can justify a bigger contract. They won't do what u said for that reason unless Q feels Crawford is off.

Heard from my guy just now:

"Shaw is not anywhere near a done deal yet."
- John Jaeckel

IMO, they should give Shaw the 3 year deal as Kruger. Not a penny more, not a penny less. They cannot pay him $3.5-4M+

In the handful of games I saw Motte play in at Rockford, I was fairly impressed with him. However, Motte looked like he could use some time at the AHL level to settle in a bit more and adjust to the pro level.

Unless Motte makes some huge leap development-wise by the start of training camp, I'd expect him to be learning to ply his trade in Rockford next season.
- EKB13

Can you give us a quick scouting report of Motte at the pro level? Wheels? hands? head?

A 1st, 2nd and 3rd in a very strong draft would have been the compensation for Saad from CBJ. That 1st was Zach Werenski.

I don't think AA and Dano are a bad return. A+ though is generous IMO. Stan could have gotten CBJs 2nd 1st rounder or another high pick in the deal. That would have been an A+.

As I posted earlier. Simply adding a performance clause to the trade would have helped (it would have been nice to see on TT as well). eg. Saad nets 30 plus goals gets them another pick. Hard to imagine that not being plausible... Particularly when Paliotta was added to the deal and Stan had to eat contracts coming back. They need to be accumulating quantities of picks if they are going to keep the system healthy.
- tredbrta

How do you know they could have gotten a #1 from the trade? Maybe they made the picks off limits. What happens in if the player taken with the pick is a bust, that pick isn't a sure thing to turn out well.

To be fair, i think the reason toews does not take as many shots as Kane is because he cant create as many shots as kane. Getting shots on net isnt like taking a shot in basketball. Kane creates way more shot chances for himself and others. Toews is a great player but cant create shots like Kane can so I dont think its a fair argument to say "kane takes more shots so he scores more, if toews took that many he would too" because yea kane getting more shots means more goals....but getting those shots is part of the equation. Toews cant get it on net as much because he is not as good on offense
- kevndevries

I'm not jumping into this debate but it reminds me of reading an outside of Chicago guy about Kane and Toews. Said, to paraphrase, Kane has world class hands and offensive ability but he'd never have the puck to score without guys like Toews winning battles to get it to him.

IMO, they should give Shaw the 3 year deal as Kruger. Not a penny more, not a penny less. They cannot pay him $3.5-4M+
- Dannyboy

Agreed 100%. Also, I would think that Shaw and his agent, "hometown discount" or not, would make that their MINIMUM requirement for AAV. Shaw is objectively as important as Kruger to this team, and subjectively (IMO) more important due to his ability to play C/W effectively on any of the 4 lines. What was the Hawks best line in 2014 vs LA? Saad-SHAWZY-Kaner

What if you sign him to that contract but leave him open to expansion? Again, Ladd would be a fantastic captain for an expansion team.
- CanOCorn

They aren't going to take a player solely because he will be a fantastic captain. They are going to want to field a competitive team as soon as possible. If it appears that age is starting to take its toll on Ladd's performance it won't matter how good of a captain he is when he has that cap hit.

Edit:

That's also bad planning if you are expecting the expansion draft to take a bad contract from you to get away from cap purgatory.

They aren't going to take a player solely because he will be a fantastic captain. They are going to want to field a competitive team as soon as possible. If it appears that age is starting to take its toll on Ladd's performance it won't matter how good of a captain he is when he has that cap hit.

Edit:

That's also bad planning if you are expecting the expansion draft to take a bad contract from you to get away from cap purgatory.
- pjm901

Ladd was also coming back from Sports Hernia surgery last summer. From someone who has had a similar injury (not a full tear), it takes well over a year to get back even close to the same level of core strength. I thought Ladd was excellent against STL both physically and throwing that heavy shot on goal early and often. I am not holding my breath, but Ladd back for 3-4 years would be like Christmas in July. Seabs and Laddy both with double-posts and out in 1 goal games

Agreed 100%. Also, I would think that Shaw and his agent, "hometown discount" or not, would make that their MINIMUM requirement for AAV. Shaw is objectively as important as Kruger to this team, and subjectively (IMO) more important due to his ability to play C/W effectively on any of the 4 lines. What was the Hawks best line in 2014 vs LA? Saad-SHAWZY-Kaner
- EnzoD

I think Shaw is gone. He will want a contract that pays him now and he will get it. I think he prices the Hawks out at 4 million over 5-6 years.

Man, how much have things changed when I'm turning in to a Stanley apologist.

My take on last summer: A+ on the Saad deal with CBJ. Did his homework, quietly went out and cultivated multiple bidders. Got the best deal. The Sharp/Johns thing, ultimately, I put on Q and his stubbornness, because of they handle Daley differently, that story perhaps ends quite differently, and better.
- John Jaeckel

I know how you feel about unproven prospects JJ, but to me Johns is the one we'll regret for a long time. He looks like Seabs 2.0 in 2-3 years.

Honestly, I think it's a little of both. Toews has a lot of hard miles on him since the 09-10 season. He draws the top line for defense when Kruger's line doesn't. He draws the top d-pairing, except for last year, probably. Toews is an all-around player, moreso than Kane (although Kane's is remarkably better since he's been in the league).

It will be interesting to see what this extra rest does for him and the rest of the team.

Remember Pat and 2241, no team has played more hockey in the HISTORY OF THE NHL over the last 7 years than the Blackhawks.
- CanOCorn

To be clear I am not bashing Toews I know what he brings. There is nothing wrong with wanting more. We saw his offensive creativity and prowess when he was younger. We don't see it as much. Maybe its time for Q to sit him down and say focus on offense a little bit more we need your line to score more 5 on 5, Kruger will do more of the heavy lifting defensively.

It is imperative that his line be a dominant 5 on 5 force next year. Can't just have Kane's line scoring 5 on 5. And sorry but Toews goal scoring was down last year. He had what 5 3 on 3 goals? Does anyone know how many 5 on 5 goals he scored? I think that is key. Toews and Co. generating 5 on 5 solves a lot of issues.

IMO, they should give Shaw the 3 year deal as Kruger. Not a penny more, not a penny less. They cannot pay him $3.5-4M+
- Dannyboy

oh yes they can and probably will. kruger contract says so...he is a more valuable player on the open market than kruger....

Can you give us a quick scouting report of Motte at the pro level? Wheels? hands? head?
- Bjm84

Motte is 4 feet tall and 200 pounds. A bowling ball that plays fearless with some skill. He played two years for the NTDP as a kid, few are thought good enough to play for the USA. Maybe sixty 16 and 17 yr olds every year in a country of 330 million.

Three full years at Michigan and he's a seasoned rookie at 21 yrs old. The kid put up 5 points for Rockford in 5 games and then 2 in 3 playoff games for a total of 4 goals in 8 games in his first crack with the pros at the AHL level.

That's real good in a tiny sample size coming off his junior year in the NCAA that saw him put up 32 goals 24 assists in 38 games and I think has the Hawks intrigued, maybe even for next year.

To be clear I am not bashing Toews I know what he brings. There is nothing wrong with wanting more. We saw his offensive creativity and prowess when he was younger. We don't see it as much. Maybe its time for Q to sit him down and say focus on offense a little bit more we need your line to score more 5 on 5, Kruger will do more of the heavy lifting defensively.

It is imperative that his line be a dominant 5 on 5 force next year. Can't just have Kane's line scoring 5 on 5. And sorry but Toews goal scoring was down last year. He had what 5 3 on 3 goals? Does anyone know how many 5 on 5 goals he scored? I think that is key. Toews and Co. generating 5 on 5 solves a lot of issues.
- bhawks2241

I am nearly sure that Toews suffered and played through a shoulder injury from the Brooks Orpik hit in 2014. Look at what the lingering shoulder issues have done to Hossa's hands, shot and finishing ability. I agree that Toews used to have serious dangles and made defensemen look silly very often. I did not see that kind of puck skill from him last year. It was a skate right/left and button hook, which the Dmen/backchecker were just waiting for. I hope it was just a mental thing and lack of support on his line, and not a physical thing with his shoulder....

I think Shaw is gone. He will want a contract that pays him now and he will get it. I think he prices the Hawks out at 4 million over 5-6 years.
- Bjm84

I hope you are wrong but it would not surprise me. I am confident that the Hawks can retain one (or both) of Shaw+Ladd. Losing both, on top of TT, would be very difficult to recover from....