Crawford or Seabrook gone this year or next. It's a mathematical certainty in the cap world.
- Bjm84

The likelihood of Seabrook being gone any time soon is almost nill. Players rarely waive their NMC before the final year or two because they will lose it for the duration of their contract. No one has ever waived a NMC in the first year or two. Unless they trade Seabrook before his NMC kicks in 3 days (and as long as he doesn't have a Jeff Carter clause), then he'd going to be here for the long haul.

Crawford is somewhat different because he has less time on his deal, but waiving NMC even with 3 years left (if he did it next year) is still not common. It is not the same as waiving a NTC, like what Campbell did, because a NTC can be upheld by the receiving team.

Did you cry because you were thinking that if he and Ditka could have put their damn egos aside for brief period of time, the Bears would have won multiple Super Bowl titles? Instead, Ryan failed as a head coach, and Ditka led the Bears to consecutive first-round exits, where he was totally outcoached by Joe Gibbs.

Hard to believe that one football team could be arguably the greatest team of all time AND still be the most underachieving, but that's our mid-1980s Bears ....
- Hank_Greenberg

Amen. The 1980s Chicago Bears left AT least 2 Super Bowls on the table. Absolutely no reason they should have lost in 86 or 87, but Gibbs as you said outcoached Ditka.

But Ditka's failure went beyond that...it was calling the scab Bears "the real Bears" which destroyed chemistry. Remember before the strike that year? The Bears WAXED the eventual champion NY Giants. Totally dismantling of that team.

and the other was how he managed the Flutie situation and letting McMahon tear the room apart because Mac thought Tzomczak should have been the QB.

But Ditka and Buddy? Egos indeed. Even Ditka finally admitted they may have actually been better with each other.

Again...86 and 87 are the two years that keep that team from being a legit dynasty. In 1988 the 49ers rolled the Bears after barely making the playoffs. There was just something missing from that team...can't put my finger on it, but there was no passion by then anymore, maybe the previous two failures sapped it all out.

McCaskey also has much blame in the situation. Never should have allowed Wilber Marshall to walk.

1985 was hella fun though.

I went back and read the last 3 pages or so I saw absolutely NO doom and gloom...just commentary on proposed free agents, fits on the team, prospects, players not qualified and the Hall of Fame.

Maybe some folks want to see doom and gloom so they can lecture people about it.

BTW---Desi is only at 800K....I doubt Martin comes that cheap. I don't think he's getting 3 mllion per either. That's nuts for a guy who does little more than hit and get to the net.
- kwolf68

Martin is 27 and is coming off a 1.3 cap hit. My guess is term is important to him and think he would find 4 yrs at 2 mil agreeable unless of course some GM does something stupid.

As has been posted he is a 4th liner with no real 3rd line upside, he's a role player and a good one. With most GM's watching every dime a guy like Martin no matter how well he fills his role I think the very top is 2 mil per, again unless someone does something stupid and I don't expect that sans a cap floor team looking to get to the floor.

I went back and read the last 3 pages or so I saw absolutely NO doom and gloom...just commentary on proposed free agents, fits on the team, prospects, players not qualified and the Hall of Fame.

Maybe some folks want to see doom and gloom so they can lecture people about it.

BTW---Desi is only at 800K....I doubt Martin comes that cheap. I don't think he's getting 3 mllion per either. That's nuts for a guy who does little more than hit and get to the net.
- kwolf68

Yea well there is 33 total pages and too many posts that assume the Hawks wont even be playoff bound because Shaw is gone. And TT is gone.


The roster isnt even complete yet.


Oh and the Hawks still have the league MVP

This is a huge word, one that 20 other teams peddle this time of the year. The Hawks will need a LOT of "IFS" to come through to be in the mix next year. Could it happen? Sure can. Will it? Won't know until we know.
- kwolf68

I agree 100%. Barring we find a top 6 LW that can be adequate. If Kempny can somehow turn into an Oduya-lite buy March-April that really makes our D really solid and the overall team better. Hopefully, it helps solves some of the firewagon puck chasing we saw in our own end last year. Hard to generate good 5 on 5 numbers when you're busy chasing the puck instead of possessing it.

Pray to the hockey gods he does. Eating 18-20 mins a night takes a lot of wear n tear off Seabs and Keith too.

Did you cry because you were thinking that if he and Ditka could have put their damn egos aside for brief period of time, the Bears would have won multiple Super Bowl titles? Instead, Ryan failed as a head coach, and Ditka led the Bears to consecutive first-round exits, where he was totally outcoached by Joe Gibbs.

Hard to believe that one football team could be arguably the greatest team of all time AND still be the most underachieving, but that's our mid-1980s Bears ....
- Hank_Greenberg

Bears made multiple critical errors even after Buddy left. Letting Wilbur Marshall go as a FA to the Skins was . 58 was in the prime of his career. Huge mistake. So was letting Gault walk. Huge speed elements gone. After '85, McMahon was never the same. Had an awful year in '86 before getting hurt and had very bad playoff games '87 and '88. Plus Ditka was not an adaptive HC. Gotta be on the edge every year. He stayed with the same 'ol same 'ol and teams knew how to attack us.

At the time we won the SB in '85, they were the youngest team to win it. You are right.. should have won it a few more times. But we still witnessed the most lethal Defense ever constructed!!!

Russian Prospects @RUSProspects

GK Yevgeniy Kiselyov has been invited to the #Blackhawks development camp.
- jt19

along with 25 college kids who will never see NHL sweaters...

Yea well there is 33 total pages and too many posts that assume the Hawks wont even be playoff bound because Shaw is gone. And TT is gone.


The roster isnt even complete yet.


Oh and the Hawks still have the league MVP
- mrpaulish

Whatever if people are negative about a perceived lack of action that's kinda their business. The problem with "waiting" until the roster takes shape is we've seen for 2 straight year Bowman sit on his hands and then get fleeced on 11th hour deals.

As for me and I am much more critical usually and not a fan of Bowman, all I said is "we won't know until we know".

The likelihood of Seabrook being gone any time soon is almost nill. Players rarely waive their NMC before the final year or two because they will lose it for the duration of their contract. No one has ever waived a NMC in the first year or two. Unless they trade Seabrook before his NMC kicks in 3 days (and as long as he doesn't have a Jeff Carter clause), then he'd going to be here for the long haul.

Crawford is somewhat different because he has less time on his deal, but waiving NMC even with 3 years left (if he did it next year) is still not common. It is not the same as waiving a NTC, like what Campbell did, because a NTC can be upheld by the receiving team.
- L_B_R

I realize it's early and difficult to gauge the "plan" longer term, I'm assuming it's still burn the house down every year to win a cup, but do you think the Hawks can resign Panarin and if so where will the money come from.

Would you take Gaustad at the right price. What is he worth? $1.5 mil? 4C? PK? Faceoff specialist?
- -Doh-

Sure, just don't have him play the second period.

Bears made multiple critical errors even after Buddy left. Letting Wilbur Marshall go as a FA to the Skins was . 58 was in the prime of his career. Huge mistake. So was letting Gault walk. Huge speed elements gone. After '85, McMahon was never the same. Had an awful year in '86 before getting hurt and had very bad playoff games '87 and '88. Plus Ditka was not an adaptive HC. Gotta be on the edge every year. He stayed with the same 'ol same 'ol and teams knew how to attack us.

At the time we won the SB in '85, they were the youngest team to win it. You are right.. should have won it a few more times. But we still witnessed the most lethal Defense ever constructed!!!
- z1990z

as good as 85 was, the 84 Bears may have been nastier. Remember the Raiders game? LMMFAO....

Sure, just don't have him play the second period.
- blackhawk24

Stop cutting onions when you watch documentaries
- hawkeytalkman

Still remember what the Bears defense told McCaskey after the 85 Super Bowl....keep Buddy and we'll win you the next 4 Super Bowls.

The Bears defenses of 86-88 were very good, in fact statistically the 86 team was better, but against the bigger offensive lines like the Redskins it wasn't as dominant man up and Tobin was just so conservative. Buddy would have unleashed the dogs more...though in the 21-17 loss to the Redskins that was just a fluky ass loss from the beginning, but poop happens.
- kwolf68

This is precisely why the name McCaskey should no longer be affiliated with the Bears. Phillips too.

No Buddy, No Wilbur, no SB XXI. Couldn't care less about stats.

RIP Buddy. Thanks for SB XX.

as good as 85 was, the 84 Bears may have been nastier. Remember the Raiders game? LMMFAO....
- kwolf68

Oh yes.. Plus they went into RFK and put it the Skins in that playoff win. And in '84 you had Todd Bell roaming the secondary. Ok Im feeling very old at the moment..

This is precisely why the name McCaskey should no longer be affiliated with the Bears. Phillips too.

No Buddy, No Wilbur, no SB XXI. Couldn't care less about stats.

RIP Buddy. Thanks for SB XX.
- blackhawk24

Agree. But I don't think Buddy coulda stayed with Ditka...too much ego.

MCCaskey letting Wilber walk was brutal.

Agree. But I don't think Buddy coulda stayed with Ditka...too much ego.

MCCaskey letting Wilber walk was brutal.
- kwolf68

And letting your star LB go to a conference rival that just beat you in two straight playoff games. Brilliant!

Oh yes.. Plus they went into RFK and put it the Skins in that playoff win. And in '84 you had Todd Bell roaming the secondary. Ok Im feeling very old at the moment..
- z1990z

That 1984 game against the Redskins was amazing. Joe Theisman was asked how he was going to prepare for that game and he said he was just going to get his wife to beat him over the head for 3 hours.

But we knew 84 wasn't gonna happen with Steve Fuller at QB and lets face it that 1984 San Fran team is considered by many the only other "one year team" in the 1985 Bears class and the Bears needed all hands on deck to beat them. Without Mac it was not gonna happen.

Looks like Klas Dahlbeck is an UFA. Worth a look on D? Didn't he go in the Vermette deal?
- z1990z

When Dahlbeck
Tinordi
and Devante smith pelley
are not qualified yesterday,

it tells you something-
they don't fit the style of the quick strike push the pace defense with those first two (though I am surprised they didn't qualify Klas, but they have a lot of young vets on their backline...)

Devante Smith Pelley is so fast on his skates, but doesn't handle the pucks as well as he does most other things...and has been knicked up.

Tinordi just is so damn slow in those quick starts/stop reactions and those two tow first steps are so important now...Sveddy balls is Bobby Orr compared to Tinordi.

The goon is gone

Agree. But I don't think Buddy coulda stayed with Ditka...too much ego.

MCCaskey letting Wilber walk was brutal.
- kwolf68

That's why I believe Ditka is so over-rated. Couldn't care less he was the '63 NFL Champions hero/idol. He was frequently outcoached with his offence by Wsh and SF. Ryan was the impact coach. And the commitment by McCaskey to Ditka over Ryan cost the Bears a serious chance at a couple more titles in the late 80's. To this day the love of Ditka is nauseating. Just what is the statute of limitations on length of time of love for a coach who won precisely one title?

And letting your star LB go to a conference rival that just beat you in two straight playoff games. Brilliant!
- z1990z

Yep!!! No justification for letting 58 walk ... at least if you wanted to win more Super Bowls.

I realize it's early and difficult to gauge the "plan" longer term, I'm assuming it's still burn the house down every year to win a cup, but do you think the Hawks can resign Panarin and if so where will the money come from.
- Mr Ricochet

It's honestly impossible to say because the variables are too unknown. If everything goes well - cap goes up at least $2m, Panarin only gets a Forsberg type deal, Panrin does not hitting his bonuses again - then it may only cost Kruger to resign him. However, if even one of those things doesn't happen, then they'll have to look at moving other contracts or they won't be able to sign him. The good news is that they shouldn't don't really have many others that need of any significant type of raise next year that couldn't be replaced.

I don't think it'll be Seabrook, in any case, unless it happens in the next few days and he doesn't have a JC clause. The idea that a player with 7-8 years left on his contract, who has only lived and played in Chicago and who has a young family, is going to be willing to waive his NMC and be subject to zero control over his destination for so long is silly.

If breadman takes #1 LW then all the hawks need is a #2 LW
- ikeane

I think this HAS to happen this year for us to have any shot at NOT being only a 1-line team. Make the lottery spot on Kane's LW. He could make Schmaltz and Motte look decent in that slot.

That's why I believe Ditka is so over-rated. Couldn't care less he was the '63 NFL Champions hero/idol. He was frequently outcoached with his offence by Wsh and SF. Ryan was the impact coach. And the commitment by McCaskey to Ditka over Ryan cost the Bears a serious chance at a couple more titles in the late 80's. To this day the love of Ditka is nauseating. Just what is the statute of limitations on length of time of love for a coach who won precisely one title?
- blackhawk24

Ditka is loved because

-he did bring back Bear pride
-he was Papa Bear's last big decision
-he did win a championship
-he was a warrior as a player
-he was funny and took no poop

But is also very over-rated because
-stubborn/huge ego
-lost focus on team chemistry
-said things that were destructive (calling the Scabs the "real Bears")
-became a commercial icon, lost drive to be great coach
-became legend in his own mind
-poor manager of players (handling of the QB situation was a debacle)

Since we have bear-ed out to the side.


I too liked Buddy, but early on, it bothered me how it appeared he to be underminng the head coach.

I think we all realize hat a complete egotistical bad opinioned dupa yosh Dictkus was especial after the Doug Flutie is are QB garbage.


I thought Buddy was the one who dug the trench on the other side of Ditka, but after seeing it and Dikta now for what he isn't, I think maybe his players dug the trench and buddy just quitely stood by and let it happen, not by locking horns with Ditkus, but by just being the co-ordinator of the dee.

That ESPN special about the 86 Bears team was a great watch...