Yep. I think we got some L4-C options if Kruger is slotted up. The two you mention, Kero on the farm and isn't this Lunberg guy a center? I know nothing about him.
- kwolf68

Yeah Lundberg is a center. And he is Swedish so he is very likely a responsible forward at both ends of the ice who will be able to win one-on-one battles.

Here is his player profile from Elite Prospects

http://www.eliteprospects...om/player.php?player=7074

Not my plan, Sage. It's just what the organization does. Or have I been watching another team? The only exception has been Saad in 2013.
- John Jaeckel

I know it's not your plan - that's why I put it in quotes.

And I know it's what the organization does: show Q something quick, or next man up.

I just don't like it.

Yeah Lundberg is a center. And he is Swedish so he is very likely a responsible forward at both ends of the ice who will be able to win one-on-one battles.

Here is his player profile from Elite Prospects

http://www.eliteprospects...om/player.php?player=7074
- Hawks_49

Looks like a perfect L4-Center. Like the fact it says he likes to hit. And as cool as I am for Russian players, I LOVE Swedish players. Though ole' Rundblad sure tested my faith there. But they all can't be perfect, like all the Ruskie players can't be slugs.

Looks like a perfect L4-Center. Like the fact it says he likes to hit.
- kwolf68

Exactly my thoughts. I also like that he can play any forward position if necessary.

I like that goalie they signed, too. Lars Johansson. One year deal to prove he can play in North America. I can imagine if Johansson plays well, the Hawks will trade Crawford next summer and go with Darling/Johansson on the cheap.

Further, looks at the Penguins run to the Cup. Two dominant scoring lines with Crosby and Malkin together then the Kessel line which was unstoppable. In the playoffs you need more than one big time scoring lines and depth over four lines. Hawks are a one line scoring team with a broken first line that needs a LW. Everyone saw the difference Ladd made to that line when he arrived. I think they need to trade Anisimov. They've won two Cups without a pure second line center and one another with an older cheap second line center. Why not try to do the latter?
- golfbard

Golf, the Pens had 3 scoring lines and Malkin and Crosby were split. It went:

Sheary (24 yr old undrafted rookie)-Crosby-Hornqvist

Kunitz-Malkin-Rust (24 yr old 3rd round rookie)

Hagelin-Bonino-Kessell (IIRC this "3rd line" had the most points in the playoffs)

Kuhnackl (24 yr old rookie)-Cullen-Fehr (this 4th line absolutely dominated and shut down the Hertyl-Thorton-Pavelski line while the top 3 lines played at warp speed and spent most of the game in the SJ zone).

Exactly my thoughts. I also like that he can play any forward position if necessary.

I like that goalie they signed, too. Lars Johansson. One year deal to prove he can play in North America. I can imagine if Johansson plays well, the Hawks will trade Crawford next summer and go with Darling/Johansson on the cheap.
- Hawks_49

Agree with most of this. How does moving Crow next summer square with the expansion crap? If both are on the roster, then Darling is left unprotected. Hate to say it, but if Crow is moved the smart move is do it now. I say that knowing a potential gaping hole is left by moving an elite goalie.

I don't like the rotating part of your "plan" - two or three games up and then down - does very little to develop skaters at the NHL level.

I'd rather see a couple of rookies - identified in September - given a good long look - 20/30 games - so they can really show what they do or don't have - instead of worrying that a bad line change or own-zone giveaway will result in a westward trip on I-90.

I know it's a competitive division/conference, and every loss hurts, but the kids need time to develop in the Show, the other players need time to become comfortable with them (and the kids with the vets), and coaches and management time to really evaluate the situation.
- StLBravesFan

Agreed. IMO Q showed no capacity to incorporate players, vets and rookies, that didn't fit his mold into a scheme last year. If this happens again this year with a model built on a core of 7 constituting 72% of the cap a lot needs to be rethought, including if Q is the right man in this phase of the hard cap era the Hawks are in.

Lot wishin in 1hand crappin in the other to see which 1 fills up first along withRay of hope Kool Aid being tasted lately when it comes to Russian Buddy's, undrafted FA's and other hockey card collection sets. This is what ya have to call wait and see for a week. Most of these guys we are talking about will be carrying a Brief case ,drinking a Star Bucks and Riding the L downtown to the office with in a year while their hockey careers continue at Johnny's in the Sunday morning elite league, put Baun, Kero and Mashintor with them, same for useless Svedberg.
Stamkos, Big Kudo's ya realize other guys need tobe signed so 8 is good enough unlike the 2Mr 1 goal in the playoff Twins that hamstrung Bowman for years with their it's a home town discount 10.5 each.
Campbell,I'm glad their are a lot of agents on this Board that are negotiating for him on the cheap, My guess is 3 plus or he goes to Dallas, The House in Western Springs ain't goin anywhere. I think JJ will agree with some of this ,
Have to wait it out here.

Agree with most of this. How does moving Crow next summer square with the expansion crap? If both are on the roster, then Darling is left unprotected. Hate to say it, but if Crow is moved the smart move is do it now. I say that knowing a potential gaping hole is left by moving an elite goalie.
- kwolf68

After the other goalie trades ending with Calgary acquiring Elliot, what team(s) would be willing to trade for CC?

Given Bowman has a day and four hours to make something happen with AA before his new contract kicks in, do you think he feels pressured into making something happen or is it going to be like last season where he just sits there and this team digresses again.

I think a move needs to be made to move existing salary to be able to fill in around the core. CC for a first next year when the draft is in Chicago and a goalie to platoon with Darling is a solid option. Especially if Campbell is looking to take a sweetheart deal, that would be valuable cap space and a solid defense to put in front of a goalie who is unproven across 82 games and an entire playoff run.

My second thought is to hope someone would take AA off our hands for a bottom 6 guy, maybe a pick (again draft in Chicago) or a middle of the road prospect. Get the bottom 6 guy on a 2m AAV kinda deal, that saved 2.5m ish against the cap and gets a checker. Take that 2.5 and see if Eric Staal or Brad Richards(why not) would be willing to play between Panarin and Kane. He's similar size as AA, definitely a more skilled player, just off a huge contract and is still only 31. There have always been links to him liking Chicago but the money would just have never worked when he was on a 8m + contract.

I know that's two guys taking sweetheart deals with us and it's probably a pipe dream but the last fading star to take a deal like that ended up playing with Kane and winning a cup, stating publically that he wanted to come back but the money wouldn't work. I think being able to offer these vets 2-3m goes a lot further than offering them 1m just for a pride thing this point in their careers. And by moving either of these contracts it gives Bowman options which at the end of the day is all you can ask for in the hard cap era.
- rMac08

Speaking for myself I think I really missed what kind of vets are going to be available at this phase of the "broken cap" era. It's not a pipe dream to think a Staal can be had cheaply, although I think it will take maybe 3 millish to get him.

The Hawk scouts will earn their money and IMO will make or break this season. Stempniak, Vanek, Purcell, Mike Richards, Tanguay, Matthias, Eaves, Fidler, Downie, Connolly types are left out in a league with little or no middle class. Useful players, maybe gems, for different systems that can and will be had for under 2 mil.

1 maybe two of these, a rookie maybe 2, maybe a camp surprise hopefully along with Campbell will fill out whatever holes the Hawks have.

Nill isnt dumb. Dallas needs D help in their own right but he is also driving up the price on Chicago so he doesnt walk to Chicago for the price of a song

If dallas is offering $3-4 mil per and stan is over there grinning with a $1.0 mil contract offer you better believe campbell is thinking twice about what his top choice is
- FourFeathers773

FWIW, no state income tax in Texas. But, tax savings would be peanuts compared to what he has earned in his career.

I'm not all for trading AA but looking ahead, if this team wants to remain in a cup contendIng conversation, it might make sense to get away from that contract.

How about a trade where you swap AA for Martin Hanzal (3.1M & in final year of deal)?

That way you get a very solid, big C back, to be competitive this year, but have the flexibility with the cap next summer.

There's been rumours that Hanzal is availabe. Plus... he's so hot right now.

Let me also add, there will likely be 2 "kids" on the roster fairly regularly this year, no matter what.

Although anyone thinking any of them show up 10/1 and play 82 games probably needs to do less meth. The Rockford Shuttle will be very busy.

If they are relying on 3-4 roster spots to be filled by kids, that is asking for trouble.

I know, I know, Rutherford did it in Pittsburgh last year. The Pens also had not depleted their system like the Hawks have and the Pens NHL roster had not taken the kind of hits the previous couple of years quite like the Hawks has.
- John Jaeckel

To add: the Pens had a very good AHL coach that the rookies knew his system up and down, so that when they were called up, they were already comfortable.

Not to say what has been done in Chicago can't be done, but getting rookies ready and jumping into the #CircleOfTrust in Rockford is completely different than what happened in PIT last year. Perfect timing and situation for them, IMO.

Lot wishin in 1hand crappin in the other to see which 1 fills up first along withRay of hope Kool Aid being tasted lately when it comes to Russian Buddy's, undrafted FA's and other hockey card collection sets. This is what ya have to call wait and see for a week. Most of these guys we are talking about will be carrying a Brief case ,drinking a Star Bucks and Riding the L downtown to the office with in a year while their hockey careers continue at Johnny's in the Sunday morning elite league, put Baun, Kero and Mashintor with them, same for useless Svedberg.
Stamkos, Big Kudo's ya realize other guys need tobe signed so 8 is good enough unlike the 2Mr 1 goal in the playoff Twins that hamstrung Bowman for years with their it's a home town discount 10.5 each.
Campbell,I'm glad their are a lot of agents on this Board that are negotiating for him on the cheap, My guess is 3 plus or he goes to Dallas, The House in Western Springs ain't goin anywhere. I think JJ will agree with some of this ,
Have to wait it out here.
- wonthecup10

While it's great Stamkos took a deal that saved his team some cap hit money, had his deal come up at the same time 88 + 19's were inked, i'd bet his deal would look the same or roughly the same as theirs.

With the benefit of hindsight and knowing that the Cap has barely grown for 2 years....

Maybe I am missing something here but trading AA for cap space to sign a legit LW at say $3.5m will not solve the signing Panarin problem going into the 2017-18 season as the extra $1m we save won't be enough to cover what I expect will be close to $5.5-$6m signing. I have no problem trading AA but we will still be in major cap hell come next year. Then who do we trade? I think our only chance is to trade Crawford for picks/prospects and I don't see that happening given that the younger Bishop will also be made available now that Stamkos resigned with Tampa. I agree with JJ that playing 4-5 kids this year means possibly missing the playoffs or, if we do make the playoffs, a 1st round exit. We are more or less in the same spot we were in after 2010 when we lost half our roster and barely made the playoffs the next two years. Our only hope is that 1 or 2 of the kids do pan out this season so that we can compete the following season. I hate being so negative but this is what happens when you have a GM that IMO has done a lousy job of getting a decent return (in some cases just getting a pick so as to clear cap space) on some of the players we have had to move (e.g., Ladd, Sharp+Johns) and overpaying for others (Seabrook who I really like and Kruger who I also like but not at their current contracts). Oh well, time will tell how this all plays out.

After the other goalie trades ending with Calgary acquiring Elliot, what team(s) would be willing to trade for CC?
- BMWChiFan

Maybe 2 or 3 (Dallas would likely be interested, but we've already helped rebuild Dallas enough. Perhaps Peg or Buffalo) and fewer next year. Also, because CC has his NTC even if a team wanted him (there are rumors that he didn't waive for Calgary) he can block it.

Next year because teams can only protect 1 goalie, the market for Crawford will be non-existent. This is the primary reason the Skunks traded Anderson to Toronto NOW, because they see what is coming.

Agree with most of this. How does moving Crow next summer square with the expansion crap? If both are on the roster, then Darling is left unprotected. Hate to say it, but if Crow is moved the smart move is do it now. I say that knowing a potential gaping hole is left by moving an elite goalie.
- kwolf68

My understanding is that the Hawks could use a bit of a loophole to protect Darling without actually protecting him.


https://www.nhl.com/news/...n-draft-rules/c-281010592

iii) One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18. If the club elects to make a restricted free agent goaltender available in order to meet this requirement, that goaltender must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the club's protected list.


Further down that list it also states that Las Vegas must select 20 players that are under contract for the 2017-18 season. That would leave only 6 spots(14/9/3) that they could take an unsigned player in the expansion draft.

What if Chicago doesn't extend Darling before the draft? That would leave a small chance that they would pick up Darling with one of their 6 spots for unsigned players.

Freidmans 30 thoughts are interesting -
#18 on Campbell outlines the difficulties Dallas has making it work and the advantage Chicago has in landing him.
#21 on Ship - not so fast - maybe he is under contract and staying in Russia. Training camp there is during the week of Hawks prospect camp.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/h...onton-montreal-make-deal/

Just having fun:

B. Marchand To CHI

AA and McNeil To BOS

THe Hawks not only replace the style Shaw plays, but you get a guy who can play top 6 LW. Boston gets a solid 3rd Line Option behind Kreci and Bergeron and with the injuries they have seen out of Kreci they have a formidible 2c to back up. On top of it, center depth in the East looms large and while cap wise it basicaly an even trade off, both teams fill a couple needs with one move

Yeah Lundberg is a center. And he is Swedish so he is very likely a responsible forward at both ends of the ice who will be able to win one-on-one battles.

Here is his player profile from Elite Prospects

http://www.eliteprospects...om/player.php?player=7074
- Hawks_49

49, when you get some time You Tube Lundberg. There is one entry that has a whole game, I got through 1/2 of it. Lundberg played RW (#27 or 17 IIRC) and as far as I could tell he didn't get a shift until about 5-6 minutes in and he played bottom 6.

He showed very good skating skill and tenacity. Was a really good game and a lotta flow on the big surface with back and forth action.

My understanding is that the Hawks could use a bit of a loophole to protect Darling without actually protecting him.


https://www.nhl.com/news/...n-draft-rules/c-281010592

iii) One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18. If the club elects to make a restricted free agent goaltender available in order to meet this requirement, that goaltender must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the club's protected list.


Further down that list it also states that Las Vegas must select 20 players that are under contract for the 2017-18 season. That would leave only 6 spots(14/9/3) that they could take an unsigned player in the expansion draft.

What if Chicago doesn't extend Darling before the draft? That would leave a small chance that they would pick up Darling with one of their 6 spots for unsigned players.
- Hawks_49

WoW. I guess they could slide him through, but it's like gambling...don't bet unless you can afford to lose it. SOME salary has to go...and it should go from an area where the Hawks have capable replacements. If the thinking is there is a capable replacement in house for Crow he is a candidate to move.

To add: the Pens had a very good AHL coach that the rookies knew his system up and down, so that when they were called up, they were already comfortable.

Not to say what has been done in Chicago can't be done, but getting rookies ready and jumping into the #CircleOfTrust in Rockford is completely different than what happened in PIT last year. Perfect timing and situation for them, IMO.
- HelloFriend

Very well said. What PITT did last year has to be looked at with context.

Maybe I am missing something here but trading AA for cap space to sign a legit LW at say $3.5m will not solve the signing Panarin problem going into the 2017-18 season as the extra $1m we save won't be enough to cover what I expect will be close to $5.5-$6m signing. I have no problem trading AA but we will still be in major cap hell come next year. Then who do we trade? I think our only chance is to trade Crawford for picks/prospects and I don't see that happening given that the younger Bishop will also be made available now that Stamkos resigned with Tampa. I agree with JJ that playing 4-5 kids this year means possibly missing the playoffs or, if we do make the playoffs, a 1st round exit. We are more or less in the same spot we were in after 2010 when we lost half our roster and barely made the playoffs the next two years. Our only hope is that 1 or 2 of the kids do pan out this season so that we can compete the following season. I hate being so negative but this is what happens when you have a GM that IMO has done a lousy job of getting a decent return (in some cases just getting a pick so as to clear cap space) on some of the players we have had to move (e.g., Ladd, Sharp+Johns) and overpaying for others (Seabrook who I really like and Kruger who I also like but not at their current contracts). Oh well, time will tell how this all plays out.
- FourOrr

It's not looking good for the Panarin extension so far. But if an AA or CC trade brings in say, $2.5-3M cap room, then they would have close to $10M in cap. That room can be used to shore up the valuable and debated 1LW position - which is a MUST HAVE in this league, as one scoring line will not do much. Then, possibly, they can shore up some depth guys on cheap 1 year contracts. When the season is close to its end, then sign the Breadman with whatever money they would have... God I hope that works

Maybe I am missing something here but trading AA for cap space to sign a legit LW at say $3.5m will not solve the signing Panarin problem going into the 2017-18 season as the extra $1m we save won't be enough to cover what I expect will be close to $5.5-$6m signing. I have no problem trading AA but we will still be in major cap hell come next year. Then who do we trade? I think our only chance is to trade Crawford for picks/prospects and I don't see that happening given that the younger Bishop will also be made available now that Stamkos resigned with Tampa. I agree with JJ that playing 4-5 kids this year means possibly missing the playoffs or, if we do make the playoffs, a 1st round exit. We are more or less in the same spot we were in after 2010 when we lost half our roster and barely made the playoffs the next two years. Our only hope is that 1 or 2 of the kids do pan out this season so that we can compete the following season. I hate being so negative but this is what happens when you have a GM that IMO has done a lousy job of getting a decent return (in some cases just getting a pick so as to clear cap space) on some of the players we have had to move (e.g., Ladd, Sharp+Johns) and overpaying for others (Seabrook who I really like and Kruger who I also like but not at their current contracts). Oh well, time will tell how this all plays out.
- FourOrr

Don't forget that PITT will need to move Fluery and Riemer is available as a UFA. Add that to every team having filled the #1 goalie spot (I do think DAL will move on that though) and the demand side has dried up as of NOW with 3 solid options on the supply side.

Just having fun:

B. Marchand To CHI

AA and McNeil To BOS

THe Hawks not only replace the style Shaw plays, but you get a guy who can play top 6 LW. Boston gets a solid 3rd Line Option behind Kreci and Bergeron and with the injuries they have seen out of Kreci they have a formidible 2c to back up. On top of it, center depth in the East looms large and while cap wise it basicaly an even trade off, both teams fill a couple needs with one move
- nickmo2699

Yea, and their g m is an idiot.