Yes and he plays on the PK regularly.
- DarthKane

Cool. I can't imagine the Hawks get him for cheap. They probably want Forsling back, at the very least. Any downside to Hansen at all? And can the Hawks make it all work next season? His contract goes through next season, also.

I think when you rebuild TWICE for your 2nd and 3rd championships over a small 4year span that should be enough to shut up all doubter for good, permanently. I mean, what people don't realize is the crazy level of expectations they've become accustomed to because of that success.
You simply respect the fact that they gave it their all and trust that they'll continue to do so. At least that's my opinion.
- SimpleJack

Good opinion, I'll second it. It makes me laugh reading that this is not a location to which players want to come. They were in the final TWO on some of the hottest commodities the last year, and I thought I heard of a couple guys who did come here: a. panarin... m. kempny... and b. campbell left meeeiiillions on the table to come here.

Actions speak louder than words.

Truth is, stranger things have happened than TT growing up emotionally and physically and becoming the next Pavel Datsyuk.

But you need to look real long and hard at what the Hawks did in the TT deal—with the caveat that NO ONE knows the ins and outs of TT better than they do.

And that is . . . he was a throw-in in order to lose the last year of Bryan Bickell's deal.

So time will tell on TT but methinks the Hawks had seen enough of something to say "good riddance."
- John Jaeckel

I definitely don't think TT will ever be Datsyuk or even necessarily live up to draft expectations, but I do think he'll probably end up a decent to good middle 6 player in the years to come given the right situation. That situation was not with the Hawks, so I was fine with them shipping him out if it meant Bickell was gone too, but the Canes have a lot more time to let him experience growing pains. He did only just turn 22, so I just think it's early to write him out as a 'soon to be in Europe' guy - that was all. I have no issue with the Hawks moving on from him.

Interesting. Great skater, played a lot with the Sedins. I didn't pay much attention beyond that. Can he defend and cycle?
- 333inthe3rd

Speedster. Aggressive. And...... A RW!!

Speedster. Aggressive. And...... A RW!!
- 93Joe

He can play on the left side too.

Cool. I can't imagine the Hawks get him for cheap. They probably want Forsling back, at the very least. Any downside to Hansen at all? And can the Hawks make it all work next season? His contract goes through next season, also.
- 333inthe3rd

The Canucks can take Svedberg and like it!

Jack ,appreciate your passion ,even Ihave to agree with your last paragraph 100%, ,
My axe to grind is Bowman drafting these high school sized kids year after year, I understand the game is changing directions, but this is still the NHL, every team has a fair amount of the 6"2, 6"3 210. + forwards....... Except this one, look at the new adds for this years camp, am I watch the Black Hawk cup or the Chicago Black Hawks at the United center? Not every little guy is gonna be Johnny Hockey or Patrick Kane, Rozner said it last year, that if it is between small little perimeter players or Big guys who can play the game, he's taking the bigger players, ya need a mix, we don't have it! Dam I wish, Saad would have stayed, same with Kevin Hayes and maybe Vesey signs here then! Agree with JJ, Chicago ain't the desired number 1 destination anymore for NHL'rs, McD and Bowman have to get out there and sell sell sell the product!
- wonthecup10

What exactly do you consider to be a "fair share"? Because not many of the recent cup winning team have had that many heavy forwards, if you're talking "6"2, 6"3 210+". Like, of the past 7 winners, only the Kings had more than 3 that played regularly when it counted- every other team, including the Bruins, only had 1-3 guys who fit that description and most of them were lower line guys (like the Pens with only having Fehr last year).

I think you really mean that each team has generally bigger players than the Hawks do, which is fair, though they've been pretty much in the bottom 5 of the league in size and weight for years and been pretty successful. Iirc They were the smallest team to make the playoffs in both 2013 and 2015, and the Pens were at or near the bottom of the league their winning years too. Only the Kings were really all that big over the last 7 years - even the Bruins were actually pretty average despite their moniker of being the 'big, bad Bruins' (and Chara adds an average of 2.5 pounds to their collective roster weight). The current Hawks can be about the same size as they were in other years, depending on who makes the roster, but they will likely be smaller than usual for forwards give the more talented kids trying to make the team are small.

I get the concern there, and yeah, the roster could use a few more average sized guys, say those around the 195-205 range like Saad, but they don't need many, if any, 210+ guys to be successful. Wouldn't hurt as long as they're skilled, of course, just not super necessary.

What exactly do you consider to be a "fair share"? Because not many of the recent cup winning team have had that many heavy forwards, if you're talking "6"2, 6"3 210+". Like, of the past 7 winners, only the Kings had more than 3 that played regularly when it counted- every other team, including the Bruins, only had 1-3 guys who fit that description and most of them were lower line guys (like the Pens with only having Fehr last year).

I think you really mean that each team has generally bigger players than the Hawks do, which is fair, though they've been pretty much in the bottom 5 of the league in size and weight for years and been pretty successful. Iirc They were the smallest team to make the playoffs in both 2013 and 2015, and the Pens were at or near the bottom of the league their winning years too. Only the Kings were really all that big over the last 7 years - even the Bruins were actually pretty average despite their moniker of being the 'big, bad Bruins' (and Chara adds an average of 2.5 pounds to their collective roster weight). The current Hawks can be about the same size as they were in other years, depending on who makes the roster, but they will likely be smaller than usual for forwards give the more talented kids trying to make the team are small.

I get the concern there, and yeah, the roster could use a few more average sized guys, say those around the 195-205 range like Saad, but they don't need many, if any, 210+ guys to be successful. Wouldn't hurt as long as they're skilled, of course, just not super necessary.
- L_B_R

That's where I'm at with it, you nailed it, hopefully Stan pulls out a surprise and takes care of Tazer and gets him what he wants.problem is, no cap space, I wish they had a set up like MLB, I am sure Rocky would be happy to pay given packed houses all the time.
If you look at all the guys we lost over the last 6years, that is probably a very strong playoff roster full of guys who were dam near elite.
Some one mentioned Rick Nash being in play but the problem is no cap space to clear and do you want to give NY a guy like #4back, don't think so,also I do know that just before July 1st SB tried hard to clear money out to make a Run at Milan Lucic which didn't happen or keep Ladd. I think Tazer wouldbe a lot happier looking over on his left side seeing one of Nash, Ladd or Lucic rather than St. Richard Panik!
Hopefully one of these kids force the issue and Toews gels with one of them

He can play on the left side too.
- DarthKane

I rest my case then Darth.

While hard to ensure "all other things being equal" for these types of comparison stats, found this interesting. Wonder if the latter is largely due to the over-passing between Kane and Panarin we were seeing at times?



One more reason that, prior to signing his new deal, I'd like to see Panarin drive offense on his own line for at least a bit.

credit: BlackhawksBreakdown

While hard to ensure "all other things being equal" for these types of comparison stats, found this interesting. Wonder if the latter is largely due to the over-passing between Kane and Panarin we were seeing at times?



One more reason that, prior to signing his new deal, I'd like to see Panarin drive offense on his own line for at least a bit.

credit: BlackhawksBreakdown
- pdx2ord

Based on that info, bump him up to the Toews line and see what he does. If he continues to put up good numbers then there is the answer.

72 19 81
14 15 88

They didn't give him up for nothing, though - they cleared $3.1 in dead cap space and got two picks (and Debrincat is looking like a good selection). Keeping Bickell, even buried, likely meant at least one other trade (of Kruger or Anisimov) from a position of weakness with little good return. Losing one potentially good but not there yet player is better for the immediate future of the Hawks.

As for Bolland, he's not that comparable to Bickell because his salary is being paid by insurance as long as he's on LTIR. Bickell is planning on playing, so Carolina is going to pay him $4.5m out of pocket. Cap space is irrelevant in a lot of ways because both those teams could take on as much cap as they wanted - it's the salary that matters to them, which is a big deal for budget teams. Between Datsyuk / Pronger / Bolland, the Coyotes are actually only paying $575k this year and then nothing the next two years. So, the fact that Florida had to give up Lawson Crouse, a prospect that's farther along in his development than TT was at his age, is a pretty fair and equivalent price to the Hawks giving up TT.
- L_B_R

Did not know the severity of this.

This is a complete abomination. I'll gladly agree to a year, even two, of no NHL hockey to get this fixed.

A farce as teams that pay the bills, draw tv ratings slowly get dismantled/dismembered.

Actions speak louder than words.

Truth is, stranger things have happened than TT growing up emotionally and physically and becoming the next Pavel Datsyuk.

But you need to look real long and hard at what the Hawks did in the TT deal—with the caveat that NO ONE knows the ins and outs of TT better than they do.

And that is . . . he was a throw-in in order to lose the last year of Bryan Bickell's deal.

So time will tell on TT but methinks the Hawks had seen enough of something to say "good riddance."
- John Jaeckel

Is it better to be wrong on him and he turns into a 50-55 point guy in Carolina or be wrong on him and pay him as an RFA next year and he continues as an inconsistent half effort skilled player on a team deeper in cap hell (hell they don't have MONEY for Panarin) than anyone in the league.

Best of luck to the kid as long as he plays somewhere else.

I forgot to mention that this 2017 Draft class includes the smaller younger brother of Eero Teravainen, who is 5 11- 170lbs.

He is ranked as a 5th to 7th round pick.

He has good head for the game and decent vision, and knows he isn't big, so he plays inside his limits.

My take on the draft is there is no generational player(s) at the top, and even though Bob McKenzie said his ten scouts rate this class as less than the 2016 crop.

Personally I think this class is stronger in prospects that aren't there yet, but have a high upside long term.
Maybe I am different, or dumber than the other guys, but I simply see a lot of potential draftees who are gonna get picked in the firt three rounds that a decade later the announcers are going to saying, ..."and they got him on the____round!"

You simply can't turn your nose up on the advancement of the US, Swedish, and Finnish programs and even the other Euro countries.

And goalies After years of drought even Canada has some nice prospects along with almost every county.

Maybe I should display my mock 5th round there are three more goalers in it besides that I slapped into the start of the 4th round...

http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/mock-draft/2017/
- wiz1901

Drafted by Lincoln in 2015 USHL Futures Draft. He played his first game last night in the USHL. Hope to get a look at the kid sometime this year.

They didn't give him up for nothing, though - they cleared $3.1 in dead cap space and got two picks (and Debrincat is looking like a good selection). Keeping Bickell, even buried, likely meant at least one other trade (of Kruger or Anisimov) from a position of weakness with little good return. Losing one potentially good but not there yet player is better for the immediate future of the Hawks.

.
- L_B_R

Well stated - looking at it with that logic who would you give up for a 2 & 3 - 15, 16 or 86. Willing to bet even Tanner would say 86...

I can't imagine the Hawks get Jannik Hansen for cheap. They probably would want Forsling back, at the very least. Any downside to Hansen at all? And can the Hawks make it all work next season? His contract goes through next season, also.
- 333inthe3rd

That Canuck team has holes and Hansen had a really productive year scoring wise.

Me thinks they would have to be getting some decent long range help on dee to even consider launching him.

He is basically a RW a right shooter so do the hawks need an add at RW?

and besides he has three and a half year old twin boys and the Sedins come over and each Sedin gets a playmate.

You wanna know how the Hawks solve the Panarin signing? The write the contract for less and have it filled with easily reachable "bonuses" using up that extra $ that the 2017 season found money from the start of Hossa's one million dollar salary a year for the finla four years....

Based on that info, bump him up to the Toews line and see what he does. If he continues to put up good numbers then there is the answer.

72 19 81
14 15 88
- z1990z

Would it change your mind that the player Panarin was with the most when away from Kane was Toews? Granted, it was for only a small amount of time and the other winger was not consistent (Hossa, Garbutt were the most common). It's just something to keep in mind. That mini-chart is interesting and a conversation starter, but it lacks context.

Here is something interesting. The second leading scorer in the KHL this season is our one time draft pick Maxim Shalunov. He has got 9 goals and 6 assist in 12 games and is only 23. Maybe Stan' Russian scout is taking another look at him....maybe he is the rough diamond we are looking for on the 1st or second line. I honk he is 6' 3"" tall.

Would it change your mind that the player Panarin was with the most when away from Kane was Toews? Granted, it was for only a small amount of time and the other winger was not consistent (Hossa, Garbutt were the most common). It's just something to keep in mind. That mini-chart is interesting and a conversation starter, but it lacks context.
- L_B_R

Yes, small sample size, etc., but combining the chart with Lady's comment leads to some potential (but not all-inclusive) comments:

(1) Given the dramatic drop in Panarin's numbers without Kane (mostly with Toews, largely with Hosea), perhaps (PERHAPS) the decline in top line production last year had less to do with left wing deficiencies, and more with terrible seasons by Toews and Hossa (a combined 19 goals 5x5 for the two of them.

(2) Perhaps (PERHAPS), then, acquiring a qualified top-6 left winger would not solve the one-scoring-line problem, if (IF) the Toews-Hossa drop-off is more than just a slump.

(3) Perhaps (and wouldn't this be nice), if the Toews-Hossa production last year WAS just due to a slump, and they can come back this year, a left wing on the current roster (Panik, a youngster) would solve the problem and return the Hawks to multiple scoring lines.

Seems like Fortin is doing what he needs to do to stand out. I wouldn't be surprised too much if they offer him some kind of contract. He could play 9 games and still go back to junior still right?

http://www.tsn.ca/the-wat...layer-of-his-era-1.572253

More reason to backup Toews' status as one of the top players in pro hockey.

Here is something interesting. The second leading scorer in the KHL this season is our one time draft pick Maxim Shalunov. He has got 9 goals and 6 assist in 12 games and is only 23. Maybe Stan' Russian scout is taking another look at him....maybe he is the rough diamond we are looking for on the 1st or second line. I honk he is 6' 3"" tall.
- spanky

Doesn't hurt to scout and see if certain players are worth pursuing whether Shalunov or Shipachyov or anyone playing in other elite leagues other than the KHL.

To temper this sentiment, though, one of the top scorers in the KHL the past few seasons has been Matt Ellison, the guy we traded for Sharp. Brandon Bochenski has also been a top point-getter in the KHL in recent years, too. Definitely would not even gander at the likes of Ellison or Bochenski.

Random observation. With all teams now using the NHL website template, the overall design just seems to have a lot of unused space which annoys me (I used to do some graphic design for my job). Very blocky. Reminds me back when websites used frames.

Yes, small sample size, etc., but combining the chart with Lady's comment leads to some potential (but not all-inclusive) comments:

(1) Given the dramatic drop in Panarin's numbers without Kane (mostly with Toews, largely with Hosea), perhaps (PERHAPS) the decline in top line production last year had less to do with left wing deficiencies, and more with terrible seasons by Toews and Hossa (a combined 19 goals 5x5 for the two of them.

(2) Perhaps (PERHAPS), then, acquiring a qualified top-6 left winger would not solve the one-scoring-line problem, if (IF) the Toews-Hossa drop-off is more than just a slump.

(3) Perhaps (and wouldn't this be nice), if the Toews-Hossa production last year WAS just due to a slump, and they can come back this year, a left wing on the current roster (Panik, a youngster) would solve the problem and return the Hawks to multiple scoring lines.
- StLBravesFan

Actually, Panarin-Toews-Hossa doesn't factor into that chart at all - they neither scored or were scored against while on the ice together. That chart is literally just about goals, so not only is it really limited and lacking context, it also tells us nothing about Panarin being with Toews and Hossa at the same time. The only thing we know is Q didn't have Panarin up there for more than about 2 games, their CF in that time was sub-50, and Q didn't deploy them as much in the DZ (not sure Q trust Pan there much tbh).

The combo of Panarin-Toews-Garbutt, which was slightly (seriously, like 5-6 minutes more) more common than with Hossa as RW, is part of what is skewing Panarin's away from Kane numbers as they got scored on at a rate of twice as much as they scored. Pan-Toews-Shaw - only got scored on when together, though that was in less than 10 minutes.

Panarin didn't spend all his time away from Kane with Toews though, even if he was the most common player. He took a spin with Anisimov-Hossa, which was decent - even-ish GF/GA, great possession (58% CF) and scoring chance numbers (57%). The GF rate was just much lower than the one Panarin puts up with Kane, so it too is likely factoring into the 'bad without Kane' column. Small sample also, about 30 minutes. It was the best combo for Pan away from Kane, though.

Panarin was also on the ice for goals against only when he was with pretty much anyone in the bottom 6 but away from Kane - Rasmussen for about 16, Desi for 13, Kruger for 11, and Danault/everyone else for 10 or less. Kruger and Rasmussen both took turns at the center between Panarin-Kane and the results are the exact opposite (only scoring happened).

So, to recap: Panarin was on the ice for a decent number of goals against when away from Kane without much scoring for; some of that time lined up with Toews but did not involved Hossa with them (they were flat); Anisimov-Hossa were okay with Panarin; and Panarin-Kane can work with many different centers but Panarin alone may not work with just any linemates (sample size issues). But still, remember that all these samples away from Kane are all very small and more of a 'keep in mind' kind of thing.

I like BB's work a lot, even if I don't always like the use of per 60 stats, but some of them are really just conversation starters. The comparison chart of Panarin to other young players who just got paid is cool, the goalie info just put up should make everyone appreciate Crawford more, and the d-men/shot location stuff is on-point (and makes me believe more than ever that Hjammer-TVR should have been used as a shutdown pair more last year).

Edit: fixed a few issues.

Trouba has requested a trade and won't attend the Jets' training camp.

I know he's not coming to Chicago, but it will still be interesting to see how that situation plays out.