This does seem to be becoming the trend skip the bridge. Although it's actually not new, it's the same thing the Blackhawks did with Toews and Kane when they were signed for five years at $6,300,000 back in 2010/11. It was the same thing Saad was looking for at the end of his ELC. The problem is there's a limited number of these a team can afford to do.
- walleyeb1

That's right but, since they drafted Saad, if they got 20% cap relief they would save over a million off the cap. That's more than an elc you can add to the team. Keep a guy. Bring one up. Times, how ever many.

....

JJ if you have some time take a listen to the first six minutes or so of Powers and Hedgers podcast, they had some great insight into DeBrincat.

https://soundcloud.com/th...podcast-prospects-edition

Hedger:

Just one point mentioned was that one of his biggest strength's that was a common theme among the three guys I talk to with, is that he is able to adjust his game to other great players.

Definitely worth a listen.
- walleyeb1

>Interesting you posted this
>Was just telling someone the other day that DCat most reminds me of Brett Hull
>Forget about his size, DCat will succeed or fail based on his ability to get on the scoresheet
>Brett Hull had a super-elite shot and hockey mind -- everything else, meh
>And played great with other smart players -- though the Gretzky experiment did not work and neither guy can explain it
>Hawks need to be very patient with DCat and see if his mind catches up to the NHL game the way Brett Hull's did
>Hawks don't want to pull "a Calgary" like the Flames did with Brett Hull

That's right but, since they drafted Saad, if they got 20% cap relief they would save over a million off the cap. That's more than an elc you can add to the team. Keep a guy. Bring one up. Times, how ever many.

....
- hocktock

Yeah maybe something to be argued for in the next CBA.

I think the Sox are in good shape. Will all the guys live up to their ranking? Doesn't matter.....they are in good shape with as many guys as they have.

What will be interesting to watch is they will be bad.....very bad next year and possibly the year after. The huge thing is can Reinsdorf stomach that type of financial loss when you are looking at sparsely filled crowds and a plumment in season ticket renewals? Cubs survived because Wrigley is/was/still is an event......Comiskey isn't.

I think in 2021 they are knocking on the door of being a contender assuming Hahn stays the course and spends where he needs to.
- SteveRain

Agreed. They are going with the high risk/high reward approach. It is going to take a few more years before they are a contender again. We did wait 86 years or so between World Series...

The Hawks will have to do this, too, at some point. It will not be pretty when they do.

Never mind. As long as there are guys like Sheldon Brookbank available. We'll be o.k.

Go Hocks! (These summers are getting long.)

Never mind. As long as there are guys like Sheldon Brookbank available. We'll be o.k.

Go Hocks! (These summers are getting long.)
- hocktock

Hey.... Sheldon did ok when he paired up with Keith

Then again... who doesn't look good when paired with Keith.

Curious what you Chicago baseball fans think about what the White Sox are doing.

As a Sox fan, I am both excited/scared. 5-6 prospects in the overall top 30 in baseball, 2-3 awesome power arms and lots of overall pitching quality depth.

But it's also all sunshine and roses with prospects, no guarantees of success.

As a HAWK fan, honestly, this is the kind of rebuild I would like to see the Hawks do in 3-5 years. Tear the whole thing down, stock up on HIGH quality prospects and high picks—not the best of the scratch and dent bin and a slow slide to mediocrity like Detroit has.

Really tank for 3 years or so, then come back like the team did from 07-10.

Thoughts?
- John Jaeckel

Not sure they Sox had a choice, and you have to credit Hahn, if you're going to rebuild almost from scratch, he got more prospects than most ever have.

Problem with it is, after Theo/Jed/Jason success with the Cubs, think all fan bases think you do this and you win a WS 4 or 5 yrs later. Its much harder than that.

Hey.... Sheldon did ok when he paired up with Keith

Then again... who doesn't look good when paired with Keith.
- 93Joe

Rundblad.

Curious what you Chicago baseball fans think about what the White Sox are doing.

As a Sox fan, I am both excited/scared. 5-6 prospects in the overall top 30 in baseball, 2-3 awesome power arms and lots of overall pitching quality depth.

But it's also all sunshine and roses with prospects, no guarantees of success.

As a HAWK fan, honestly, this is the kind of rebuild I would like to see the Hawks do in 3-5 years. Tear the whole thing down, stock up on HIGH quality prospects and high picks—not the best of the scratch and dent bin and a slow slide to mediocrity like Detroit has.

Really tank for 3 years or so, then come back like the team did from 07-10.

Thoughts?
- John Jaeckel

I've always wondered if Toews will finish up his career in Winnipeg and if Kane will finish up his in Buffalo. Maybe Seabrook lands in Vancouver. Not sure about Keith. 3-5 years sounds about right for that shift in focus. Let those guys give their hometowns some excitement, tank, accumulate young talent, make another run. In 8 or 9 years, bring those guys back and let them hoist the Cup again as contributing cagey veterans supporting the new core.

How far would the 2010 hocks have gone if THEY could pay their players and not have to trade them so the players could get the money they earned?
- hocktock

There is no way to know if the 2010 Hawks would have even existed if not for the salary cap. Blackhawks didn't start investing into the team until after they had the cost certainty of a cap in place. And without the salary cap hindrance, Hawks might have been able to keep their team together better; but they also might have done worse without the cap stopping teams like Toronto from being able to through 20m a year contracts around at guys like Kane and Toews.

I've always wondered if Toews will finish up his career in Winnipeg and if Kane will finish up his in Buffalo. Maybe Seabrook lands in Vancouver. Not sure about Keith. 3-5 years sounds about right for that shift in focus. Let those guys give their hometowns some excitement, tank, accumulate young talent, make another run. In 8 or 9 years, bring those guys back and let them hoist the Cup again as contributing cagey veterans supporting the new core.
- matt_ahrens

I don't think that all players want to play for their "hometown" team. Just look at guys like Sharp and Campbell, Chicago is as much their home as anywhere. I know Keith and Seabrook summer back in BC (in Kelowna along with Tootoo) but I see all the guys you mentioned finishing their careers in Chicago.

Hey.... Sheldon did ok when he paired up with Keith

Then again... who doesn't look good when paired with Keith.
- 93Joe

Not personal. Sheldon is a funny name.

Sheldon

There is no way to know if the 2010 Hawks would have even existed if not for the salary cap. Blackhawks didn't start investing into the team until after they had the cost certainty of a cap in place. And without the salary cap hindrance, Hawks might have been able to keep their team together better; but they also might have done worse without the cap stopping teams like Toronto from being able to through 20m a year contracts around at guys like Kane and Toews.
- Antilles

I don't get it. We drafted them. Are you talking offer sheet?

IMO I would like to see the rebuild in the next two years if we have another failed playoff run . This way we can actually get something for the stars instead of salary dumps .

Curious what you Chicago baseball fans think about what the White Sox are doing.

As a Sox fan, I am both excited/scared. 5-6 prospects in the overall top 30 in baseball, 2-3 awesome power arms and lots of overall pitching quality depth.

But it's also all sunshine and roses with prospects, no guarantees of success.

As a HAWK fan, honestly, this is the kind of rebuild I would like to see the Hawks do in 3-5 years. Tear the whole thing down, stock up on HIGH quality prospects and high picks—not the best of the scratch and dent bin and a slow slide to mediocrity like Detroit has.

Really tank for 3 years or so, then come back like the team did from 07-10.

Thoughts?
- John Jaeckel

I think that they do a better job in baseball predicting success with prospects. And with the amount of stupid talent the Sox have, there should be some nice pieces there.

I love what the Sox are doing but I don't think the Hawks could do the same. They couldn't just move Kane or Toews' 10.5 million for picks and prospects. Same for Seabs too. I think something comes back the other way. And Hockey is kind of a weird sport with prospects and even some younger players.

Unfortunately, I see them going the path of Detroit and withering away in 3 or 4 years. I think the way money is moved around in baseball and how attendance means little its easier to be terrible for 3 or 4 years while rebuilding.

With door sales still playing a big part in hockey I think that would be a difficult thing to do in Chicago. Especially with how they have done things ticket wise and just the cost of everything in the stadium in general.

You read that poop about Mike Trout and Bryce Harper (not a fan)... anyway, the usual sports writers were "speculating" a Mike Trout to Cubs trade... of course in that trade, you are losing Schwarber, Baez, Hayward, and about 3-4 prospects.

Although you are losing a ton of valuables...

Trout
Bryant
Rizzo
Russell
Zobrist

Wow... Not a Cubs fan, but another starter will do them a solid in the postseason
- 93Joe

I would take that and sign Harper in a year and a half .Pretty dominate line up

Trout
Bryant
Rizzo
Harper
Contreras
Russell
Happ
Zobrist/ Almora

There is no way to know if the 2010 Hawks would have even existed if not for the salary cap. Blackhawks didn't start investing into the team until after they had the cost certainty of a cap in place. And without the salary cap hindrance, Hawks might have been able to keep their team together better; but they also might have done worse without the cap stopping teams like Toronto from being able to through 20m a year contracts around at guys like Kane and Toews.
- Antilles

I believe the cap was in existence since 2005. The greatest change in spending for the Hawks occurred after Dollar Bill Wirtz died (2007) and Rocky Wirtz took over. Rocky hired McDonough almost right away to increase revenue streams through marketing and changing the organizational culture. It also changed when the Hawks had players worth paying/signing. Toews drafted in 2006, Kane 2007, Hossa 2009.

Although you could be correct in questioning whether in a non-salary cap environment the Hawks would have been able to win 3 Stanley Cups and land some free agents or retain some of their own free agents bidding against other teams with deep pockets like Toronto, NY, Det, Montreal, etc....

Conversely it could be argued in a non-salary cap environment the Hawks could out bid 75% of the teams in the league that are in small markets or are under funded for the services of elite free agents.

The general consensus is that the salary cap has worked against the Hawks instead of in their favor in recent years. The same intellectuals would have to say the salary cap benefits small market teams like St. Louis which has allowed them to win so many Stanley Cups recently. Oh wait.......

Interesting takes this AM from the HB Chi-town gang. Few points/questions.......

1. If Debrincat has to pick up his skating speed like most suggest, can that really be done? Isn't that akin to Dunc's lung capacity which is off the charts? You're either born with speed or lung capacity or you're not? As a former pro golfer who has been playing since 9 yrs old, I know that I could and did improve some areas of my game but no matter what I did, I couldn't really pick up any more than 3-4 MPH on my swing speed. Since most of the board have played the game of hockey and I didn't, can Deb increase his foot speed enough to make a difference at the NHL level?

2. Regarding the White Sox/Blackhawk analogy. First off, my top 5 favorite MLB teams are the Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, Cubs & White Sox .....so with that in mind I think Hahn has done a nice job of compiling young talent and trying to do it the "right way". Tanking like Theo/Jud with the Cubs is probably the best way to do it per se but let's face it, like any pro sports they got very lucky last year both in talent and having an injury free year. And they were damn lucky to come back from 3-1 down with some of our mad scientist's move in the dugout.

But they're built for the future so now it will up to Theo to get pitching and that's what Hahn has stockpiled in the minors with the WS. Unfortunately, as we all know arms (and especially young ones) are susceptible to injury and just plain breaking down while position players are a little safer bet, so to speak. But off all the pro sports, I think baseball is the most difficult to replicate year in and year out.

3. Comparing the Cubs/WS rebuild to the Blackhawks is tricky. On one hand the Blackhawks are only 10% or so of revenue/profits for the Wirtz Corp. so a tear down/rebuild won't hurt the owner's quite as much as some other sport's owners but the issue will be filling the UC and keeping the TV ratings/jersey sales up (and god those new white collars look like sh*t, ugh).

Here I think they'll be more like the WS than the Cubs. Let's face it, the WS attendance has sucked when they didn't have a competitive team whereas the Cub's attendance was down a bit, it was never down that much do to the "destination" status of that old crappy pos landmark on Clark and Addison (in the past, not now). The UC is a lot of things but I don't think its a "destination" spot that in town or out of town folks are going to have on their "bucket lists"

Either way, its going to be exciting/interesting times for those 3 franchises in the coming years..........now the 4th franchise.........2x ugh.....that's a WHOLE 'NOTHER story!!!

They had one guy who could play and fight, albeit on the back end of his career. But he had a few good years in Chicago.

#24.
- John Jaeckel

#20 wasn't sausage meat either ... seems like he did ok as Savard's LW.

Not personal. Sheldon is a funny name.

Sheldon
- hocktock

Have we signed him yet...

I don't think that all players want to play for their "hometown" team. Just look at guys like Sharp and Campbell, Chicago is as much their home as anywhere. I know Keith and Seabrook summer back in BC (in Kelowna along with Tootoo) but I see all the guys you mentioned finishing their careers in Chicago.
- DarthKane

I'd prefer that. I just wonder how that fits with a Blackhawks rebuild. Would they want to be a part of that? I doubt it. Would that meant he Blackhawks delay a rebuild until they are retired? That might be a while. Can the Blackhawks continue to tool and retool until they hang them up? The next season or two is going to say a lot about whether or not that's possible.

- ILGolfer

Sorry Sheldon.

Scott Powers‏ @ByScottPowers 14m14 minutes ago
Patrick Sharp getting in a workout before the #Blackhawks prospects today

https://twitter.com/BySco...status/888094809709260800

Scott Powers‏ @ByScottPowers 14m14 minutes ago
Patrick Sharp getting in a workout before the #Blackhawks prospects today

https://twitter.com/BySco...status/888094809709260800
- AEL_Fox

Second video:

https://twitter.com/BySco...status/888095257765826561

He looks decent coming off surgery.