John Jaeckel: Lots Of Rumors

No matter what happens, Seabrook needs to stay.

#embracetheyouth

Thanks for the insight, as always!

Bowman seems to go fishing for an older dman in August...

That veteran defenseman, any rumors in regards to a certain Christian Ehrhoff? (obviously it would have to be a short term, extremely cap friendly deal, not likely, but to play with a group like this?)

Certainly something to be said about Bowman being unprepared for the Saad situation. He knew he NEEDED to clear the cap space in order to get Saad re-signed. If he didn't know that another team was going to give Saad an offer sheet, then there are much larger problems then whether he was prepared or not. The fact is, he overplayed his hand regarding the 3 contracts he needed to trade (Sharp, Bickell & Versteeg), and every GM in the league knew it. No one knows for sure, but I bet an overpriced at the UC that Stan had a comparable deal from MTL at the draft (less players coming back but more contract $$ going to MTL) to the one he got from DAL. Sending Sharp to MTL at the draft would have freed up enough money to get Saad signed. That being said, is Saad worth the $6+M AAV? Signing him would have all but shipped Crawford out the door to facilitate re-signing Seabrook in the near future.

So yesterday I was reading a rumor about Toronto wanting to move James van Riemsdyk and the Hawks maybe being interested except for the whole salary cap issue.

Then this morning I see Eklund talking about Lou Lamoriello taking over in Toronto and " He also has always been about goaltending".

So if Crawford is the sacrificial lamb, is this a good starting point for a trade and what other assets do you think would have to be exchanged to make it happen ?

Does trading Shaw figure into any of these rumors? They really need to keep the magical 4th line intact. I would include any Rockford prospects and/or picks--no exceptions--if that's what it takes to trade Bickell, sign Kruger and hold onto Shaw.

That veteran defenseman, any rumors in regards to a certain Christian Ehrhoff? (obviously it would have to be a short term, extremely cap friendly deal, not likely, but to play with a group like this?)
- Hossa1881

Have not heard it lately, Hoss.

I suspect there are enough other teams sniffing around him and the Hawks having other issues to resolve first, he will end up elsewhere, but never know because I heard there was mutual interest, and I heard it from multiple sources.

In your edumacated view, JJ, when do you think the move will happen? Soon or closer to the start of the season? My thoughts is that it all revolves around Bickell and his health. If he can be proven healthy, and moved, we will see him moved quickly, otherwise we will be waiting.

With the going young part, you must mean on defense (other than the possibility of TT, AP, and Dano making the roster out of camp) because we have 18 forwards that look like they could make the roster:

Toews
Kane
Hossa
AA
AP
TT
Dano
Kruger
Shaw
Bickell
Versteeg
Baun
Tikonov
Desjardins
Morin
Garbutt
Tropp
Nordstrom

before we may see a McNeill, Danault, Hartman, or Ross make the team. For a team that may have 14 forwards on the roster, not seeing many Rockford guys making the roster at forward.

Thanks JJ. Do you feel that the Hawks are softening their stance on trading a good prospect to unload all of Bickell's $4 mil?

Have not heard it lately, Hoss.

I suspect there are enough other teams sniffing around him and the Hawks having other issues to resolve first, he will end up elsewhere, but never know because I heard there was mutual interest, and I heard it from multiple sources.
- John Jaeckel

A guy can dream, right? Thanks for the insight. I'm kind of excited to see what this Gustafsson can bring to the table, and to see how TVR handles his sophomore (can we consider it that) year in the NHL. I was EXTREMELY impressed at how the kid handled the adversity of clawing his way onto the roster at the beginning of the season, probably devasted after two injuries, and making his way back to the roster for the SCF. You could make a Disney movie out of his or even Darling's stories this year

That veteran defenseman, any rumors in regards to a certain Christian Ehrhoff? (obviously it would have to be a short term, extremely cap friendly deal, not likely, but to play with a group like this?)
- Hossa1881

I would think Gleason, volchenkov, or Schlemko

Certainly something to be said about Bowman being unprepared for the Saad situation. He knew he NEEDED to clear the cap space in order to get Saad re-signed. If he didn't know that another team was going to give Saad an offer sheet, then there are much larger problems then whether he was prepared or not. The fact is, he overplayed his hand regarding the 3 contracts he needed to trade (Sharp, Bickell & Versteeg), and every GM in the league knew it. No one knows for sure, but I bet an overpriced at the UC that Stan had a comparable deal from MTL at the draft (less players coming back but more contract $$ going to MTL) to the one he got from DAL. Sending Sharp to MTL at the draft would have freed up enough money to get Saad signed. That being said, is Saad worth the $6+M AAV? Signing him would have all but shipped Crawford out the door to facilitate re-signing Seabrook in the near future.
- lgreenspon7

I agree that Bowman overplayed his hand regarding Sharp, but he really did get excellent value back for Saad. If he came up with that deal literally overnight, that's pretty damn impressive. I doubt it though; I bet the Hawks & Columbus had had at least preliminary talks about what a deal might look like weeks earlier.

My hunch is that ten years from now, people will still be debating who "won" the Saad trade. If so, that's a win for the Hawks, considering what they were up against.

So yesterday I was reading a rumor about Toronto wanting to move James van Riemsdyk and the Hawks maybe being interested except for the whole salary cap issue.

Then this morning I see Eklund talking about Lou Lamoriello taking over in Toronto and " He also has always been about goaltending".

So if Crawford is the sacrificial lamb, is this a good starting point for a trade and what other assets do you think would have to be exchanged to make it happen ?
- kissthecup22

Toronto are at least four years, probably seven and some luck before they are a contender. What would they want a $6M goalie for this early in their rebuild?

Certainly something to be said about Bowman being unprepared for the Saad situation. He knew he NEEDED to clear the cap space in order to get Saad re-signed. If he didn't know that another team was going to give Saad an offer sheet, then there are much larger problems then whether he was prepared or not. The fact is, he overplayed his hand regarding the 3 contracts he needed to trade (Sharp, Bickell & Versteeg), and every GM in the league knew it. No one knows for sure, but I bet an overpriced at the UC that Stan had a comparable deal from MTL at the draft (less players coming back but more contract $$ going to MTL) to the one he got from DAL. Sending Sharp to MTL at the draft would have freed up enough money to get Saad signed. That being said, is Saad worth the $6+M AAV? Signing him would have all but shipped Crawford out the door to facilitate re-signing Seabrook in the near future.
- lgreenspon7

Nice insight. And I agree about earlier offers for Sharp, consistent with what I heard.

Bowman also got a nice return on Saad, though.

Hey, he played the hand long and got burned a bit. That said, he almost had no choice with the Saad situation because he had tried to negotiate earlier and the agent refused to do so til after the season. Everyone knew offer sheets were coming, and they were about to, and there you go.

Thanks JJ. Do you feel that the Hawks are softening their stance on trading a good prospect to unload all of Bickell's $4 mil?
- ikeane

I hear they would like to avoid that. There are issues with dealing Bickell, nothing that hasn't been discussed, but probably best not to talk about it now.

I hear they would like to avoid that. There are issues with dealing Bickell, nothing that hasn't been discussed, but probably best not to talk about it now.
- John Jaeckel

I'm out for the night, enjoy, any questions PM me please.

Toronto are at least four years, probably seven and some luck before they are a contender. What would they want a $6M goalie for this early in their rebuild?
- paulr

I don't know but in the 2nd article Eklund says that "Lou has NEVER been about "3 years of pain" however. Lou has always been about winning NOW."
But if that's the case, then I don't understand them wanting to trade JVR either, so I guess it seems like both stories can't be true.

I hear they would like to avoid that. There are issues with dealing Bickell, nothing that hasn't been discussed, but probably best not to talk about it now.
- John Jaeckel

Thanks for sharing what you can. Always appreciated. I have this sinking feeling that Stan will hold his cards too long again and finally he will be forced to deal CC to fill out the roster. With Kruger being a premier shutdown center, I am shocked no one has tried to poach him, however I believe the saying is "it takes two to tango" so if Freddie told his agent no signing with anyone but Chicago, that is huge. Just saying, not starting a rumor.

"The one thing the team will do in all of those scenarios is re-sign Marcus Kruger, who Quenneville believes is essential to any realistic shot at a Cup this year."

Correct me if I'm wrong JJ. but that would lead me to believe we're talking about a trade happening sooner rather than later. How long can Kruger be left out there hanging? I really can't see signing him prior to a trade. That would just further weaken our hand.

Plan D, Plan D please. Use Crawford to move Bickell to Toronto now that Lou is there. Helps the cap in the long term.

"The one thing the team will do in all of those scenarios is re-sign Marcus Kruger, who Quenneville believes is essential to any realistic shot at a Cup this year."

Correct me if I'm wrong JJ. but that would lead me to believe we're talking about a trade happening sooner rather than later. How long can Kruger be left out there hanging? I really can't see signing him prior to a trade. That would just further weaken our hand.
- walleyeb1

Kruger needs to come to camp, right? One way or another, they'll sign Kruger by Sept. 18 or not at all.

JJ, I appreciate the new blog, always nice to have a clean slate. But you say "lots of rumors" but don't list any. Everything you said has been said before, many times over the past few weeks. With Crawford as option "D", and options "A", "B", and "C" supposedly involving Bickell and Versteeg - and Stan doesn't want to include a good prospect to move Bickell - what's new? I'm squeezing that turnip hard as I can and I can't see any blood coming from it.

Again - starting a new blog just for the sake of hitting the reset button is fine. I like hanging out here and appreciate the time you put in to make this a place that's fun to hang out. But "lots of rumors" without listing anything new or even repeating a previous reported rumor is kind of playing with us.

C'mon Stan - do something and put us out of this misery.