If not Brady Tkachuk, then that is the next Guy on the radar that I hope Stan Bowman will take if he is available. I agree, I do not want to waste a high pick on a midget, we have enough table top hockey game defenseman already .Also agree with Don Cherry, get a “good ole big Canadian boy “!
- wonthecup10

I really don't get this infatuation with getting "big" players. Correct you don't want a team full of 5'9" players. However, in the last 9 years, how many players have we had that have been "big". Now take those players and how many of them have actually been good?

Here is a list:
Shaw
Bolland
Kruger (not counting the last two years)
TT
Hinostroza
Debrincat

All listed at <6' tall (from what I could find) and all hard to play against (and most actually put up points).

Another list:
Jimmy Hayes
Ben Eager
Viktor Stalberg
Jamal Mayers

All "big guys who could skate but were not all that great at hockey.

Don't get me started on the D-men.

Yes you need some size, but you need guys that can play and think the game of hockey even more.

I do not get this Kruger love and this comparing him to AA. I would not want Kruger back at league minimum after his contract runs out. AA is a useful player whose contract becomes more palatable each ensuing year for what he contributes as one of our few players who can go to the offensive zone blue paint.

Contrarian's view.....
1) McD, Bowman, Q stay at least through the Summer and the start of next season.
2) Bowman cannot or will not unload Toews, Seabs, Keith, Kane, or Crow.
3) Bowman signs Dylan Sikura, Rutta, Hino, Hayden
4) Bowman signs Duclair if the price is right or trades his rights before the draft.
5) Hawks 1st round draft picks are about 9 and 30 (nice players, but not starting in the NHL next season).
6) Bowman will try to move Hossa's contract and might find a taker if he throws in a 3rd round pick this year or some combination of picks and prospects. Maybe even offering the rights to a Duclair or Rutta as a sweetener, but not a 1st or 2nd round pick.
7) With the little cap space he has he tries to land a 1st pairing right side defender, but probably gets a 2nd pair defender instead.
8) He signs one or two "B" level free agents from Europe or the NHL for depth.
9) If Crow goes on LTIR I would look for Raanta to be in play.
10) Ejdsell make the team out of camp.

Toews needs a shooter/scorer on his right side. He is left handed so receiving passes and making passes is easier in that direction. His best lines were with Hossa and Kane on his RW. Both shooters/scorers. Sikura? Saad is not a shooter, but he can be a scorer going hard to the net and picking up the greasy goals (like the one last night that was disallowed).

Duclair is a Skille, Stalberg, Panik type. Looks like he could break through, but then never does. Decent energy line guy, but should not be playing on the top line.

Kane can play with either Schmaltz or AA as his center. But he is best when he has a pure shooter/scorer (Panarin/a younger Sharp) on the LW (neither of which AA or Schmaltz is). That is why I like DeBrincat there with AA.

Slash away...
- -Doh-

All seems very possible

I do not get this Kruger love and this comparing him to AA. I would not want Kruger back at league minimum after his contract runs out. AA is a useful player whose contract becomes more palatable each ensuing year for what he contributes as one of our few players who can go to the offensive zone blue paint.
- 67hawks

Not completely, useless, PP suffered without his net front presence this year

Oh I thought you said useless, my bad

Laughable.
- Savoy

Savoy nice try. Guess you ran out of absurd points about the Great Panarin. Don’t ever let reality and facts get in the way of unsupportable delusion. Now go spend some time at your Panarin Shrine.

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore

You missed the blog reader input (ie. not Justin)or you read it but do not believe the reasons Panarin MIGHT have been traded for.

In additiin to the reason given at the time the trade went down, Panarin turtled vs Nashville. He saw his team was overmatched and lacking heart; therefore, he turtled so that he could stay healthy and next go play for his country in the World Championship. While Panarin has greater ability and is the difference maker type, it was outweighed by the negative connotations....so the trade went down.

I don"t know if why he was traded (according to the hockeybuzz reader here) can be proved. But the truth is, you have to be tough enough in playoffs and no pouting allowed. Playoff hockey for the Blackhawks is like playing co - ed hockey with no checking. The Blackhawks need to be so much tougher throughout line up and if Bowman doesn't seriously address that concern for next season, then he will punch his own ticket out of town.

Saad was the first supposed top lines player added because his size was part and parcel to getting tougher to play against. We see reports and conjecture why Saad hadn't clicked this season, but this is a segway into another issue and i do not want to go off on a tangent.

Call it an attitude problem if you believe it..i am willing to accept this is true. The team's reason for the trade is the official explanation
7

You’re the marginalized one there Savoy with this powerful man-love for Panarin. You know your opinion is in complete opposition to all of management and staff of all levels from the top to the scouts. Also do you think players are impressed with a guy who makes it crystal clear he couldn’t care less about getting beat out of the play-offs and actually prefers playing for his Mother Russia? He’s so committed to the the Hawks and the NHL he refuses to learn to speak English. Well that might work for suckers like future Hall of Famer Ovechkin but I’m Panarin the Great. Panarin was clearly despised by Toews and others for his “me, me, me” attitude.

Finally, that unidimensional ball of offensive thunder Panarin might get 25 goals this year - maybe not. Hardly worth all this crying you are doing.
- Z3Hawk

Alright i am onboard with the pouting Panarin. But when you mention that he will finish with rougjly 25 goals this season, do not marginalize Panarin. It is all about if you want Panarin on your team, then you get the right center for him to thrive. He doedn't have that so far in Columbus

Savoy nice try. Guess you ran out of absurd points about the Great Panarin. Don’t ever let reality and facts get in the way of unsupportable delusion. Now go spend some time at your Panarin Shrine.
- Z3Hawk

I'm glad you enjoy it. There's a lot more coming where that came from.

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore



- EnzoD

Awesome! Now do defense!!

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore



- EnzoD

Winner !!!!! Now if Q would not change lines every game it could jell!!!

Good point...Schmaltz is better suited for the 4LW spot than 2C, I was feeling generous this morning. Kampf could be the 13th forward, he's just another soft player that fits Stan's agenda. There was a time when fans loved Rasmussen and Kampf isn't half the player he is.
- DarthKane

Rassmussen cannot stick on the parent Anaheim roster..A tad too slow skating and too much lacking offensively.

I'm glad you enjoy it. There's a lot more coming where that came from.
- Savoy

And it's not about Panarin. It's about Bowman.

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore



- EnzoD

replace Highmore with some toughness and a guy that hits and add a vet in the wingles to rotate as the 13th.

Darth Kane,
Just wondering what is your preference you want us to draft if we had a top five slot. Your order say #2 - #10.

Btw wiz is at least tempoarily banned by some administror other than Justin. Is it a sour grapes thing. I am a bit in the dark over it. But Justin probably could get him back on the board. I know this: despite whatever so called transgression, hockeybuzz and its readers loose out. Wiz can write anywhere he wants. He doesn't need hockeybuzz. Can you handle the truth, moderator who banned him. Can you tell us why he was banned so we do not commit the same atrocity?

I really don't get this infatuation with getting "big" players. Correct you don't want a team full of 5'9" players. However, in the last 9 years, how many players have we had that have been "big". Now take those players and how many of them have actually been good?

Here is a list:
Shaw
Bolland
Kruger (not counting the last two years)
TT
Hinostroza
Debrincat

All listed at <6' tall (from what I could find) and all hard to play against (and most actually put up points).

Another list:
Jimmy Hayes
Ben Eager
Viktor Stalberg
Jamal Mayers

All "big guys who could skate but were not all that great at hockey.

Don't get me started on the D-men.

Yes you need some size, but you need guys that can play and think the game of hockey even more.
- Chunk

tt was soft and disappeared at times he was a complimentary piece if you already had size.
Hayes and Stalberg were both big but played like 5'8 euros.
Eager was a good lw decent hockey player bit of a agitator spot picker.
Mayers was on his last leg of his career and washed up.
John Scott was a big guy who didn't really play his role as enforcer as good til he went to buffalo great locker room guy better 4th liner then Stalberg and Hayes.
Bollig started out great then his last year he got a big head never saw a player who would miss the body and hit the boards harder then good ole b52.
Matt Walker big guy who was a dman who was ideal for a young team as a 6th dmen.
Then we had Ladd big buff and other big bodies that were essential to the hawks success.

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore



- EnzoD

Tkachuk can play center and lw so switch dcat and tkachuk thats 2 very good lines . Hino AA wingles if signs back kamp or free agent center which i would like so kamp can develop more hayden and another physical winger with size and speed. Duclair you trade him along with jurco both have all the tools but can't do it enough and consistent.

Tkachuk can play center and lw so switch dcat and tkachuk thats 2 very good lines . Hino AA wingles if signs back kamp or free agent center which i would like so kamp can develop more hayden and another physical winger with size and speed. Duclair you trade him along with jurco both have all the tools but can't do it enough and consistent.
- Scott1977

The team needs to suck more for Tzchuck to be in the conversation...

tt was soft and disappeared at times he was a complimentary piece if you already had size.
Hayes and Stalberg were both big but played like 5'8 euros.
Eager was a good lw decent hockey player bit of a agitator spot picker.
Mayers was on his last leg of his career and washed up.
John Scott was a big guy who didn't really play his role as enforcer as good til he went to buffalo great locker room guy better 4th liner then Stalberg and Hayes.
Bollig started out great then his last year he got a big head never saw a player who would miss the body and hit the boards harder then good ole b52.
Matt Walker big guy who was a dman who was ideal for a young team as a 6th dmen.
Then we had Ladd big buff and other big bodies that were essential to the hawks success.
- vandymeer23

He was 20.

Saad-Toews-Kane
Debrincat-Schmaltz-Tzchuk
Hayden-Anisimov-Hinostroza
Wingels-Kampf-Highmore



- EnzoD

What no Sssssikura?

What no Sssssikura?
- BetweenTheDots

Sikula is not NHL material....he'll be in the ECHL by Canadian Thanksgiving.

I'm glad you enjoy it. There's a lot more coming where that came from.
- Savoy

Tell me all about your Panarin Shrine. Maybe I can help you through it.

I'll go with Don Cherry thinking and go for the good old Ontario boy Evan Bouchard.
- Rota's Rooter

Bouchard would be my second option...I think Noah Dobson would be an excellent selection.

Darth Kane,
Just wondering what is your preference you want us to draft if we had a top five slot. Your order say #2 - #10.

Btw wiz is at least tempoarily banned by some administror other than Justin. Is it a sour grapes thing. I am a bit in the dark over it. But Justin probably could get him back on the board. I know this: despite whatever so called transgression, hockeybuzz and its readers loose out. Wiz can write anywhere he wants. He doesn't need hockeybuzz. Can you handle the truth, moderator who banned him. Can you tell us why he was banned so we do not commit the same atrocity?
- jhawk59

That must be a joke. What?!...

Bouchard would be my second option...I think Noah Dobson would be an excellent selection.
- DarthKane

No Zadina or Svechnikov if we get a top 3?