The Hossa contract should simply stay where it is. It is not marketable. Further, the 'Hawks are a first-class organization and they take care of their own. $1 million per year for a few more years is all money Hossa well earned. The day that contract is completed, #81 goes up to rafters for the ages.
- 35Tony0

I disagree, the cap relief we'd receive is not to be undervalued. We have to start the season with his hit on the books, only on the 2nd day can we LTIR him.

Once we LTIR him we don't even get FULL relief from his hit. We can send this to a floor team along with a sweetener, there is value for a ~$5M cap hit for $1M in real dollars.

Agreed on Oesterle, he should just be Brookbanked until he can be a middling defenseman.
Disagree on Toews, his '200-foot' game is misleading because his offensive zone play is terrible. He has mishandled more pucks than any other Hawk I watched this season, and he led all Hawk forwards in giveaways https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/te...ago-blackhawks/statistics.

He is just not the Jonathan Toews we know with the puck anymore, he boots it, has it slip under his stick when deking, or just overhandles it. It's a sad realization but it's true.

Agreed on Hossa's contract, although we will not get anything for it, we will have to give.
- ObeseOprah

Agree on Toews handling of the puck, it was severely lacking this year. It felt like he just bobbled and fumbled the puck way to often for a player of his caliber, and it is true that he lead all Blackhawks forwards with giveaways this year. I don't think that it is absurd to think that Toews lost 10-15 points this season due to uncharacteristic puck bobbling.

If that is truly one of the things hurting in his game then hopefully the Blackhawks have noticed it, because I feel that stickhandling is one of the easiest hockey skills to improve with practice. Old guys rarely have speed, but sometimes they do have some serious handles. I'm not saying Toews is an old guy, but I just feel that stickhandling is one of those skills that can be maintained as a player ages. To me this is strangely reassuring, because I feel like if Toews dedicates some of his training time this offseason to improving his handling of the puck, he will see a meaningful improvement in his offensive game next year.

Interesting side note, Nick Schmaltz is credited with 86 TAs this year, the next best Blackhawk is Toews with 53. That is a seriously impressive statistic, and something that I love about Schmaltz' game. Whenever I watched the Blackhawks this year and someone picked the pocket of an opposing player, I said to myself "I bet that's Schmaltz", and most of the time it was. I'm glad to see this observation bears out in these TA/GA stats. I really like Schmaltz and I think if he can try to force himself to shoot more in the offensive zone, then he will be a really good to great 2 way player who puts up 65-70 points. Hopefully a centerman if he can improve on the faceoffs.

One guy the Hawks might want to target, Justin Faulk: https://www.sportsnet.ca/...defencemen-three-seasons/

He's still a tremendous defenseman, despite losing some PP time to other young standouts like Slavin and Hanifin.

Carolina has a glut of defensemen: Fleury, Slavin, Pesce, Hanifin, Fleury.
They also have decent depth besides that: TVR, Dahlbeck
They also have a decent pipeline of other dmen on the way: Jake Bean (13th overall 2016), Roland McKeown (50th overall 2014)

Faulk's numbers have taken a hit even since Slavin, Pesce, and Hanifin have taken bigger roles in the last 3 years, largely due to reduced PP time.

The Hurricanes will want forwards, and despite this being the Hawks' smallest weakness, it's still a weakness. Maybe a package of Nashville 1st, Duclair, and one of the other young forwards does the trick, maybe you need to add more picks.

Faulk is underutilized in CAR right now, so his value is down. He can go back to a #1 defenseman in the right situation, and at $4M per year he's on a great deal. CAR has to pay RFA's Lindholm, Hanifin, and TVR this offseason.

Agree on Toews handling of the puck, it was severely lacking this year. It felt like he just bobbled and fumbled the puck way to often for a player of his caliber, and it is true that he lead all Blackhawks forwards with giveaways this year. I don't think that it is absurd to think that Toews lost 10-15 points this season due to uncharacteristic puck bobbling.

If that is truly one of the things hurting in his game then hopefully the Blackhawks have noticed it, because I feel that stickhandling is one of the easiest hockey skills to improve with practice. Old guys rarely have speed, but sometimes they do have some serious handles. I'm not saying Toews is an old guy, but I just feel that stickhandling is one of those skills that can be maintained as a player ages. To me this is strangely reassuring, because I feel like if Toews dedicates some of his training time this offseason to improving his handling of the puck, he will see a meaningful improvement in his offensive game next year.

Interesting side note, Nick Schmaltz is credited with 86 TAs this year, the next best Blackhawk is Toews with 53. That is a seriously impressive statistic, and something that I love about Schmaltz' game. Whenever I watched the Blackhawks this year and someone picked the pocket of an opposing player, I said to myself "I bet that's Schmaltz", and most of the time it was. I'm glad to see this observation bears out in these TA/GA stats. I really like Schmaltz and I think if he can try to force himself to shoot more in the offensive zone, then he will be a really good to great 2 way player who puts up 65-70 points. Hopefully a centerman if he can improve on the faceoffs.
- LaheysBRandy

No doubt Schmaltz really helped minimize the sting of losing Hossa with his takeaway numbers.

Interesting side note, Nick Schmaltz is credited with 86 TAs this year, the next best Blackhawk is Toews with 53. That is a seriously impressive statistic, and something that I love about Schmaltz' game. Whenever I watched the Blackhawks this year and someone picked the pocket of an opposing player, I said to myself "I bet that's Schmaltz", and most of the time it was. I'm glad to see this observation bears out in these TA/GA stats. I really like Schmaltz and I think if he can try to force himself to shoot more in the offensive zone, then he will be a really good to great 2 way player who puts up 65-70 points. Hopefully a centerman if he can improve on the faceoffs.
- LaheysBRandy

Yeah I think Schmaltz is turning into our Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, smaller guy who's sneaky good on defense. I think that if the Hawks are going to continue using centers that are not great at the dot, we need to adopt a San Jose style of lines.

For the last memorable years, SJ will trot out any combination of Thornton, Couture, Marleau, and Pavelski. All would trade off taking Faceoffs and would then shift to the regular position depending on who they were with.

The Hawks should consider this, especially after seeing Giroux's success playing LW with Coutourier. Kane was taking a few faceoffs in the last couple of games, both he and Saad have failed experiments where Q tried them at 2nd line center. Time to figure out who can win a draw and throw the traditions out the window.

I went back and looked at the last 17 drafts, and man are there a ton of busts in the first and second rounds.
I think its an educated guess at best with some of these kids.

I disagree, the cap relief we'd receive is not to be undervalued. We have to start the season with his hit on the books, only on the 2nd day can we LTIR him.

Once we LTIR him we don't even get FULL relief from his hit. We can send this to a floor team along with a sweetener, there is value for a ~$5M cap hit for $1M in real dollars.
- ObeseOprah

Absolutely correct.

Yeah I think Schmaltz is turning into our Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, smaller guy who's sneaky good on defense. I think that if the Hawks are going to continue using centers that are not great at the dot, we need to adopt a San Jose style of lines.

For the last memorable years, SJ will trot out any combination of Thornton, Couture, Marleau, and Pavelski. All would trade off taking Faceoffs and would then shift to the regular position depending on who they were with.

The Hawks should consider this, especially after seeing Giroux's success playing LW with Coutourier. Kane was taking a few faceoffs in the last couple of games, both he and Saad have failed experiments where Q tried them at 2nd line center. Time to figure out who can win a draw and throw the traditions out the window.
- ObeseOprah

That is an interesting idea, that centers don’t necessarily need to be the one taking face offs. The downside I see is that a center would then end up taking the wings defensive responsibility off the draw, which could throw off defensive matchups in the dzone where the centerman is supposed to do the heavy lifting defensively.

I have seen an ongoing debate spark up on this board every once in a while regarding the value of face offs, and that the few percentage points you gain with a good face off man only results in maybe a couple goal differential throughout the regular season. I think that I agree with these posters that face offs probably don’t make much of a difference over the course of a season. Having said that, in the playoffs if a good faceoff team goes against a bad faceoff team than these differences would be highlighted and it may end up making a difference. I wonder where the Blackhawks need Schmaltz to get in faceoff percentage in order for him to be worth leaving at center

Agree on Toews handling of the puck, it was severely lacking this year. It felt like he just bobbled and fumbled the puck way to often for a player of his caliber, and it is true that he lead all Blackhawks forwards with giveaways this year. I don't think that it is absurd to think that Toews lost 10-15 points this season due to uncharacteristic puck bobbling.

If that is truly one of the things hurting in his game then hopefully the Blackhawks have noticed it, because I feel that stickhandling is one of the easiest hockey skills to improve with practice. Old guys rarely have speed, but sometimes they do have some serious handles. I'm not saying Toews is an old guy, but I just feel that stickhandling is one of those skills that can be maintained as a player ages. To me this is strangely reassuring, because I feel like if Toews dedicates some of his training time this offseason to improving his handling of the puck, he will see a meaningful improvement in his offensive game next year.

Interesting side note, Nick Schmaltz is credited with 86 TAs this year, the next best Blackhawk is Toews with 53. That is a seriously impressive statistic, and something that I love about Schmaltz' game. Whenever I watched the Blackhawks this year and someone picked the pocket of an opposing player, I said to myself "I bet that's Schmaltz", and most of the time it was. I'm glad to see this observation bears out in these TA/GA stats. I really like Schmaltz and I think if he can try to force himself to shoot more in the offensive zone, then he will be a really good to great 2 way player who puts up 65-70 points. Hopefully a centerman if he can improve on the faceoffs.
- LaheysBRandy

I like Schmaltz. But he does not spend much time in the dirty areas. (in front of the net and in the corners). He is not good at winning faceoffs or board battles. He is not a natural shooter/scorer/sniper. I would like to see him on the 3rd line LW with a physical center that does go into the dirty areas and wins faceoffs and a RW power forward who has a shoot first mentality (like Hartman was).

One guy the Hawks might want to target, Justin Faulk: https://www.sportsnet.ca/...defencemen-three-seasons/

He's still a tremendous defenseman, despite losing some PP time to other young standouts like Slavin and Hanifin.

Carolina has a glut of defensemen: Fleury, Slavin, Pesce, Hanifin, Fleury.
They also have decent depth besides that: TVR, Dahlbeck
They also have a decent pipeline of other dmen on the way: Jake Bean (13th overall 2016), Roland McKeown (50th overall 2014)

Faulk's numbers have taken a hit even since Slavin, Pesce, and Hanifin have taken bigger roles in the last 3 years, largely due to reduced PP time.

The Hurricanes will want forwards, and despite this being the Hawks' smallest weakness, it's still a weakness. Maybe a package of Nashville 1st, Duclair, and one of the other young forwards does the trick, maybe you need to add more picks.

Faulk is underutilized in CAR right now, so his value is down. He can go back to a #1 defenseman in the right situation, and at $4M per year he's on a great deal. CAR has to pay RFA's Lindholm, Hanifin, and TVR this offseason.
- ObeseOprah

The problem is that he’s notoriously bad in his own end according to Canes fans. I haven’t looked at the underlying numbers, but to me it sounds like he’s a better version of Gus.

Not a bad idea, but I think the ‘Hawks need a top-4 d-man that is stable in his own end. Man oh man how nice it would be to have an in-his-prime Hammer right now.

That is an interesting idea, that centers don’t necessarily need to be the one taking face offs. The downside I see is that a center would then end up taking the wings defensive responsibility off the draw, which could throw off defensive matchups in the dzone where the centerman is supposed to do the heavy lifting defensively.

I have seen an ongoing debate spark up on this board every once in a while regarding the value of face offs, and that the few percentage points you gain with a good face off man only results in maybe a couple goal differential throughout the regular season. I think that I agree with these posters that face offs probably don’t make much of a difference over the course of a season. Having said that, in the playoffs if a good faceoff team goes against a bad faceoff team than these differences would be highlighted and it may end up making a difference. I wonder where the Blackhawks need Schmaltz to get in faceoff percentage in order for him to be worth leaving at center
- LaheysBRandy

Faceoffs are one thing. But having the physicality to manhandle opponents in front of our net and take a beating in front of their net is equally important. Also winning board battles in the corners or behind the either net. I am not sure Schmaltz is willing or built to do that. That is why I see him as more of a playmaking wing. Like Teravainen (who had 64 points, but was 30% at the dot this year).

I like Schmaltz. But he does not spend much time in the dirty areas. (in front of the net and in the corners). He is not good at winning faceoffs or board battles. He is not a natural shooter/scorer/sniper. I would like to see him on the 3rd line LW with a physical center that does go into the dirty areas and wins faceoffs and a RW power forward who has a shoot first mentality (like Hartman was).
- -Doh-

In other words, he's another skinny and weak player on a Hawks' roster full of them (Schmaltz, Sikura, Ejdselll, Gustafson, Oesterle, Forsling, Rutta, Hinostroza). Schmaltz has exceptional speed, hands, and offensive skill, but he looks like he has never lifted a weight in his life! If he can get into the gym this summer to add 10lbs of muscle and some strength, he could easily be close to a PPG player with Kane on his line.

For the reasons that Oprah mentioned, Toews NEEDS significant help on his line to produce offense. As such, I think Q HAS to play Kane with Toews. The Hawks pushed out a bunch of fluff articles about Kane+Toews reunion this year so it can be a positive PR and on-ice move. Q's biggest failure this year was not separating Saad-Toews sooner and not going to Toews-Kane until the Hawks season was effectively over. Toews has become a grinder so let him grind and play D while Kane makes plays with the puck. Pretty much anyone can play LW on that line and be effective (Saad, Debrincat, Schmaltz, Sikura, ect).

The problem is that he’s notoriously bad in his own end according to Canes fans. I haven’t looked at the underlying numbers, but to me it sounds like he’s a better version of Gus.

Not a bad idea, but I think the ‘Hawks need a top-4 d-man that is stable in his own end. Man oh man how nice it would be to have an in-his-prime Hammer right now.
- TommyHawk

Carolina fans likely know better than I do, but Faulk's underlying numbers might tell a different story: 55% Corsi For % at Even Strength, and 54% Fenwick For % at Even Strength. This means that at Even Strength, when Faulk is on the ice, his team puts 54% of the total shots on either goalie. This is better than every defenseman on the Hawks besides Gustafsson at FF%.

He starts 58.3% of his shifts in the offensive zone, which is a very heavy sheltering compared to most dmen. This is likely a combination of his own liability and his coach's favoring of Justin's capabilities in the offensive zone.

I still really like the guy, because of his great contract and his upside as someone who is competing with 4 other very good defenseman. He would immediately be a top 4 guy here, and would be much cheaper than the $6-8M per season that Carlson is going to command.

Carolina fans likely know better than I do, but Faulk's underlying numbers might tell a different story: 55% Corsi For % at Even Strength, and 54% Fenwick For % at Even Strength. This means that at Even Strength, when Faulk is on the ice, his team puts 54% of the total shots on either goalie. This is better than every defenseman on the Hawks besides Gustafsson at FF%.

He starts 58.3% of his shifts in the offensive zone, which is a very heavy sheltering compared to most dmen. This is likely a combination of his own liability and his coach's favoring of Justin's capabilities in the offensive zone.

I still really like the guy, because of his great contract and his upside as someone who is competing with 4 other very good defenseman. He would immediately be a top 4 guy here, and would be much cheaper than the $6-8M per season that Carlson is going to command.
- ObeseOprah

Like you, I don't watch Carolina more than 3x a year. I do know that Offense has always been Faulk's best asset, and ever since David Rundblad had the best advanced stats of any Hawk Dman in his time here, I put almost no stock in those numbers TBH.....Either way, he would be a big upgrade over every Dman the Hawks' dressed this year, maybe even Keith and his UGLY -29.

In other words, he's another skinny and weak player on a Hawks' roster full of them (Schmaltz, Sikura, Ejdselll, Gustafson, Oesterle, Forsling, Rutta, Hinostroza). Schmaltz has exceptional speed, hands, and offensive skill, but he looks like he has never lifted a weight in his life! If he can get into the gym this summer to add 10lbs of muscle and some strength, he could easily be close to a PPG player with Kane on his line.

For the reasons that Oprah mentioned, Toews NEEDS significant help on his line to produce offense. As such, I think Q HAS to play Kane with Toews. The Hawks pushed out a bunch of fluff articles about Kane+Toews reunion this year so it can be a positive PR and on-ice move. Q's biggest failure this year was not separating Saad-Toews sooner and not going to Toews-Kane until the Hawks season was effectively over. Toews has become a grinder so let him grind and play D while Kane makes plays with the puck. Pretty much anyone can play LW on that line and be effective (Saad, Debrincat, Schmaltz, Sikura, ect).
- EnzoD

Dont forget - #8, just shoot the damn puck!!! have #8 shadow D-Cat this summer to learn how to be aggressive offensive player. once he learns that part of his game, it will really open up the ice for him and teammates.....

Like you, I don't watch Carolina more than 3x a year. I do know that Offense has always been Faulk's best asset, and ever since David Rundblad had the best advanced stats of any Hawk Dman in his time here, I put almost no stock in those numbers TBH.....Either way, he would be a big upgrade over every Dman the Hawks' dressed this year, maybe even Keith and his UGLY -29.
- EnzoD

Fair points. I wouldn't write off advanced stats completely. It usually helps you figure out more about guys who you normally don't watch. There are outliers like Rundblad, but using other numbers to figure out who's pulling more than their weight is helpful.

Guys like Oduya, who I'm pretty sure was an analytics driven trade, were not big names until advanced stats started showing how valuable they could be. Calvin de Haan has solid numbers for playing on a pretty bad team, he's solid in most categories and would be one of the few non-'skinny puck moving pp specialist softy' dmen that the Hawks could field. Carlson is a beast but I'd rather let some other team grossly overpay him for too long.

Targeting teams like Carolina, Calgary, and others with a surplus of D but crappy forwards could be a nice strategy in the offseason. Surely Stan won't stand pat in the first offseason with Cap Space in a long time.

In other words, he's another skinny and weak player on a Hawks' roster full of them (Schmaltz, Sikura, Ejdselll, Gustafson, Oesterle, Forsling, Rutta, Hinostroza). Schmaltz has exceptional speed, hands, and offensive skill, but he looks like he has never lifted a weight in his life! If he can get into the gym this summer to add 10lbs of muscle and some strength, he could easily be close to a PPG player with Kane on his line.

For the reasons that Oprah mentioned, Toews NEEDS significant help on his line to produce offense. As such, I think Q HAS to play Kane with Toews. The Hawks pushed out a bunch of fluff articles about Kane+Toews reunion this year so it can be a positive PR and on-ice move. Q's biggest failure this year was not separating Saad-Toews sooner and not going to Toews-Kane until the Hawks season was effectively over. Toews has become a grinder so let him grind and play D while Kane makes plays with the puck. Pretty much anyone can play LW on that line and be effective (Saad, Debrincat, Schmaltz, Sikura, ect).
- EnzoD

I agree completely until we start talking about a 2nd line. Without Kane the 2nd line is a dud.

If we can agree on Toews, Kane, Saad, AA, Debrincat as 5 top 6 players on the Hawks. The add a UFA Neal? E Kane? JVR? Grabner? Peron? The top 6 looks ok.

For the 3rd line Schmaltz, Hayden? (maybe Wingels)? not terrible.

We understand what Tommy Wingels had said when he had left, that he enjoyed his time here. And time has passed.But God dammit, he may win a cup with Boston,And if they like him and he likes it there why would he want to come back here If they are interested in re-signing him also.And I just laugh when I see some of these potential lineup cards made out with his name. If he smart he’ll stay there. They make airplanes for him to come back and see his family here.

We understand what Tommy Wingels had said when he had left, that he enjoyed his time here. And time has passed.But God dammit, he may win a cup with Boston,And if they like him and he likes it there why would he want to come back here If they are interested in re-signing him also.And I just laugh when I see some of these potential lineup cards made out with his name. If he smart he’ll stay there. They make airplanes for him to come back and see his family here.
- wonthecup10

We get a better draft pick if Boston makes it to the second round, right?

We understand what Tommy Wingels had said when he had left, that he enjoyed his time here. And time has passed.But God dammit, he may win a cup with Boston,And if they like him and he likes it there why would he want to come back here If they are interested in re-signing him also.And I just laugh when I see some of these potential lineup cards made out with his name. If he smart he’ll stay there. They make airplanes for him to come back and see his family here.
- wonthecup10

We get a better draft pick if Boston makes it to the second round, right?

We get a better draft pick if Boston makes it to the second round, right?
- tvetter

I think you are right on that one. They may win the cup they look awful strong. I just threw it out there in general when I see all these posts about Tommy Wingels penciled In the next season. Yes he will be. In Bostons lineup, what would you do if you were him? Especially if they offer him a decent contract? Come back to this mess? And have Joel screw him and scratch him periodically personally I think he’s been in every game since he’s been in Boston and may not have been scratched

I agree completely until we start talking about a 2nd line. Without Kane the 2nd line is a dud.

If we can agree on Toews, Kane, Saad, AA, Debrincat as 5 top 6 players on the Hawks. The add a UFA Neal? E Kane? JVR? Grabner? Peron? The top 6 looks ok.

For the 3rd line Schmaltz, Hayden? (maybe Wingels)? not terrible.
- -Doh-

I think it comes back to the real (not public) "goal" of the organization next year. If the true goal is to compete for the Cup next year, signing any of those UFAs makes the Hawks a much better team as it slots some talented young wings on line 3 for depth. They will need to sign 2 Dmen like Ian Cole or John Moore or DeHaan as well to compete in the West. Plus a capable goalie like Grubaeur.

Ultimately, I think that Bowman mulligans 2018/19 as well. Maybe a cheap veteran depth forward or even cheaper veteran on D (who's ready for Oduya part 3??)...but sticking with the youth and basically tanking for another lottery pick is what I expect. Then they wait for Seattle expansion draft to try and shed Seabrook's and/or Hossa's contract and try to sign Doughty or OEL in summer 2019.

I think it comes back to the real (not public) "goal" of the organization next year. If the true goal is to compete for the Cup next year, signing any of those UFAs makes the Hawks a much better team as it slots some talented young wings on line 3 for depth. They will need to sign 2 Dmen like Ian Cole or John Moore or DeHaan as well to compete in the West. Plus a capable goalie like Grubaeur.

Ultimately, I think that Bowman mulligans 2018/19 as well. Maybe a cheap veteran depth forward or even cheaper veteran on D (who's ready for Oduya part 3??)...but sticking with the youth and basically tanking for another lottery pick is what I expect. Then they wait for Seattle expansion draft to try and shed Seabrook's and/or Hossa's contract and try to sign Doughty or OEL in summer 2019.
- EnzoD

Doughty wants to win cups. Our (realistic) time is over...

OEL would be leaving one dumpster fire in AZ, why would he want to sign with this steaming pile of feces?

Doughty wants to win cups. Our (realistic) time is over...

OEL would be leaving one dumpster fire in AZ, why would he want to sign with this steaming pile of feces?
- Slofire94

Dahlin will be a Norris Trophy candidate by 2019

Dahlin will be a Norris Trophy candidate by 2019
- EnzoD

If (when) EDM wins #1 pick, and we win #2 pick.... lol is all I can say