Per some Twitter discussions the other day, and what I heard and reported here a few weeks back, I have no big issue with the Hawks' signing Patrick Sharp to a reported one-year deal, for $1 million.
It all really depends what that means.
The Hawks need another left wing. Sharp's best position is LW (though he can play all three forward positions, or could when he was younger).
Sharp brings intangibles of leadership and some lingering chemistry with the core (and I have never put much stock in the dressing room rift rumors).
All that is great. Especially if we can assume Sharp is sort of a 13th forward/3rd line utility guy.
The concern I have is this:
Knowing how the Hawks have operated in past offseasons, when the Diminished Ex-Hawk of the Year becomes the big free agent move to get everyone excited, if the plan is for Sharp to be the missing piece in the top 6, that's a bad plan.
He's 35, coming off major hip surgery, and allegedly two concussion protocol timeouts last year.
In other words, and as I've posted in Twitter last night and this morning, one would hope Stan Bowman has some other moves cooking today—beyond what some wrongly assume is some kind of "addition by subtraction" move in trading Marcus Kruger and his $3 million cap hit—essentially to make room for "Sharpie."
Hey, have a parade when the trade goes down that sends "Dat bum Kroooger" to Las Vegas. But while Kruger's wrist injuries have diminished his ability in the face-off dot, for the last couple of years, he has been the Hawks' primary defensive zone and penalty kill face-off/center option. Why? Probably because he's the only guy not named Toews who can win 50% of his draws (or nearly that).
The "indispensable" Artem Anisimov can't. And won't. Tanner Kero can't. And may not.
This is not an eulogy for Marcus Kruger either. This is just an example of a larger point: the Hawks still have major holes to fill.
For the last two seasons, the Hawks derived 40-45% of their forward offense from one line. Great for regular season victories over Colorado and Carolina, a recipe for disaster in the playoffs.
During that time, the Hawks auditioned seemingly half the NHL at left wing on Jonathan Toews' line—in order to find the magic bullet that would replace the departed Brandon Saad.
So Bowman took the right step and got Saad back last week—but it was at the cost of his lone top 6 LW, Artemi Panarin.
Count me among those who hoped Bowman might find a way to cobble together, through trade or free agency, another reasonable option at LW, to plant across from Kane—and hey, Bob's your Uncle—now you have two scoring lines.
Maybe Sharp gives you 60-65 productive games and he can be that guy. But I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it.
Some still have a vise-like death grip on their Alex DeBrincat lottery ticket, forgetting that DeBrincat has not played one game of pro hockey—and by reputation doesn't have much defensive game and had speed deficiencies that may have kept him off the US World Junior team this past year.
Tomas Jurco, like countryman Richard Panik, is better on the right side.
So it can be argued, at 9AM Central time, July 1, 2017, the Hawks still have a hole at top 6 LW.
I have heard over the last few days and again last night, the Hawks are shopping for deals to fill depth defense roles—guys like John Moore (NJ) and Jon Merrill (LW).
And all that said, while we await the disposition (if any is going today or this weekend) of Marian Hossa's LTIR status and his cap hit, we don't know what, if anything, the Hawks have in store for the rest of the day beyond swapping out the million dollars or so they gain, by completing the Kruger trade, for Sharp.
One thing that is apparent, the Hawks don't seem to be planning for a lot of ice time for last year's or this year's rookies.
They are going to sign Sharp to play, somewhere. Jurco was protected in expansion and re-signed, whether you agree with Stan Bowman on his "6 Week Prize" for last Spring or not, to play this year.
Laurent Dauphin, a recent former high 2nd round pick of the Coyotes, was acquired to play on the lower lines and kill penalties.
Moore or Merrill would be acquired to play—likely ahead of Gustav Forsling, Jan Rutta or even Michal Kempny.
There's a pattern here. The Hawks are looking to add players with some experience to play—likely ahead of, or at least as much as, the John Haydens, Vince Hinostrozas, DeBrincats, Forslings and Alex Fortins.
So beyond that, how the Hawks address the roster over the course of today and the next week or so, remains to be seen.
Could be really interesting—as yesterday's long "radio silence" might indicate.
Or all that build up and excitement over last week's trades may have ended with a barely audible cap gun pop—"hey, Sharpie, yeah . . ."
I'll be back with more as I hear it.
JJ