In my last entry, I touched briefly on the up and down reality of winger Richard Panik. Today, a slightly deeper look.
Let's face it. At the time the Hawks traded Jeremy Morin for Richard Panik last season, about 7 people in Chicago had heard of the young Slovak winger. You know the type: they live in their mom's basement and dissect draft reports til 3AM. And even they sometimes confused him with that guy who plays infield for the Giants.
Dave Panik? Ernie Panik?
But I digress.
And when he trade went down, as is typically the case, fans and bloggers went looking for "you tubes" (paraphrasing Hawk President John McDonough) and stats on their latest prize.
A picture slowly began to emerge, especially after Panik started playing a few games: he had size, could skate, had put up some good junior numbers. He had apparently fallen out of favor with Toronto head coach Mike Babcock for a lack of consistency and hockey sense, and perhaps with the team that drafted him originally, Tampa bay, for the same reasons.
Panik is the classic Stan Bowman lottery ticket type trade. Look no further than the well-travelled David Rundblad. The Hawks were his 4th organization in about as many years. Like Panik, also a somewhat bally-hoo'ed 2nd round pick with "upside."
Bowman missed badly on Rundblad. But the opposite may hold true on Panik, who is tied with rookie phenom Auston Matthews for the league lead in goals this morning, with 4.
Panik was allegedly recommended to the Hawks by countryman Marian Hossa. And perhaps Hossa's presence, that of an uber-hockey smart, consummate professional, in the Hawk dressing room as well as an awareness on Panik's part that he may be running out of chances, seems to have lit the necessary fire.
He is essentially what was advertised when he came from Toronto, big, strong, athletic, fast and can score some goals—but very rough around the edges in terms of his overall game. he makes some major bonehead mistakes—just about every game. Sometimes, the puck is like a hand grenade on his blade.
Where Panik has surprised some (myself included) is that unlike a lot of European forwards, he is willing to lay the body, and his hits leave marks.
That is an intriguing added dimension to the overall package Panik presents.
Ever the realist, I will submit that it's just as likely that Panik is stuck on 4 goals in 2-3 weeks as it is he will have another 2-3. It is way too early to anoint this guy a 50-point player. But Panik does seem to have a nose for the net and a willingness to compete that suggests he can score goals in the NHL, especially playing with talented linemates and tutored by a patient coaching staff within a winning organization.
Panik is what the Hawks as an organization need more of: a cost-controlled player under 25 with a fair amount of pro experience and upside that can be developed. Very few other players in the organization check all those boxes.
The season thus far in Chicago has been more down than up, but Richard Panik has been an encouraging highlight and appears to be a legitimate piece that Hawks can build with as they go forward and try to figure out a "supporting cast" for their core before too many games pass, and points are lost.
All I have for now.
JJ