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"Best of" Blackhawks Armchair GMing – Part 3

April 9, 2020, 4:39 PM ET [243 Comments]
Tyler Cameron
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


How is everyone doing out there? Has anyone learned any new skills? Guitar? A new language?

Me? I've been working on a side-project that I am really excited about and will be able to share with you soon.

Actually, maybe you can help me out?

I have a question for you all, how many of you out there have kids? And if you have kids, what's the best part of being a parent? What's the hardest?


If you can DM me or just respond on the message board, this will help with the side-project company I eluded to above.

Ok, moving on to hockey; we have our 3rd edition of "Armchair GMing".

This week will feature GM Savard2Secord. Here is the team he has put together:

Signings

Salary-Cap

Lines

GM S2S is assuming that teams are gifted a compliance buyout.

We don't know if this will happen, however, it's relevant and worth looking at " as I wrote about it last week going through each team and who their "buyout candidate" would be. "

GM S2S went with an aggressive approach to this offseason.

There are a lot of moves here, so let's breakdown it down starting at the RFA signings:

* Ian Mitchell (3 years, $925k AAV)
– yep.

* Dominik Kubalik (2 years, $3.5M AAV)
– this would be a nice deal for the Hawks. At 2 years, Kubalik might go for the $7M total in hopes of winning big with his next contract.

* Dylan Strome (3 years, $4.25M AAV) – this seems very realistic to me. I have heard talk that Strome might sign around the $3.5M per year as well, however, I'm not completely buying that. The $4.25M seems fair for all parties for the 3 years. GM S2S was able to fit him under the cap for this contract.

* Drake Caggiula (2 years, $1M AAV)
– The Drake takes a haircut from his last contract, however, I think this is fair. I would prefer to get him on a 1-year deal but at $1M, the extra year doesn't bother me.

* Mathew Highmore (2 years, $825k AAV) – GMS2S sent this before Highmore getting his 2 years, $725k so he's saved some money here.

* Malcolm Subban (2 years, $925k AAV)
– Subban is ultimately moved after this signing. I'm not a big fan of negotiating with a player to then turn around and move him, so let's pretend the Kings traded for his rights and then signed him to this deal.

* Slater Koekkoek (1 year, $925k) – K4 had a solid year and I think he would be more in the $1.3-$1.5M AAV range for a couple of years, but maybe he bites on this deal just to stay in a good situation.

Alexandre Fortin (1 year, $750k)
– Fortin was retained for depth in Rockford.

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Now, on to the UFAs:

* Corey Crawford (2 years, $3.5M) – I hope this is the type of deal Crawford ends up signing in Chicago. My thinking is that it will be above $4M on a multi-year deal, but here's hoping his desire to stay in Chicago trumps fighting for more money. I like bringing Crow back at this point.

* Tyler Toffoli (3 years, $5.5M) – I'll admit, I'm not the biggest Toffoli fan. I would like to add his scoring touch but I don't think he has much else to offer. His overall game is very streaky and he tends to not be the biggest fan of playing "defence". Still, this contract is reasonable and if he plays with Toews, maybe he doesn't need to worry much about the defensive side of the ice.

--

Ok, the trades is where things get interesting. As predicted, Brent Seabrook is bought out by GM S2S.

Then, he frees up more room with the following trades:

* CHI trades Zack Smith, Chad Krys and 2020 2nd round pick (PIT) to DET for Joseph Veleno – First off, every time I see Veleno's name, it reminds me that the Hawks should have taken him ahead of Nicolas Beaudin. Now, if Beaudin can be a top 4 dman one day and prove me wrong, I wouldn't mind.

I don't see DET making this exact move, but them taking on Zack Smith isn't completely out of the picture. If they were to receive a former 2nd rounder in Krys and a 2nd rounder in this year's draft, then sure, they would take on some salary for 1-year – they have the room.

I just don't think the return would be former 1st rounder, Joe Veleno. I think CHI could be getting a mid-level pick or a lesser-prospect like Dominic Turgeon or Chase Pearson instead.

Still, I like moving Smith off the books. Good work.


* CHI trades Andrew Shaw, Olli Maatta, Malcolm Subban, and a 2020 3rd round pick (CGY) to LA for Jonathan Quick, Nikolai Prokhorkin and a 2020 2nd round pick (VGK) – A+ for creativity for this one. GM S2S gets both Shaw and Maatta off the books ($8M-ish) but take Quick's $5.8M for 3 more years.

From LA's side, I'm not sure that they would be keen to take on Shaw's $3.9M for 2 more years based on his health concerns. He may never play again (I hope he does) so I don't think he would be included.

Maatta actually would make some sense in LA. They need some D and after Drew Doughty, it looks pretty bleak. So I like him in this deal.

In terms of CHI's return, if they are getting Quick for 3 years, I don't know if they sign Crawford. Quick is 34 years old, so he'll be 37 when this deal is done and he's had his groin duct-taped together for the last couple of years so I would be concerned about his health.

Having 2 veteran goalies is nice, plus both are winners, but there are a lot of miles on these guys. I don't think CHI wants to invest that much in their goaltending next year. I think Collin Delia or Kevin Lankinen will be their backup next year.

As I said, this is a very creative trade, but not sure it makes a ton of sense.

If these teams synced up, I would also like the Hawks to get their hands on one of LA's 3x 2nd round picks as well as GM S2S included.

Maybe something like this is more realistic:

CHI trades Olli Maatta, Dylan Sikura and Chad Krys for Nikolai Prokhorkin and 2020 2nd Round pick (VGK)

Hawks lose Maatta's contract, give Sikura a new home and have to include a guy like Krys, but they get a project in Prokhorkin and that 2nd rounder still.

--

Now, what does GM S2S's team look like when we look at the lines?

Nylander - Toews – Toffoli
DeBrincat – Strome – Kane
Kubalik – Dach – Saad
Caggiula – Kampf – Carpenter

Keith – Mitchell
de Haan – Boqvist
Beaudin – Murphy

Crawford
Quick

Extras: Highmore, D. Sikura, Carlsson, Koekkoek



--

I like the balance that GM S2S has created.

By adding another scoring weapon in Toffoli, the Hawks would have 3 strong lines that could produce. The small caveat here is that if Toffoli would gel with Toews and Nylander takes it to the next level in 2020-21.

Buying out Seabrook really helped with these moves, but taken him and Maatta off the blueline does leave the Hawks with a very "green" last line of defenders.

Mitchell and Beaudin better be the real deals. Koekkoek is there for that bottom pairing though if you need some stability. It might be better to slot him in there instead of Beaudin and have him in RFD.

GM S2S has put together a roster of 24 players, so 1 or 2 could head to the AHL to save even more on the cap. This team does come in $800k+ under the cap and the thing to note here is that GM S2S used a flat cap.

All in all, I like the team, but personally, I wouldn't make the LA trade and think Maatta might be best off staying on this team, especially is de Haan's shoulder explodes again, this team will need some more veteran presence. That, or sign a cheaper Maatta replacement.

If the Hawks can buyout Seabrook with a compliance deal, then I agree signing a scorer to help balance those lines would be ideal. Toffoli - while not my cup of tea - is a solid choice based on the scorers available in UFA, so I like that thinking here.

Thanks for contributing GM Savard2Secord!

If anyone else wants to send his or her best Armchair GMing work over to me, please do so. I will be continuing this series as we look for anything to pass the time during isolation.

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Stay safe and see ya out there!

TC
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