Alright guys. I'm out of here for the morning.
- nurk

That's a smart decision.

Like a trade in the last year of his contract if the Panthers still suck?
- DMChi2010

I remember a day not long ago when my family reunion was full of more people than your arena during a home game. Let's be nice; we're all family here.

Maybe there is some or a lot of resentment coming from Sharp? Maybe things aren't all sunshine and rainbows between both parties? Things that make you go hmmmm?
- BetweenTheDots

That is a very fair assumption. I certainly wouldnt want to leave Chicago if I was him....

So if your boss called you into his office today and said "hey we appreciate everything you have done here but we have an opportunity for you to work in our Afghanistan office" you would just take it right because they gave you the original opportunity and you owe it to your company to do whatever they say?
- nurk

In a heart beat red font

To keep Oduya at $4M and Kruger at $2.5M, we have to move $10M… that's Sharp/Crawford and Bickell, assuming no salary comes back.

1) If we retain even $1M on Bickell (who also has a NTC…), then we have to move Versteeg and fill the spot with an ELC. I assume Versteeg will be moved, just to squeeze that extra $1.275M in savings out.

2) If they hand the reins to Darling, then moving Crawford, Bickell w/ $1M retained, and Versteeg get the Hawks to be cap-compliant.

3) If a cheaper NHL goalie comes back in the Crawford deal, they still have to move Sharp and Bickell…

Any way you slice it, keeping Oduya and Kruger will cost the Hawks a lot, given the probable returns on all the other trades… I would bet that Kruger takes precedence over Oduya given Oduya's age… Perhaps feelers have been put out on Ehrhoff, Schlemko, etc. in the event they can't keep Oduya.

Three of the last 4 Stanley Cup Champions (excluding the 2013 Hawks) have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that all you need to do is make the playoffs. If the Hawks keep Kruger and let go of Oduya, getting to the trade deadline and just being in the playoff picture has to be the goal, given what will be a weaker defense. Then maybe someone else gets moved at the trade deadline for a true #4D, even if that D-man is a rental… This could be Sharp, if he's still here (and has recovered some sort of scoring form), or it could be Crawford if Darling is given more of a look in the first half of the season and proves to be a true #1…

Bowman has made some great moves in tough situations (especially the Saad situation), but he's got to realize he must start selling much higher.
- DMChi2010

Where is this 10 million number coming from? I see the 6.5 for Oduya and Kruger but where do you need the extra 3.5 this year?

I could be wrong on this but I think once a player waives the NMC/NTC in his contract, it no longer exists for the acquiring team.

Could it be that he wants to negotiate a similar clause with Florida that would assure him he doesn't get moved again and uprooted mid season or off season?
- RickJ

Not exactly, but something like that, he wanted an assurance about how he would be handled based on how the Panthers performed in the future. I'll leave it at that.

This seems to be the deal
- John Jaeckel

JJ- what kind of odds would you see on something of a 3 way deal to work with sharp? Sharp to a team that would need to make cap room to get him (say like MTL), but then flipping what Salary we take back from that team to a 3rd party with Cap space for a pick...? Say we take Eller or Desharnais but then move them to a team like NJ or FLA....

anything like that happen in recent years? would it be unprecedented?

JJ,
Great write up as always. I've been really perplexed by some of these names not being moved yet, but I think Bowman and the front office will make the right moves in time. I used to not be agree with what they did, but this year really made me a believer. Who am I to think I know more than the guys actually working in the business/organization. As much as we like to think we know what we're talking about, we don't, you know.

I still think there is going to be a monster deal coming that will send Crow or multiple guys (Sharp, Bickell, Versteeg) to a new city. I guess we'll just have to continue to wait.

I remember a day not long ago when my family reunion was full of more people than your arena during a home game. Let's be nice; we're all family here.
- Panthers88

My apologies. That darn John McDonough has me so focused on one goal that anything less and the team sucks. This is the power of normative goals. 2013 & 2015 = Hawks were decent. 2014 = Hawks sucked.

Hey JJ... just wanna clear up one thing. Our financial situation isn't an issue anymore. All of the teams debt has been paid in full (please don't believe Ken Campbell; he's a hack and a tool). In fact, the congresswoman who was calling for the county to end the lease with the team pulled her support of the bill. So, really, things here are financially as good as they've ever been. Well, maybe not EVER but it isn't horrible anymore now that we have owners who actually have money. Certainly the draft showed that the hockey spirit down here is alive and well.

What kind of condition could he have made if coming to Florida? That's odd. One thing you are right about, though, is if he isn't 100% committed to being here and playing/winning here, Doug Cifu and Mr. Viner won't let Dale pull the trigger. If Sharp doesn't want to come to Florida without a velvet rope around the deal then I say thanks but no thanks.
- Panthers88

Seems to me like a key issue here. Management feeling like veteran players sign in Florida for reasons other than to win - one last contract, warm weather, lower expectations (until recently), no state income tax. Add to that the perception that Uncle Dale can't get enough of Blackhawk castoffs and I can see the problem.

JJ- what kind of odds would you see on something of a 3 way deal to work with sharp? Sharp to a team that would need to make cap room to get him (say like MTL), but then flipping what Salary we take back from that team to a 3rd party with Cap space for a pick...? Say we take Eller or Desharnais but then move them to a team like NJ or FLA....

anything like that happen in recent years? would it be unprecedented?
- gnosox1986

Not sure we would need a player like Eller or Desharnais. I suppose for bottom six they wouldn't be horrible.

It's also completely in your rights to be an outspoken racist...doesnt mean it is the RIGHT thing to do...
- EnzoD

Wow. That's some hardcore false equivalency there.

Then again, you're the guy who thinks Voynov and the Kings are getting a raw deal, so...

JJ,
Great write up as always. I've been really perplexed by some of these names not being moved yet, but I think Bowman and the front office will make the right moves in time. I used to not be agree with what they did, but this year really made me a believer. Who am I to think I know more than the guys actually working in the business/organization. As much as we like to think we know what we're talking about, we don't, you know.

I still think there is going to be a monster deal coming that will send Crow or multiple guys (Sharp, Bickell, Versteeg) to a new city. I guess we'll just have to continue to wait.
- Hank3Henshaw

It isn't for lack of trying. Lots of moving parts, especially with NMCs. This is why Bowman has had to investigate so many possible;ivies, have contingency plans.

As more time passes without a deal, the likelihood of Crawford moving increases, IMO

Seems to me like a key issue here. Management feeling like veteran players sign in Florida for reasons other than to win - one last contract, warm weather, lower expectations (until recently), no state income tax. Add to that the perception that Uncle Dale can't get enough of Blackhawk castoffs and I can see the problem.
- tobias

We call them snowbirds

This seems to be the deal
- John Jaeckel

do you think he nixed any proposed deal to the flyers?

would you have moved him for read and whatever else was coming back from the flyers?

Seems to me like a key issue here. Management feeling like veteran players sign in Florida for reasons other than to win - one last contract, warm weather, lower expectations (until recently), no state income tax. Add to that the perception that Uncle Dale can't get enough of Blackhawk castoffs and I can see the problem.
- tobias

But the good news is that kind of stuff is no more with this ownership group. You won't see Campbell back here after his contract expires. We jettisoned Hayes. Pirri is gonna stick because the guy just shoots everything and everything freaking goes in when he does it. Too bad Yandle clocked him and he got concussed last season. But it's why I was impressed with someone like Jagr being here and wanting to be. What he did for Huberdeau and Barkov in just a quarter season was spectacular. I can't wait to see what he does with them over an entire season. With Sharp here our lien up is something like:

Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr
Pirri-Bjugstad-Sharp
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Bolland-MacKenzie-Howden/Thornton

I mean that's darn solid. If Sharp doesn't want to do what a guy like Jagr did and play with younger players who will give him energy while also garnishing top 6 minutes,, then he should definitely go somewhere where he's happier in a different environment.

do you think he nixed any proposed deal to the flyers?

would you have moved him for read and whatever else was coming back from the flyers?
- rinaldo

Dunno, and I don't know enough about the alleged offer (that someone else rumored)

Wow. That's some hardcore false equivalency there.

Then again, you're the guy who thinks Voynov and the Kings are getting a raw deal, so...
- BreakoutHockey

YES IT IS WITHIN HIS RIGHTS. And yes, as long as Semyon Varlamov is in the NHL Slava Voynov is not being treated fairly by the NHL. And how is that that a "false equivalency"? You can attack me all you want and try to portray me as a proponent of domestic abuse(you're dense and need to get off your high horse if you think that was my point). Just ridiculous that you cannot understand plain text that states MY OPINION that Sharp should not be vetoing trades or demanding "conditions" like his "opt-out" that JJ reported.

Dunno, and I don't know enough about the alleged offer (that someone else rumored)
- John Jaeckel

Wasn't it strickland who broke that rumor? He has pretty reliable info doesnt he JJ?

JJ- what kind of odds would you see on something of a 3 way deal to work with sharp? Sharp to a team that would need to make cap room to get him (say like MTL), but then flipping what Salary we take back from that team to a 3rd party with Cap space for a pick...? Say we take Eller or Desharnais but then move them to a team like NJ or FLA....

anything like that happen in recent years? would it be unprecedented?
- gnosox1986

Bergevin stated two things in his press conference on July 2nd;

1) Why draft hockey players if you're going to trade them away?

2) NHL hockey is a young man's sport.

So basically, he's not looking to part with any prospects/young players at the moment. If Chicago cannot take back salary for Sharp, it looks like it would be a pick going back. Still, he'd need to pass one of Deharnais or Eller for the cap problem Sharp would cause.

Desharnais for Sharp would get done swiftly, no doubt about it.

JJ- what kind of odds would you see on something of a 3 way deal to work with sharp? Sharp to a team that would need to make cap room to get him (say like MTL), but then flipping what Salary we take back from that team to a 3rd party with Cap space for a pick...? Say we take Eller or Desharnais but then move them to a team like NJ or FLA....

anything like that happen in recent years? would it be unprecedented?
- gnosox1986

Happens in the NBA all the time
Nhl gms aren't that creative

OK, thanks haha, just tryin' ta make one o dem analogy thingies, ya know
- John Jaeckel

TOR fans troll on anything, don't they. Maybe he'd be happy if atoms were used instead of electrons. The rest of us got your point though.

On the dull-bordering-on-scary side, I have to wonder how SB is going to back-fill the slots of #'s 16 & 27 when he doesn't move some combo of 10, 23, 29 & 50 soon enough.

Like a trade in the last year of his contract if the Panthers still suck?
- DMChi2010

How could the Panthers NOT agree to that. If they still suck I would think they would be more than happy to trade Sharp for a pick or prospect that season. Even at 35 he would be a great asset for team looking to make a deep playoff run at the trade deadline.

When it comes to trading Sharp, combination of his NMC, NTC (whatever it is), teams with cap space that can absorb his cap hit, team that really wants Sharp, Stan's "high" asking price makes it really next to impossible to move him.
The sooner Stan realizes the situation he is in the better. He should just dump Sharp asap for best offer at the moment from team that Sharp will agree to go and go to more important things moving forward like resigning 27&16

But the good news is that kind of stuff is no more with this ownership group. You won't see Campbell back here after his contract expires. We jettisoned Hayes. Pirri is gonna stick because the guy just shoots everything and everything freaking goes in when he does it. Too bad Yandle clocked him and he got concussed last season. But it's why I was impressed with someone like Jagr being here and wanting to be. What he did for Huberdeau and Barkov in just a quarter season was spectacular. I can't wait to see what he does with them over an entire season. With Sharp here our lien up is something like:

Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr
Pirri-Bjugstad-Sharp
Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith
Bolland-MacKenzie-Howden/Thornton

I mean that's darn solid. If Sharp doesn't want to do what a guy like Jagr did and play with younger players who will give him energy while also garnishing top 6 minutes,, then he should definitely go somewhere where he's happier in a different environment.
- Panthers88

That's a really nice lookin lineup. Big fan of both Barkov and Bjugstad I think they're both on the verge of being legit studs down the middle. Both big, strong, tough to play against. Trocheck's no slouch either. On the smaller side but tenacious. FLA's got a bright future.