Wonder if he will be looking for a raise from his previous salary..? Plays solid and does a good deal for kids in charity.

I know Strome has a hard time sticking in the lineup. Nielsen's contract is up soon.
- 93Joe

Strome would be a great "change of scenery" guy. But I don't think the Isles are ready to cut bait on him yet. The talent there is legit. Martin instead of Mash would be awesome. Again, us Hawks fans won't be doing much shopping this year....only gonna browse and hope no one steals our shopping cart while we're at it.

The problem with that is Bickell's salary is higher than his cap hit. I think a cap floor team would be more likely to bite if it were the other way around. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just overpay a useful free agent by $0.5-1 million?
- tvetter

Teams could do that, I won't argue with you there. However, that's why I added the idea of a pick or prospect going with him. Bowman will have to pay something to get rid of that contract...or take on another bad one in return.

Teams could do that, I won't argue with you there. However, that's why I added the idea of a pick or prospect going with him. Bowman will have to pay something to get rid of that contract...or take on another bad one in return.
- EKB13

Stan should just buy him out. Enough of throwing away assets or taking back another dead weight. Buy Bickell out asap.

LW options for Stan this summer...LOTS of big name RFA's due for a raise on this LW list....


Eric Staal NYR UFA 31 LW 83 13 26 39 $8,250,000
Teddy Purcell FLA UFA 30 LW 76 14 29 43 $4,500,000
Andrew Ladd CHI UFA 30 LW 78 25 21 46 $4,400,000
David Perron ANA UFA 27 LW 70 12 23 35 $3,812,500
Tuomo Ruutu NJD UFA 33 LW 33 1 1 $3,800,000
Mikkel Boedker COL UFA 26 LW 80 17 34 51 $3,750,000
Marcus Johannson WAS RFA 25 LW 74 17 29 46 $3,750,000
Rene Bourque CBJ UFA 34 LW 49 3 5 8 $3,333,333
Milan Lucic LAK UFA 27 LW 81 20 34 54 $3,250,000
Michael Grabner TOR UFA 28 LW 80 9 9 18 $3,000,000
Jamie McGinn ANA UFA 27 LW 84 22 17 39 $2,950,000
Steve Ott STL UFA 33 LW 21 2 2 $2,600,000
Alexander Killorn TBL RFA 26 LW 81 14 25 39 $2,550,000
Brayden Schenn PHI RFA 24 LW 80 26 33 59 $2,500,000
Brandon Prust VAN UFA 32 LW 35 1 6 7 $2,500,000
Chris Kreider NYR RFA 25 LW 79 21 21 42 $2,475,000
Jaden Schwartz STL RFA 23 LW 33 8 14 22 $2,350,000
Shawn Matthias COL UFA 28 LW 71 12 16 28 $2,300,000
Nick Spaling SJS UFA 27 LW 58 3 10 13 $2,200,000
Kris Versteeg LAK UFA 29 LW 77 15 23 38 $2,200,000
Darren Helm DET UFA 29 LW 77 13 13 26 $2,125,000
Mike Hoffman OTT RFA 26 LW 78 29 30 59 $2,000,000
Raffi Torres TOR UFA 34 LW 0 $2,000,000
Marcus Foligno BUF RFA 27 LW 75 10 13 23 $1,875,000
Travis Moen DAL UFA 34 LW 23 2 2 $1,850,000
Nathan Gerbe CAR UFA 28 LW 47 3 4 7 $1,750,000
Shawn Horcoff ANA UFA 37 LW 59 6 9 15 $1,750,000
Trevor Lewis LAK UFA 29 LW 75 8 7 15 $1,525,000
Drew Miller DET UFA 32 LW 28 1 1 2 $1,350,000
Viktor Stalberg NYR UFA 30 LW 75 9 11 20 $1,100,000
Viktor Tikhonov AZ UFA 27 LW 50 3 3 6 $1,040,000
Matt Martin NYI UFA 27 LW 80 10 9 19 $1,000,000
Riley Sheahan DET RFA 24 LW 81 13 12 25 $950,000
Jiri Sekac AZ RFA 23 LW 39 1 5 6 $925,000
Johnny Gaudreau CGY RFA 22 LW 79 30 48 78 $925,000
Brandon Tanev WPG RFA 24 LW 3 $925,000
Sergei Plotinkov AZ RFA 25 LW 45 3 3 $925,000
Brandon Pirri ANA RFA 25 LW 61 14 15 29 $925,000
Jason Zucker MIN RFA 24 LW 71 13 10 23 $900,250
Sven Baertschi VAN RFA 23 LW 69 15 13 28 $900,000
Filip Forsberg NSH RFA 21 LW 82 33 32 65 $894,167
Brian Ferlin BOS RFA 23 LW $875,000
Kirill Petrov NYI RFA 26 LW $875,000
Vladislav Namestnikov TBL RFA 23 LW 80 14 21 35 $874,125
- EnzoD

I'd love to see them make a run at Hoffman, though I'd imagine we get priced out of that move or most other ones without a large shakeup. Definetely a deep list... and quite a few guys if love to see in a Hawks sweater

Stan should just buy him out. Enough of throwing away assets or taking back another dead weight. Buy Bickell out asap.
- MjulQvist

NO NO NO - buyout would require part of his money for 2 seasons - if you can't trade him (or find a trading partner that would take some of the salary) , eat the salary this year and be done with it! It does not good to buy him out now.

I wouldn't mind any of the teams left in the west at this point, but I would agree that the Blues have the least flaws of any of the teams left. Pietrangelo really has developed into a force, Brouwer has given them what they need and Backes has not been as dumb and douchey as in the past. Dallas still questionable in the D end and in the net. I like SJ, but just when you think they are rolling, they struggle to put a team away. I like the way Laviolette has the Preds playing, Josi is a beast (im still not a fan of Weber) and Rinne hasn't crapped the bed yet, i just think they are still a few pieces short.
- TheTrob

I am fan of all the central teams. I like to see the division do well once the Hawks are out as just proves the point where the best division is.....IF Nashville takes out Anh AND Sj...that's damn impressive.

Love playoff hockey.......after hockey is over I take my annual sports vacation until the NFL resumes and of course any NHL action, free agency/draft/trades/etc

NO NO NO - buyout would require part of his money for 2 seasons - if you can't trade him (or find a trading partner that would take some of the salary) , eat the salary this year and be done with it! It does not good to buy him out now.
- powerenforcer

I agree. The Hawks have a glut of "prospects" at forward in the minors. The organization can spare to lose one to get rid of Bickell.

Wait..Dave Bolland was compared to Mikita? By whom?
- TTtime

Dale. After he drafted him. l

NO NO NO - buyout would require part of his money for 2 seasons - if you can't trade him (or find a trading partner that would take some of the salary) , eat the salary this year and be done with it! It does not good to buy him out now.
- powerenforcer

Disagree. Buying him out saves you $3mil in cap space this season and costs you only $1.5 the season after. The Hawks need every penny they can get this off season, and $3mil is a lot of space to sit dead.

Disagree. Buying him out saves you $3mil in cap space this season and costs you only $1.5 the season after. The Hawks need every penny they can get this off season, and $3mil is a lot of space to sit dead.
- TheTrob

Yep. That $3mil is necessary for Shaw's extension or defensive depth help.

Disagree. Buying him out saves you $3mil in cap space this season and costs you only $1.5 the season after. The Hawks need every penny they can get this off season, and $3mil is a lot of space to sit dead.
- TheTrob

Well, one of you will be right and one of you unhappy.

This post about Daley vs Oduya got me to thinking, when Oduya got to the Hawks, they still only had 1 Cup, the core was still young. My point being, you get a new guy, you have more time to acclimate.

When Daley got here, there were 3 Cups and an older core. Granted Toews and Kane are in their prime, but their cap hits make it harder to ice a competitive team. And you're core d-men are now mostly in their 30's. And the Hawks know the time is NOW to get as many Cups as they can because the window is closing due to age and cap.

My point about this is...there's much less time to acclimate. Daley NEEDED to come in and show he could replace Oduya. I'm not blaming him, whether it be his hip or just his overall game or Q not trusting him enough, he couldn't do it quick enough. He probably knew it and asked out. Not sure that was the way to go, but that's what happened.

Would be interesting to know what would have happened if the Hawks acquired Daley with the idea of a mini-rebuild...or if they had acquired Daley instead of Oduya back in the 2011-2012 season.
- CanOCorn

Very well said and you bring up some valid points. Well done.

2012 team wasn't nearly as good on paper as the 2016 team. I guess for me though, I just saw Daley as a guy with some legit skill on the offensive side. A perfect PP Qb, and if paired with Hammer would be a great pairing. Now if Daley unlike Oduya wasn't buying into to transforming his defensive game....I can see why he would want out. Plus the Hawks now probably had more, at least they think they did, NHL ready D men prospects then in 2012..

We probably will never know why Daley asked to be moved, this team probably is still playing with TVR on the bottom pair and not having to dress 2 turds. I KNOW that completely alters the Ladd trade, etc, but what did Ladd really bring once he got here? I thought he was a disappointment and any team willing to give him 6+ million annually is asking for long term trouble. Love him as a player but he's not worth that....and I do think Ladd was hurt toward the end....he looked very slow....

I always end up with a huge smile when reading this...

Thanks savvy.
- EKB13

Been awhile....I hope all is well with you.

Disagree. Buying him out saves you $3mil in cap space this season and costs you only $1.5 the season after. The Hawks need every penny they can get this off season, and $3mil is a lot of space to sit dead.
- TheTrob

The problem is we need 3 mil this year and 6.5 (including bicks 1.5 less Scuds 1.1) So you solved this year so how do we keep panarin next year. you have to work one year out on the cap.

We have already dumped: 2 1sts, 4 2nds, Leddy, SAAD, Danult, Johns, Dano, (dahlback, Palliota, Nordy) with Pokka and AA to show for it.

We need a new blog.........
where is JJ? I need my fix.....

Stan should just buy him out. Enough of throwing away assets or taking back another dead weight. Buy Bickell out asap.
- MjulQvist


NO NO NO - buyout would require part of his money for 2 seasons - if you can't trade him (or find a trading partner that would take some of the salary) , eat the salary this year and be done with it! It does not good to buy him out now.
- powerenforcer

Power, you have a point. If hawks keep him this year and bury him in Rockford, they eat $3m in dead cap hit in 2016/17 ($4m salary less about $1m off the hit for burying him in Rockford).

If they buy him out, their cap hit is $1m in 2016/17, plus $1.5m in 2017/18.

So $3m total versus $2.5m total, taking it all in 16/17 versus spreading it out.

Those who feel the difference is $4m (actual salary) versus $2.5 (total buyout hit) decision are wrong, because they're missing the gain by burying $1m in Rockford.

I agree. The Hawks have a glut of "prospects" at forward in the minors. The organization can spare to lose one to get rid of Bickell.
- EKB13

And why would any team be interested to have those with Bickell?

Disagree. Buying him out saves you $3mil in cap space this season and costs you only $1.5 the season after. The Hawks need every penny they can get this off season, and $3mil is a lot of space to sit dead.
- TheTrob

Not exactly right. It's really a $2m hit this year. For 2016/17, if they keep him and bury him in Rockford, their cap hit is $3m. If they buy him out, their cap hit is $1m.

So $2m savings this year by buying him out, coupled with extra $1.5m hit next year. Only $0.5 m total savings to the cap over 2 years with a buyout.

Not exactly right. It's really a $2m hit this year. For 2016/17, if they keep him and bury him in Rockford, their cap hit is $3m. If they buy him out, their cap hit is $1m.

So $2m savings this year by buying him out, coupled with extra $1.5m hit next year. Only $0.5 m total savings to the cap over 2 years with a buyout.
- Cmonalready

Yes but those 2 million will be needed next season. You have to pick your poison and I would buy him out if they can´t find any team to take his salary for reasonable trade this summer..

Sure they need that 1,5 million in 2017/18 but worry about that later. Just hope and pray for cap to go up and some relief from potential expansion draft.

I thought Steph Waite was a good coach, but I think Jimmy Waite is actually better, he has taken Crawford to another level IMO and done a great job with both backups.

Ian Clark did a nice job with Lu (but then i think they had some kind of falling out, and they brought Rollie the Goalie in) and has resurrected Bobrovsky's career.
- John Jaeckel

Rollie is heading back east for family reasons, so the Nux will lose him unfortunately. he did a really good job getting Markstrom back on track as a legit NHLr after Luongo left. Miller has done pretty well working with Rollie as well.

Ian Clark left cuz mgmt fired him in favour of Rollie despite Luo being an Ian Clark guy.

Strome would be a great "change of scenery" guy. But I don't think the Isles are ready to cut bait on him yet. The talent there is legit. Martin instead of Mash would be awesome. Again, us Hawks fans won't be doing much shopping this year....only gonna browse and hope no one steals our shopping cart while we're at it.
- kwolf68

Stan should just buy him out. Enough of throwing away assets or taking back another dead weight. Buy Bickell out asap.
- MjulQvist


NO NO NO - buyout would require part of his money for 2 seasons - if you can't trade him (or find a trading partner that would take some of the salary) , eat the salary this year and be done with it! It does not good to buy him out now.
- powerenforcer

Power, you have a point. If hawks keep him this year and bury him in Rockford, they eat $3m in dead cap hit in 2016/17 ($4m salary less about $1m off the hit for burying him in Rockford).

If they buy him out, their cap hit is $1m in 2016/17, plus $1.5m in 2017/18.

So $3m total versus $2.5m total, taking it all in 16/17 versus spreading it out.

Those who feel the difference is $4m (actual salary) versus $2.5 (total buyout hit) decision are wrong, because they're missing the gain by burying $1m in Rockford.
- Cmonalready

Another thing to look at, does anyone feel that the cap # will go up substantially after next season? The cap growth the last few seasons has not gone up greatly, so that 1.5 million might hinder Stan's moves that off-season. Why tie up cap space for 2 seasons?

Another thing to look at, does anyone feel that the cap # will go up substantially after next season? The cap growth the last few seasons has not gone up greatly, so that 1.5 million might hinder Stan's moves that off-season. Why tie up cap space for 2 seasons?
- powerenforcer

Because it allows you to retain someone that you would otherwise lose by retaining that much dead cap.

Another thing to look at, does anyone feel that the cap # will go up substantially after next season? The cap growth the last few seasons has not gone up greatly, so that 1.5 million might hinder Stan's moves that off-season. Why tie up cap space for 2 seasons?
- powerenforcer

They want the cap to go up $2-$3 mil per year. you will not get a 6 mil bump unless the Canadian $$ goes up 50% in value. If the CA rebounds a bit and the cap goes up 3 mil then the the players will not do the 5% escalator. So planning on anything more then 3 mil in any year is not going to happen in the next 4-5 years.

Been awhile....I hope all is well with you.
- SteveRain

Things are...okay?

It's been a rough six months. Set to graduate on Saturday.