Justin,

Given the events that transpired as you planned your Q and Schmaltz columns, I’d like to suggest you immediately start workin on a Kunitz column.
- Spec41971

Maybe another Manning one too if you haven’t already.

LOL! A number of the Hawks have been catching up on zzz’s while on the ice, so I figured, what’s the harm?
- HawkintheD

Hahaha. You could have been traded with the other sleeper. Minus 1 for Big D.

This very could be true.

It sounded like the Hawks weren't sold on Schmaltz long term and that meant paying him for a 52 point season last year because so far, he hasnt done much this season.

I will be very curious as to how he does for the rest of the year and how his next contract looks.
- Justin Lowe

JL it is not true...that Schmaltz has elite skills. Elite in comparison to whom? McDavid? Kane? Obviously not. You move pretty far down the List before hitting comparables. Schmaltz’s elite skills, trumpeted by many, are his skating and puckhandling but are they elite skills, if they never lead to anything?

Another elite skill trumpted is Schmaltz’s takeaways. A clever poster questioned whether the takeaway stat meant as much if they also didn’t lead to anything. Takeaway the puck just to give it back. Also there is an explanation for his takeaway stat. Schmaltz doesn’t like forechecking an opposing player from the front. He does the flyby a lot and then tries to steal from the back. Sometimes he does steal but most times it plays out that he provides no opposition to the opposing player moving the puck up the ice. So maybe he steals the puck occasionally but most times he does nothing.

Exactly what I was thinking. Who do we drive out next and then fawn over when he finds success when another team?
I was frustrated with Schmaltz often too but recognized that he had elite skills and was very young. We needed to give him more time.
- 67hawks

Schmaltz keeps blowing defensive coverages that lead directly to goals. I don't think he was improving in that area, and the Hawks were done with him, and rightfully so.

More time? Schmaltz isn’t 15 years old. When does committment kick in? When does he show passion? When does he show he cares about being a hockey player? When he is 25, 30? Getting his moody, whiny, lazy personality off the team will be addition by subtraction, even if he becomes a point producer, in the dessert, although I don’t see that happening either.
- Z3Hawk

Jason covered it perfectly in his blog when he said he wasn't convinced Schmaltz wad a guy the Hawks could win with long term. That is what I saw and thought.

And who knows, its a win if Strome cam contribute something on the PP if nothing else.

Jason covered it perfectly in his blog when he said he wasn't convinced Schmaltz wad a guy the Hawks could win with long term. That is what I saw and thought.

And who knows, its a win if Strome cam contribute something on the PP if nothing else.
- RickJ

Justin

NHL getting faster. Hawks got slower. Strome and Perlini in top 6 doesn’t get you into playoffs this year. Still need a defenseman or two

Schmaltz keeps blowing defensive coverages that lead directly to goals. I don't think he was improving in that area, and the Hawks were done with him, and rightfully so.
- ToewsdNKanefusd

If I didn't go back and reread it, I would have thought you were talking about Gus.

Justin
- I Am The Breadman

My bad.

The comment was in regards to "Maximum Potential" not what they have already accomplished. Strome was the 3rd pick in the draft because his potential was deemed higher than those picked below him. 2015 was a great draft year, with McDavid, Eichel, Marner, Rantanen, Wrenski, Hanafin, Povorov, etc. Strome graded out as a top 5 pick on pretty much every pre-draft ranking. Those rankings are based on Potential, which take into account skill, size, hockey sense, heart, etc. So Strome can be considered a bust with less than a year of NHL experience, or maybe you can consider AZ a crappy organization that either didn't develop him or put him in the right situation to succeed.

In terms of Perlini, he scored 17 last year, 5 less than Schmaltz did but without Patrick Kane feeding him pucks.
- TheTrob

Schmaltz also shot 17.8% last year, which is likely not sustainable.

Justin Great job breaking down and explaining both of these 2 new players ceiling and faults.


Hopefully things work out , however Stans previous moves never did.



I'd really like to see some more moves to bring in some more young role players who will contribute and play hard each and every game.


Also Gustafson , Rutta , Seabrook and Keith should all be shown the door father time and high expectations for 2 defenseman hasn't worked out .

Justin Lowe: Nick Schmaltz Out, Strome and Perlini In

About 3 weeks ago, I had a Nick Schmaltz article I was working on which broke down his time in Chicago to date and where he might fit into the future.

I parked it because the Joel Quenneville news came down.

Then, I thought it would be a good time this week to re-look at that blog and release it this week. Then, last night's trade happened.

Nick Schmaltz has been sent to Arizona for Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini.
- Justin Lowe

Ron Hextall fired by the Flyers. Not the coach.

Great piece, JL, the very long awaited, Schmaltz blog. I liked Schmaltz, and very early in the season I said bridge or long term, I don't care he can sign it and I'll be happy. I wasn't against trading him either, it needed to be a lot though. As games piled up, it got harder to defend Schmaltz because as you say, his breakout time is this season, and he wasn't moving past his benchmark last year, not even close. I wish him luck.

Strome sounds like Ejdsell to me, just that he plays center and will get more points. Hopefully he plays with Adb and Kane. Sounds like a younger version of Panarin-Arty with Kane, if that is the route JC goes. Does he park in the blue paint? Perlini is a third line guy with second line potential or something like that. I'm hoping he reaches his potential here. Tomorrow can't come fast enough.

Tanner said, "This could be a trade that the hawks win," and ended on a funny note, "Don't these two know other gm's exist?"
- I Am The Breadman

You don't think Perlini can play top line minutes with Saad and Toews?

I wonder if this trade will be a catalyst for a Nylander trade?

Also, Coyotes fans are NOT happy after this trade.

You don't think Perlini can play top line minutes with Saad and Toews?
- SoftServe

I don't know anything about him. Haha, I was confused and tried making that clear by saying "Something like that" after the description. His floor is lower lines, but his ceiling/potential could be the top line. I would be fine with that. I was just talking out my arse.

I wonder if this trade will be a catalyst for a Nylander trade?
- I Am The Breadman

Nylander is unlikely to be traded. There is no pressure on the Leafs to move him. My guess is he guts signed in the next few days to something with an AVV of $6-6.5M with a big one time, up front signing bonus.

Schmaltz wasn't close to as bad as folks are making him out to be. We traded him, likely because of the contract situation but the guy had value on the ice.

1) He can't do anything without Kane...not true. He did pretty damn well with "washed up" Toews & Panik. He had a rough start to this season, but could have had 5-6 more goals easily if he finished some of those breakaways and point blank chances.

2) He is solid at stripping the puck off people and chasing down loose pucks.

3) The guy is still young and by my eye the biggest issue is expectations placed on a young guy because of the lack of high end depth on the Hawks roster.

None of this really matters anymore because we have two new guys. The trade is done.

I hope they do well and can slide into roles effectively, but don't go over-hyping them just yet. Hawks fans are quick to pencil Perlini and Strome all over the top 6, but pump the breaks and see how they fit in first IMO. Consider that Hinostroza and Panik have been playing higher up the depth chart than both of them in Arizona. They may get chances in the top 6, but both Strome and Perlini may not be more than 3rd line guys until they prove otherwise.

If I didn't go back and reread it, I would have thought you were talking about Gus.
- I Am The Breadman

It just seemed to me that he didn't know what to do without the puck. Just floated around and wouldn't get in good areas to receive passes. He also seemed to kill plays when he had the puck, either skated into traffic and lose it, or pass it into traffic and lose it. He didn't seem to be making any improvements either, just the same thing every game this year. I wasn't originally for trading him, wanted to give him time to improve, but I was starting to get frustrated and impatient with him, as I wasn't seeing anything that showed me he was getting it and improving.

Schmaltz wasn't close to as bad as folks are making him out to be. We traded him, likely because of the contract situation but the guy had value on the ice.

1) He can't do anything without Kane...not true. He did pretty damn well with "washed up" Toews & Panik. He had a rough start to this season, but could have had 5-6 more goals easily if he finished some of those breakaways and point blank chances.

2) He is solid at stripping the puck off people and chasing down loose pucks.

3) The guy is still young and by my eye the biggest issue is expectations placed on a young guy because of the lack of high end depth on the Hawks roster.

None of this really matters anymore because we have two new guys. The trade is done.

I hope they do well and can slide into roles effectively, but don't go over-hyping them just yet. Hawks fans are quick to pencil Perlini and Strome all over the top 6, but pump the breaks and see how they fit in first IMO. Consider that Hinostroza and Panik have been playing higher up the depth chart than both of them in Arizona. They may get chances in the top 6, but both Strome and Perlini may not be more than 3rd line guys until they prove otherwise.
- breadbag

Clearly the Hockey Operations Dept. Saw Schmaltz in a different light than you do. They had seen enough and weren't prepared to wait any longer.

NHL getting faster. Hawks got slower. Strome and Perlini in top 6 doesn’t get you into playoffs this year. Still need a defenseman or two
- Newgod77

Perlini might not be even top 6 here but he is pretty fast. Strome and Perlini doesn´t need to get them into playoffs. Hawks was not a playoff team before the trade and it´s not that after either. Hopefully Colliton puts Strome with Kane and see if there could be some chemistry between them..

This is pure gamble from Stan and he might hit a home run with this trade. But there is also a possibility that this was a move that sent him packing after all.

It just seemed to me that he didn't know what to do without the puck. Just floated around and wouldn't get in good areas to receive passes. He also seemed to kill plays when he had the puck, either skated into traffic and lose it, or pass it into traffic and lose it. He didn't seem to be making any improvements either, just the same thing every game this year. I wasn't originally for trading him, wanted to give him time to improve, but I was starting to get frustrated and impatient with him, as I wasn't seeing anything that showed me he was getting it and improving.
- ToewsdNKanefusd

I hear you, I was frustrated too at times, and I was the same in wanting to keep him. All the good things I saw stopped being enough to defend his defecencies, and this critical contract extension season, he wasn't doing himself any favors.

JL it is not true...that Schmaltz has elite skills. Elite in comparison to whom? McDavid? Kane? Obviously not. You move pretty far down the List before hitting comparables. Schmaltz’s elite skills, trumpeted by many, are his skating and puckhandling but are they elite skills, if they never lead to anything?

Another elite skill trumpted is Schmaltz’s takeaways. A clever poster questioned whether the takeaway stat meant as much if they also didn’t lead to anything. Takeaway the puck just to give it back. Also there is an explanation for his takeaway stat. Schmaltz doesn’t like forechecking an opposing player from the front. He does the flyby a lot and then tries to steal from the back. Sometimes he does steal but most times it plays out that he provides no opposition to the opposing player moving the puck up the ice. So maybe he steals the puck occasionally but most times he does nothing.
- Z3Hawk

I forgot to mention this, but that's what I saw. In a face to face confrontation for the puck he bailed every time.

A lot of Schmaltz's takeaways were from guys who he refused to battle for the puck. Just let the other guy have it. Initally I was impressed with his takeaway stat so I watched him much more closely. And my conclusion was that he wants to take the easy way out of every situation. He might have won a title at North Dakota, but at this level he's not a winner.
- 6628

Why is it that all of the criticisms I see of Schmaltz have zero stats to back them up? All of you critics sound like Don Cherry, referencing intangible unquantifiable things like 'heart' and 'grit' simply because he's a marked man.

Schmaltz is statistically a good player. He's quantifiable as a better player than every single one of our forwards not named Kane, Toews, Saad, Debrincat. I'd listen to arguments for Kahun, but that's besides the point. He drives possession to the correct end of the ice, and finishes his shifts with better outcomes than most forwards on the team (offensive zone draw, goal for, penalty drawn, etc.). Schmaltz is an above Replacement Level player according to The Athletic and other publications.

A little over a month ago everyone here was scapegoating Brandon Saad, 'no heart' 'doesn't care' 'no will to win'. All the same garbage crap I've been hearing from Hark Harrelson for years. Now Saad has potted a few goals while playing the SAME GAME he's been playing, and everyone wants to award him the comeback player of the year.

Schmaltz has 20 bad games and we're absolutely tickled to get rid of him? Are you high? I definitely can't recall any young players on their ELC who didn't 'fit the culture' or 'play the right way for us to win using our brand of hockey'. Panarin, Terravainen, and to a lesser extent Nick Leddy.

Panarin is a point per game superstar leading Columbus. TT is the player we drafted and putting up 60 points a year while being a 'soft perimeter wimp'.

Schmaltz was just the latest scapegoat for a team that refuses to address its boneheaded moves over the last three seasons. And he's the latest scapegoat for a board that thinks one player not getting wrecked to lose a game 5-2 instead of 5-1 is a one way ticket out of town. Nick Schmaltz put up 52 points on an awful team last year, and while I hope for the best in this trade we'll probably all be lamenting giving up a player with his speed and skill in a few months.

I don't know anything about him. Haha, I was confused and tried making that clear by saying "Something like that" after the description. His floor is lower lines, but his ceiling/potential could be the top line. I would be fine with that. I was just talking out my arse.
- I Am The Breadman

Haha you're a character.

NHL getting faster. Hawks got slower. Strome and Perlini in top 6 doesn’t get you into playoffs this year. Still need a defenseman or two
- Newgod77

Agree with you...... but Schmaltz's speed was utilized in about 1 out of 10 games because he really showed no passion to play the game. He just never seemed to have any fun at all and it showed on the ice MOST of the time. The kid has NEVER smiled after scoring or making a nice play and his on-ice IQ has been questioned repeatedly on this board for 3 years now. Lots of speed/ talent means nothing with zero passion !! We can only speculate what he's been like off the ice in the room.

It's a baby step move that is sorely needed and hopefully this will open up some other moves to reduce CAP (Anisimov) or other bolder type moves to begin the rebuild (Keith/Crawford). This team just got younger yet with this trade so I'm hoping that it will continue......and maybe the 2019/2020 season will find our team contending for a playoff position. That should be the "NEW" ONE GOAL.