Never say never. Wrong sport, but the Celtics traded the #1 pick for Robert Parish long ago. And trading Lindros ultimately worked out for the Nordiques/Avs franchise.
- 333inthe3rd

True enough it can happen but rare. Also have to remember that Lindros forced his trade.

That's all great, but to expect them to just take the #1 and Seabrook all while giving us their best young offensive star and an additional prospect or roster dman isn't likely to happen. Hawks would need to add more IMO.
- breadbag

In that case, if I were Bowman I would do the "See ya" thing and walk away. Jack Hughes is playing against older opponents and dominating. He is being compared to Patrick Kane with his skills and vision on the ice. I would be p_ssd if Bowman pulled a deal like that. I was a Hawk fan when we were taken in the last such deal with the Canucks and the Sedins.

Agree. While the Cap hit is high, it’s more the term...but the Hawks are set up pretty well with the Cap going into this offseason and next.
- HawkintheD

I saw the latest official projection was apparently 83 million for next season. (3.5 million increase)

Hawks have some options and it will be nice this season to hopefully not have bonus overages applied to next season.

Suggest you guys listen to Stan's interview on Spittin Chiclets. He addresses a lot of stuff in there, but overall it was a good interview.

https://www.barstoolsport...130-featuring-stan-bowman

I saw the latest official projection was apparently 83 million for next season. (3.5 million increase)

Hawks have some options and it will be nice this season to hopefully not have bonus overages applied to next season.
- breadbag

You have to figure at least one core player moves for more salary relief. As bad as some of the core has played, especially Keith and Seabrook if they were offered a chance to move to a contender they would waive.

Agree. While the Cap hit is high, it’s more the term...but the Hawks are set up pretty well with the Cap going into this offseason and next.
- HawkintheD

And so are the Canucks. They are a rebuilding team with lots of cap space today and going forward. For the right player they would take on a bad contract which could be bought out down the road when they need to pay emerging stars coming off ELC's. Bowman would have to take advantage of that or "no deal".

As season goes and becomes more and more clearer that hawks will not make the playoffs its time to start thinking who goes who stays and build around. What possible trades and free agent signings make sense? Seabrook and AA are the likely players to be moved along with rutta kunitz ward and gus or forsling. AA at the tdl get the hawks a 3rd if a team is willing to the hole contract do it next Seabrook only two ways he gets traded first he would have approved the trade along with either attaching a prospect or retaining money say 2 million per year it sucks but hawks gain 4 million plus in cap space. Crawford i would hold onto unless a trade proposal makes sense. So next year roster

Saad toews kane
? strome dcat
Perilini ? Sikura
Martinsin kampf hayden

Joki keith
? Murphy
Manning ?
Crawford if not traded
Forseberg
So through trades drafting and free agent sigings a lot of holes to be filled
Some possible free agents to look at:

Stone probably goes to a contender
Simmonds the same
Panarin too much money
Josh gorges bottam paring
Steve mason if crow gets traded
Free agent class is not looking great at any position. Things not looking good so it might a lot of lean years coming. If Rocky does what he suppose to do and fire bowman before he can damage this team anymore and then either fite Mcego or make sures he is not involved in any hockey decisions and hires a hockey guy to run it and a gm who knows the league players and has no ties to the core then maybe the hawks have chance in couple years to contend for a playoff spot.
- Scott1977

Josh Gorges is available right now, he's likely done.
Steven Mason is also available, who knows if he'll ever get another shot. Guy has been a basket case on Philadelphia, Winnipeg, and Montreal. Don't really want his 'IM A NUMBER ONE DAMMIT' attitude near the Hawks.

You have to figure at least one core player moves for more salary relief. As bad as some of the core has played, especially Keith and Seabrook if they were offered a chance to move to a contender they would waive.
- mrpaulish

You don't move a former Norris/Conne Smythe winner with a cap hit of ~5M for "cap relief" - Keith at 40 is still better on the 3rd pairing than ANYONE we have currently slotted there...
You keep him around to make sure Boquist/Beaudin/Joki turn into the next Lindstroms/Karlssons instead of the next Ekholm/Larsson.
No disrespect to those two, but they're not superstars...

You ONLY move Keith if another contender is willing to over-pay in picks/prospects/whatever to gear up for a cup run (hello, this is Kyle Dubas calling...)
Any middling 2nd pairing d-man is going to cost at least 5M against the cap...

You don't move a former Norris/Conne Smythe winner with a cap hit of ~5M for "cap relief" - Keith at 40 is still better on the 3rd pairing than ANYONE we have currently slotted there...
You keep him around to make sure Boquist/Beaudin/Joki turn into the next Lindstroms/Karlssons instead of the next Ekholm/Larsson.
No disrespect to those two, but they're not superstars...

You ONLY move Keith if another contender is willing to over-pay in picks/prospects/whatever to gear up for a cup run (hello, this is Kyle Dubas calling...)
Any middling 2nd pairing d-man is going to cost at least 5M against the cap...
- Slofire94

Keith loses a lot of his value if he doesn't compact his game and adjust to being older. He looks just as bad as the others running around like a crazy person.

Those are all good points, and I don't have the answers to them. It just stinks seeing good teams get cut off by a hard cap right when their fan base is at its most rabid.

Parity is a good thing, too an extent. I do think that if an owner wants to spend $120 Million to win a cup, he should be allowed to do that for a heavy luxury tax. Let teams like the Wings, Rangers, Hawks, Bruins, Leafs, Habs, etc. spend a boatload. Other teams will hate these teams, it will build more rivalry, make everyone care. There will be true 'underdogs' compared to today's forced balance.

Imagine the Hawks not having to blow it up after 2010. Or the Wings continuing to be a powerhouse lording over the rest of the league.

There's barely a few points separating the bottom-feeders from playoff contenders. The 'powerhouses' of the league today have 6-7 'great' players while the rest of their team are either ELC guys or plugs they've had to give near league minimum just to fill out their roster (Toronto, Tampa, San Jose).

Let the money fly, let people hate the big spenders. It's hard to hate a 'great' team when you know they're entering cap hell.
- ObeseOprah

Obviously you cannot pay the players more so what about a cap reduction for retained players? Maybe 10% discount if you resign a UFA (UFA's only not RFA's and must be a resign not FA signing). So Toews and Kane's contracts would still pay them 10.5M but their cap hits would be 9.45. I'd like to see something like that.

Keith loses a lot of his value if he doesn't compact his game and adjust to being older. He looks just as bad as the others running around like a crazy person.
- fattybeef

Agree here. Think he's trying to do too much with his diminished skill set.

I saw the latest official projection was apparently 83 million for next season. (3.5 million increase)

Hawks have some options and it will be nice this season to hopefully not have bonus overages applied to next season.
- breadbag

bonus overages...who the hell is playing well enough to get those...many of them should give part of their salarys back

You don't move a former Norris/Conne Smythe winner with a cap hit of ~5M for "cap relief" - Keith at 40 is still better on the 3rd pairing than ANYONE we have currently slotted there...
You keep him around to make sure Boquist/Beaudin/Joki turn into the next Lindstroms/Karlssons instead of the next Ekholm/Larsson.
No disrespect to those two, but they're not superstars...

You ONLY move Keith if another contender is willing to over-pay in picks/prospects/whatever to gear up for a cup run (hello, this is Kyle Dubas calling...)
Any middling 2nd pairing d-man is going to cost at least 5M against the cap...
- Slofire94

Keith is no longer a valuable player to hold onto . His age, play have taken a toil and he is in the decline, nor is he somebody you want to hold onto going forward with a 5.8 million cap for the next 5 years.

Keith, Seabrook Gustafson, manning all need to be moved prior to July 1st . That additional 15 million on top of the projected 20 million would allow the hawks to bring up 4 young defenseman who are cheaper , faster and the future while allowing Chicago to go after a few free agents who are top 6 quality and a couple of solid bottom guys .


If the hawks don't shed /trade some of these useless cap eating players, then Stans big talk about going after panarin is meaningless.

You have to figure at least one core player moves for more salary relief. As bad as some of the core has played, especially Keith and Seabrook if they were offered a chance to move to a contender they would waive.
- mrpaulish

yes they would...keith has value...seabs would take salary retention or "sweetner" or a bad contract in return. hawks can't afford any "sweetners"

bonus overages...who the hell is playing well enough to get those...many of them should give part of their salarys back
- bogiedoc

I agree however Stan loves giving out bad contracts .Kahuan is what's eating up that bonus . Go figure a useless European guy who has 5 points in 25 games well worth it.

Obviously you cannot pay the players more so what about a cap reduction for retained players? Maybe 10% discount if you resign a UFA (UFA's only not RFA's and must be a resign not FA signing). So Toews and Kane's contracts would still pay them 10.5M but their cap hits would be 9.45. I'd like to see something like that.
- tyweb69

That's a cool idea, could work.

Anything to help out the situation. One of the main reasons the Hawks suck now is because of the cap. If it weren't for the cap, Hawks have most of this lineup from 2010-2017:
Ladd-Toews-Kane
Sharp-?-Hossa
Versteeg-Shaw-Brouwer
Kruger-Bolland-?

Also add in possibly TT, Saad, Panarin

Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-Hammer
Byfuglien-Leddy

Crawford
Niemi

Granted there's a lot of things that change if there's no cap, but the Hawks could've at least retained their homegrown talent of Toews, Kane, Byfuglien, Hammer, Keith, Seabrook, Versteeg, Shaw, Bolland. That's a great group to build around.

Agree here. Think he's trying to do too much with his diminished skill set.
- Popsghostly

Yep, Keith's mind says "go," and his body says "no" in a lot more situations now. He gets beaten wide at times now and just doesn't have the closing speed he once did. Hopefully he'll adjust.

I agree however Stan loves giving out bad contracts .Kahuan is what's eating up that bonus . Go figure a useless European guy who has 5 points in 25 games well worth it.
- Taylorst1

Kahun has 11 points but who's counting? He's on pace for 32 points on a crap team, which is likely 35-40 on a good team. I like the kid's game, he's improving and will likely be a solid middle six player.

He's not going to hit his bonuses this year, so you can stop whining about him.

I don't necessarily think we should include Seabrook's dump in that deal... he means too much to the core / locker room and we've already cleared enough cap space.
Its the internal equivalent of trading our captain.
I say dump Anisimov and/or Murphy/Manning/Gus instead if we need to balance salary...
- Slofire94

The only message Seabs brings to the locker room these days is, "Look everybody, you can be as slow and useless as me and still collect a check signed by Rocky Wirtz."

Seabrook was one of the best players during the run for 3 cups, but it's over now. New leadership will have to emerge from that room, and it might take a while.

Josh Gorges is available right now, he's likely done.
Steven Mason is also available, who knows if he'll ever get another shot. Guy has been a basket case on Philadelphia, Winnipeg, and Montreal. Don't really want his 'IM A NUMBER ONE DAMMIT' attitude near the Hawks.
- ObeseOprah

Just throwing some names out there plus DO WE AS FANS REALLY WANT BOWMAN MAKING ANYMORE PERSONAL DECISIONS UM FOR GOD SAKES NO!!! ROCKY after the winter classic fire bowman thats my x mas wish.

Obviously you cannot pay the players more so what about a cap reduction for retained players? Maybe 10% discount if you resign a UFA (UFA's only not RFA's and must be a resign not FA signing). So Toews and Kane's contracts would still pay them 10.5M but their cap hits would be 9.45. I'd like to see something like that.
- tyweb69

This would still leave the problem of the players getting MORE THAN 50% of HRR - owners won't be in on this - still need a way to get HRR back to 50% - they would have to add to the escrow retention - players won't be in on this.

Just throwing some names out there plus DO WE AS FANS REALLY WANT BOWMAN MAKING ANYMORE PERSONAL DECISIONS UM FOR GOD SAKES NO!!! ROCKY after the winter classic fire bowman thats my x mas wish.
- Scott1977

Totally agree

Just throwing some names out there plus DO WE AS FANS REALLY WANT BOWMAN MAKING ANYMORE PERSONAL DECISIONS UM FOR GOD SAKES NO!!! ROCKY after the winter classic fire bowman thats my x mas wish.
- Scott1977

I think you meant personnel decisions but hopefully Rocky does put Bowman into a situation where he has to make personal decisions after the Winter Classic.

That's a cool idea, could work.

Anything to help out the situation. One of the main reasons the Hawks suck now is because of the cap. If it weren't for the cap, Hawks have most of this lineup from 2010-2017:
Ladd-Toews-Kane
Sharp-?-Hossa
Versteeg-Shaw-Brouwer
Kruger-Bolland-?

Also add in possibly TT, Saad, Panarin

Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-Hammer
Byfuglien-Leddy

Crawford
Niemi

Granted there's a lot of things that change if there's no cap, but the Hawks could've at least retained their homegrown talent of Toews, Kane, Byfuglien, Hammer, Keith, Seabrook, Versteeg, Shaw, Bolland. That's a great group to build around.
- ObeseOprah

Half of them suck, or are washed up and retired. Don't think we would be any better off in reality.....

Playing along with this idea of the Hawks assumedly having the #1 pick and selecting Hughes then trading with the Canucks, what if we flip it on its head by keeping Jack and trading for Quinn?

Maybe something like Boqvist++ for Quinn with the ++ being another D prospect and other assets like picks or whoever you all want.

Kane really liked and seemed to want the Hawks to draft Quinn. Imagine how ecstatic Kane would be to get him and Panarin this off season? That’s quite a fantasy world but still not crazy. Could play out if all the stars align.

Canucks can throw in Motte so the Hawks can have back Saad, Panarin, and Motte from that same trade. I actually like Motte’s game and think he could be solid on the 4th line with Kampf and Hayden.