Murphy for Lowry... 100% yes!!!

No - Marealu has a full NMC and only wants to play for San Jose who cannot afford him at even partial of his cap hit. Instead, Carolina will buy out him out so that Marleau can sign a new contract with San Jose. Carolina doesn't care that they'll have the full cap hit against them - they have a ton of cap room.
- L_B_R

And they aen't paying any real dollars to buy him out either. An easy way for Carolina to get a first round pick.

Murphy for Lowry... 100% yes!!!
- DarthKane

Murphy for Caufield?

Come back in a couple of months. Everything under the roof will be gone.
- Beaver-Warrior

Looks like most of it is gone already. Looks like a giant pavilion right now.

What about Peter Budaj???
- BlackhawkMike

think he retired

And they aen't paying any real dollars to buy him out either. An easy way for Carolina to get a first round pick.
- paulr

They still have to at least pay him his signing bonus, actually. Those are buyout proof.

And the little twerp Derek Dorsett, oh add the big twerp Tom Sesito
- LAHawk

And how can we forget Willie Mitchell after he KO'd Toews.

NO WAY!!!! Someone actually watches a player before he or she posts!

And what I like about Sikura is he still played the right way and didn't try to force scoring a goal in what I'm sure was a frustrating time for him. That's called maturity and composure, two characteristics players need to succeed.
- paulr

I remember Patrick Sharp had a hard time scoring goals when he first came to the Hawks.

Murphy for Lowry... 100% yes!!!
- DarthKane

Would rather put together a larger deal with Murphy and maybe Beaudin and Sikura for Ehlers.

Conclusion jumping is fun, invent problems before they happen so you can fire people before they've made them.
- paulr

Don't forget that asswipe Hansen.
- EbonyRaptor

And that other asswipe Shane O'Brien

They still have to at least pay him his signing bonus, actually. Those are buyout proof.
- L_B_R

I meant big bucks, I think his buyout is $3M if I remember correctly. And I'd be surprised if it's their money they're buying him out with.

Great news:
McKenzie on TSN690 says Jake Gardiner is looking for $7M per year on a long-term deal

Means Stan can't afford him

Great news:
McKenzie on TSN690 says Jake Gardiner is looking for $7M per year on a long-term deal

Means Stan can't afford him
- ikeane

I'm not sure Gardiner plays defense any better than Gus? If Gardiner can get close to $7M a season, I wonder what Gus will be asking for if he is able to duplicate his point totals next season?

I'm shocked Sikura made it to the 7th round the way people love him.

Imagine when he scores a goal!! Might have to take the C off of Toews and raise his jersey to the rafters right after the game.

I wonder if they'll stop the game immediately to honor him or wait until after?

I'm trying to understand why Stan didn't qualify Kampf but is negotiating with him on a new deal. Correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't qualifying an RFA mean offering him his previous salary plus 10%? Kampf made $925K last season so the qualifying offer would have been a little less than $1.2M. Can is be that Stan is trying to get him to sign for less than $1.2M?

I'm shocked Sikura made it to the 7th round the way people love him.

Imagine when he scores a goal!! Might have to take the C off of Toews and raise his jersey to the rafters right after the game.

I wonder if they'll stop the game immediately to honor him or wait until after?
- PatShart

Ah ... well, that's where you're wrong - Sikura was a 6th round pick. So ... with that knowledge I'm sure you're on board with giving him another couple years to score his first goal.

I'm shocked Sikura made it to the 7th round the way people love him.

Imagine when he scores a goal!! Might have to take the C off of Toews and raise his jersey to the rafters right after the game.

I wonder if they'll stop the game immediately to honor him or wait until after?
- PatShart

You’re funny.

True, but so far Boqvist has not played a game in the NHL and will probably not do it this season ether. Gus is proven and the won’t except Boqvist to just come in and dominante.
- PetterKane

Proven he can’t play defense for sh*t.

Great news:
McKenzie on TSN690 says Jake Gardiner is looking for $7M per year on a long-term deal

Means Stan can't afford him
- ikeane

Pass with a capital P.

Would rather put together a larger deal with Murphy and maybe Beaudin and Sikura for Ehlers.
- KMFDMLight

Find a way to get Copp and Lowry then sign Tanev.

I'm shocked Sikura made it to the 7th round the way people love him.

Imagine when he scores a goal!! Might have to take the C off of Toews and raise his jersey to the rafters right after the game.

I wonder if they'll stop the game immediately to honor him or wait until after?
- PatShart

I'm surprised that Toews was drafted in the first round the way you hate him.

I think if you read people's post more clearly you'll see that most posters see the upside to Sikura's game and are willing to be patient. He has many elements to his game that are strong but he had difficulty and bad luck scoring a goal, which seems to be the only issue you and some other posters have with him. If there is another player who outperforms him in camp I think anyone would agree Sikura doesn't deserve a spot on the roster. But if Sikura were to outperform other prospects, would you agree he deserves a spot in the roster?

I do not understand why everybody wants AA out. Perhaps you could tell me. We all ask for size and but on the other hand if we get rid of AA and/or Connor Murphy and/or Brandon Saad you're doing exactly the opposit. What's wrong in fact with AA at 4,5? Roughly 20 goals a year for 40 points it looks to me that is the price to pay nowadays. Look at Hayes with that ridiculous contract. Is he really so much better than AA?

think he retired
- ikeane

As he should have, LOL

Ulf got Q fired by using a D “system” that forced D-Men to be very aggressive in the O-Zone. Q had always had the team play responsibly defensively. Offence was build off of that cornerstone principle. Ulf’s system” caused an insane amount of odd man breaks and the Hawks overnight became porous defensively.

Enter Colliton. Initially I looked forward to a return to responsible defence as it made no sense to fire Q and bring in a new Coach with the same idiocy. Sadly not only did Colliton’s “system” incorporate Ulf’s “system” of being very aggressive, in the O-Zone, it had the added idiotic feature of being over-aggressive in the D-Zone. We saw constantly both D on the same side of the ice, along the same boards, in the same corner. This, of course, left the entire rest of the ice D-Man free, including the front of the net. There was a reason the Hawks gave up league high shots and league high grade A opportunities.

The reason Colliton’s “system” is immature is it does not work at the NHL level. It is a “system” that may have a chance to work in the Swedish Tier Two league or maybe to a degree in the AHL but has no chance to work in the NHL. If you aggressively pressure lower level players it may work. If you aggressively pressure NHL players it has no chance to work. The reason for this? NHL players welcome this and actually try to bait defenders to be overly aggressive, creating open ice. NHL players are simply too fast, too skilled and two smart to be trapped. A simple move or simple pass is all it takes to beat the aggressive defenders. NHL players easily find the open players on the created open ice.

It didn’t help to have D-Men like Gus who had no interest at all in being responsible defensively. That is why in spite of all his goals and points he was a negative player.
- Z3Hawk

This gets a standing ovation. Outstanding!