I think a lot of Hawks fans are missing the point of this trade:

Smith is much grittier/nastier than AA, does the dirty work, and provides more of a veteran leadership presence to the bottom six. Not to mention, the Hawks have been allegedly tied to him in the past so this isn’t all that surprising of an add by Bowman.

The Hawks now have Smith, Shaw, and Carpenter added up front, coupled with the Maatta and de Haan acquisitions on the back end.

This team is significantly nastier and tougher to play against than they were last season. Scoring goals was the least of the Hawks concerns. I am not worried in the slightest about losing AA. Vastly improving our roster with infusing it with players that can actually play defense was the key this offseason, and Bowman did just that.

The roster is now complete, and we can see what we’ve got. On paper, I like this team as much as any.
- TommyHawk

The point of the trade is glorious cap space, nothing more. If both players have the same salary this trade doesn't happen.

I think a lot of Hawks fans are missing the point of this trade:

Smith is much grittier/nastier than AA, does the dirty work, and provides more of a veteran leadership presence to the bottom six. Not to mention, the Hawks have been allegedly tied to him in the past so this isn’t all that surprising of an add by Bowman.

The Hawks now have Smith, Shaw, and Carpenter added up front, coupled with the Maatta and de Haan acquisitions on the back end.

This team is significantly nastier and tougher to play against than they were last season. Scoring goals was the least of the Hawks concerns. I am not worried in the slightest about losing AA. Vastly improving our roster with infusing it with players that can actually play defense was the key this offseason, and Bowman did just that.

The roster is now complete, and we can see what we’ve got. On paper, I like this team as much as any.
- TommyHawk

Zach Smith was waived last year and went unclaimed.

He’s a fringe 4th line faceoff guy. I guess he’ll be good taking d-zone draws, but not much else.

See Zenon Konopka.

I love the trade. The primary objective was cap savings and although I was hoping for more than $1.3M - it is not insignificant and therefore objective accomplished. Anisimov is better offensively but Smith is better defensively, plays with more grit, is better at faceoffs, hits more, is at least as good if not better on PK and ... wait for it ... Smith will battle for his team mates.

Going into this off season, there were several areas of need that needed to be improved for the Hawks to have a better team in 2019/20. Taking assessment on what has happened to meet those objectives:

Better PK - check.
Better defense - check.
More consistent goaltending - check.
Tougher to play against - check.
Better bottom-6 - check.

What's not to like?

I am a proud advocate of trading anismov. I felt he didn't produce offensively, weak on FO bounced around from 2c to 4c soft on hits .

If Stan and co did excellent job of scouting Dach than I don't see how , Ansimov is a improvement.

Let's say the third line is

Saad-Dach-Shaw that's a pretty stable lineup to infuse a rookie into and if Dach ends up with 15 to 20 plus goals and plays solid defensively and improves each game than it's a win win.
- Taylorst1

I prefer Saad/Smith/Caggiula as the third line. Shaw at 2RW. Only holes left are 1LW and 4LW, with Carpenter and Kampf on 4th line.

I just think they cannot bring Dach in yet. And if they do, and their vision is for him to be a top six guy, you don't bring him in on the bottom six at all.

Yea, but Dach wasn't drafted to be a 3rd line center... I know he's capable, he's a 200 foot player, but ideally you would like to get him into the top 6 from time to time to focus on his offensive side. No doubt if he centers the 3rd line, they'll have him on the 2PP unit if not the 1PP unit for sure just to make sure he gets some offense in.

I just don't want Dach to get too used to defense or playing a shutdown role while neglecting his phenomenal offensive talents...

Then again tho, the Hawks could really run 3 scoring lines and use the 4th line as the shutdown line.... It's hard to match up against teams that have that type of depth and can do that, and IMO that's how the Hawks won their Cups...
- Savard2Secord

If he can center Shaw and Saad then it may could be a solid 3rd line. Scoring and D.

I find it a bit curious that the people who usually bash every move Stan makes are suddenly happy.

I guess the irrational Anisimov Haters on this site finally got their way.

The team went from having center being a position of strength, to having a giant ? At 3C. I sure hope Stan isn’t done.
- Ogilthorpe2

It has more to do with him going out and addressing areas of need on this time instead of ignoring them or adding fringe guys while trying to convince us they can be difference makers for us.

I don't think there's been so much irrational hate for AA, but rather seeing the success of other teams having cheaper options as their 3C who play more of todays game (i.e. more speed, physical, etc.). Paying 4.5M for a guy who puts up like 30-40 points is okay when you're not pressing close to the cap with key guys up for contracts soon. AA did fantastic playing with Kane and Panarin. Once that was no more he was alright and did solid enough but it wasn't really enough to warrant the contract provided. Especially since Strome came in and took the role of the 2C from him. Would I have liked to have kept him as the 3C with Saad and Shaw this season if the cap this year and next wasn't an issue? Sure, but that wasn't really an option for them.

I've gone back and fourth about the 3C role this offseason but I'm getting the feeling that the Hawks are going to give that to Dach to take and run with. Having Saad and Shaw on his wings should help free him up and transition a little easier. However, if he doesn't show well in camp and preseason I wouldn't be shocked if we saw one of Kampf, Smith, or Shaw as the 3C to start the year while Stan continues to evaluate Dach and the market to add someone. Team doesn't need to be rock solid set going into the season.

He won 1 more face off per game!
Awesome.
- Ogilthorpe2

Yes - the 1 faceoff loss that resulted in a goal because the Blackhawks couldn't win the draw!

The point of the trade is glorious cap space, nothing more. If both players have the same salary this trade doesn't happen.
- paulr

Why? For those who are completely against this trade, I can safely assume they know little to nothing of smith and have only watched him when he played the Hawks.

Is smith a game breaker? Definitely not. Is anisimov garbage? Also definitely not. But, he is quicker, slightly better defensively and a lot more physical...all at a discount salary wise.

AA may be a better offensively...but stop looking at AA's offensive numbers when he was 2c with Kane. How many points do you really think he was going to get centering the 3c this season? Also, losing a lot of his PP time..if not all...to shaw?

I am not overly thrilled with this trade or anything, but to say AA is so much of a better player is just wrong.

The point of the trade is glorious cap space, nothing more. If both players have the same salary this trade doesn't happen.
- paulr

That’s my biggest problem with it...it didn’t gain enough cap space for it to be worth it.

Glassford has a touch of alzheimers so the rink is being run by another rink rat. I wouldn't put it past Glassford to have some kind of living will restricting spending on the properties or sommething to that effect. I worked there in the early 70's shortly after it opened and he was really cheap, although the rinks were a huge investment at the time. Years later I took my 4 year old son there because he asked to go public skating and shot the poop with him in the line to get in. He was very cordial and almost excited to see me. But he did charge both me and my 4 year old something like 8 bucks to go for a skate. That was classic Glassford.
- 6628

Yup. Back when I was running some of the local youth and a Highschool club, finding open ice was always a challenge. The going rate for an hour of ice at the Edge, Seven bridges or some of the other “nicer” facilities was running $325-400. I could consistently get ice blocks that were give backs to the edge by the Steel or whomever, and they would let them go for $200/hr as some rental fees were better than $0. I would call Downers and they would have huge blocks of unused ice, but he would ask $325/hr for that dump and wouldn’t budge. He would rather make $0 then lower his price and get something.

I prefer Saad/Smith/Caggiula as the third line. Shaw at 2RW. Only holes left are 1LW and 4LW, with Carpenter and Kampf on 4th line.

I just think they cannot bring Dach in yet. And if they do, and their vision is for him to be a top six guy, you don't bring him in on the bottom six at all.
- Return of the Roar

Dach-Toews-Kane
Cat-Strome-Shaw
Saad-Smith-Kublik/Caggiulla/Perlini
Carpenter-Kampf-Kubalik/Caggiulla/Perlini


No better guys to play with than Toews and Kane for Kirby's transition to the NHL. Maybe Nylander grabs the 1LW spot? Possibly Sikura in the mix.



Lots of depth at forward.

Yea, but Dach wasn't drafted to be a 3rd line center... I know he's capable, he's a 200 foot player, but ideally you would like to get him into the top 6 from time to time to focus on his offensive side. No doubt if he centers the 3rd line, they'll have him on the 2PP unit if not the 1PP unit for sure just to make sure he gets some offense in.

I just don't want Dach to get too used to defense or playing a shutdown role while neglecting his phenomenal offensive talents...

Then again tho, the Hawks could really run 3 scoring lines and use the 4th line as the shutdown line.... It's hard to match up against teams that have that type of depth and can do that, and IMO that's how the Hawks won their Cups...
- Savard2Secord

Your spot on. However as of right now I wouldn't really call it a 3rd line as a insult to Dach, he would most likely be playing with saad whom is a top 6 and maybe Shaw who's got some grit and has improved in scoring .

I'm excited to see this team this year and hopefully we will be delightfully surprised.

I love the trade. The primary objective was cap savings and although I was hoping for more than $1.3M - it is not insignificant and therefore objective accomplished. Anisimov is better offensively but Smith is better defensively, plays with more grit, is better at faceoffs, hits more, is at least as good if not better on PK and ... wait for it ... Smith will battle for his team mates.

Going into this off season, there were several areas of need that needed to be improved for the Hawks to have a better team in 2019/20. Taking assessment on what has happened to meet those objectives:

Better PK - check.
Better defense - check.
More consistent goaltending - check.
Tougher to play against - check.
Better bottom-6 - check.

What's not to like?
- EbonyRaptor

The gaping hole at 3C?

I love the trade. The primary objective was cap savings and although I was hoping for more than $1.3M - it is not insignificant and therefore objective accomplished. Anisimov is better offensively but Smith is better defensively, plays with more grit, is better at faceoffs, hits more, is at least as good if not better on PK and ... wait for it ... Smith will battle for his team mates.

Going into this off season, there were several areas of need that needed to be improved for the Hawks to have a better team in 2019/20. Taking assessment on what has happened to meet those objectives:

Better PK - check.
Better defense - check.
More consistent goaltending - check.
Tougher to play against - check.
Better bottom-6 - check.

What's not to like?
- EbonyRaptor

Overall I like most of the Hawk moves. Not sure about this trade however. Smith is a fringe NHLer whoI suspect will see more time in the press box than suited up for the Hawks. That said I'm willing to see what Smith can bring. And maybe in the grand scheme of things, $1.3M in cap savings is important to the Hawks going forward?

https://thehockeynews.com...checking-one-for-one-swap

Zach Smith was waived last year and went unclaimed.

He’s a fringe 4th line faceoff guy. I guess he’ll be good taking d-zone draws, but not much else.

See Zenon Konopka.
- ImThatGuy

Really? That’s the comparison you make? Smith had as many points last season as Konopka had in his entire career. Konopka was nothing more than a fighter in the NHL.

The gaping hole at 3C?
- Ogilthorpe2

Still a better roster than last season.

Still a better roster than last season.
- TommyHawk

Not because of Smith.

Still a better roster than last season.
- TommyHawk

yep. not to mention smith played mostly C last season so its a fine replacement for AA in that area. If dach impresses and makes the team, then doesnt matter..theres your 3c

Not because of Smith.
- paulr

Please see my post on the previous page.

yep. not to mention smith played mostly C last season so its a fine replacement for AA in that area. If dach impresses and makes the team, then doesnt matter..theres your 3c
- Bhawks35

Should Dach make the team I expect he'll start as a winger.

New asst. coach Marc Crawford raved about Zack Smith from his time Ottawa's interim coach and confirmed what #Blackhawks scouts already liked about him as a player. Bowman says they’ve had their eye on him for some time now.

yep. not to mention smith played mostly C last season so its a fine replacement for AA in that area. If dach impresses and makes the team, then doesnt matter..theres your 3c
- Bhawks35

I think so too.

I prefer Saad/Smith/Caggiula as the third line. Shaw at 2RW. Only holes left are 1LW and 4LW, with Carpenter and Kampf on 4th line.

I just think they cannot bring Dach in yet. And if they do, and their vision is for him to be a top six guy, you don't bring him in on the bottom six at all.
- Return of the Roar

I see your point. However bringing in a rookie and having him center a 3rd line with saad whom is a solid 2 way forward and Shaw protects him as well as transitions him slowly and allows him to develop and improve while having solid linemates

I see your point. However bringing in a rookie and having him center a 3rd line with saad whom is a solid 2 way forward and Shaw protects him as well as transitions him slowly and allows him to develop and improve while having solid linemates
- Taylorst1

Protects him from what?