Stan's biggest flaw is the timing of his trades and free agent signings. He always jumps in too early or waits too long.
- DarthKane

Bummed he had to dump Saarela so quickly. Was hoping to see him up later this season. Makes you wonder what they’ll do with his brother now.

Which can work well in Dach's case. Because the bonuses could be counted on THIS years Cap, thus leaving more Cap space available for next year.
- hawk35

What I now know about performance bonuses is that there are two types: Schedule A and Schedule B. Schedule A are predominantly statistical milestones (i.e. games played, goals scored) and can’t exceed a combined $850K. Schedule B include bonuses paid by the league for winning certain awards (e.g Hart Trophy) and other accomplishments the team agrees to compensate the player for achieving (e.g. Calder Trophy). Schedule B bonuses can’t exceed $2M. So, total bonuses for a player can’t exceed $2.85M.

Now, there are limits on what players can receive performance bonuses. Per CapFriendly:

“Not all players are eligible for Performance Bonuses, and to receive a bonus within their contract, a player must meet one of the following criteria:
The player is on an entry-level contract.
The player has signed a one-year contract and is over 35 years old.
The player has signed a one-year contract after returning from a long-term injury (has played 400 or more games, and spent 100 or more days on the Injured Reserve in the last year of their most recent contract).”

Bummed he had to dump Saarela so quickly. Was hoping to see him up later this season. Makes you wonder what they’ll do with his brother now.
- Assman22

If he was moping and not playing well, maybe his value wasn't going to get any higher.

I have to admit, I didn’t like the Kahun/Maatta deal at first. But I was wrong and I think it’s worked out well. Kubalik has taken Kahun’s spot on the roster while Maatta has been an upgrade in comparison to last year’s defense. While he’s not a star, Maatta has been better that I expected.

The de Haan trade was a home run. Sure, it wasn’t a Patrick Sharp type of a home run deal but for two AHLers Stan got a solid second pairing defenseman with a decent cap hit for 3 seasons.

I’m Luke-warm on the Anisimov/Smith deal. I’d rather have AA as the 3C but I can see what the Hawks thought he was expendable. I think the key to that deal is the buyout options for both players. If Anisimov is bought out in the summer the cap hit for the next two seasons is about $3.5 million and $0.5 million. For Smith it’s about $1 million and $1 million.
- DarthKane

While Maata is not an analytics darling so far in the early games this season, the eye test for me says that he's been very solid and has completely stabilized a pairing that includes Brent Seabrook - a very good thing for the Blackhawks.

Bummed he had to dump Saarela so quickly. Was hoping to see him up later this season. Makes you wonder what they’ll do with his brother now.
- Assman22

Hopefully his brother doesn't have the same attitude.

Me too. He should be in net IMO.
- Tyler Cameron

Yep, especially since Crow had the L against Philly in first game. Maybe unfair given circumstances of that game, but Lehner earned tonight regardless.

I thought one of Stan’s many flaws was that he always felt the need to win every trade?
- Ogilthorpe2

No that’s an established fact as witnessed by the minuscule amount of trades he’s made during his tenure.

He had to win trades, won’t do any big boy deals and is loathe to trade prospects...all facts.

No that’s an established fact as witnessed by the minuscule amount of trades he’s made during his tenure.

He had to win trades, won’t do any big boy deals and is loathe to trade prospects...all facts.
- HawkintheD

I see you successfully completed reeducation camp, eh?

No that’s an established fact as witnessed by the minuscule amount of trades he’s made during his tenure.

He had to win trades, won’t do any big boy deals and is loathe to trade prospects...all facts.
- HawkintheD

Two other facts:

1. He rides his Daddy's coattails.
2. He can't hold a candle to uncle Dale.

Hopefully his brother doesn't have the same attitude.
- Tyler Cameron

Or a proclivity for mistaking stairwells for bathrooms. Agree on Maata. Have seen the advanced stats and his Corsi may not be great but he appears effective at positioning, settling the play and exiting the zone.

I see you successfully completed reeducation camp, eh?
- mohel

It was doubleplusgood this summer,

I see you successfully completed reeducation camp, eh?
- mohel

Product of the Khmer Rouge et Noir.

Product of the Khmer Rouge et Noir.
- Chief4Feathers

There you go, speaking Scandanavian on us.

Two other facts:

1. He rides his Daddy's coattails.
2. He can't hold a candle to uncle Dale.
- paulr

If he did try to hold a candle to Uncle Dale, the Builder would beat the Beancounter within an inch of his life. Uncle Dale don’t like that.

Edit - “Fire BAD!!!”

Or a proclivity for mistaking stairwells for bathrooms. Agree on Maata. Have seen the advanced stats and his Corsi may not be great but he appears effective at positioning, settling the play and exiting the zone.
- HawkintheD

Damn, had to reach way back in the closet to pull that one out.

Damn, had to reach way back in the closet to pull that one out.
- Chief4Feathers

Running with the hits baby! (Add a letter to make it more K Hayes relevant)

Bummed he had to dump Saarela so quickly. Was hoping to see him up later this season. Makes you wonder what they’ll do with his brother now.
- Assman22

I think their situations would be completely, but we'll never know all the details behind the trade and how that family viewed it. Maybe it was a mutual decision and the Hawks did him a favour? Who knows.

I think their situations would be completely, but we'll never know all the details behind the trade and how that family viewed it. Maybe it was a mutual decision and the Hawks did him a favour? Who knows.
- DarthKane

Most likely the case. Doesn’t appear punitive in how they handled him and his reported request to move to another organization in the hopes of a better shot at NHL playing time.

Haha I'm not - colonoscopy tomorrow. Anyway excellent dissertation!
- riozzo

Enjoy your experience!!! Very humbling....

I think their situations would be completely, but we'll never know all the details behind the trade and how that family viewed it. Maybe it was a mutual decision and the Hawks did him a favour? Who knows.
- DarthKane

Word has it he was friends with Gus and was Lavender intolerant.

I heard that from a few sources and scouts...

The butcher doing Riozzos colonoscopy passed that along..

I think they meant a forward that doesn't cost $3.5M to play on the bottom six.
- mohel

It's cheaper than Toews.

At least the $6 + mil conversations for Gus have stopped. Like the Sharp trade a few years ago, Stan may have held his hand too long.

On a side note, the Jets claimed Sbisa off waivers today. Just thinking of teams that might be desperate for a d man
- ikeane

Little different Stan didn't want to screw Sharp where he sent him. Dumber move as I recall was taking the Dman back for the same price he could have signed Oduya. It was Trevor Daley who Q ran out so he won a cup with Pitt.

Small sample. He had 60 pts last year. Nobody else on that Hawks Dcore comes close to his abilities. Just honestly think how bad we’d be at generating offense from a Dcore of Keith, Seabs, Maatta, de Haan, Murphy, and Gilbert/Koekkoek...it’s such a dreadful concept I don’t even wanna imagine it for another second...
- SimpleJack

He's actually still on 50 point pace but no goals.

Who’s gonna produce offense on the blue line and PP if not Gus? Certainly not 2 or 7 at their ages....de Haan and Maatta the defensive specialists? Murphy? What’s his career high in pts like 15? Slater (frank)ing Koekkoek???

I honestly feel like everyone wanting Gus gone and replaced with another defensive minded defenseman isn’t using their damn heads...

And NOT ONE person has been able to answer my question of who replaces what Gus does. Because there is no answer. Because nobody can. And if we traded him we’d be a worse team overall than we are with him. With quite possibly the most offensively inept Dcore in NHL history.
- SimpleJack

Trade Slater to Cubs all he does is strike out.
KKKK

I’m honestly getting tired of the Gus debate (as I continue in the Gus debate... I’m aware of the irony).

Gus is a defensive liability who needs to produce at a regular offensive pace to offset his negatives. If he’s not doing that, then it’s best to replace him with a defensemen who is better at defense. He’s not the catalyst for the PP right now (which is the only way I advocate having him in the line up), so it’s time to address the team’s other, more pressing needs.

I understand your argument about his points production, but currently, this roster’s serious shortcomings lie in defensive concerns (5v5, PK), so that is what I’d focus on when making blue line roster decisions. In addition, any current concerns about offensive production would be more effectively addressed by reforming the line combinations, particularly the top 6 (e.g. putting Toews/Kane and Strome/Dcat back together).

No roster can be strong everywhere, there’s always going to be an area of concern or something that lacks depth. That’s just the nature of a salary-cap world. But the glaring weakness of the Hawks roster isn’t offensive production from the blue line. It’s a nearly league-worst goals-against average and PK. Unless Gus is lighting it up offensively (he isn’t) he should sit in lieu of a defenseman who is serviceable on actual defense. Now, should there come a time when we enter the bizarro world and the Hawks actually have a defense and PK shut down on lock - but can’t seem to manage scoring goals - then perhaps you consider inserting a guy like Gus into the line up to see if it helps address that concern.

I’m going to try to exercise some personal discipline and stay out of the Gus conversation moving forward as it’s getting tedious and I’m sure people are tired of seeing my posts on it.
- Chief4Feathers

How much would you have written if you weren't tired of it?