Even if you changed that third to a first jersey would have to seriously think about it.
- ChrisMS

Hawks are in no position to be giving up a 1st round pick for an aging Palmieri.

Hawks are in no position to be giving up a 1st round pick for an aging Palmieri.
- Elbows15

I’m not suggesting they should. Just that the value of that trade wasn’t close to enough to land Palmieri. The devils would get better offers elsewhere.

Happy Friday everyone. I hope everyone is safe and practicing socially distancing and washing your hands .

Hockey along with many other sports have dropped off the radar with this pandemic.

I don't see hockey resuming this season based on the severity of this health crisis. I do wonder if hockey will be able to survive and not go bankrupt . We all know it's a great sport to watch but doesn't generate the necessary revenues like basketball , football or baseball.


It was great to see some owners step up and offer to pay these workers who support their teams and stadiums.

Further explanation.

Quite frankly I did not like the Palmieri trade either. But I needed to clear cap space. Either Maatta or Saad had to go. I think the young dmen we have are more ready for the NHL than our young forwards are for top 9 minutes in the NHL. So I chose Maata.

I looked at it as almost two separate deals. Would Jersey take Maatta for Boston's 4th round pick that they own? I think so. If they did just that it would be a win.

Then what do you do with Shaw. You can wait on Shaw? Will he be medically cleared to play? Will he want to play? IF he comes back and plays well he could play up and down the lineup. It would be a huge bonus, but very unlikely. If he does not come back we can LTIR him on day 1 and make an in-season acquisition of a top 9 forward.

It is a big risk having 3 young defenders in the 7 on the roster. They would probably be better off with some Rockford time. But in 21/22 we might be glad these kids got a year under their belt at the NHL level during 20/21. If Seabs and dehaan are ready to go on day 1 you only need to play 2 of them in the lineup each night. Mitchell is already 21 and has played 3 years of college hockey. (One more year than Cale Makar of the Av's). If Mitchell is as decent as Boqvist, Beaudin or Carlsson would we be gaining that much if we signed/played veterans K4 or Seeler instead of the younger guys. I don't think so.

Finally on Highmore. I kept Kampf on the NHL roster because he can play center and on the PK. I kept Hagel on the NHL roster. But I signed Highmore and stashed him in Rockford. If Shaw is good to go maybe you move Kampf or stash him at Rockford and keep Highmore on the big club.

Welcome aboard. I agree. What would happen if a team playing in the playoffs has a player or coach test positive for COVID-19. Do both teams need to be quarantined for 14-21 days? That would be a disaster. For this reason I can't see them coming back.

Also, if a city is a "hotspot", and has "shelter at home" ordinances in place, and one team does not, how would that work? Would they play all the games in the non lockdown cities?
- LAHawk

Would teams be required to take the test if a small amount of the virus continues to be reported each week? I do not envision wiping out or making extinct this virus is possible.

There are too many people not always careful whom are carriers. Treating and curbing the homeless population is also a concern. In fact even the start up of next season is in jeopardy

. Do owners feel they will not have acceptable attendance? Would they take an insurance settlement saying they cannot safely open to the public their hockey buildings? Let's assume there is an innoculation by Christmas. Half season of games? Normally with society had to see developments get really bad before everyone buys into an action. A dramatic oversimplification gets this point across: the bombing of Pearl Harbor was an excuse to enter the war..

How do you stop peaks and valleys of this infection? What does it take to get homeless or any set of people within society to fully comply. Some will merely wash hands with soap and hope to be ok. I think washing hands yourself and mouth nose guards in your environment, with practicing safe distancing is the way to go. But society altogether is not fully compliant and we will suffer as a result

Hawks are in no position to be giving up a 1st round pick for an aging Palmieri.
- Elbows15

Or an aging anyone. Trading first round picks is a recipe for disaster in most cases.

Hawks are in no position to be giving up a 1st round pick for an aging Palmieri.
- Elbows15

Have you not seen Stan’s work before?

Nylander is a big wildcard, one that I don't like the situation. His flashes of ability are impressive and get me thinking this guy could be awesome, but I wish he would be a more consistent player. As a gm or especially a coach of an NHL team looking to compete, bring me this Nylander when he is fully ready. I know this is a retooling time but still. If he isnt looking good after 10 games in I hope he gets sent down and if he cant deal with it then it's a problem.
- just69sayin

22 year olds are rarely consistent Sharp didn't click till at least 25 I wish people would leave Nylander alone.

Or an aging anyone. Trading first round picks is a recipe for disaster in most cases.
- Ogilthorpe2

Especially a lotto pick...

Or an aging anyone. Trading first round picks is a recipe for disaster in most cases.
- Ogilthorpe2

Unless it’s for Barclay Goodrow when you’re already stacked at forward and clearly in need of another defenseman.

Or an aging anyone. Trading first round picks is a recipe for disaster in most cases.
- Ogilthorpe2

Never an early top ten pick in a strong draft Try to imagine Drysdale or one of the forwards from even a tenth or 11h selection two years later as compared to the older Palmieri.

A side note: If somehow we would up with Drysdale, just promote the dmen prospects and allow them to grow, to improve over the next couple of seasons.
Eventually out of an abundance of young dmen you should find a team willing to trade as highly rated/developed forward. Now if your objective is to add another forward, you can try via this route. You would also enable the team to have as ideal a young mobile highly skilled defense. There may be other routes of action if we grabbed Drydale. But my suggestion is a good one. I doubt that Bowman could be persuaded to trade his 2020 first round pick.

NJ has Hischer and Hughes. They should plan on trading Palmieri but for whom and when, that is something which plays out.

I give Doh credit for a descent plan, albeit one I would not complete as far as a first for Palmieri

Unless it’s for Barclay Goodrow when you’re already stacked at forward and clearly in need of another defenseman.
- SimpleJack

Except Goodrow is a LW.

And we thought WE were having sports withdrawal

https://twitter.com/MrAnd.../1243539675031232519?s=20

n Bob McKenzie we trust.

He says there is no way the owners want to give back their season ticket holders the $ for the lost games, so unless there is an attack by Godzilla besides the pandemic this season will be played and a playoff of some kind will happened before there is ANOTHER SEASON, his words.

How the draft fits is the mystery as IT seems IT HAS to follow the finish of 2019-20 UNLESS the Board of Governors make a unilateral decision to set an order prior to October and have a draft.

n Bob McKenzie we trust.

He says there is no way the owners want to give back their season ticket holders the $ for the lost games, so unless there is an attack by Godzilla besides the pandemic this season will be played and a playoff of some kind will happened before there is ANOTHER SEASON, his words.

How the draft fits is the mystery as IT seems IT HAS to follow the finish of 2019-20 UNLESS the Board of Governors make a unilateral decision to set an order prior to October and have a draft.
- wiz1901

I don't care how they do it, just so the Hawks move up

n Bob McKenzie we trust.

He says there is no way the owners want to give back their season ticket holders the $ for the lost games, so unless there is an attack by Godzilla besides the pandemic this season will be played and a playoff of some kind will happened before there is ANOTHER SEASON, his words.

How the draft fits is the mystery as IT seems IT HAS to follow the finish of 2019-20 UNLESS the Board of Governors make a unilateral decision to set an order prior to October and have a draft.
- wiz1901

That’s what they say now. Things change. I don’t see it happening.

That’s what they say now. Things change. I don’t see it happening.
- Ogilthorpe2

I think the season is done, sadly. The draft will still happen but it will obviously be a scaled back event from it's normal standards. I could even see it being a virtual/online event only.

We had a good-bye event yesterday for a colleague (it was his last day on the Death Star) and it was 100% video conference. I have to say that it went much better than expected, maybe not as good as in-person, but still good.

That’s what they say now. Things change. I don’t see it happening.
- Ogilthorpe2

Especially if fulfilling their "promise" to their season ticket base is by opening the seating to all regulars and thinking that there is a complete all clear on the virus.

I dunno...it is August and your rich ass was fortunate to have four seats (that you rationalize that you sell when you cannot attend)...the restrictions lighten...you going to let your kid go to his restart little league, the complex swimming pool(s), using the local parks, OR are you taking into the urban center from the outlands of the city where suddenly the number of persons all around you is in the thousands?

You and I are in agreement.

Maybe the league owners need to concentrate on matters they can currently control, like hammering out a long term deal that fits for whatever happens with the rest of this season and shakes out as fair for there players instead of tossing more "burdens" on the higher-salaried NHL stars and their deals...the owners will have to be in a moment of clarity with less greed and businesslike thriftiness.
Do this get a long term deal, give in to demands for Olympic participation, figure out the goofy stretches in rest periods and then go out and get a huge, stable TV deal.

Tyler Cameron: "Best of" Blackhawks Armchair GMing – Part 2
Presenting on to our 2nd edition of Blackhawks Armchair GMing. This week features DOH!'s lineup and see what he would do as your GM.
- Tyler Cameron

Really enjoy reading the armchair GM analysis you are doing 👍

I wish more team bloggers did them.

22 year olds are rarely consistent Sharp didn't click till at least 25 I wish people would leave Nylander alone.
- rpeters01

Hence my point

Never an early top ten pick in a strong draft Try to imagine Drysdale or one of the forwards from even a tenth or 11h selection two years later as compared to the older Palmieri.

A side note: If somehow we would up with Drysdale, just promote the dmen prospects and allow them to grow, to improve over the next couple of seasons.
Eventually out of an abundance of young dmen you should find a team willing to trade as highly rated/developed forward. Now if your objective is to add another forward, you can try via this route. You would also enable the team to have as ideal a young mobile highly skilled defense. There may be other routes of action if we grabbed Drydale. But my suggestion is a good one. I doubt that Bowman could be persuaded to trade his 2020 first round pick.

NJ has Hischer and Hughes. They should plan on trading Palmieri but for whom and when, that is something which plays out.

I give Doh credit for a descent plan, albeit one I would not complete as far as a first for Palmieri
- jhawk59

Neither would Doh!

Except Goodrow is a LW.
- Elbows15

Exactly my point. I was being sarcastic.

Abysmal trade for the Lightning to make. Especially after just having added Coleman to an already loaded group of forwards.

22 year olds are rarely consistent Sharp didn't click till at least 25 I wish people would leave Nylander alone.
- rpeters01

The big difference is that Stan acquired Nylander but not Sharp, that makes all the difference. Nylander was a bust before his first shift as a Blackhawk.

22 year olds are rarely consistent Sharp didn't click till at least 25 I wish people would leave Nylander alone.
- rpeters01

Agree as the season had gone he got better plus imo needs to play in the top 6 to be affective. So maybe nylander dach kane next year to try. Kid has all the tools and skill to be a dynamic player its up to him to put the work in. One last thing how much of his development was screwed up by Buffalo.

22 year olds are rarely consistent Sharp didn't click till at least 25 I wish people would leave Nylander alone.
- rpeters01

If Nylander doesn't click, he won't be in the NHL at 25. He will be back home in Sweeden