Imagine thinking Jones is better and more expensive than Makar.
- Elbows15

Makar was a RFA. Crazy money when the AVS have all the leverage

If anyone thinks the Hawks are in cap hell and have all these bad contracts...please go to cap friendly and look at the San Jose Sharks
- NamedSources

I can't wait until the Hawks are in cap hell again - it will mean a bunch of the kids are excellent players. There's not one kid so far who has played near well enough to skip the bridge deal and go right to the big money deal. I hope one does. Until then, cap space ain't no thing.

I can't wait until the Hawks are in cap hell again - it will mean a bunch of the kids are excellent players. There's not one kid so far who has played near well enough to skip the bridge deal and go right to the big money deal. I hope one does. Until then, cap space ain't no thing.
- mohel

Cap space is everything

Cap space is everything
- Ogilthorpe2

Cap space is KING!

It’s time for the Hawks to draft a goalie now.

Cap space is everything
- Ogilthorpe2

Totally.

On the trade.....I'm holding my water (which gets harder every year). I know that the professionals who run the Hawks are better at these things than me. There are apparently many here that are smarter than professional hockey people, but I am not one of them. Then again, I am a simple, obtuse unicorn.

I’m not sure he was, but they were log jammed at goalie with Bob, Dreidger, Knight & Levi. And Bob isn’t going anywhere with that contract.

So Stan could have put something together for Knight, who is leaps and bounds better than any Blackhawk goalie. Hell, Levi probably is too, as well as Driedger.
- scottak

Florida choose to keep Knight. No team is getting him. Meanwhile Bowman has two goaltender prospects. What you do, Scott, is determine if you want to move assets for one of Florida's other goaltenders. You have already invested in acquisition of two goaltender prospects. Maybe you are caught up in the moment wanting any of the Florida goaltenders whom changed addresses. You like them real whole lot. So what becomes of the netminder prospects we have.

Totally.

On the trade.....I'm holding my water (which gets harder every year). I know that the professionals who run the Hawks are better at these things than me. There are apparently many here that are smarter than professional hockey people, but I am not one of them. Then again, I am a simple, obtuse unicorn.
- mohel

Wrong player, at the wrong time, for the wrong price (asset wise) IMO. The money matters not to me, although it seems a bit rich to me.

Cap space is KING!

It’s time for the Hawks to draft a goalie now.
- DarthKane

Agreed. This is when goalies should be drafted….right around the same time you’d draft your second kicker in a football fantasy draft.

Edit: or a Russian C

Ilya Safonov Center pick #172

If the Hawks do go for a goalie in this draft, aim for Arseni Sergeyev.

He plays in North America so he's at least in this hemisphere and playing on the smaller ice surface.

Even if the Hawks don't draft a goalie today, they got a good one in free agency a few months ago in Arvid Soderblom.

Advantages: he's further along, under contract, and should start out as 2nd string in Rockford behind Cale Morris but has potential to surpass him in short order.

There was an article yesterday in the Athletic with someone in the know with Swedish players stating that Soderblom may turn out better than Wallstedt.

Just one person's perspective but one to keep in the back pocket given Soderblom is in the system and Wallstedt is with the Wild.

Ilya Safonov C

Third year eligible left shooting Russian centre is big but behind the curve although he does have a quick release, is a good penalty killer and saw 4th line duty in the World Junior Tournament, where he scored a couple goals on quickly-releases heavy wrist shots. Not a sound puck handler for a centre but does use his body to control the middle of the ice.

--Bill Płaczek--

Ilya Safonov Center pick #172
- BGKarras

Safonov is 20 years old. Late picks last year (Crevier and Yetman) were older guys also.

My dream has come true:

my profile;


Kirby’s l’il brother is a big left winger who puts hit head down and drives to the net. At this juncture isn’t finished developing his acceleration and top gear, but he gets there, and when he does, he hits and finishes his checks. He is a dominant board player who is literally able to knock defenseman down in puck battles. His puck control is also very good, and is very difficult to move off the puck. A smart offensive zone player who never throws away possessions. Effective offensively, but still in the developmental stage. He will cut sharply en route to the front and find a small space where pucks opportunistically find him. Finds pucks sneaking out of traffic. From the cycle down low, he will steam out to the post. Will shoot towards the goalie’s far side pad to create rebounds to the low slot. He is hard on the back check. Hit opponents with frequency. He will drop the gloves. Posssesses strong puck control. Still a work in progresses there is effective offensive ability but it needs to improve.
- wiz1901

Did you see film of him 2 seasons ago as a 17 yr old? He jumped up to 1 pt per game this yr, .5 goals per game, wondering what parts of Dach's game improved?

What line did he skate this yr? He play any special teams?

Care to guess on his ceiling and floor?

He gets paid to spend Wirtz’s money. That’s his job. He has a budget, he better not need to run to his boss to spend within that budget. That would be organizational dysfunction.
- Ogilthorpe2

Jones is getting a $40 million signing bonus, you don’t think that had to be approved?

Did you see film of him 2 seasons ago as a 17 yr old? He jumped up to 1 pt per game this yr, .5 goals per game, wondering what parts of Dach's game improved?

What line did he skate this yr? He play any special teams?

Care to guess on his ceiling and floor?
- Mr Ricochet

Sheet rock and Hard wood would be a safe bet.

Jones is getting a $40 million signing bonus, you don’t think that had to be approved?
- LAHawk

He’s the boss. Those are the decisions he’s paid to make. Signing bonus still falls within the cap. It’s just lump sum instead of installments. Stay within your overall budget, and you shouldn’t need to get every move approved. Rocky could choose to be GM himself, but doesn’t.

Ilya Safonov C

Third year eligible left shooting Russian centre is big but behind the curve although he does have a quick release, is a good penalty killer and saw 4th line duty in the World Junior Tournament, where he scored a couple goals on quickly-releases heavy wrist shots. Not a sound puck handler for a centre but does use his body to control the middle of the ice.

--Bill Płaczek--
- wiz1901

Thanks 👍🏼

Ilya Safonov C

Third year eligible left shooting Russian centre is big but behind the curve although he does have a quick release, is a good penalty killer and saw 4th line duty in the World Junior Tournament, where he scored a couple goals on quickly-releases heavy wrist shots. Not a sound puck handler for a centre but does use his body to control the middle of the ice.

--Bill Płaczek--
- wiz1901

His best scoring season? 11G, 8A for a whopping 19 PTS when he was 15yo.

This may be the only time when we see or hear this name.

They're not trying to be Ottawa or Phoenix. If you're a good team you will always be fighting the cap. "Those other players will have to be good to get paid."
- rpeters01

You're talking about Stan here

One thing to keep in mind is that Bowman has 3 assistant GMs to divvy up the work:

Kyle Davidson, Hockey Administration
Mark Eaton, Player Development
Ryan Stewart, Pro Scouting

Not sure of the exact reporting lines but one would think Stewart has to communicate regularly with Bowman and Kelley.

Davidson is the numbers cruncher who manages the cap.

That said, though, Bowman has final say. Yet, at least in interviews, he says he lets them all do their jobs without micromanaging. But GMs aren't straight shooters with the media either.

Larry Brooks from the New York Post reporting that the Devils are going hard after Hamilton and offering $63M. Haven't seen term but it's likely 6 years at $10.5M to surpass Jones, otherwise it's 7 years at $9M. Highly doubt it's max term of 8 years at $7.875M.

Totally.

On the trade.....I'm holding my water (which gets harder every year). I know that the professionals who run the Hawks are better at these things than me. There are apparently many here that are smarter than professional hockey people, but I am not one of them. Then again, I am a simple, obtuse unicorn.
- mohel

You need to get a grip on lecturing people on how they post. This is a forum, people post messages, they comment on the workings on the team, many don't agree with what is going on, they voice that view.

Some people are making well thought out cogent argument as to why the trade was not good. They are not saying, "I am smarter than this or that guy", they are just making their opinions felt on an opinion medium. But it seems we got some people with the only responsibility to deflect any criticism of Lord Stanley. If Bowman can handle criticism he is in the wrong job. I assume he can handle it or he ignores it. Maybe you should follow his lead.

Oh yea many "professional hockey (any sport) people" are NOT competent at their jobs. Why would "professional hockey people" be different than incompetent doctors, lawyers, gas station clerks, waiters, etc.? Don't tell me GM is the only profession in the world where incompetence never exists. LMAO.

@brandonmcain

New #Blackhawks prospect Ilya Safonov (#2021NHLDraft sixth) is the Russian player that Kirby Dach collided with during a #WorldJuniors pre-tournament game and Dach broke his right wrist, which required surgery. Dach missed 34 games before he made his 2021 debut.

Awkward.

You need to get a grip on lecturing people on how they post. This is a forum, people post messages, they comment on the workings on the team, many don't agree with what is going on, they voice that view.

Some people are making well thought out cogent argument as to why the trade was not good. They are not saying, "I am smarter than this or that guy", they are just making their opinions felt on an opinion medium. But it seems we got some people with the only responsibility to deflect any criticism of Lord Stanley. If Bowman can handle criticism he is in the wrong job. I assume he can handle it or he ignores it. Maybe you should follow his lead.

Oh yea many "professional hockey (any sport) people" are NOT competent at their jobs. Why would "professional hockey people" be different than incompetent doctors, lawyers, gas station clerks, waiters, etc.? Don't tell me GM is the only profession in the world where incompetence never exists. LMAO.
- kwolf68

Well...he is right