Yea, man!! And "the interesting era" began last yr when Stanley got fired and the organIzation hired an outside firm to teach them how to search and hire front office types. No surprise, cuz he knows jack about hockey, Danny took the path of least resistance and hired 35ish rookie KD as the top hockey mind in the whole organIzation. ...... Interesting and damn scary. KD fails and we are for sure in a 10 yr rebuild, and maybe longer, cuz Danny Bow showed with Stanley failure gets you an extension and promotion.

Unless I missed something I haven't seen a misstep by KD. And here we are a month from a loaded draft, the Hawks flush with picks, about to add a probable generational talent the season after a total teardown.

Very interesting indeed.
- Mr Ricochet

Everyone gets recycled anyway I like the KD hire.

I've been impressed with how poised Allan has been on offense. His first goal was kind of off the rush. Skated down the left wing boards and beat the goalie clean with a strong wrister. Second goal he was parked near the left circle, moved in a bit and knocked in a late 3rd period goal.

Both times he made it look like he was going at about 70% effort. Just calmly positioning himself to be effective, using his teammates effectively, or patiently waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
- Chunk

Korchinski is the jewel of the pipeline but as I watch Seattle throughout the yr I gravitate more and more to looking at Allan for the exact reason you post, his poise, especially in this Memorial Cup and the playoffs before that.

Hunted film after they drafted him and he was a nicely balanced skater with size and some edge to him but man he couldn't hit the ocean with a pass. Today the kid shows nice poise under pressure beating the forecheck with nimble feet/hands, one passing the thing out, or banking it up, or taking the room given and passing off the rush. .. Nifty little 5 ft passes all the way to head up 30 ft outlets.

Not quite dramatic improvement but a huge leap in two yrs. Yes Korchinski is "the guy" but my eyes gravitate to this kid as he does so much well and it's coming from his poise and added to by his skating, size, grit, positioning.

Can't wait to see him in the AHL next yr as his development continues.

Getting the #1 was lucky, everything else seems to be planned ahead of time. One other "advantage" he had going for him is the or-gan-I-zation's (love how y'all to the North consistently pronounce that) want to purge everyone from plain site who was around in 2010. Made his job of getting rid of the fan favorites much easier.

I also believe he has a great staff, Cubs guy Greenberg, Meghan Hunter both have lots of experience, and I expect both will be GMs themselves one day.

As some point out, the teardown, as long as you have ownership support, is the easy part. So far, you are correct, it seems to have been executed exactly to plan.
- vabeachbear

For sure, much harder to build than deconstruct. And the same for coach LR. Easier to get guys looking to stay in the bigs to play hungry hockey and accept coaching than get a group of talented players to buy in and win.......

IIRC KD got 2 1sts from TB, this yrs #19 which could be a top 6 player, and two nondescript guys in Katchouk and Raddysh for Hagel. Think it was you who said Katchouk was their best player late and I agree with that. You could see the kid coming, and boom the results followed in all 3 zones. Raddysh is a big kid who scored 20 goals and 1/2 pt per game. Those are two nice little quiet adds that looked like probable throw ins........ Lafferty for Nylander? Really nice trade..... Did he sign Guttman? My biggest regret last yr was Guttman getting hurt. Kid was really coming in all phases when he got hurt. Add all the draft picks he has banked and KD has done some fine work so far.

Long way to go, lotta work to be done but the small sample size from both KD and LR gives a fan reasonable reasons to be optimistic.

Everyone gets recycled anyway I like the KD hire.
- rpeters01

So far, yea, But when they hired him, a guy who started at the bottom as an intern, without the safety net of a prez of hockey ops making KD the top hockey mind in the organIzation one had reason to worry, no?

My stance was if they hired KD as GM they must hire an experienced guy above him. For obvious reasons but just as important to me was getting fresh eyes without biases or loyalties from outside the organIzation on yrs and yrs old problems.

Long way to go but so far so good.

Just don't draft any Pete's dmen. I swear I've never seen so many dman tripping over their own skates reversing direction behind the net.......

I don't usually get to see CHL hockey so its interesting to me. Seems choppy and less smooth of a a game than college.
- vabeachbear

They're kids. What I really love about big time jrs hockey is it is spontaneous emotional all out hockey, cuz they are kids. It's said it is the last time you see this kind of hockey by supremely talented kids before they turn pro and have the wild horse coached out of them. ..... Indeed, it's wild horse spontaneous hockey and for me that is the draw.

Thanks for your informative posts Rico. The only move I would have liked from KD was maybe picking up Tolvanen on waivers from the Preds. Who knows, maybe there was some underlying reason.
- Angotti

Agree, I thought for sure they'd pick up Tolvenen for nothing off waivers. Same thing with Vrana. I know Vrana has some off the ice issues but Tolvenen doesn't. Adding these two talented young players to a roster devoid of talent seemed like a no brainer but as you mention there may have been underlying reasons KD didn't.

Time will tell but it looked like a chance to add young talent for free.

Agree, I thought for sure they'd pick up Tolvenen for nothing off waivers. Same thing with Vrana. I know Vrana has some off the ice issues but Tolvenen doesn't. Adding these two talented young players to a roster devoid of talent seemed like a no brainer but as you mention there may have been underlying reasons KD didn't.

Time will tell but it looked like a chance to add young talent for free.
- Mr Ricochet

Just think Buddy Robinson got the Hawks Bedard, got Burke and Hextall fired, and possibly the Panthers the Cup. Shouldn't he be NHL MVP ?

It is a lousy list.

Gracyn Sawchyn first round?

All those defenseman off board in the first three rounds?
- wiz1901

I have been pounding the table for Sawchyn all year but have to agree, not 1st round, maybe #44 for him. Think he is good value mid to late 2nd, right where you have him going.

Korchinski is the jewel of the pipeline but as I watch Seattle throughout the yr I gravitate more and more to looking at Allan for the exact reason you post, his poise, especially in this Memorial Cup and the playoffs before that.

Hunted film after they drafted him and he was a nicely balanced skater with size and some edge to him but man he couldn't hit the ocean with a pass. Today the kid shows nice poise under pressure beating the forecheck with nimble feet/hands, one passing the thing out, or banking it up, or taking the room given and passing off the rush. .. Nifty little 5 ft passes all the way to head up 30 ft outlets.

Not quite dramatic improvement but a huge leap in two yrs. Yes Korchinski is "the guy" but my eyes gravitate to this kid as he does so much well and it's coming from his poise and added to by his skating, size, grit, positioning.

Can't wait to see him in the AHL next yr as his development continues.
- Mr Ricochet

Allan has improved more and more in the second half (especially on offense). Had to adjust to Seattle after the trade. Was surprised that he could range around a little bit more than I expected without getting in trouble.

Have to wonder if his offensive improvement will slow some at Rockford as he adjusts his defense to the higher level. Thinking he might take 2 years at Rockford, which is probably OK since it will take some time for the defensive prospect logjam to clear.

Allan has improved more and more in the second half (especially on offense). Had to adjust to Seattle after the trade. Was surprised that he could range around a little bit more than I expected without getting in trouble.

Have to wonder if his offensive improvement will slow some at Rockford as he adjusts his defense to the higher level. Thinking he might take 2 years at Rockford, which is probably OK since it will take some time for the defensive prospect logjam to clear.
- totem

Wouldn't it be nice to have a problem like that where many of these kids deserve a chance at the NHL level. If that happens believe our record will begin going north quickly.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a problem like that where many of these kids deserve a chance at the NHL level. If that happens believe our record will begin going north quickly.
- BetweenTheDots

Doesn't matter how good your defense is if you can't score, for instance the Hurricanes.

Doesn't matter how good your defense is if you can't score, for instance the Hurricanes.
- LAHawk

Good enough for the regular season for sure. That's why i don't want them to jump the gun as soon a they get a taste of some success.

And we will have a line with Bedard on it, are you kidding me, he's probably only going to get better as our defense does.

https://twitter.com/Mario...T0qgcDoj0VuYrkzBqtZg&s=01

Speaking of one of our prospects

https://twitter.com/WCHaw...5NWA63TAYixjGkITvvtw&s=01

Hopefully this pair will be able to continue this later in the NHL

Allan has improved more and more in the second half (especially on offense). Had to adjust to Seattle after the trade. Was surprised that he could range around a little bit more than I expected without getting in trouble.

Have to wonder if his offensive improvement will slow some at Rockford as he adjusts his defense to the higher level. Thinking he might take 2 years at Rockford, which is probably OK since it will take some time for the defensive prospect logjam to clear.
- totem

My 2 cents.

Vlasic, Phillips and Kaiser hopefully get at least 50 NHL games in next year. I can see 2 of the 3 on the team at the same time with the 3rd rotating to Rockford.

Del Mastro and Allan in Rockford for the year.

Korchinski probably stays in the Juniors. No need to rush him and start his ELC contract.

That leaves Mitchell and Regula. Neither are waiver exempt. Perhaps they are qualified and coud pass waivers when sent down to provide some RD injury calliup depth. Don't see them as long term blue line fixtures.

My 2 cents.

Vlasic, Phillips and Kaiser hopefully get at least 50 NHL games in next year. I can see 2 of the 3 on the team at the same time with the 3rd rotating to Rockford.

Del Mastro and Allan in Rockford for the year.

Korchinski probably stays in the Juniors. No need to rush him and start his ELC contract.

That leaves Mitchell and Regula. Neither are waiver exempt. Perhaps they are qualified and coud pass waivers when sent down to provide some RD injury calliup depth. Don't see them as long term blue line fixtures.
- boilermaker100

That sounds right to me for this upcoming season, but i think it's going to get interesting 24-25 season

That sounds right to me for this upcoming season, but i think it's going to get interesting 24-25 season
- BetweenTheDots

With all these young defensive prospects, how will they manage to play each for 250 games in order to assess them properly?

Allan has improved more and more in the second half (especially on offense). Had to adjust to Seattle after the trade. Was surprised that he could range around a little bit more than I expected without getting in trouble.

Have to wonder if his offensive improvement will slow some at Rockford as he adjusts his defense to the higher level. Thinking he might take 2 years at Rockford, which is probably OK since it will take some time for the defensive prospect logjam to clear.
- totem

Totem or anyone who watches the Thunderbirds, what do you think of Jeremy Hanzel?

He is a double overager and hasn't been drafted but is 6'2" 191 LD but plays exclusively on the right for Seattle, mostly with Allan. He seems to always be in the right spot and makes the right play. He was a +70 in the regular season and is a +26 in the playoffs. I would be willing to throw a late round pick at him. Just seems like a guy you win with.

Mr Richochet

Two observations maybe you mull over after you have seen a lot of the Blackhawk draftees in USHL or other games

Preface your answer however with the (is it) hope or expectation to see KD use his second #1 ‘23 - at what slot if a trade - to go after talent first and the talent/size combination secondly. Meaning the big Hronas kid (sic) some salivating over is second to IMHO (for example) to Benson.

Now some kids we drafted are turning pro. I am referencing the forwards last two drafts accumulated under different GM. If each of those kids had one season AHL, is it conceivable any of them could then make the Blackhawks? The mind wanders…..Reichel and Bedard plus at least one forward after Bedard from ‘23 draft makes three skill guys producing points on top two lines in the season after next

Our 20 goal scorer from Tampa trade likely could fit on a top two line failing anyone else who fits ….unless one of the kids from Bowman/KD last two drafts moves up probably sooner than expected

Also FWIW Hagel had only about ten more goals than his counterpart we received from Tampa…interesting, eh

With all these young defensive prospects, how will they manage to play each for 250 games in order to assess them properly?
- mohel

The 250 game mark is a generic, with data behind it, for an NHL Dman to hit stride. Dobber has that number at 400!!

Respectfully, most of us can see if a guy is gonna be a credible NHLer by game 250-300 but it takes a pro earning an NHL paycheck to see that in a kid as a prospect or 50-100 games into his NHL career.

Get enough solid hockey minds/evaluators in an organIzation that know the difference in a prospect/player early and you can move the ones who don't fit before they lose their value or take up valuable NHL ice time that can be given to players who do fit a long term profile.

This amateur sees Vlasic and especially Kaiser and Phillips who fit. I'm bigger on Allen than most and am very very very intrigued by Del Mastro.

Mr Richochet

Two observations maybe you mull over after you have seen a lot of the Blackhawk draftees in USHL or other games



- jhawk59

59, just had company stop by but will respond but I really like Benson but don't see a way he falls to #19. Love his attack mentality. Kid's looking to score from his own zone.

The 250 game mark is a generic, with data behind it, for an NHL Dman to hit stride. Dobber has that number at 400!!

Respectfully, most of us can see if a guy is gonna be a credible NHLer by game 250-300 but it takes a pro earning an NHL paycheck to see that in a kid as a prospect or 50-100 games into his NHL career.

Get enough solid hockey minds/evaluators in an organIzation that know the difference in a prospect/player early and you can move the ones who don't fit before they lose their value or take up valuable NHL ice time that can be given to players who do fit a long term profile.

This amateur sees Vlasic and especially Kaiser and Phillips who fit. I'm bigger on Allen than most and am very very very intrigued by Del Mastro.
- Mr Ricochet

On a lesser note, I see a dark horse who if he develops more in his second AHL campaign is a sleeper among the bigger names touted There are several good things Crevier has going for him. Have you seen enough of him in AHL to at least now say “well……..maybe?”

His capabilities- skating, not bad at anything, has size and sometimes uses it plus that long Chara reach….,he could become a solid YES solid third pair. In junior he was a shutdown warrior role. I love that he can skate well as a big (tall) guy and wonder if he gets stronger and tad more nasty

Is it somewhat true so far to call him a lesser version of Vlasic

The 250 game mark is a generic, with data behind it, for an NHL Dman to hit stride. Dobber has that number at 400!!

Respectfully, most of us can see if a guy is gonna be a credible NHLer by game 250-300 but it takes a pro earning an NHL paycheck to see that in a kid as a prospect or 50-100 games into his NHL career.

Get enough solid hockey minds/evaluators in an organIzation that know the difference in a prospect/player early and you can move the ones who don't fit before they lose their value or take up valuable NHL ice time that can be given to players who do fit a long term profile.

This amateur sees Vlasic and especially Kaiser and Phillips who fit. I'm bigger on Allen than most and am very very very intrigued by Del Mastro.
- Mr Ricochet

Fully agree with the bolded, but other posters have not in the past. Perhaps that position has "evolved" for them.

59, just had company stop by but will respond but I really like Benson but don't see a way he falls to #19. Love his attack mentality. Kid's looking to score from his own zone.
- Mr Ricochet

For Benson I trade up even twice trade up from 19th. In play I give two ‘23 2nd round and one 2nd round in ‘24. Additionally if the other team wants to take a flyer on Regula, he can be inclusive Give them Basse too as a sweetener.

Sale came to my attention last yr in the U-18 WJC. Smooth as silk, polished and loads of talent in his hands and feet. A no doubt top 10, or even top 5, pick for the 2023 draft.

This yr .comes and he's inconsistent not showing much hunger. Played the whole yr pro in Czechia and only with his own age group internationally.

At 6ft 1in with plus skating ad loads of skill he has everything the Hawks seem to covet minus the compete. IMO if he's there at 19 Hawks have a big decision to make and it would not surprise me if they took em. ....... Guess it depends on who's available when their turn comes but no surprise at all if they took the skilled/smooth/polished winger.
- Mr Ricochet

I don't see anything that a few more pounds and muscle will help to make him better. The kid is so good at reading the attack zone, he would have Bedard giving and going and you don't worry if it gets to the bullseye on Connor Bedard's stick.
That's why my greedy ass wants more, morE, moRE, mORE, MORE picks in the first.

If there is ANY truth to draft prognosticators saying Sale being downgraded (In his case, b/c his play at 17 as a Czechia pro was full of "less hunger."), or the same knock on Kasper Halttunen
Calum Ritchie up and down the first with praise to his toolkit and and shade to his down low efforts.

Well I simply cannot see them as being around by pick 35.
I see Charlie Stramel back IN the first, gone before #35.
All they draft prognosticators list become BS on draft day.

Specifically I think the fact that "centres" Bedard and Nazar are in the top of of kids, it doesn't mean either or both play wings on occasion or with Nazar permanently.
You DO want both kids to get their chance to fail as pivots before you relegate changes; so taking big centre who can play wing, and taking bigger wingers makes sense. taking insurance policies at pivot, but we all know that top NHL centres are luxury, and the chances of grabbing a first liner late at #19 may be wishful thinking, but these picks (and the seconds) are an opportunity...whether they isolate skill sets and look for specific high end complimentary players, or take shots at high end shooters.

I like so many of the forwards in this group and will be happy with whatever forward they decide to pick on my board between 10 and 30.
https://www.lines.com/nhl/drafts

I have been pounding the table for Sawchyn all year but have to agree, not 1st round, maybe #44 for him. Think he is good value mid to late 2nd, right where you have him going.
- totem

He's good in the dot and has value and I have him off the board in the 2nd at about #47

Gracyn SAWCHYN
Although his size and average boots probably have him playing a wing in the higher levels, he has been a leader on the powerhouse Thinderbirds team as a centre. Playing behind two already drafted centres, he is the third line pivot but gets his share of power play time, where he sets up on the half wall. Has good edge work, and even though he skates in a choppy style, he manages to generate above average speed on the attack. He needs muscle that will add to his improving his stride to give him a bit quicker push to the open areas. Despite not currently having the muscle mass, he gets out-muscled, but is tenuous on the forecheck. Has a good shot, and although his playmaking ability isn't high end, he reads the ice very well. Has soft hands and is a playmaker from wing as well as centre. Not a burner but plays at a high tempo.