People advocating trading Keith, please take a lap

Already have seen one response who you pick to win next round. Plus there is game seven yet Boston - Toronto.

I originally thought Boston would win
But now i say either team could win. Toronto has incredible deep number skill forward/centers and Andersson has been better than Rask. Previously in the series Toronto could not corral the Bruins top line.

Nashville-Winnipeg
Vegas-Sharks
Toronto/Boston - Tampa
Penguins - Capitals.

Who do you like?
- jhawk59

I've got Toronto winning in 7 in my bracket so that's automatic my pick there.

WPG-Vegas
Tampa-WSH

WPG-WSH finals

You know the answer to that - so they can fix it! I will say it ere first, if Chicago wins the lottery and gets #1 pick, then we all can understand why they played like dogs this past season.
- powerenforcer

But wait....your contention is that the league is always against the Hawks.....why would they fix the draft in their favor?

Keith nominated as Blackhawks candidate for King Clancy Humanitarian Award.

https://blackhawkup.com/2...d-for-humanitarian-award/

Winnipeg - Sharks
Tampa - Penguins

Sharks - Penguins

Sharks win it.
- Budi1782

Bold prediction

Don't be Stacy next season!

But wait....your contention is that the league is always against the Hawks.....why would they fix the draft in their favor?
- TheTrob

Because all of you say that the league can't survive without the Blackhawks, so I am giving you that.

People advocating trading Keith, please take a lap
- ObeseOprah

Wait until there is a Keith replacement. Which i do not envision any time soon. Wait until at least after next season

I think when you take an objective look at this team, a few things come into focus that suggest it will be a long while before the Hawks can build a contending team again.

1. 50, 19, 2 and 7 all are on the other side of the mountain and likely will never see their old level of performance again.

2. There are NO prospects in the pipeline ANYWHERE that come close to replacing any of the above talent, now, or in the foreseeable future.

3. At best, some of the prospects in Rockford may become decent lower tier players, and nothing more. Kampf, Hayden, Highmore - bottom six upside at best.

4. The decent talent that has made the roster - ADB, Schmaltz, Hino - all lack any grit to speak of to keep a puck in the zone. That said, they also lack anyone with size and speed to partner with on their lines.

When you watch teams like Boston, Tampa, Vegas - that level of balance, skill, speed, grit and attitude is the new benchmark. This Hawk team is VERY far from closing that gap.
- Return of the Roar

Regarding point #2:
Let's see how Jokiharju and the top ten 2018 pick rate at the conclusion of exhibition camp.

People advocating trading Keith, please take a lap
- ObeseOprah

People advocating trading Toews and Kane can take a lap also.

Whether trading 2/19/88 makes sense or not in the grand scheme of rebuilding this club into a contender, you need to factor in that they are the public faces of the organization.

The sell out crowds and long season ticket waiting lists are filled with people that don't know or give a rats a s s about why trading any or all of them makes the most sense. The second one of them goes, all those in the 19/2/88 Jerseys walking around the stadium, and make no mistake those are the majority of the jerseys, most of those fans are done. Your 20K+ season ticket waiting list becomes non-existent, your premium re-sale ticket prices become game day discount tickets, etc, etc, etc.

The fickle nature of the Hockey fan-base will not tolerate a re-build, so for as long as they can the Hawks will re-tool and add new pieces before admitting to a tear-down and re-build. Vegas Knights excepted, this is a superstar driven league. Box office is driven by name-recognition as much as by success, trading your "name" guys for supporting pieces is just not gonna put butts in the seats.

People advocating trading Keith, please take a lap
- ObeseOprah

Back from my lap, who did we get in return?

Seriously, if you think so highly of him, well, now is the time to trade him.

Back from my lap, who did we get in return?

Seriously, if you think so highly of him, well, now is the time to trade him.
- riozzo

If the Hawks trade Keith, they will not have one of the worst Defenses in the league, they will have THE WORST D in the league. Worse than Vancouver, Arizona, Buffalo, Detroit.

I'd trade anyone except Kane before I trade Keith. Guy has a sweetheart cap hit, eats up minutes, and is IMO the best defenseman the franchise has ever had.

Teams (last year Pitt excluded) don't win cups without a workhorse elite defenseman. No one coming into the Hawks (unless we win Dahlin Saturday night) is going to be a Keith/Chara/Doughty/Letang.

Jokiharju looks nice, but few have him pegged as the next Norris candidate. Elite talent like Keith elevates the play of those around him, by being on the ice at the same time but also by practicing against them.

If you think we're ok with Connor Murphy or Brent Seabrook as our workhorse... I have an Adam Larsson to trade to you. You will never, ever get an elite D for under $5M in cap hit... ever again. If Stan trades him for anything less than two elite prospects and another 1st... he writes his own pink slip.

If the Hawks trade Keith, they will not have one of the worst Defenses in the league, they will have THE WORST D in the league. Worse than Vancouver, Arizona, Buffalo, Detroit.

I'd trade anyone except Kane before I trade Keith. Guy has a sweetheart cap hit, eats up minutes, and is IMO the best defenseman the franchise has ever had.

Teams (last year Pitt excluded) don't win cups without a workhorse elite defenseman. No one coming into the Hawks (unless we win Dahlin Saturday night) is going to be a Keith/Chara/Doughty/Letang.

Jokiharju looks nice, but few have him pegged as the next Norris candidate. Elite talent like Keith elevates the play of those around him, by being on the ice at the same time but also by practicing against them.

If you think we're ok with Connor Murphy or Brent Seabrook as our workhorse... I have an Adam Larsson to trade to you. You will never, ever get an elite D for under $5M in cap hit... ever again. If Stan trades him for anything less than two elite prospects and another 1st... he writes his own pink slip.
- ObeseOprah

Cool, you do have a price. I'd agree with that return.

Back from my lap, who did we get in return?

Seriously, if you think so highly of him, well, now is the time to trade him.
- riozzo

we have 6 guys getting older and getting worse on a team that is pretty fair away from competing for anything. Seabs is immovable, Craw with his mystery injury is not movable, Kane you would not want to move and has a NMC. Teows would return nothing. AA can't stay healthy and would return avg at most. Keith has gotten pretty noticable slower and his hands are now shot. Was he our best d? yes but our d was terrible and he is getting worse. If you are trying to get younger he is the only one to trade. problem is the whole league is trying to get younger. I think trading him in the offseason would not return much.

https://blackhawkup.com/2...hat-probably-wont-happen/

Blackhawkup.com has an article about "blockbuster trades that probably won't happen" from their perspective. The links to advance to each page of the article are working funny so here is summary of the trade proposals:

Karlsson for Murphy, Krys, 2018 1st rounder from Nashville

Galchenyuk for Anisimov, 2018 3rd rounder from Washington

Price for Crawford, Hayden, 2019 2nd rounder

Byfuglien for Toews

(If you want to read the narratives for each trade proposal, just type the number 2, 3, 4, or 5 after the link provided above)

we have 6 guys getting older and getting worse on a team that is pretty fair away from competing for anything. Seabs is immovable, Craw with his mystery injury is not movable, Kane you would not want to move and has a NMC. Teows would return nothing. AA can't stay healthy and would return avg at most. Keith has gotten pretty noticable slower and his hands are now shot. Was he our best d? yes but our d was terrible and he is getting worse. If you are trying to get younger he is the only one to trade. problem is the whole league is trying to get younger. I think trading him in the offseason would not return much.
- kmw4631

All which makes you pause and consider trying to add picks.
But those picks are not likely to play here; moreover, imp
act here for at least two years (nearly each pick anyway).

We have some prospects with certain very good skill but a checkmark for a weak spot, too. Perfect example: Krys.
We have at Rockford and in the pipeline several whom appear to be bottom line forwards and offensive third pair type. There now appears to be some dmen prospects whom could be more the steady, unspectacular take care of business and here is an elbow. Like Hillman and Gilbert.

So the cupboard is barren of top end prospects, at least after you get past offensive Jokiharju and Forsling.
Mitchell, Carlsson are too far removed to consider if they could be the best.

So Bowman should really not use the excuse of missing a top four dman. MIA top prospect and here is a strong top ten for you to pluck someone. Don't screw it up by trading down just to get an extra pick or a top four dman. Throw some money on a two year deal at a free agent if we must.

Top talent available, Stan . You move down from the pick i would fire you. Scotty goes too. I'll show you the door.

Already have seen one response who you pick to win next round. Plus there is game seven yet Boston - Toronto.

I originally thought Boston would win
But now i say either team could win. Toronto has incredible deep number skill forward/centers and Andersson has been better than Rask. Previously in the series Toronto could not corral the Bruins top line.

Nashville-Winnipeg
Vegas-Sharks
Toronto/Boston - Tampa
Penguins - Capitals.

Who do you like?
- jhawk59

Not picking who should win based upon skill, talent and depth. Just picking who I want to win:
1) huge, huge pull for Jets
2) don’t really care who wins Vegas/Sharks
3) want Tampa because they are the only team in this potential group of three who I think can beat the Pens
4) I can’t believe it but I just became a Caps fan - for this series only.

If Preds and Pens can get eliminated in this round, I think I would really, really enjoy watching a bunch of teams I wouldn’t mind seeing win it fight over it.

It is tough to compare Kane and Toews.
Kane is an offensive player who makes everyone he plays with a better offensive player. But he is a so so 200' player at best. His plus minus numbers reflect that. He is huge on the PP.
Toews is a very good 200' player that can play in all situations, win faceoffs with plus offensive skills. But he will not put up big offensive numbers without two good offensive players on his wings. Hossa / Saad. Kane/Sharp.
Because Kane scores pretty goals and scores more points he is a favorite. It is hard to appreciate a 200' game.
Kane is a generational player. Toews is very good to elite with the right linemates.
I think it is very important to find a RW scorer/sniper to play with Toews in 2018/19.
Kane can play with Anisimov and Debrincat. They will score plenty, and be so so defensively.
I like Schmaltz, but I think I would build a 3rd line around him. Maybe Hayden (RFA) and Duclair (RFA)
- -Doh-

Kane is not generational. Crosby was of his generation now McDavid is but not Kane. He's a tier below. Still very good but not the best of his era

I'm with ya, just pointing out that Kane didn't completely ghost in those finals. He was a major factor in some really/the most important goals of those series.
- BlazinMike

I agree with you, but when people say Panarin wasn't a good playoff performer this year it simply isn't true. Columbus just wasn't good enough this year

Wait until there is a Keith replacement. Which i do not envision any time soon. Wait until at least after next season
- jhawk59

Dahlin

https://blackhawkup.com/2018/04/24/chicago-blackhawks-blockbuster-trades-that-probably-wont-happen/

Blackhawkup.com has an article about "blockbuster trades that probably won't happen" from their perspective. The links to advance to each page of the article are working funny so here is summary of the trade proposals:

Karlsson for Murphy, Krys, 2018 1st rounder from Nashville

Galchenyuk for Anisimov, 2018 3rd rounder from Washington

Price for Crawford, Hayden, 2019 2nd rounder

Byfuglien for Toews

(If you want to read the narratives for each trade proposal, just type the number 2, 3, 4, or 5 after the link provided above)
- AEL_Fox

Lol. That Karlsson trade. Bobby Ryan is going to be tied to that mess. Overpay for Price. and No way Montreal does that deal for Chuck.

Wait until there is a Keith replacement. Which i do not envision any time soon. Wait until at least after next season
- jhawk59

This is an unknown too. Do you think the hawks drafted Keith in the 2nd round knowing he'd be the franchise dman? Or did they see upside and he developed into one? You never Know. The draft is a crap shoot at best.

Dahlin
- fattybeef

I don't think a lucky rabbit's foot pushes the ping pong ball our way. I bet a whole lot of people would swear instantly if we got the first pick.

I would swear if Stan traded that pick for two choices, like the two high NYI picks.

Kane is not generational. Crosby was of his generation now McDavid is but not Kane. He's a tier below. Still very good but not the best of his era
- GPHawksfan

Ummm. Probably best USA born player for sure.

Outside of Crosby and McDavid and maybe Malkin probably the best player in the league with the puck on his blade coming up the ice.

One of 4 players who has amassed +800 points in the last 10 years.

He's kind of a big deal.

This is an unknown too. Do you think the hawks drafted Keith in the 2nd round knowing he'd be the franchise dman? Or did they see upside and he developed into one? You never Know. The draft is a crap shoot at best.
- GPHawksfan

Especially true after you get past the first tier of prospects each draft.

Someone has to to be the leader, the best dman so all the other dman fall into their depth spot.