Predictions on who makes the Hawks D out of camp (excluding any new UFA/Trades)?
- breadbag

Depending who invited I would say the same 6 as of last year.

Kieth Seabrook
Murphy Gus
Rutta oesterle

The rest should be in Rockford developing, if the hawks go into next season with the same 6 d man Crawford even if he is 100% healthy will not be enough. My opinion Gus Rutta Oesterle should not be on a NHL roster at best a depth 7 d man. Do hawks need 3 d man through free agency and trades.

I kind of don't mind Gus and Seabs as a third pair. Jokiharju making it is more wishful thinking, but that would be huge if he can make the leap seamlessly to the NHL, and the Hawks just have to land one top 4 D man. A shut down guy to pair with Murph.

If we grab a D man at 8, are any of them good enough to step in this year?

If we grab a D man at 8, are any of them good enough to step in this year?
- SoftServe

Dobson maybe..

Predictions on who makes the Hawks D out of camp (excluding any new UFA/Trades)?
- breadbag

Bless you.

If there are no signings or trades, I think the defense starts out the same as it ended last season, pretty much, if only because of waivers. Seabrook, Murphy, Oesterle, and Rutta on the right.; Keith, Gustafsson, and Forsling on the left. Honestly, though, they need to decide who out of Gus and Oesterle they want to keep and then move on from the other because they're a bit too similar in style and mistakes. Hopefully Forsling has the season he's shown flashes of having the potential, ala Hjammer at a similar age in 2010.

The issue with the Hawks d-prospects is that they have too many LD and most of them are on ELCs so the Hawks will probably start out with as many waiver exempt guys down as possible, unless they have TVR-like camps and just impress.

Gilbert and Dahlström are intriguing because of their size, and you have to think the latter is at the point where he either needs to move up or out (at 23) but the left is just so full up. Hillman has average size but he's one of the few defensive d-men they have but it'd probably be good for him to spend some time in the AHL. I think Gilbert-Hillman would be a good pairing in the AHL for the next season, and then eventually one of them pairs with Murphy in a shutdown role? Would be nice.

Raddysh might be a wild-card as he's the only signed prospect that plays on the right. I think it's asking a lot for Jokiharju to step right into the NHL at 19 - it's not that common for guys that are top 10/15 picks and the worst thing they could do is rush and then stunt him (which I think they maybe did a bit with Forsling).

If we grab a D man at 8, are any of them good enough to step in this year?
- SoftServe

It's not very common for d-men, even top 5 picks, to step directly into the NHL after their draft. The average for a 6-10 d-man since 2000 is a bit over 2 years from impacting the NHL (playing in 30 games) iirc. Some are faster, obviously, but it might be asking for too much. Bouchard and Dobson are physically more mature than Hughes or Boqvist, though, so they might be the one to bet on being the low end.

Plus, Hughes is going back to school, isn't he? And Boqvist is really young for this draft so would not expect him for just a little bit.

I've seen a few recent updated Mocks where Wahlstrom doesn't make it past Detroit at 6, with Bouchard going to the Hawks at 8, and Dobson falling to the Oilers at 11. If Wahlstrom, Dobson and Bouchard are all still on the board by 8, who do you go with?

I've seen a few recent updated Mocks where Wahlstrom doesn't make it past Detroit at 6, with Bouchard going to the Hawks at 8, and Dobson falling to the Oilers at 11. If Wahlstrom, Dobson and Bouchard are all still on the board by 8, who do you go with?
- SoftServe

Great question... 1) Bouchard 2) Wahlstrom 3) Dobson

.... but I wrote that out 3 different ways and it all looked good. Dobson impressed me in the memorial cup.

Great question... 1) Bouchard 2) Wahlstrom 3) Dobson

.... but I wrote that out 3 different ways and it all looked good. Dobson impressed me in the memorial cup.
- Justin Lowe

Agree to a certain extent still think a forward is needed veleon walhstom tkachuck the big finn kotaniemi is any of the young d man in this draft besides dahlin ready for the nhl next season plus it takes longer for young d man to get to the nhl.

Great question... 1) Bouchard 2) Wahlstrom 3) Dobson

.... but I wrote that out 3 different ways and it all looked good. Dobson impressed me in the memorial cup.
- Justin Lowe

Bouchard should be last. Or not at all. His skating is not good. Multiple profiles describing it as average at best.

If those 3 are on the board for the Hawks, Wahlstrom is the pick. Much higher ceiling.
Dobson would be okay. Thought his partner was much better, though.

I've seen a few recent updated Mocks where Wahlstrom doesn't make it past Detroit at 6, with Bouchard going to the Hawks at 8, and Dobson falling to the Oilers at 11. If Wahlstrom, Dobson and Bouchard are all still on the board by 8, who do you go with?
- SoftServe

Wahlstrom.

There are rumours out there that Kovalchuk is negotiating with a few NHL team. Stan needs to get on this immediately and lock him up. Give him a Radulov type deal and the Hawks will have a top 6 LW locked up long term.

Wahlstrom.
- TTtime

Wahlstrom and Boqvist would be my top choices, but at #8 I think it’s more likely that Wahlstrom will be available.

There are rumours out there that Kovalchuk is negotiating with a few NHL team. Stan needs to get on this immediately and lock him up. Give him a Radulov type deal and the Hawks will have a top 6 LW locked up long term.
- DarthKane

He'd be a great addition to the "aging and overpaid club"

Great question... 1) Bouchard 2) Wahlstrom 3) Dobson

.... but I wrote that out 3 different ways and it all looked good. Dobson impressed me in the memorial cup.
- Justin Lowe

I am sticking with my previous post - Velano will be a center in 3-4 years that teams will be kicking themselves for not taking.

Teams lacking a genuine #1 shutdown center passed on players like Bergeron and Kopitar, and regretted it.

The d prospects in this draft after Dahlin all project to - and currently play like guys the Hawks already have - re: Gus, Forsling and Ruuta.

And I think most on this board will agree - we have enough of those......

He'd be a great addition to the "aging and overpaid club"
- Slofire94

I think that's what Darth was eluding to - lol!!!

He really needs to find the red font for his posts!!!!

There are rumours out there that Kovalchuk is negotiating with a few NHL team. Stan needs to get on this immediately and lock him up. Give him a Radulov type deal and the Hawks will have a top 6 LW locked up long term.
- DarthKane

I wuestion if he is futsnlr to nougj to last wn to not it season with h the he no push back Blackhawks. I believe that he thrives on a team with the correct atmosphere. He is older now still very good but not quite as much explosive each night since his prime

Tom Wilson crosses the line too often.
- breadbag

And how would he look in a Hawks jersey? 1st rd talent at 225lbs , skates on the 1st line with one of the top scorers ever to breath, will and does fight anyone, nobody fools with his linemates, hits like a train 5-6-7-8-9 times a game, parked in front of the net, can change the culture of a game/season/franchise on the ice, bench and in the locker room and pitched in 35 points which would be tied for 5th on the Hawk's club that missed the playoffs.

In all honesty, I don't think it will matter. As soon as the team begins to struggle, Q will go back to what he knows. .
- z1990z

Well said. When the Hawks had talent to overwhelm Q's blender couldn't miss and yours and mine wouldn't have either. He simply can not help himself in that his philosophy is that every line has to score, that a physical useful 4th line of Hayden-Wingels-Bouma is replaced by speed, skill, stickcheck players.

Who plays 1RW, 3C, 6D or any other slot simply does not matter except for data accumulated for future use. With StanBow and Q on separate pages, no cap space to overwhelm 2017 will be the norm not the exception.

Great blog, Justin. My two cents on your 5 topics:



5) Not sure if this is exactly what you're saying, but if that's true that there is a disconnect between Bowman and the rest of the "committee" about player personnel, then that's pretty annoying and upsetting that Bowman thinks the team doesn't need much change. In this instance, and probably for this instance only, I'm glad there's a committee.
- AEL_Fox

You're still rolling, Mr Fox. Using this in the context of management isn't the saying, "if you have two #1 QB's you don't have any"?

Really, and I guess I'm being redundant, this isn't Q's, StanBow's or McD's fault anymore it's Rocky's.

And how would he look in a Hawks jersey? 1st rd talent at 225lbs , skates on the 1st line with one of the top scorers ever to breath, will and does fight anyone, nobody fools with his linemates, hits like a train 5-6-7-8-9 times a game, parked in front of the net, can change the culture of a game/season/franchise on the ice, bench and in the locker room and pitched in 35 points which would be tied for 5th on the Hawk's club that missed the playoffs.
- Mr Ricochet

I love his physical brand of hockey, my only issue is he's a predator on the ice, the other night when he hammered Marchessault was a bit late and he knew he had a free shot since his head was facing the other direction and didn't let up at all. Was it a coincidence it was one of the best forwards for the Knights? Typically players like this escalate their tactics, i see a Raffi Torres kind of future for him.

And how would he look in a Hawks jersey? 1st rd talent at 225lbs , skates on the 1st line with one of the top scorers ever to breath, will and does fight anyone, nobody fools with his linemates, hits like a train 5-6-7-8-9 times a game, parked in front of the net, can change the culture of a game/season/franchise on the ice, bench and in the locker room and pitched in 35 points which would be tied for 5th on the Hawk's club that missed the playoffs.
- Mr Ricochet

None of us want a Torres type player but deep down I agree Wilson would give the Hawks what they haven’t had since Buff was dealt. It might also help the undersized power play.

Conclusion- if Wilson is an option I’m in. 😁🥅

None of us want a Torres type player but deep down I agree Wilson would give the Hawks what they haven’t had since Buff was dealt. It might also help the undersized power play.

Conclusion- if Wilson is an option I’m in. 😁🥅
- Colbyboy

Buff is a category all his own, but I think before Bickell likely began feeling the effects of MS, he gave you everything Wilson did, minus the fighting and borderline play, and some timely scoring as well.

I wuestion if he is futsnlr to nougj to last wn to not it season with h the he no push back Blackhawks. I believe that he thrives on a team with the correct atmosphere. He is older now still very good but not quite as much explosive each night since his prime
- jhawk59

What an adventure that was trying to read that. Jesus haha

What an adventure that was trying to read that. Jesus haha
- BlazinMike

You don't speak JHawk?