Ottawa has $60 Mil on the books for next year, the cap floor is $58.

Mark Stone is RFA and will command anywhere from $5-8. Codi Ceci is also RFA and will go for $2-5.

Karlsson and Anderson have requested a trade. Karlsson makes $6.5 and Anderson makes $4.7.

Any trade for Karlsson is rumored to require Bobby Ryan, who makes $7. Ottawa would likely have to retain a portion (max is half) to complete this trade.

If Karlsson, Anderson, and Ryan are all traded for one player each making $1MM, that leaves Ottawa with roughly $45MM on the books. Add in Mark Stone for $6MM and that's $51MM, add Ceci and it becomes $54MM.

Ottawa then needs at least $4MM to reach the floor. If they take salaries back in the trades then it becomes a non-issue. This seems like the only real 'floor' team that the Blackhawks can target. No other teams are really at risk of not reaching the floor.
- ObeseOprah

Hossa to LTIR and rinse/repeat a few more seasons after that.

“We like our team” not far around the corner.

Kunitz, Ward and Manning are not particularly exciting but it’s a heck of a lot better than overpaying for someone and having an albatross of contract you can’t move I think. Would have liked them to sign Wingels again.

I've liked Berglund's game for a while.. big center who won't kill you at the dot. Quick review shows 55.5% FO last year

I agree that STL needs a change in mentality, but I just don't see how this makes the team that much better.. especially when you throw in the 1st and 2nd round picks.
- Q-stache

Well first, faceoff % isn't all there is to being a center.

Second, if it was, the Blues replaced that with 55/60% (ROR career v last season) and 54% (Bozak career & last season).

Third, Berglund didn't play center for the Blues much last year - their centers were Schenn, Stastny, Broadiak, Sobotka, and Sundqvist for the most part - so his fo% is skewed by sample size. He's only hit 50% one other time in his career.

ROR is a much better player than Berglund or Sobotka, they were mostly cap dumps to make ROR possibly. The real return was a 1st, 2nd, and a top center prospect.

Kunitz could be a good example in clubhouse/locker room of commitment to be a worker. His declining skills ....sure...but he can help on cheap for one more season.
- jhawk59

Replace Kunitz with Sharp, and you have the the 2017 line of thinking.

Ottawa has $60 Mil on the books for next year, the cap floor is $58.

Mark Stone is RFA and will command anywhere from $5-8. Codi Ceci is also RFA and will go for $2-5.

Karlsson and Anderson have requested a trade. Karlsson makes $6.5 and Anderson makes $4.7.

Any trade for Karlsson is rumored to require Bobby Ryan, who makes $7. Ottawa would likely have to retain a portion (max is half) to complete this trade.

If Karlsson, Anderson, and Ryan are all traded for one player each making $1MM, that leaves Ottawa with roughly $45MM on the books. Add in Mark Stone for $6MM and that's $51MM, add Ceci and it becomes $54MM.

Ottawa then needs at least $4MM to reach the floor. If they take salaries back in the trades then it becomes a non-issue. This seems like the only real 'floor' team that the Blackhawks can target. No other teams are really at risk of not reaching the floor.
- ObeseOprah

agreed but I honestly think after years of paying the Huets and others on buyouts Wirtz may enjoy only paying that 1 million salary as in all honesty.....what good is trading that salary right now going to get them? IF they were gong ho about it, it would have been done at the draft. When in years past they made cap savings moves like Versteeg, Brouwer, Campbell, etc

Hossa to LTIR and rinse/repeat a few more seasons after that.

“We like our team” not far around the corner.
- Return of the Roar

After years of paying huge money to Hossa it's only 1 million and again......the time to move that deal was at the draft to give you flexibility to sign a guy yesterday. All smoke and mirrors. if they wanted to get it done, they would have...…

Just time for everyone to accept what this is.....a rebuild. How long it takes will truly depend on if 2/7/19/20 can regain their form, 50 stays healthy, and some of these depth role guys slide into their roles on the back end and the bottom 6. No magical time line for it to work out.

Replace Kunitz with Sharp, and you have the the 2017 line of thinking.
- resqmed99

Methinks the Hawks made a collective, quiet decision to blow this thing up. Lots of band-aid and cheap contracts, nothing going past 2 yrs (next CBA, right)?

I think the Hawks know they have too many deficiencies to compete for a cup now. They are making limited moves and looking to dump assets where they can. I don't see how they can markedly improve this team without giving a core asset with value (Kane, Saad, Toews) or younger talent (ADB, Schmaltz). Moving Anisimov=rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Excellent post from Tegent1084 last blog:


Today @ 11:09 AM ET
I've seen some comments about how Chicago is no longer a free-agent destination market under Stan Bowman, which sparked my curiosity. Remembering the Dale Tallon signed Marian Hossa about two weeks before his demotion, the Blackhawks free agency signings under Stan Bowman roughly amounts to the following:

July 2010
John Scott
August 2010
Marty Turco and Fernando Pisani
July 2011
Jamal Mayers, Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo, and Sami Lepisto
October 2011
Ray Emery
July 2012
Sheldon Brookbank
September 2012
Michal Rozsival
July 2013
Theo Peckham and Michael Kostka
July 2014
Brad Richards, Scott Darling, Peter Regin, and Kyle Cumiskey
October 2014
Dan Carcillo
May 2015
Artemi Panarin
July 2015
Viktor Tikhonov and Dennis Rasmussen
July 2016
Brian Campbell and Jordin Tootoo
July 2017
Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, Jordan Oesterle, JF Berube, and Patrick Sharp
October 2017
Cody Franson

Any chance Stan does a blockbuster with Ottawa?

What is so bad about AA? Are they still trying to trade guys just because they are the guys who don't have no movement clauses and are therefore easiest to move? This is what happens and what you are left with when you already have made way too many bad decisions on trades and gave out too many bad contracts. Pathetic. Wake up Wirtz.

What is so bad about AA? Are they still trying to trade guys just because they are the guys who don't have no movement clauses and are therefore easiest to move? This is what happens and what you are left with when you already have made way too many bad decisions on trades and gave out too many bad contracts. Pathetic. Wake up Wirtz.
- Savoy

AA DOES have a NTC (it's modified) where he has to submit a list of 10 teams he'd be willing to be moved to. So even moving him won't be all that easy. Hell, the Hawks new backup goalie even has a NTC.

What is so bad about AA? Are they still trying to trade guys just because they are the guys who don't have no movement clauses and are therefore easiest to move? This is what happens and what you are left with when you already have made way too many bad decisions on trades and gave out too many bad contracts. Pathetic. Wake up Wirtz.
- Savoy

I agree and have said so before. The day after they trade AA, our biggest hole will be a C with some size who can play 2C/3C level, and the cost of that player will be about a $4.5m salary. In other words...someone just like AA.

After years of paying huge money to Hossa it's only 1 million and again......the time to move that deal was at the draft to give you flexibility to sign a guy yesterday. All smoke and mirrors. if they wanted to get it done, they would have...…

Just time for everyone to accept what this is.....a rebuild. How long it takes will truly depend on if 2/7/19/20 can regain their form, 50 stays healthy, and some of these depth role guys slide into their roles on the back end and the bottom 6. No magical time line for it to work out.
- SteveRain

The problem isn't with wanting to move it - it's with finding a team willing to take it without giving up a huge sweetener. People kept saying there would be teams needing help getting to the cap floor, but that's just not the case. Currently, there are only 4 teams below the floor and all of them have 3-6 pending RFAs to sign which will eat up the remain cap easily.

Until Ottawa or Carolina make their trades to rid themselves of Karlsson/Ryan and Faulk/Skinner, there are no teams that are so desperate that they just need Hossa's contract. So unless you wanted to give up one of the 1sts this last draft or a prospect to move Hossa, it wasn't happening at the draft, and isn't happening now for a reason.

I've seen some comments about how Chicago is no longer a free-agent destination market under Stan Bowman, which sparked my curiosity. Remembering the Dale Tallon signed Marian Hossa about two weeks before his demotion, the Blackhawks free agency signings under Stan Bowman roughly amounts to the following:

July 2010
John Scott
August 2010
Marty Turco and Fernando Pisani
July 2011
Jamal Mayers, Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo, and Sami Lepisto
October 2011
Ray Emery
July 2012
Sheldon Brookbank
September 2012
Michal Rozsival
July 2013
Theo Peckham and Michael Kostka
July 2014
Brad Richards, Scott Darling, Peter Regin, and Kyle Cumiskey
October 2014
Dan Carcillo
May 2015
Artemi Panarin
July 2015
Viktor Tikhonov and Dennis Rasmussen
July 2016
Brian Campbell and Jordin Tootoo
July 2017
Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, Jordan Oesterle, JF Berube, and Patrick Sharp
October 2017
Cody Franson

I pulled this data from Committed Indians. HB won't let me post the link, but the article is entitled "Stan Bowman History as Chicago Blackhawks GM." Note: I did not include ELC signings or guys that I haven't heard of.

It seems to me that Chicago should not have a reputation for ever being a highly sought-after free agent destination (certainly not under Stan Bowman). The biggest signing I see in that list is Brad Richards, and he was getting paid more to NOT play for the New York Rangers than to play for the Blackhawks that year.

What is so bad about AA? Are they still trying to trade guys just because they are the guys who don't have no movement clauses and are therefore easiest to move? This is what happens and what you are left with when you already have made way too many bad decisions on trades and gave out too many bad contracts. Pathetic. Wake up Wirtz.
- Savoy

Agreed.....if they trade AA they create another hole at C.

I don't see a huge market for a 5-7 D man.

The only "realistic" trade would be to dump Hossa's $$ but they would need to add a cherry to that....

I mean is Justin Faulk really going to catapult this team into playoff contention?

I've seen some comments about how Chicago is no longer a free-agent destination market under Stan Bowman, which sparked my curiosity. Remembering the Dale Tallon signed Marian Hossa about two weeks before his demotion, the Blackhawks free agency signings under Stan Bowman roughly amounts to the following:

July 2010
John Scott
August 2010
Marty Turco and Fernando Pisani
July 2011
Jamal Mayers, Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo, and Sami Lepisto
October 2011
Ray Emery
July 2012
Sheldon Brookbank
September 2012
Michal Rozsival
July 2013
Theo Peckham and Michael Kostka
July 2014
Brad Richards, Scott Darling, Peter Regin, and Kyle Cumiskey
October 2014
Dan Carcillo
May 2015
Artemi Panarin
July 2015
Viktor Tikhonov and Dennis Rasmussen
July 2016
Brian Campbell and Jordin Tootoo
July 2017
Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, Jordan Oesterle, JF Berube, and Patrick Sharp
October 2017
Cody Franson

I pulled this data from Committed Indians. HB won't let me post the link, but the article is entitled "Stan Bowman History as Chicago Blackhawks GM." Note: I did not include ELC signings or guys that I haven't heard of.

It seems to me that Chicago should not have a reputation for ever being a highly sought-after free agent destination (certainly not under Stan Bowman). The biggest signing I see in that list is Brad Richards, and he was getting paid more to NOT play for the New York Rangers than to play for the Blackhawks that year.
- tgentry1084

Piggy-backing off my previous post, please read the following comment that I found on that article (emphasis mine):

Stan Bowman seems a lot better at finding good prospects than making trades. Bowman needed to try to get a goalie, a center and and a good d-man. He missed some opportunities, like Antoine Vermette, a high energy center.

Emery is OK as backup but Crawford is too big of question as a starter...

With young players like Michael Froli[c]k, Marcus Kruger, Ben Smith, Adam (Andrew?) Shaw, Rostislav Olesz, and draft picks that could be moved, it is inexcusable not to do anything. Please no more old has been like Morrison, Brunette or O’Donnel[l].

Something needs to light a fire under the players. Perhaps it is time to change the head coach too! Our special teams power play, penalty kill are an embarrassment. Worse yet it the lack of defense and checking and hitting, lack of an offensive attack and thus lack of shots on goals. I rather see Icehogs play like Andrew Shaw at center than Morrison.

...

Please Stan – grow some balls, make some trades. How about a goalie from Minnesota or Boston? A good solid shutdown d-man? Or a gritty center?

Sound familiar? This comment was dated February 26, 2012. I'm not going to say that the Blackhawks are about to go to three straight Conference Finals, winning 2 Stanley Cups; however, I just thought it was something to think about.

For reference, as a percentage of the cap, Toews, Kane (Kane, Toews?), Keith, and Seabrook cost the following: 2013 (39.9%); 2014 (37.2%); 2015 (34.7%). In 2019, those same four players will cost 42.0%.

Excellent post from Tegent1084 last blog:


Today @ 11:09 AM ET
I've seen some comments about how Chicago is no longer a free-agent destination market under Stan Bowman, which sparked my curiosity. Remembering the Dale Tallon signed Marian Hossa about two weeks before his demotion, the Blackhawks free agency signings under Stan Bowman roughly amounts to the following:

July 2010
John Scott
August 2010
Marty Turco and Fernando Pisani
July 2011
Jamal Mayers, Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo, and Sami Lepisto
October 2011
Ray Emery
July 2012
Sheldon Brookbank
September 2012
Michal Rozsival
July 2013
Theo Peckham and Michael Kostka
July 2014
Brad Richards, Scott Darling, Peter Regin, and Kyle Cumiskey
October 2014
Dan Carcillo
May 2015
Artemi Panarin
July 2015
Viktor Tikhonov and Dennis Rasmussen
July 2016
Brian Campbell and Jordin Tootoo
July 2017
Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, Jordan Oesterle, JF Berube, and Patrick Sharp
October 2017
Cody Franson
- mrpaulish

Is there information on how much cap space was available I need each of these years?

Piggy-backing off my previous post, please read the following comment that I found on that article (emphasis mine):



Sound familiar? This comment was dated February 26, 2012. I'm not going to say that the Blackhawks are about to go to three straight Conference Finals, winning 2 Stanley Cups; however, I just thought it was something to think about.

For reference, as a percentage of the cap, Toews, Kane (Kane, Toews?), Keith, and Seabrook cost the following: 2013 (39.9%); 2014 (37.2%); 2015 (34.7%). In 2019, those same four players will cost 42.0%.
- tgentry1084

When this team wins their depth is very good. That's what you need to look at it and care about. Guys like Shaw, Versteeg, Vermette, all played huge roles in 2015.

There depth on D and the bottom 6 last year was a joke. It's shaping up that way again.

Excellent post from Tegent1084 last blog:


Today @ 11:09 AM ET
I've seen some comments about how Chicago is no longer a free-agent destination market under Stan Bowman, which sparked my curiosity. Remembering the Dale Tallon signed Marian Hossa about two weeks before his demotion, the Blackhawks free agency signings under Stan Bowman roughly amounts to the following:

July 2010
John Scott
August 2010
Marty Turco and Fernando Pisani
July 2011
Jamal Mayers, Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo, and Sami Lepisto
October 2011
Ray Emery
July 2012
Sheldon Brookbank
September 2012
Michal Rozsival
July 2013
Theo Peckham and Michael Kostka
July 2014
Brad Richards, Scott Darling, Peter Regin, and Kyle Cumiskey
October 2014
Dan Carcillo
May 2015
Artemi Panarin
July 2015
Viktor Tikhonov and Dennis Rasmussen
July 2016
Brian Campbell and Jordin Tootoo
July 2017
Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, Jordan Oesterle, JF Berube, and Patrick Sharp
October 2017
Cody Franson
- mrpaulish

I appreciate the call-out! I re-posted on this blog, as well.

Is there information on how much cap space was available I need each of these years?
- Chunk

They've always been a cap ceiling spending team.

Point is for me, lots of these UFA signings were complete busts.

Bowman is good at signing European players and some college UFAs but I'll have to pull up his trade record to see how he's faired there as well.

When this team wins their depth is very good. That's what you need to look at it and care about. Guys like Shaw, Versteeg, Vermette, all played huge roles in 2015.

There depth on D and the bottom 6 last year was a joke. It's shaping up that way again.
- SteveRain

For sure... I just thought it was especially funny that it's almost the exact same ask as now. That comment could have been made last week and carried the same weight!

I posted this near the end of the last blog, but...


*Unpopular Opinion Alert*- I like the moves from yesterday.

Kunitz is a good Vet. He will help lead by example. 2nd PP. 3rd line. Im ok with that. Ward is one year insurance for CC. If CC doesnt play, Ward is a vet. If CC plays, then Ward is gone next year. *2nd unpopular opinion* Sometimes throwing a young goalie to the wolves doesnt work. I rather pay Ward for 1 year and leave Delia in RFD.

Manning is Meh, but he's a reasonable contact without term, so it gives us firepower to make a 2nd move. (maybe using someone like Forsling or Oesterle in the Hossa cap dump deal.)

If Stan is done, then was it enough? No probably not.

If he has a trade up his sleeve, well then I think this was a pretty good start.

Im willing to see where the rest of the off season goes before i light the torch. But let's just say "I know where my pitchfork is", in case we dont see more.

This is a re-build on the fly, and I'll see whats on the horizon before jumping ship. Sometimes that means your too late, and people say I told you so, but I cant give up on this team too fast.

My Lines: (Edit- what i want to see, not what i think will happen)
Sadd-Schmaltz-Kane
Dcat-Toews-Hayden
Kunitz-AA-Sikura
Ejdsell-Kampf-Hino
- gnosox1986

Actually like these lines more than anything else so far...

I appreciate the call-out! I re-posted on this blog, as well.
- tgentry1084

Out of this list....

Panarin--no brainer
Emery--was key to 2013 run in regular season
Mayers--played a decent depth role in 2013
Carcillo---see Mayers
Richards--band aid on 2nd line center in 2015
Wingels--see Mayers/Carcillo for 2017-18
Brookbank--he was good vs STL in the playoffs one year
Rozsival--good veteran stable D man
Darling---like Emery served a purpose

So most of these guys were depth players outside of Panarin who Bowman had to deal to get Saad back due to financial constraints.

The rest were turds. I fear Kunitz will be more like Brunette.

Agreed.....if they trade AA they create another hole at C.

I don't see a huge market for a 5-7 D man.

The only "realistic" trade would be to dump Hossa's $$ but they would need to add a cherry to that....

I mean is Justin Faulk really going to catapult this team into playoff contention?
- SteveRain

The Hawks do have a lot of promising defense prospects, too many for the AHL this season, so they're likely going to dip into that group when it comes to any future trades. They have a few forward prospects that are enticing as well but more throw-ins than what deals are built around. It's just a matter of finding the right partner.

I still hope they target Pageau from Ottawa if any deal with them goes down, but I'm guessing it'd more like be a Smith return (meh).

Blow it up

This is a rebuild. Build around Kane......go to Keith and Toews with the understanding once you are out of the playoff picture you start working on a trade either mid season or at next year's draft. Send both out east if possible.

Realize your chances of trading Seabrook aren't good so hopefully he gets Hossa's rash here soon.

It's obvious either Bowman went after supposed targets "softly" or was denied straight up and all these "overpays" will continue as the market for 2nd-3rd tier players goes up with the cap going up as well.

Just an awful start and now I hope they just stink so we can get a lottery pick.
- SteveRain

It's not going to happen - so why don't you jump ship and go watch the Sox rebuild.

Seriously, your whining is waaaaay past old - and won't be missed!!!!