Yup. Guys will be benched. You can usually see it coming. Plenty of nights where a forward or a d man will get zero or one shift in the 2 and 3rd periods.
- TheTrob

Sometimes, not all times, it happens that game. That doesn't always send the lesson that a kid/vet needs. That was all the point that I was trying to make.

Anybody know what happened to Mr. Ricochet ?? Occurred to me that I haven't seen his insightful comments on here in a bit.

X-Toews-DeBrincat - so we're searching for the "X" factor ... still. Possibilities?

Anisimov - pro: keep him away from the faceoff dot, con: need to be 3C for Sikura
Hayden - maybe but not sure his penalty/TOI ratio would be good with more TOI
Kampf - maybe but can he put the puck in the net
Ejdsell - maybe but his skating and puck handling in traffic are very questionable
Kunitz - been there done that - move along
Kahun - not a bad option if he proves he can play against top-4 d-men
Fortin - yeah I'm going there - he is my favorite option as a guy who would provide the forecheck to mesh well with Toews - plus he can make nifty offensive plays and finish.

So there you go - "X" factor problem solved:

Fortin-Toews-DeBrincat
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Sikura-Anisimov-Kahun
Kampf-Kruger-Hayden/Kunitz/Highmore

worst i have experienced...pay the nominal fee or suck it up...add blockers are detected...
- bogiedoc

I use the Adblock Plus extension on Google Chrome and I never have an issue on this site.

I think we need to be considerate of sample size before we brandish anyone as the next King or as the next failure.

Case in point:
Manning was bad last night but he's got a track record at a competitive level that he can be a niche contributor vs.
Schmaltz was awful at the dot and he's got a track record of being awful at the dot.

Just food for thought.

Looking into my glass half full crystal ball this is how it's going to play out. Alex and Henri make the team out of camp, stick around, and are dominant. Going into next season with a back end looking like this:

Keith Jokiharju
Boqvist Seabs
Manning Murphy

Hawks sign Panarin next year at 8.5 mil a year.
Saad Toews Cat
Panarin Schmaltz Kane
Kayun AA Sikura
Hayden Kruger Kampf

Crow is back to his old self.

Champs!!!!!

I think we need to be considerate of sample size before we brandish anyone as the next King or as the next failure.

Case in point:
Manning was bad last night but he's got a track record at a competitive level that he can be a niche contributor vs.
Schmaltz was awful at the dot and he's got a track record of being awful at the dot.

Just food for thought.
- Bjm84

We definitely need to consider sample sizes, but Manning has 3 seasons of data that suggest he's a replacement level defense.

Confirmed: Andrew DeBrincat (D) | Cincinnati Cyclones -> Rockford IceHogs | https://t.co/DQLLVRqKfX #AHL

— EP Transfers (@ep_transfers) September 21, 2018

A 5'7 154lb D man better be extremely quick and hockey smart. I can't wait for the smurf killing posts.

Looking into my glass half full crystal ball this is how it's going to play out. Alex and Henri make the team out of camp, stick around, and are dominant. Going into next season with a back end looking like this:

Keith Jokiharju
Boqvist Seabs
Manning Murphy

Hawks sign Panarin next year at 8.5 mil a year.
Saad Toews Cat
Panarin Schmaltz Kane
Kayun AA Sikura
Hayden Kruger Kampf

Crow is back to his old self.

Champs!!!!!
- SoftServe

You make it look so easy!!!

Sorry, but you are mixing different types of situations here. Q's doghouse or not, Leddy was a cap casualty when they chose to keep Oduya instead (correct move, won them a cup). TT was a regular rotation player, was used to offload the Bickell contract. Johns was used to dump the Sharp cap hit, and Danault was used to add veterans (not saying it was a good trade, just that it had nothing to do with Q), he was not part of the regular rotation yet.

Of those named, you could say that Daley and Kempny never fit into Q's plan or his style of play but don't fool yourself into thinking that they were somehow great players that were lost. Both are arguably still 3rd pairing d-men with all kinds of deficiencies in their own end.

Of all the players that were supposedly in Q's doghouse that were moved, exactly who has become an impact player? A "star"? Separate the return they received for those players whether good or bad (thats on Bowman not Q)and ask yourself who did they really make a big mistake on in evaluation?

The most successful of those players moved is probably TT, followed by Leddy. In Leddy's case, he was a 3rd pairing D-man with a salary need that was going to be too high. Fast forward 5 years and sure, he is probably better at this point than some of the young d-men the Hawks will start the season with, but in reality is still only a #4 on most good defensive teams. I think the upside on many of the young Hawks D is higher than Leddy, but there will be times of painful adjustment thru the year as they learn.

I'm one who thinks Q's time has past, just like most coaches in any one place for an extended amount of time. I don't think he has made enough adjustments to his system to react to the changes in the style of play in the league over the past few seasons. That being said, the assertion that Q can't handle younger players or is mis-evaluating their potential is just wrong. Let me know when the "star" that they have traded/released shows up.
- TheTrob

I don't think the right question to ask is who have we let go that has become a star? Although, that question supports Q's judgement on players on the whole, as most of them that he didn't like (Pirri, McNeil and that ilk) have gone on to be fringe guys at best. The useful guys were all let go because we were trying to get rid of contracts for cap reasons (Johns, TT, Hino) or bad trades (Hammer, Danault).

I think a better question is which players if we had kept them would be a vast improvement to what we have now on the roster?

Danault - he is making I think 800k on a multi year deal and the Canadians number one center. Had we not gifted him and a 2nd to them for Weise / Fleshmann he would be an ideal 3rd line center, maybe 2nd line center for us with great defensive acumen to boot, and on a cheap deal. In my opinion this one hurts the most. (outside of TT but that was a contract issue and a protection issue for the Vegas draft)

Johns - Is a steady, physical, mobile defender for Dallas. Also cheap. He would probably be our number 4. Only traded because Dallas forced us to include him to take Sharp off our hands. Had to move Sharp to get under the cap, but the Hawks waited too long and Dallas had us backed into a corner.

Leddy- None of our young D are nearly as good as him, but as another poster pointed out, it was either keep him or Oduya, and keeping Oduya that year we won the Cup so can't complain too much about that decision. The downside was always that there was about a ten year age gap with them and as time marches on Oduya is probably out of the league while Leddy is a top pair guy on NYI.

A 5'7 154lb D man better be extremely quick and hockey smart. I can't wait for the smurf killing posts.
- 6628

Genuine question: whose height/weight stats are those? Do you think that's Boqvist? I ask because he's the only 'small' d-man we've been talking about but at the combine, Boqvist was 5'11.5" and 168.4 pounds (Erik Karlsson's size at 18 almost exactly).

I don't think the right question to ask is who have we let go that has become a star? Although, that question supports Q's judgement on players on the whole, as most of them that he didn't like (Pirri, McNeil and that ilk) have gone on to be fringe guys at best. The useful guys were all let go because we were trying to get rid of contracts for cap reasons (Johns, TT, Hino) or bad trades (Hammer, Danault).

I think a better question is which players if we had kept them would be a vast improvement to what we have now on the roster?

Danault - he is making I think 800k on a multi year deal and the Canadians number one center. Had we not gifted him and a 2nd to them for Weise / Fleshmann he would be an ideal 3rd line center, maybe 2nd line center for us with great defensive acumen to boot, and on a cheap deal. In my opinion this one hurts the most. (outside of TT but that was a contract issue and a protection issue for the Vegas draft)

Johns - Is a steady, physical, mobile defender for Dallas. Also cheap. He would probably be our number 4. Only traded because Dallas forced us to include him to take Sharp off our hands. Had to move Sharp to get under the cap, but the Hawks waited too long and Dallas had us backed into a corner.

Leddy- None of our young D are nearly as good as him, but as another poster pointed out, it was either keep him or Oduya, and keeping Oduya that year we won the Cup so can't complain too much about that decision. The downside was always that there was about a ten year age gap with them and as time marches on Oduya is probably out of the league while Leddy is a top pair guy on NYI.
- hereismike1

Leddy is a top pair guy in Name only....he is not a top pair guy on a Cup contender

I have no issue with the young D men playing this year. We are not winning the Cup anyway, so let them get the experience. I like Sikura on line one while dropping Kunitz to line four with Kruger and Hayden.

Looking into my glass half full crystal ball this is how it's going to play out. Alex and Henri make the team out of camp, stick around, and are dominant. Going into next season with a back end looking like this:

Keith Jokiharju
Boqvist Seabs
Manning Murphy

Hawks sign Panarin next year at 8.5 mil a year.
Saad Toews Cat
Panarin Schmaltz Kane
Kayun AA Sikura
Hayden Kruger Kampf

Crow is back to his old self.

Champs!!!!!
- SoftServe

For your defense, that could very well be a possibility. If that's the case, I'd rearrange the pairs since Manning and Murphy should not be partners given they're not the greatest skaters and are both defensive minded. Also not sure if Boqvist can play the left side but Murphy can play both sides. Maybe something like:

Keith - Seabrook
Murphy - Jokiharju
Manning - Boqvist

I'd prefer to upgrade over at least one of Murphy or Manning, preferably retain the former and move out the latter.

For your defense, that could very well be a possibility. If that's the case, I'd rearrange the pairs since Manning and Murphy should not be partners given they're not the greatest skaters and are both defensive minded. Also not sure if Boqvist can play the left side but Murphy can play both sides. Maybe something like:

Keith - Seabrook
Murphy - Jokiharju
Manning - Boqvist

I'd prefer to upgrade over at least one of Murphy or Manning, preferably retain the former and move out the latter.
- AEL_Fox

Forsling.

A 5'7 154lb D man better be extremely quick and hockey smart. I can't wait for the smurf killing posts.
- 6628

I believe this is in reference to Andrew DeBrincat, who was mentioned in the post just prior.

Hockey Database have weight as 163#

Anyone besides me think Shroeder deserves a harder look?

Yes and the Coach caused Hurricane Florence too. Your constant coach bashing is like Vandermeer23 agenda that the Hawks are not good because they don't have fighters. It needs to breathe. I have my issues with Q, but if he goes so does boy wonder in the front office. It will be a total house cleaning so for Q AND BOWMAN'S sake lets hope the Hawks have a good year. Bowman and Q are responsible for what's on the ice, period. So I'd table the agenda with hopes the Hawks have a good year.
- kwolf68

Well the HAWKS could use a lot more push back ,it was evident in last night relative tame affair , Kane and Toews were both rough up at times and with a line-up full of young kids trying to make the team U think someone would step up .Unless they know the coach don't like that . Also the PP still looks stagnate in it approach ,that on Stan . Most any player Stan brings in Q Benches .

Genuine question: whose height/weight stats are those? Do you think that's Boqvist? I ask because he's the only 'small' d-man we've been talking about but at the combine, Boqvist was 5'11.5" and 168.4 pounds (Erik Karlsson's size at 18 almost exactly).
- L_B_R

Darth posted the article about Dcat's brother going from Cincy to Rockford and those are his measurements. And I hope they are not inflated as virtually all are in the NHL.

I hope Q keeps playing Boquist, Jokiharju and Dahlstrom this preseason. Manning....yikes. Like Justin said, first game jitters, maybe? But he's not all that big, not a good skater, and completely whiffed on a glorious chance that Kaner gave him on the rush. Don't see why he deserved 2 years at $2mil, but IDK how Rutta earned a 200% pay increase and I don't see Gustafson ever having the physical and/or mental ability to play defense well in the NHL.

How much will Tyler Myers want on his contract next summer?

Forsling.
- DarthKane

I'd go for that. Hillman, too, as a candidate. Don't think Murphy lives out his current contract with the Hawks and will eventually get traded. Obviously not now with his injury. Maybe next summer? Manning would need to be traded as well since he's on a multi-year deal.

Rutta likely gone and Gustafsson would be redundant if Jokiharju, Boqvist, and Forsling are on the squad (even if it's just 2 of these 3) and more expendable if the prospects have better defense upside to go along with their offensive talent.

Keith - Seabrook
Hillman - Jokiharju
Forsling - Boqvist
Dahlstrom (who can play both sides)

Pretty young, not a lot of NHL experience, and ability to play solid defense is questionable. Then again, it's not like Murphy and Manning are stellar. They at least have NHL miles and prioritize defense.

Anyone besides me think Shroeder deserves a harder look?
- Sammy26

He was better than Kunitz, but he's been in the AHL his entire career for a reason....

Leddy is a top pair guy in Name only....he is not a top pair guy on a Cup contender
- glennjpawlak22

Trotz will make him better

Justin you’re the man, looks like it’s going to be a season where you’re going to be “taking one for the team “what have we learned? And I may be the Debbie downer anyway early, that is going to be a long season and Stan Bowman or Joel Quennville will take the fall hopefully it’s the first guy. Most of these guys from what I have seen, and granted it’s only two games and they’re playing mostly against other guys that will probably be be heading elsewhere other than their national hockey league teams, but even some of the “regulars “, how can I say, definitely outmatched. Long season buddy. Lucky if this team get 65 points this year. You can’t go on trying to catch lightning in a bottle with a bunch of guys that are no better served in playing in overseas elite league’s or good Sunday morning House league here in the states. I know I’m going to piss a lot of the diehards off with this but it is just one man’s opinion.