....That bottom 6 is going to have one hell of a time scoring goals..
- Justin Lowe

This is why the old refrain that the Hawks need more bangers and tough guys is comical. With a roster full of lunch pail guys, what the Hawks are in desperate need of is skilled guys that have the ability to put the puck in the net. Guys like Kruger, Kampf and the like are fine at playing solid D, but their offensive upside is minimal.

The NHL is changing. 3rd lines need to be able to provide some offense. Time to start looking at top-9 and even a 4th line that can played solid D, forecheck and generate at least the possibility of a goal.

Agree. Keith is easy to move. His cap hit is relatively low compared to other top end dmen.

If Keith had a competent partner we would see him play a lot better in my opinion. Keith is still plays at an elite level. The guy is baby sitting young dmen who have no business being on the top pair while still logging huge minutes and playing against other top lines.
- bhawks2241

While Keith may not be playing at his former levels, he is still a quality defenseman and will be a top - 4 d-man for several more years. His cap hit is low for his ability, and coupled with the possible recapture penalty (as the CBA now stands) I doubt he is going anywhere.

Neither Q or Bowman stop pucks. They have 2 sieves between the pipes to start the season and a 'hope' that their #1 can return and play at NHL level after being on the shelf for nearly a year. That's like asking a professional golfer to put his clubs away for 12 months and then take them out of storage and win the U.S. Open after a couple of practice rounds.

The Leafs still have 4 goaltenders on their roster. Calvin Pickard is better than anybody else the Hawks have other than Cro.
- RickJ

i would take him and also bernier over ward...but bernier demands and what he got was not a fit for the hawks

Agree. Keith is easy to move. His cap hit is relatively low compared to other top end dmen.

If Keith had a competent partner we would see him play a lot better in my opinion. Keith is still plays at an elite level. The guy is baby sitting young dmen who have no business being on the top pair while still logging huge minutes and playing against other top lines.
- bhawks2241

Its ridiculous how posters on this board run Keith down as if he's some retread stealing money from the Blackhawks and them personally. Who would they rather have - Kris Letang making $7.25 per; Yandle @ $6.3M; Shattenkirk`s $6.65. Hell, his cap hit and actual salary is less than Nick Leddy`s and Marc Staal`s. And the list of inferior and overpaid Dmen to Keith is much longer than just those guys above.

Corey Crawford practicing with the rest of the team this morning.

Big step.

Still a while away from player, I'm sure, but very positive sign!

I hate to say it, but this season really should be a tank year. Even in a best case scenario as we are all laying out, this team is a wild card playoff team who gets smoked in the first round by a Winnipeg/San Jose/etc. So what does that get us, another year of a middling 1st round pick and then your aging core ages another year? If Crawford isn't fully back and guys like Seabrook, Toews, Keith, etc continue to regress then this team is going to be terrible. Q will be axed by Christmas, and then we'll have a young coach most likely come in or a Dineen interm that will be like having a rudderless ship.

Their best bet is to use this year as a tank year and try to rebuild on the fly. Trade Keith, probably move on from Crawford after this year if he isn't healthy, eventually buyout Seabrook and have more realistic expectations that Toews isn't a #1 center anymore. Give the younger guys time to develop and learn from mistakes (something Q is terrible at) and see if you can get lucky landing a Jack Hughes in the draft because we need another franchise player up front to carry this team. Also, Stan really needs to start hitting some home runs in the draft, maybe he has with guys like Wise or Soderlund in the later rounds, but you need this to survive. The Redwings did this in the early 2000s by passing the torch from the Yzermans and Lidstroms of the team to the Datsyuks and Zetterbergs when they were drafted in the late rounds. The Hawks have to find a way to pull this off to want to retool on the fly. Otherwise, you're looking at several years of being bad (a la the early 2000s Hawks) in order to get high enough draft picks to get impact players. By the time those guys would be ready, Toews/Kane will probably be supporting cast players at best, and then you're wasting prime years of DeBrincat and Schmaltz, etc.

So, it's not going to be a popular move, and it might suck to watch, but this team NEEDS to be bad this year to have a chance to turn it around in 2-3 years. Otherwise more status quo will only turn this team into what the current Redwings have become, a cap bloated team with no impact players at any position that is in limbo for a long time.

Its ridiculous how posters on this board run Keith down as if he's some retread stealing money from the Blackhawks and them personally. Who would they rather have - Kris Letang making $7.25 per; Yandle @ $6.3M; Shattenkirk`s $6.65. Hell, his cap hit and actual salary is less than Nick Leddy`s and Marc Staal`s. And the list of inferior and overpaid Dmen to Keith is much longer than just those guys above.
- RickJ

No one is better than Nick Leddy! At least that's what I've been told.

"trading a guy like Duncan Keith could be a thing this year. "

Finally.
- Beaver-Warrior

This. If this is a rebuild/retool year (and it is) - better to make bold moves rather than half measures. If the plan is to (re)build the team with the "four horsemen" d-prospects (and apparently it is) - then realistically the season being targeted to be a contender is 2020/21 at which time Keith will be 37 and almost assuredly no longer a true #1 d-man (if he even is now). Trade Keith while he still has value even if he's "only" as a 3/4 d-man on a contending team to get something that will be a piece of the 2020/21 team.

Corey Crawford practicing with the rest of the team this morning.

Big step.

Still a while away from player, I'm sure, but very positive sign!
- Justin Lowe

Awesome news!! Hopefully Crow can bounce back, has to be good for him as well to be on the ice with all of his teammates.

I don't believe Stan makes decisions in a vacuum ,I think he is more of Team of FO workers and scouts ,I don't believe coach Q listens to anyone , as after the Jhammer trade he was the only one to storm out of the draft .

I think Stan and company additions of veteran players this offseason were to appease Q ,who does not like to help young players mature into NHL players .IE favorite coach to play for ,because he ran the fewest and rather light practices .

If this team starts out slow ,there will be a change .I am not opposed to Stan being let go , but hope Q is let go 1st .That would bring real change IMO .For some reason I believe that a lot of this team has quit on Q long ago ..

Its ridiculous how posters on this board run Keith down as if he's some retread stealing money from the Blackhawks and them personally. Who would they rather have - Kris Letang making $7.25 per; Yandle @ $6.3M; Shattenkirk`s $6.65. Hell, his cap hit and actual salary is less than Nick Leddy`s and Marc Staal`s. And the list of inferior and overpaid Dmen to Keith is much longer than just those guys above.
- RickJ

Keith is still worth his cap hit and there is still no viable replacement. Keith will play out his contract (and career) with the Blackhawks and that's the way it should be.

Keith is not the issue with the Hawks, the major issue is now time. The time it will take for the youngster (d-men in particular) to develop, I like the idea of giving Jokiharju a full season, then next season the likes of Boqvist and maybe one of Beaudin or more likely Mitchell will get a shot.

I don't believe Stan makes decisions in a vacuum ,I think he is more of Team of FO workers and scouts ,I don't believe coach Q listens to anyone , as after the Jhammer trade he was the only one to storm out of the draft .

I think Stan and company additions of veteran players this offseason were to appease Q ,who does not like to help young players mature into NHL players .IE favorite coach to play for ,because he ran the fewest and rather light practices .

If this team starts out slow ,there will be a change .I am not opposed to Stan being let go , but hope Q is let go 1st .That would bring real change IMO .For some reason I believe that a lot of this team has quit on Q long ago ..
- oldduffman

Iron Mike Keenan would fix all of these insubordination problems very quickly. And then he could turn over the coaching to True Grit`s hero Disco Dan Bylsma.

I would claim Connor Carrick and Pickard
- RickJ

Carrick is a local kid and might have more energy potenitally getting to play on the team he grew up rooting for. But if he's ahead of the D kids they already have is a question I can't answer.

Friedman:

VAN waives Sam Gagner


Hey man, Hawks already passed on Zak Smith.... 👀


Lol

Keith has too much term left on his contract. His value is equivalent to Hossa. We will have to either pay to rid ourselves of this contract or let him play it out.
- 67hawks

Finally it's out in the open that there is life after DK.

I still am looking at it From another angle, the business side what Uncle John and Company are all about. Have a hard time believing they are just going to stand status quo. I believe it is a make the playoffs or else ultimatum issued to some of the higher ups in the hockey ops department. Everybody has a leak and the source, but this time around I think Bowman is keeping stuff extremely tight lipped for the first couple of weeks and see if maybe a couple of these kids pop and show some early Potential. I would not be surprised if he is not actively seeking some win now type players like DucheneFor example.

Friedman:

VAN waives Sam Gagner


Hey man, Hawks already passed on Zak Smith.... 👀


Lol
- mrpaulish

Darth's out west and watched Gagner play.

DK - how bad was he last year?

Sam Gagner Highlights Final Preseason Waivers
October 1st, 2018 at 11:16am CST • By Gavin Lee
With the NHL season set to begin on Wednesday night, today was the final day to place players on waivers and have them clear in time to assign to the minor leagues before tomorrow’s roster deadline. With that, a huge list of players are on the wire and available to the rest of the league. The full list of names is as follows:

D Trevor Murphy (ARZ)
D David Warsofsky (COL)
D Mark Alt (COL)
F Alex Broadhurst (CBJ)
F Remi Elie (DAL)
F Justin Dowling (DAL)
D Joel Hanley (DAL)
D Ryan Murphy (MIN)
F Rocco Grimaldi (NSH)
F Tom Kuhnhackl (NYI)
F Dale Weise (PHI)
F Taylor Leier (PHI)
G Antoine Bibeau (SJS)
F Dmitrij Jaskin (STL)
F Chris Thorburn (STL)
G Curtis McElhinney (TOR)
G Calvin Pickard (TOR)
F Sam Gagner (VAN)
F Darren Archibald (VAN)
F Daniel Carr (VGK)
F Curtis McKenzie (VGK)
D Aaron Ness (WSH)

D Connor Carrick (TOR)*

Friedman:

VAN waives Sam Gagner


Hey man, Hawks already passed on Zak Smith.... 👀


Lol
- mrpaulish

at 3.5 mildo for 2 years...forget it...kanes buddy not coming here...

Friedman:

VAN waives Sam Gagner


Hey man, Hawks already passed on Zak Smith.... 👀


Lol
- mrpaulish

Stan has an even better option:

Placed on Waivers
Dale Weise (RW) | Philadelphia Flyers#LetsGoFlyershttps://t.co/XwdGs5DJK3

— CapFriendly Transactions (@CF_Transactions) October 1, 2018

Stan has an even better option:

Placed on Waivers
Dale Weise (RW) | Philadelphia Flyers#LetsGoFlyershttps://t.co/XwdGs5DJK3

— CapFriendly Transactions (@CF_Transactions) October 1, 2018

- DarthKane

The ghost of the Phillip Danault trade.

Darth's out west and watched Gagner play.

DK - how bad was he last year?
- Justin Lowe

I don't think Gagner was all that bad, but it's hard to tell since the Canucks overall were terrible.

I think Gagner could have a place on the Hawks, but it comes down to cap space. This season would be fine, but I wouldn't claim Gagner if that impeded any plans for next season.

Sam Gagner Highlights Final Preseason Waivers
October 1st, 2018 at 11:16am CST • By Gavin Lee
With the NHL season set to begin on Wednesday night, today was the final day to place players on waivers and have them clear in time to assign to the minor leagues before tomorrow’s roster deadline. With that, a huge list of players are on the wire and available to the rest of the league. The full list of names is as follows:

D Trevor Murphy (ARZ)
D David Warsofsky (COL)
D Mark Alt (COL)
F Alex Broadhurst (CBJ)
F Remi Elie (DAL)
F Justin Dowling (DAL)
D Joel Hanley (DAL)
D Ryan Murphy (MIN)
F Rocco Grimaldi (NSH)
F Tom Kuhnhackl (NYI)
F Dale Weise (PHI)
F Taylor Leier (PHI)
G Antoine Bibeau (SJS)
F Dmitrij Jaskin (STL)
F Chris Thorburn (STL)
G Curtis McElhinney (TOR)
G Calvin Pickard (TOR)
F Sam Gagner (VAN)
F Darren Archibald (VAN)
F Daniel Carr (VGK)
F Curtis McKenzie (VGK)
D Aaron Ness (WSH)

D Connor Carrick (TOR)*
- walleyeb1

Hmmmm,Conner Carrick, Kuhnhackl,Thorburn,Jaskin??? Don’t know, question ,can these guys be pulled back off waivers and Can a deal be worked out if the team putting them on waivers would offer to eat some money like in the case of Sam Gagner?

Hmmmm,Conner Carrick, Kuhnhackl,Thorburn,Jaskin??? Don’t know, question ,can these guys be pulled back off waivers and Can a deal be worked out if the team putting them on waivers would offer to eat some money like in the case of Sam Gagner?
- wonthecup10

Latest is Carrick was not placed on waivers. Evidently they had a last minute change of heart.

Will be total dog poop year mark my words.
Core should definitely be moved - this half way in approach is obviously not working - results speak for themselves.
Change behind the bench and FO would not hurt either.