Anders Lee is a UFA next summer.. I thought Edmunsson was UFA too but CapFriendly shows him as an RFA.
- EnzoD

Anders Lee's wife is from Chicago, so he might be a possibility.

The best thing Rocky can do is go back to a world where a HOCKEY guy is the GM.

McD has been a liability for anything not bobble head, video production or PR related. His role complicates management of a sports team rather than enhancing it.

He knows NOTHING about hockey, yet the GM and coach report into him?????

The beginning of the end for this era was the overpayment to 19 and 88, which did NOT have to be done when they were. They were done to hype the fan convention. THAT was NOT a hockey decision. That was a McD decision.

Then there is Stan, who followed with the overpayment to Seabrook, and the seemingly universal handout of hand-tying NMC/NTC clauses in contracts which still leave the team with over 60% of its cap space tied up in seven guys - only two of which are not on the decline (Kane and CC).

Additionally, his shift to a focus exclusively on players with skill and speed but ZERO physical tenacity has produced what might be the weakest and least intimidating group of players in the league. Hardly the supporting cast even this group of aging three cup winning core players bargained for. I have to think this has a huge negative impact on the attitude of the core guys.

So now they have a last place team where no amount of line shuffling or call ups from Rockford can make a meaningful difference, and a free agent market that the cap/contract clause situation they made for themselves prohibits them from making solid acquisitions or value for value trades.

So what is Q to do? Some say he can coach them better. Maybe, but I doubt it. He does not have enough of, or the right mix of horses to make good things happen. So he throws what Stan gives him against the wall to see what sticks, and we are where we are. $30MM in cap space is not enough to fill out the remaining non-core roster spots with enough true NHL talent to be competitive night after night let alone be a playoff team or a Cup challenger.

Its a pickle I tell ya.....

Because he's won so much in Florida.

Is Pulford still alive? (Was he ever?)
- StLBravesFan

The "bring back Tallon" rhetoric gets a little old. Has never won a thing in Florida, and has missed the playoffs and finished near the bottom of the division in 6 of 8 years, was eliminated in rd.1 in one of the seasons and rd. 2 the other. Tallon also horrendously messed up the expansion draft in not only losing Jonathan Marchessault but giving Vegas Smith so they would take them, and they went on to score 75 and 60 pts. respectively for Vegas. If Stan had made that deal he would have been villified more than he already is.

The best thing Rocky can do is go back to a world where a HOCKEY guy is the GM.

McD has been a liability for anything not bobble head, video production or PR related. His role complicates management of a sports team rather than enhancing it.

He knows NOTHING about hockey, yet the GM and coach report into him?????

The beginning of the end for this era was the overpayment to 19 and 88, which did NOT have to be done when they were. They were done to hype the fan convention. THAT was NOT a hockey decision. That was a McD decision.

Then there is Stan, who followed with the overpayment to Seabrook, and the seemingly universal handout of hand-tying NMC/NTC clauses in contracts which still leave the team with over 60% of its cap space tied up in seven guys - only two of which are not on the decline (Kane and CC).

Additionally, his shift to a focus exclusively on players with skill and speed but ZERO physical tenacity has produced what might be the weakest and least intimidating group of players in the league. Hardly the supporting cast even this group of aging three cup winning core players bargained for. I have to think this has a huge negative impact on the attitude of the core guys.

So now they have a last place team where no amount of line shuffling or call ups from Rockford can make a meaningful difference, and a free agent market that the cap/contract clause situation they made for themselves prohibits them from making solid acquisitions or value for value trades.

So what is Q to do? Some say he can coach them better. Maybe, but I doubt it. He does not have enough of, or the right mix of horses to make good things happen. So he throws what Stan gives him against the wall to see what sticks, and we are where we are. $30MM in cap space is not enough to fill out the remaining non-core roster spots with enough true NHL talent to be competitive night after night let alone be a playoff team or a Cup challenger.

Its a pickle I tell ya.....
- Return of the Roar

Stan the Man graduated College in 95 and has worked in Hockey since 2001. At this point I'd say he is a hockey guy, like it or not. Now his performance is a different story.

The best thing Rocky can do is go back to a world where a HOCKEY guy is the GM.

McD has been a liability for anything not bobble head, video production or PR related. His role complicates management of a sports team rather than enhancing it.

He knows NOTHING about hockey, yet the GM and coach report into him?????

The beginning of the end for this era was the overpayment to 19 and 88, which did NOT have to be done when they were. They were done to hype the fan convention. THAT was NOT a hockey decision. That was a McD decision.

Then there is Stan, who followed with the overpayment to Seabrook, and the seemingly universal handout of hand-tying NMC/NTC clauses in contracts which still leave the team with over 60% of its cap space tied up in seven guys - only two of which are not on the decline (Kane and CC).

Additionally, his shift to a focus exclusively on players with skill and speed but ZERO physical tenacity has produced what might be the weakest and least intimidating group of players in the league. Hardly the supporting cast even this group of aging three cup winning core players bargained for. I have to think this has a huge negative impact on the attitude of the core guys.

So now they have a last place team where no amount of line shuffling or call ups from Rockford can make a meaningful difference, and a free agent market that the cap/contract clause situation they made for themselves prohibits them from making solid acquisitions or value for value trades.

So what is Q to do? Some say he can coach them better. Maybe, but I doubt it. He does not have enough of, or the right mix of horses to make good things happen. So he throws what Stan gives him against the wall to see what sticks, and we are where we are. $30MM in cap space is not enough to fill out the remaining non-core roster spots with enough true NHL talent to be competitive night after night let alone be a playoff team or a Cup challenger.

Its a pickle I tell ya.....
- Return of the Roar

I'm with you on most of this. The only counter I have is that they have plenty of guys that are physical/tenacious. The problem that I see is that those players are really all that good at hockey.

Hayden, Martinsen, Kampf, Kunitz, Manning, Davidson, and Seabrook (to a lesser extent) are all willing and able to mix it up, hit and get after the puck. They just are not skilled enough (or fast enough) to do much after they gain possession.

Schmaltz, Fortin, Kane (although he is the outlier with otherworldly skill), Sikura (if he ever comes up), Gustafsson are all in the speed/skill and minimal physicality group.

Toews, Saad, Anisimov, ADB (yes small, but he has shown the strength to get though many checks and keep the puck), Keith, Joki, all are above average in all facets (in my eyes).

I think the problem is that we simply don't have enough players that have two out of three attributes (strength, skill, speed) that are above average, while being at least average at the third.

Stan the Man graduated College in 95 and has worked in Hockey since 2001. At this point I'd say he is a hockey guy, like it or not. Now his performance is a different story.
- riozzo

I think he means a guy who played hockey at the NHL/AHL level. A guy who's been in the battle,knows what it takes to win in the Spring, and builds a roster with BOTH skill and grit (with some talent).

That is what I meant...He has taken a wrong turn since joining the Hawks. He wasn't a superstar but he wasn't this bad in Philly. Part of it is that the goalie aren't stopping anything when he is on the ice either...but mostly it is because Manning is giving up too many good chances against the goalies.
- breadbag

He also wasn't good which is why they didn't give him US currency to stay...

Broadstreet hockey had a review of him where they said if he played fewer minutes against lesser competition that he would be better suited. Still really bad though. And skating two minutes less than he did last year doesn't seem to have made a huge difference.

Team defense in general is pretty abysmal though. But I don't see why you take a flyer on him (see what I did there) when you have Rutta and Gus who are both also suspect in their own end. Unless they were stockpiling at the dollar store and hoping one turns out OK.

The "bring back Tallon" rhetoric gets a little old. Has never won a thing in Florida, and has missed the playoffs and finished near the bottom of the division in 6 of 8 years, was eliminated in rd.1 in one of the seasons and rd. 2 the other. Tallon also horrendously messed up the expansion draft in not only losing Jonathan Marchessault but giving Vegas Smith so they would take them, and they went on to score 75 and 60 pts. respectively for Vegas. If Stan had made that deal he would have been villified more than he already is.
- TheTrob

Yeah people tend to forget the RFA fiasco that Dale had at the end of his tenure. The Florida debacle the last two years has been sad as well. How they aren't winning games with that top 6 (Barkov, Huberdeau, Hoffman, Dadonov, Trochek) is beyond me.

I strongly disagree with that statement. Hammer makes $4.1mil this year, signed a 2 year team friendly contract (with AZ!) for $5mil each year in 2019/20 + 20/21. For $1.19mil difference, I'd take Hammer over Murphy every day of the week. Is Hammer the same guy he was in 2015? No. But he's still a much more effective player than Murphy.
- EnzoD

Murphy was a more effective player last year than hammer was 2 years ago with the Hawks FWIW.

I think he means a guy who played hockey at the NHL/AHL level. A guy who's been in the battle,knows what it takes to win in the Spring, and builds a roster with BOTH skill and grit (with some talent).
- EnzoD

Theo Epstein hasn't had that kind of experience - Jed Hoyer either - and they've been successful so far at a couple of franchises.

I don't think it's "played the game" that's important but the ability to develop and execute the "plan".

Stan has yet to prove able to do that.

I'm with you on most of this. The only counter I have is that they have plenty of guys that are physical/tenacious. The problem that I see is that those players are really all that good at hockey.

Hayden, Martinsen, Kampf, Kunitz, Manning, Davidson, and Seabrook (to a lesser extent) are all willing and able to mix it up, hit and get after the puck. They just are not skilled enough (or fast enough) to do much after they gain possession.

Schmaltz, Fortin, Kane (although he is the outlier with otherworldly skill), Sikura (if he ever comes up), Gustafsson are all in the speed/skill and minimal physicality group.

Toews, Saad, Anisimov, ADB (yes small, but he has shown the strength to get though many checks and keep the puck), Keith, Joki, all are above average in all facets (in my eyes).

I think the problem is that we simply don't have enough players that have two out of three attributes (strength, skill, speed) that are above average, while being at least average at the third.
- Chunk

Think JJ used to refer to them as all terrain forwards. Preferably with skating ability. We have none. Maybe if Kunitz was 32.

I've missed most of the three Canada games, did we ever see the following?

Saad-Toews-Schmaltz
ADB-Anisimov-Kane
Johnson-Kampf-Fortin
Hayden-Kruger-Martinsen

Not necessarily all in the same game, but at any point. I'd just like to see at minimum the top two.

I'm on the outside looking in and took a glance at the Hawks stats. Kane is among the league leaders in points with 19. That looks great until you see his +/- is 0. I don't get to see many Hawks games so I ask, is he a player that scores on the Power Play and comes up short 5 on 5? He had 76 points last season and ended up with a +/- of -20.
- PredManDan

Nah they just give up a crap ton of goals cause they are bad at keeping pucks out of their own net.

Kane is tied for the league lead in ES goals. The Power Play is terrible.

The best thing Rocky can do is go back to a world where a HOCKEY guy is the GM.

McD has been a liability for anything not bobble head, video production or PR related. His role complicates management of a sports team rather than enhancing it.

He knows NOTHING about hockey, yet the GM and coach report into him?????

The beginning of the end for this era was the overpayment to 19 and 88, which did NOT have to be done when they were. They were done to hype the fan convention. THAT was NOT a hockey decision. That was a McD decision.

Then there is Stan, who followed with the overpayment to Seabrook, and the seemingly universal handout of hand-tying NMC/NTC clauses in contracts which still leave the team with over 60% of its cap space tied up in seven guys - only two of which are not on the decline (Kane and CC).

Additionally, his shift to a focus exclusively on players with skill and speed but ZERO physical tenacity has produced what might be the weakest and least intimidating group of players in the league. Hardly the supporting cast even this group of aging three cup winning core players bargained for. I have to think this has a huge negative impact on the attitude of the core guys.

So now they have a last place team where no amount of line shuffling or call ups from Rockford can make a meaningful difference, and a free agent market that the cap/contract clause situation they made for themselves prohibits them from making solid acquisitions or value for value trades.

So what is Q to do? Some say he can coach them better. Maybe, but I doubt it. He does not have enough of, or the right mix of horses to make good things happen. So he throws what Stan gives him against the wall to see what sticks, and we are where we are. $30MM in cap space is not enough to fill out the remaining non-core roster spots with enough true NHL talent to be competitive night after night let alone be a playoff team or a Cup challenger.

Its a pickle I tell ya.....
- Return of the Roar

Return of the roar. You nailed it there buddy, Q reporting to two non hockey people is the defining pickle we are facing. It's why we are where we are, imagine what the boys in the room are whispering as they lace them up. Bowmans dad knows hockey, but. our Bowman has not shown it. I swear ever fan on here and twitter have second guessed Bowman on. 95 percent of his moves the last three years, but succinctly. You nailed it roar. In contrast look at stevie. Y in the box. And the leafs brass last year. There is no comparison. Bobblehead mentality will never work this PP on the ice.

Stan Bowman is in this job for 1 reason and 1 reason alone...his Daddy is Scotty Bowman. The guy never played hockey at a high level and apparently his math skills aren't so great either given his contracts. Way too many sub 180lb guys that love the fancy play but don't get their noses dirty.

When you look at the amount of money Bowman has spent/acquired in the last 12 months on bottom of the roster or AHL talent....just wow.

Rutta $2.3mil, Ward $3mil, Kunitz $1mil, Manning $2.25 mil, Murphy $3.8mil, Gustafson $1.2 = $13.55 mil
- EnzoD

Can't fix stupid... a change is needed.

Being a "hockey guy" has nothing to do with it.

Have a poorly assessing targeted players and assuming the cap would go up higher than it has been the biggest problems. Also vastly overvaluing their own assets unless they are up against a wall has caused them to lose several talented players which could have been better managed.

Peter Chiarelli is a "hockey guy" and probably the worst GM in the league.

I think he means a guy who played hockey at the NHL/AHL level. A guy who's been in the battle,knows what it takes to win in the Spring, and builds a roster with BOTH skill and grit (with some talent).
- EnzoD

Yeah, though Bowman IS one of only a couple of GM's with pretty much ZERO playing experience. Most of the other GM's have at least college or minor hockey playing backgrounds.

Murphy was a more effective player last year than hammer was 2 years ago with the Hawks FWIW.
- fattybeef

Really?? IDK man....Murphy brings as much offense to the table (none), is a worse skater, and was healthy scratched. As poor as Hammer may have been in his last year with the Hawks....he was never a healthy scratch. It seemed like a move just to make a move, OR...like Manning...another poor Pro Scouting assessment.


EDIT: I'm not saying that playing in the NHL/AHL is an automatic guarantee that you will be a good GM/COACH...but it is an advantage IMO. You can only learn so much from studying/watching something....the best way to become an expert is to DO something yourself.

So the hawks big plan to ignite this team Is sikura? LMFAOOOOO That kid is at least 2 years away and 20 lbs to light . I just read MC D interview slash assessment and he said this team is ok and will make the playoffs He must be watching tapes of the 2015 hawks



What do you guys think about Steve Y as general manager? He did a fantastic job in Tampa and is very salary cap consciousness with not giving out no movement clauses. He is available?

Being a "hockey guy" has nothing to do with it.

Have a poorly assessing targeted players and assuming the cap would go up higher than it has been the biggest problems. Also vastly overvaluing their own assets unless they are up against a wall has caused them to lose several talented players which could have been better managed.

Peter Chiarelli is a "hockey guy" and probably the worst GM in the league.
- fattybeef

You can argue this out forever, Exactly how many Cups have Yzerman, Sackic, Bergevin, Blake, Hextall, Wilson, etc. won as GM ? Chiarelli won a cup with the Bruins, with a team he built.

Word was that Panarin did an interview before leaving for the world championships in a russian news thing. This was after we were swept by Nash. He said he ran out of gas and was tired and then went to the Worlds and led the tourney in scoring.
- nickmo2699

... and the rest of the team which was ever so potent offensively speaking - they had nothing at all to do with it.

I don't speak Russian, but I rather doubt Stanbo does either --- but switch 'he' with 'we' - it does make it more accurate. And for the sake of a stinking letter switch in the English translation... just saying - if that was part of the reason by those that did this thing - then that was spectacularly impulsive and fairly dumb.

So the hawks big plan to ignite this team Is sikura? LMFAOOOOO That kid is at least 2 years away and 20 lbs to light . I just read MC D interview slash assessment and he said this team is ok and will make the playoffs He must be watching tapes of the 2015 hawks



What do you guys think about Steve Y as general manager? He did a fantastic job in Tampa and is very salary cap consciousness with not giving out no movement clauses. He is available?
- Taylorst1

I think Yzerman was an excellent GM in Tampa. He resigned to "spend more time with his family". Speculation is that he will wind up running Detroit sooner rather than later.

However, as good as he may have been and how "brilliant" Cooper supposedly is as a coach, the Lightning have exactly zero cups under their leadership.

I think Yzerman was an excellent GM in Tampa. He resigned to "spend more time with his family". Speculation is that he will wind up running Detroit sooner rather than later.

However, as good as he may have been and how "brilliant" Cooper supposedly is as a coach, the Lightning have exactly zero cups under their leadership.
- TheTrob

This is their year

I'm with you on most of this. The only counter I have is that they have plenty of guys that are physical/tenacious. The problem that I see is that those players are really all that good at hockey.

Hayden, Martinsen, Kampf, Kunitz, Manning, Davidson, and Seabrook (to a lesser extent) are all willing and able to mix it up, hit and get after the puck. They just are not skilled enough (or fast enough) to do much after they gain possession.

Schmaltz, Fortin, Kane (although he is the outlier with otherworldly skill), Sikura (if he ever comes up), Gustafsson are all in the speed/skill and minimal physicality group.

Toews, Saad, Anisimov, ADB (yes small, but he has shown the strength to get though many checks and keep the puck), Keith, Joki, all are above average in all facets (in my eyes).

I think the problem is that we simply don't have enough players that have two out of three attributes (strength, skill, speed) that are above average, while being at least average at the third.
- Chunk

Can't bring donkeys to a horse race and expect to win.

Some fans hate bowman so much they forget he pulled in panarin who was a relative nobody. He also turned Shaw into debrincat.

Hey realistically bowman added players to buy time this season because you can't just throw the young prospects in. All these players deals expire at key times within a year. Adding all these high end players everyone wanted wouldn't have made this team as dominate as ya think.

Funny note though hawks were better with Crawford on IR so might as well trade him at this point.
- lilmookie630

Bowman didn't pull in Panarin. Barry Smith did.

Pulled this directly from the Chicago Tribune about signing Panarin. Google it.

About two seasons ago, Panarin began flashing on the Hawks' radar, general manager Stan Bowman said. But an injury prevented Panarin from participating in the world championships, during which NHL scouts keep a close eye on international players. Last season, Panarin shone in leading SKA St. Petersburg to the Gagarin Cup, the KHL championship, then scored 10 points in 10 games during the world championships.

"We watched him early in the year, and it was obvious he was a good talent and as the year went on, he became better and better," Bowman said. "He continued to be dominant."

Panarin's agent, Tom Lynn, said he received interest from about 24 NHL teams for Panarin, with "seven or eight" pushing hard to sign him. But the Hawks had an in with SKA St. Petersburg.

Barry Smith, the Hawks' director of player personnel, had served as head coach of SKA St. Petersburg and was instrumental in scouting and persuading Panarin to sign with the Hawks, Bowman said.

"It's a tough place to go visit, and it's not like going to Sweden where everyone speaks English," Bowman said. "If you don't have contacts over there, it can be a hard place. Barry had some familiarity because he had lived there, coached there. … He knew the whole setup, met with Artemi and tried to explain how Chicago would be a really nice fit for him."