Careful with those words around here. People are still salty we gave him away.
- RedRevenge

He blew his shoulder up against the Isles in the playoffs last year and hasn't been the same since. Just sloppy and gets pushed around all the time.

He's fine as a #6-7 but you don't want to have to rely on him.

I think Saad is the asset that would bring the most return back. Toffoli was an overpay because Boeser is hurt. Coleman got in effect 2 #1's, Even if Kreider does not resign with the Rangers, I am sure Stan is fielding calls on Saad.
- LAHawk

Saad is now 27 - 28 next season - one year left - qualifying offer would be $6.5MM, if I understand CapFriendly correctly.

A proven 20-25 goal scorer, good 200 footer, plays a full season, but I think at the top end of his pay range. My guess is his next contract would be at his QA level.

Why trade him? What could he bring back that would be better than what you expect out of him - a pick and a prospect?

Keep & resign CC. He’s been outplaying RL for over a month,

Trade Lehner for the best offer.

Same with Gus & Maatta.

Careful with those words around here. People are still salty we gave him away.
- RedRevenge

The Hawks signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and rushed him to the NHL. He was selected in the 2017 expansion draft from the Hawks by Vegas and immediately traded with a 7th round pick to the Canes for a 2nd round pick. Fans thought the Hawks should have traded him and a 7th round pick to the Canes for their 2nd round pick. (But then the Hawks would have had to expose someone else in the expansion draft.) For the last couple of years he could have easily played in our 3rd pairing and at times our 2nd pairing. But he is what he is a career 3rd pairing 6th or 7th defender. No big deal.

Saad is now 27 - 28 next season - one year left - qualifying offer would be $6.5MM, if I understand CapFriendly correctly.

A proven 20-25 goal scorer, good 200 footer, plays a full season, but I think at the top end of his pay range. My guess is his next contract would be at his QA level.

Why trade him? What could he bring back that would be better than what you expect out of him - a pick and a prospect?
- StLBravesFan

I think you keep him until after the season. You start talking to him about salary and term expectations for his next contract. If they are too high or too long you trade him after the lottery and before the draft. You should get a pretty handsome return. At least a mid round 1st and a prospect or later round pick.

Saad is now 27 - 28 next season - one year left - qualifying offer would be $6.5MM, if I understand CapFriendly correctly.

A proven 20-25 goal scorer, good 200 footer, plays a full season, but I think at the top end of his pay range. My guess is his next contract would be at his QA level.

Why trade him? What could he bring back that would be better than what you expect out of him - a pick and a prospect?
- StLBravesFan

Saad is a UFA after next season, we probably wouldn't be able to afford him anyway. An A prospect and a first round pick is fine for me.

[quote=LAHawk]

LaHawk I'm coming at this without any hometown bias and the reality. All those players have played intense hockey for many years , however at 32 years of age and older they can no longer carry this team by themselves . While Kane is still producing , Chicago's younger players like cat , strome , Nylander etc haven't sniffed out enough consistency to help.


I would say just from watching Keith he has at many times gotten burned , he is at best a nice 4tg or 5th pairing guy simply due to his age and the miles he has logged .

Just answer this question knowing next year Chicago won't have enough cap space to resign all these guys and the amount of holes needed to fix this team

With having the extra cap space now and Chicago has a slim chance of making the playoffs let alone winning a round or 2.

Why not approach Keith and Kane and see if they would be open To going to a contender. Chicago can eat salary coming back for this year , gain prospects , draft picks and a couple of young nhl ready players .

[quote=Taylorst1]

Because I am against a total tear down and rebuild. It doesn't work in the NHL (name me one total tear down and rebuild that has in the past 10 years). My unbiased opinion (and I watch just as many Kings and ducks games as Hawks games), is that Keith would be a #2-#3 defenseman on most teams in the NHL. How much does a #4-5 dfenseman (Matta DaHaan) cost in today's NHL? $4-5 mil. I think Keith at $5 mil. is a bargain, you cannot replace him for that much.

Kane has a NTC, so you can't just sell him to the highest bidder. You will never get fair value for what he means to the Hawks. If he signed his contract a s a free agent, he would return 4 #1 draft picks, which might be late picks depending on how his new team does, so none of them could become impact players in the NHL, and you would need at least 6-7 years to determine if any of them are. You aren't going to get an Eichel nor a Dahlin for him from Buffalo, will a bunch of Jeff Skinner's do it for you? Not me.

I would say just from watching Keith he has at many times gotten burned , he is at best a nice 4tg or 5th pairing guy simply due to his age and the miles he has logged .

Just answer this question knowing next year Chicago won't have enough cap space to resign all these guys and the amount of holes needed to fix this team

With having the extra cap space now and Chicago has a slim chance of making the playoffs let alone winning a round or 2.

Why not approach Keith and Kane and see if they would be open To going to a contender. Chicago can eat salary coming back for this year , gain prospects , draft picks and a couple of young nhl ready players .
- Taylorst1

Why? Because Rocky and upper management would rather not see their season ticket base shrink even more that's why. Ole' Jimmy C. would be doing his anthem schtick in front of 10k next season if Kane wasn't there.

[quote=Taylorst1]


Ok the hawks do not have extra cap space we are over with the guys on ltir if we use that money all of this years performance bonuses go to next years cap.

Please explain what makes Bowman and the Hawk’s scouting staff incompetent. Just because you allude to them being incompetent doesn’t prove they are.
- paulr

European scouting has been outstanding. Junior scouting has been pretty good too. Pro scouting has left a little to be desired, but, overall, Blackhawk scouting is a position of strength for the team.

I would have to be overwhelmed with an offer to move Keith. He is playing some very good hockey. He may have lost a step but can still play big minutes. He is a top pairing defender on most teams. He is at least a 2nd pairing defender on every team. He has a very manageable cap hit for 3 more years. He could help transition the younger dmen in the pipeline (Boqvist, Mitchell, Beaudin). If deHaan comes back strong next year and Mitchell is signed and proves to be NHL ready the top 6 D is not looking so bad.

Keith
deHaan
Murphy
Boqvist
Mitchell
then pick one of Seabs, K4, Maatta, Gus, Seeler,
- -Doh-

Well said!

LaHawk I'm coming at this without any hometown bias and the reality. All those players have played intense hockey for many years , however at 32 years of age and older they can no longer carry this team by themselves . While Kane is still producing , Chicago's younger players like cat , strome , Nylander etc haven't sniffed out enough consistency to help.


I would say just from watching Keith he has at many times gotten burned , he is at best a nice 4tg or 5th pairing guy simply due to his age and the miles he has logged .

Just answer this question knowing next year Chicago won't have enough cap space to resign all these guys and the amount of holes needed to fix this team

With having the extra cap space now and Chicago has a slim chance of making the playoffs let alone winning a round or 2.

Why not approach Keith and Kane and see if they would be open To going to a contender. Chicago can eat salary coming back for this year , gain prospects , draft picks and a couple of young nhl ready players .

So who do you think would be a good GM for this team? What do you think that GM would do better than Stan? Please supply examples of past history when you answer.

Nobody on this board has any influence over Chicago's decision making or personnel.

Now regarding Stan IMO his stay was worn out 2 years ago , however he and MCD made coach Q the scape goat for Chicago's decline , and salary and contract issues .

Chicago is at best a bubble playoff team and that's debatable. Chicago doesn't have the salary cap space next year nor the depth in Rockford to fill in the glaring gaps.

Kane and toews , Seabrook , Keith are all well past their prime . Cat , strome have taken 2 steps back , boqvist is still young and learning and the jury is out on him as to his overall ceiling.

Since Rocky hasn't pulled the trigger on Stan, Stan should take advantage of the trade deadline and look towards Chicago's future ,
Rocky if he intends on firing Stan maybe it's a end of season move .


But if Stan holds pat IMO he should be fired because Gus, Lehner , Crawford, kubalick strome all need to be resigned and Chicago can not afford to resign all those guys and still add to the team.
That's why he should be a seller
- Taylorst1

Not seeing any urgency to sign a goaltender who will be 36 next year and injury prone, fell down the stairs one year and missed a month besides his head issues, or Gus which rhymes with sucks.

Saad is now 27 - 28 next season - one year left - qualifying offer would be $6.5MM, if I understand CapFriendly correctly.

A proven 20-25 goal scorer, good 200 footer, plays a full season, but I think at the top end of his pay range. My guess is his next contract would be at his QA level.

Why trade him? What could he bring back that would be better than what you expect out of him - a pick and a prospect?
- StLBravesFan

A pick and a prospect are nothing but suspects I'm keeping our best 200' player who also kills penalties at anywhere near that price.

Saad is a UFA after next season, we probably wouldn't be able to afford him anyway. An A prospect and a first round pick is fine for me.
- LAHawk

As I said - I'm guessing his next contract will be at about his qualifying offer amount - about $6.5MM.

European scouting has been outstanding. Junior scouting has been pretty good too. Pro scouting has left a little to be desired, but, overall, Blackhawk scouting is a position of strength for the team.
- scottak

Bowman gets a lot more credit for losing Panarin than finding him. He did too good of a job and found a player so good he cost too much.

As I said - I'm guessing his next contract will be at about his qualifying offer amount - about $6.5MM.
- StLBravesFan

Remember the last time Stan negotiated with Saad and his father?, He is going to want Kreider money, which I believe will be a minimum of $7-7.5 mil.

Nobody on this board has any influence over Chicago's decision making or personnel.

Now regarding Stan IMO his stay was worn out 2 years ago , however he and MCD made coach Q the scape goat for Chicago's decline , and salary and contract issues .

Chicago is at best a bubble playoff team and that's debatable. Chicago doesn't have the salary cap space next year nor the depth in Rockford to fill in the glaring gaps.

Kane and toews , Seabrook , Keith are all well past their prime . Cat , strome have taken 2 steps back , boqvist is still young and learning and the jury is out on him as to his overall ceiling.

Since Rocky hasn't pulled the trigger on Stan, Stan should take advantage of the trade deadline and look towards Chicago's future ,
Rocky if he intends on firing Stan maybe it's a end of season move .


But if Stan holds pat IMO he should be fired because Gus, Lehner , Crawford, kubalick strome all need to be resigned and Chicago can not afford to resign all those guys and still add to the team.
That's why he should be a seller
- Taylorst1

Easy to say those guys were past their prime after they were past their prime. Stan doesn't have your crystal ball.

Remember the last time Stan negotiated with Saad and his father?, He is going to want Kreider money, which I believe will be a minimum of $7-7.5 mil.
- LAHawk

Lot less cap space across the league these days compared to then and I think it's safe to say his arrow is not pointing up?

Remember the last time Stan negotiated with Saad and his father?, He is going to want Kreider money, which I believe will be a minimum of $7-7.5 mil.
- LAHawk

I was just thinking this yesterday hearing Kreider was looking at 7 years @ $7-8 a year.

I’m guessing Saad would be about the same. I’m not sure everyone’s opinion on value between the 2 players. But if Blake “franking” Coleman gets basically 2 1st round picks....then I’m listening.

They’ll need some draft/asset capital for the Seattle expansion draft (Seabrook contract).

LaHawk I'm coming at this without any hometown bias and the reality. All those players have played intense hockey for many years , however at 32 years of age and older they can no longer carry this team by themselves . While Kane is still producing , Chicago's younger players like cat , strome , Nylander etc haven't sniffed out enough consistency to help.


I would say just from watching Keith he has at many times gotten burned , he is at best a nice 4tg or 5th pairing guy simply due to his age and the miles he has logged .

Just answer this question knowing next year Chicago won't have enough cap space to resign all these guys and the amount of holes needed to fix this team

With having the extra cap space now and Chicago has a slim chance of making the playoffs let alone winning a round or 2.

Why not approach Keith and Kane and see if they would be open To going to a contender. Chicago can eat salary coming back for this year , gain prospects , draft picks and a couple of young nhl ready players .
- Taylorst1

Just a FYI. If a trade is made with retained salary, it cannot be only for the year the trade was made. The salary is retained for every year for the length of the contract which would affect the Hawks cap situation going forward.

Lot less cap space across the league these days compared to then and I think it's safe to say his arrow is not pointing up?
- rpeters01

I am not against keeping Saad, my point is that Saad would bring back the most return of any tradeable assets the Hawks have, including keith and Lehner.

I was just thinking this yesterday hearing Kreider was looking at 7 years @ $7-8 a year.

I’m guessing Saad would be about the same. I’m not sure everyone’s opinion on value between the 2 players. But if Blake “franking” Coleman gets basically 2 1st round picks....then I’m listening.

They’ll need some draft/asset capital for the Seattle expansion draft (Seabrook contract).
- DrewDawg

Doesn't mean he will get that and if he does, you have to look who gives it to him. Anybody good doesn't have that kind of money laying around.

I am not against keeping Saad, my point is that Saad would bring back the most return of any tradeable assets the Hawks have, including keith and Lehner.
- LAHawk

Open a hole now to fill it with unknown later for a guy still in his 20's I don't like doing unless I know for sure I won't be able to sign him.