The Hawks seem to have been moving players the last few years with no real plan. Now, they can build around a particular player, that is a pretty darn good bet to be very good. That might make it easier to create a structure of lines and players that make sense. It would really help us fans if we sensed we understood what was happening. These are exciting times. Go Hawks!
Maybe I'm giving KD too much credit, but there seemed to be a plan:
As has been mentioned here by me and others, defense and goaltending takes the longest to develop. Case in point: Keith was drafted in 2001, didn't hit the league until 2006, and wasn't considered all-that until ~2008/2009. Crawford was drafted in 2003, and didn't really become an excellent goalie until 2013. Contrast to Toews who was drafted in 2006, and got into the league in 2008 and tore it up, and of course Kane in 2007 comes in the next year and tore the league up.
The players the 'hawks had when Bowman was shown the exit were a smattering of mid-tier defense prospects, a handful of FWD prospects, Debrincat, Hagel, and Jones. Dach was looking like a bust (and definitely benefitted from the change in scenery).
Given that Debrincat was the best player, and he was a small goal-scoring winger, he could have kept the 'hawks afloat just enough to keep them out of the cellar of the league--same with Hagel. KD parlayed Hagel into 2 first rounders because he was a cost-controlled player. Debrincat recouped a 1st rounder into Korchinski. Dach turned into Nazar.
The plan as I see it was to kick the can down the road far enough to acquire top-tier defensemen, and get a very early pick by icing a bad team. If we don't get the defensemen we get killed in the playoffs. If we keep enough scoring mediocre defense in the regular seasons we're stuck in the 16-25th place doldrums which could lead to another 49 year cup drought--not bad enough to draft early enough for the best chance at homegrown talent, and not good enough to afford what we need in the FA market to put us over the hump--especially if we got guys like Jones and Debrincat on the books.
It will make it easier to build around Bedard, but that's the trick. The 'hawks now need the right balance of defense and goaltending so that the nascent offence we have in Bedard/Reichel can outscore the opponents, then bring in the right type of depth at FWD so that everything doesn't rely on them having a good night every night.
