LordKOTL
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Ducks win and we've fully tanked out.
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Yep. Now we wait.
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Salute to #19
DaHawkz24
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Ducks are losing, and will probably keep last place. It's up to the ping pong balls now.
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Hopefully Columbus gets a point in their last game
Granada
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Let's remember, Bedard isn't the only potential franchise player out there; and I'm too lazy to google it, but I'm sure there were many that were picked within the top 10 and especially the top 5. Toews was 3rd off the top of my head.
I know people are going to freak out if we miss out on Bedard, and yeah, it would suck, but it won't be the end of the world. Hockey is not the NBA. One generational player doesn't guarantee anything -- ask Gretzky after he left Edmonton and McDavid his entire career.
The good thing is that Davidson is acquiring a massive amount of high draft picks. 6 1st Rounds the next 3 years and a shit-ton of 2nd's after that. I know people are upset about the return he got for Kane, but in my eyes, the dude is doing everything he should be doing by acquiring a ton of draft capital and making the moves Bowman should have made years ago.
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We all know the Blackhawks will pick 5th by now and pass on Benson and blow this.
I think top 3 is hard to mess up, but 4th or 5th could be alot easier to trick yourself glancing down the board due to Benson/Russian size issues.
1ABedard
1B Fantilli/Caarlson
4 Benson
5 Russian (2026 issue)
Thats how I rank em. Benson is very young and highly productive. The Rus and Caarlson have Pro experience.
I think Caarlson and Fantilli are sure things due to versatility, overall contributions and size, but the other 3 can score, and thats what our farm looks like it needs.
If we pick 5 and adventure off this mini-board of elites its for physical traits and character projecting development like Smith(strength/speed) etc.
But that means a Dach like risk scenario where you are passing on the Zegras type again.
I think top 3 is hard to mess up, but 4th or 5th could be alot easier to trick yourself glancing down the board due to Benson/Russian size issues.
1ABedard
1B Fantilli/Caarlson
4 Benson
5 Russian (2026 issue)
Thats how I rank em. Benson is very young and highly productive. The Rus and Caarlson have Pro experience.
I think Caarlson and Fantilli are sure things due to versatility, overall contributions and size, but the other 3 can score, and thats what our farm looks like it needs.
If we pick 5 and adventure off this mini-board of elites its for physical traits and character projecting development like Smith(strength/speed) etc.
But that means a Dach like risk scenario where you are passing on the Zegras type again.
LordKOTL
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One thing to consider is that we have 2 1st round picks this year, next year, and the following year. This year's draft is very deep, which is a good point, but we have 6 bites at the 1st round apple over the next 3 drafts. Even if the unthinkable happens and Tampa Bay tanks out next season, worse case we have 2 1st rounder this year, 1 next year, and 3 in 2025.
We have options and we should use them over the next 3 seasons. I don't think out future 100% hinges on this draft--and especially the 1st pick we get. Remember, the previous core was build starting with the 2002 draft, and our first rounder was a swing-and-a-miss by picking up Babchuk. Our 2nd rounder was a grand slam in Duncan Keith, not to mention. in 2003 we hit homer in the 1st round (Seabrook), 2nd round (Crawford), and in round 8 (Buff). Further in 2004 we had a swing-and-a-miss in Cam Barker in the 1st round, but we got homers in the 2nd with Bolland and Bickell (both instrumental in the 2013 finals and Bolland as well in 2010). You could even add Brower into that draft as well.
I'm not glib enough to dismiss our 1st pick this summer as something we can mess up; we can't. KD has to do his due diligence on it. But, he also has to do his due diligence on the late 1st rounder we get from Tampa, as well as our 4 2nd round picks this year, not to mention next season and the following 2 years where we have 2 picks in each of the 1st three rounds.
UChiLAbear
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imo, its about having a great Goalie....can't really think of a championship team without one....there may have been one......
i would love getting Bedard, but its about strong goalie, D-men and 2-way playing Centers who win face-offs, especially in your own zone at the beginning of a PK. I do find it odd that the Glucks lost their last 13 games of the season.... seems to me to lose 13 in a row in the NHL you would have to do it on purpose. The odds seem astronomical for 13 teams in a row having a good night and you having 13 bad ones in a row. idk...maybe its just my dislike for the Glucks.
i would love getting Bedard, but its about strong goalie, D-men and 2-way playing Centers who win face-offs, especially in your own zone at the beginning of a PK. I do find it odd that the Glucks lost their last 13 games of the season.... seems to me to lose 13 in a row in the NHL you would have to do it on purpose. The odds seem astronomical for 13 teams in a row having a good night and you having 13 bad ones in a row. idk...maybe its just my dislike for the Glucks.
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Oddly the hawks lost 8 in a row 3 times this year. They would have lost 17 straight but somehow they beat the rangers on the road out of nowhere. Like you said that's a lot of games to not accidentally win one.
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We didn't lose enough.
Somebody in the Hawks organization needs to realize that Bedard is bigger than the entire franchise and its facilities in terms of future revenue.
You got a prospect who can build stadiums and save jobs for a decade for everyone in the room and you gotta come away with the 25% ticket.
KBIB
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Well, I'm going to give my current thoughts right now on the draft;
Bedard
Carlsson
Fantilli
Michkov
Smith
Danielson
Reinbacher
If KD gets one of those guys I'm happy. I'd go so far as to say this draft has a big 5 with the things Smith is doing right now. It wouldn't shock me if Smith goes top three. Smith is destroying the U18 the same way Bedard destroyed the world's.
Reinbacher has blown up as of late and is head and shoulders the best defenseman prospect in this draft.
And please, stop sleeping on Michkov. He's on the same tier as Bedard and it wouldn't shock me if he went second. He won't, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Don't believe any of that Russian factor bullshit. The best Russian prospect since Ovechkin isn't going to be stuck in Russia, and when he gets here he will be polished.
Bedard
Carlsson
Fantilli
Michkov
Smith
Danielson
Reinbacher
If KD gets one of those guys I'm happy. I'd go so far as to say this draft has a big 5 with the things Smith is doing right now. It wouldn't shock me if Smith goes top three. Smith is destroying the U18 the same way Bedard destroyed the world's.
Reinbacher has blown up as of late and is head and shoulders the best defenseman prospect in this draft.
And please, stop sleeping on Michkov. He's on the same tier as Bedard and it wouldn't shock me if he went second. He won't, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Don't believe any of that Russian factor bullshit. The best Russian prospect since Ovechkin isn't going to be stuck in Russia, and when he gets here he will be polished.
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We see things almost the same except on 17 year old Benson. I have the same belief in Michkov...but he has a knock for struggling at the pro level with his first team, and the eligibility and war issue.
I will listen to you and put Benson 5th.
But bottom line....is we really want to be picking 4th and not 5th to get into the sure thing franchise category in this draft.
Bedard
Caarlson/Fantilli (only 2 because they are sure things)
Michkov only 4 because of size/contract issues
There is alot more guess work after the top 4.
LordKOTL
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2010 didn't have a great goalie.
Niemi was good, not great. Huet was Meh. In fact: after 2010 some hockey "pundits" were claiming that the age of the great goalie was over. Come 2011 Tim Thomas posted the best goaltender year in hockey history and won Boston a cup.
I have said this elsewhere: I don't believe that there's is a specific gameplan to a cup. What you need is:
- A game plan that fits the personnel you have
- Complete buy-in from every member of the team into said gameplan
- A critical mass of players playing at a level over their cap hit
- A lot of luck--there are 31 other teams out there with the same goal.
Assuming that the KD/LR regime lasts a few years, their gameplan looks to be a lot more chippy than our last regime--even the cup-winning regime. There does seem to be some buy-in as well. That bodes well--especicially if the current batch of prospects (i.e. Allan/Korch), and the ones we'll be acquiring over the next few seasons can fit in, or the gameplan can be tweaked a bit to accommodate their games. Plus, it does seem like KD/LR are more on the same page than Bowman/Q ever were, and LR did better with the tablescraps he got dealt than JC/King ever did. That does bode well.
Further, we do have some decent goalie prospects in the pool, so I think we're okay there as long as one develops right. If the D is excellent they don't have to be world-beating, they just have to be "good enough", like Niemi was.
UChiLAbear
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I agree with you for the most part, but to say Niemi was only good is an understatement and we will have to agree to disagree on that.... I'll say a notch below great.
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Cannot explain things better.
IMO the 2016 team had the potential to be the best yet. And 2017 and 2018.
We truly had the pieces and assets at the end of 2014 to extend to an official dynasty.
Perhaps you would agree we kinda got lucky to nab a third in 2015 because mistakes were already being made and the defense was severely stressed playing 4 players throughout most of playoffs.
We had Hossa and Toews to help, and we had Duncan Kieth who survived all the attempts to kill the head of the snake.
Teams correctly realized without Keith we would have to play a third line in addition to losing the stand out stopper.
I never seen a player stop as many breakaways as Keith at the last moment from a trailing position.
Crawford and Keith were the ultimate pieces to the Q system of trading rapid fire chances.
It was officially over when we re-signed Seabrook and let Panarin go. But many mistakes led to those death nells.
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He was a good goalie who got hot and like Crow was a great system fit.
For example, Bobrovski is not. He's a boa constrictor goalie who fit the Jets perfectly, but not Q.
KBIB
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Benson's skating is going to make him drop.
Danielson might max at an elite second line center but his skates might push him into a top five pick.
That's just the new NHL. If you have elite skill, Benson does, but can't skate, it's so frowned upon now. You have to be a figure skater.
(Which I find odd but just think of some GM back in the 80's looked past size and anvil headedness and focused on skating. In the day and age of the stationary goalie that team would have gone far)
I'm so impressed with Smith right now that that's who I want the Hawks to draft, but ask me again tomorrow and the answer will probably be different.
Somebody is gonna fall and the good thing is that bolts pick at 20 now looks like it's going to nab another elite prospect instead of a very good one.
hawkinmontreal
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Lord this is a great post, however one thing that needs to be considered, the Hawks have not been very successful in the last few years at the draft, where as in 2002- Mike Smith was at the helm and he had a lot to do with the Hawks great picks and the success they endured, but all those picks dont amount to anything if Pat Kane and Toews aren’t drafted. This years pick is extremely important as it sets a precedent for the Hawks moving forward. With the amount of cap room and picks Hawks should not have to wait another 3 years to make there mark. 2025 draft should be used to build a stronger team, added pieces per say. Drafting a guy like Fantilli would be spectacular, the team needs its next young leader to take place, nothing again Benson(he will be a good player) but not on a team that is screaming for talent, I feel he would turn into a Kyle Calder or Bell or Arnason which didn’t amount to anything. If Michkov is there and the top 3 have been picked when it’s time for the Hawks to draft, I would take a swing at him even with all the issues surrounding him, because after him there is nothing saying that picks 5 and up are not just supplementary players for teams that already have some sort of talent unlike the Hawks who have zero.
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Granada
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Yeah got to agree on Niemi. That year, in those playoffs, Niemi was incredible. I mean, there's a reason why dipshit Wilson snatched him up after OS'ing Hammer. What he did against SJ alone that year was stellar. I remember how pissed I -- and a lot of Hawk fans -- were when we lost Niemi that off-season.
Of course, Niemi ended up being a mediocre to average goalie at best, but that year, as an unknown in and around the league, he tore it up. I'll give him that.
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