***OFFICIAL*** 2020 Chicago Blackhawks Offseason Thread

[zack54attack]

Discuss.

 

[TL1961]

Too soon.
?

 

[Jack Lantern]

They hamstrung with the cap. Only minimal moves can be made unfortunately.

Need the next hyped prospect Ian Mitchell to help solidify the defense. Need guys like Dach, Boqvist, Cat (had a down season) and others to take the next step...

Goalie position will be a big question mark as soon to be 36 year old Crawford is about to hit free agency. They'll have 6 million freed up if they let Crawford walk but a big chunk of that will goto resigning Kubalik.

Like every season, they'll be dumpster bargain hunting in free agency.

 

[MassHavoc]

When's the draft.

 

[greg23]

Lots of help required:

2-3 new defense (not sure how they're going to make that happen but this group is awful)

Don't have a goalie

Need some fwds with size to pair on lines with the small guys (Kane, Cat)

Give Nylander wrong directions to training camp and hope he never figures it out

 

[Granada]

Been saying this for at least 2 years now, but they need a complete tear down at this point. I hate saying that -- the thought of Toews, Kane, or Keith in another sweater honestly makes me ill and I really never thought I'd see the day -- but I don't see any other way. I know they have NMC's and Toews and Kane's contracts are high, but nevertheless -- this core can't win unless the team is stacked with solid veteran role players; and Bowman can't do that with the current amount of cap he's accumulated.

On top of it, you have Debrincat's 6,000,000+ contract kicking in next year; Kubalik's a RFA; Shaw will be back (I'd suppose) -- there's another 4 million dollars on the books next season...

At this point, I think Strome is gone -- which I'm fine with.

Koko probably is gone too -- hated this guy during the regular season but he was pretty solid in the playoffs. Still, with Maatta at 4 million, I can't see how Koko is kept.

I feel like Kubalik, Caggiula, and Crawford are the only priorities to bring back next year. Caggiula is the only player the Hawks have that will actually throw a meaningful check on a regular basis -- he's a good energy guy, but he's more suited for the bottom six. If he can be signed for cheap, I'd be happy with it. Crow may just retire at this point -- and if he wants to continue playing, I'm not sure why he would want to stay with the Hawks, because it's obvious they will not be a Cup contending team anytime soon.

Seabrook will be a priority to move -- whether Stan can actually move him is another story. There's no doubt Seabs hates Colliton and wants out, so he'll waive his NMC, but his contract may pose a problem. If they can't move Seabs, I think Saad is probably the next guy Bowman tries to move in order to open up some cap.

 

[Jack Lantern]

Some poster wants a complete teardown but in the same breath re-sign a soon to be 36 year old goalie? No .. Just .. No

 

[Diehardfan]

Gentlemen.....please explain why cap space is a priorty when you are in a rebuilding year. What do you need the space for? There shouldn't be any significant FA signings.....you decide who you want to build with (preferably young players with affordable deals) then you try to dump the high priced and better talent for picks or young players. Trouble is, everyone is kind of in the same boat.....last I heard the Cap stays flat but that won't fly past next year. Empty stadiums will play into things at some point. Other than the Kracken looking for a star player to hang their hat on, who will want to take on a $10 million Kane or Toews? Hawks would be smart to dump some of these players and take part of their contracts for a couple years....I mean, why not? If your gonna lose....do it with some pizzazz.

Ok.....dreamland is over. As long as the Bowmans stay, that will never happen. So everyone can brace themselves for more mediocre hockey.

 

[LordKOTL]

Gentlemen.....please explain why cap space is a priorty when you are in a rebuilding year. What do you need the space for? There shouldn't be any significant FA signings.....you decide who you want to build with (preferably young players with affordable deals) then you try to dump the high priced and better talent for picks or young players. Trouble is, everyone is kind of in the same boat.....last I heard the Cap stays flat but that won't fly past next year. Empty stadiums will play into things at some point. Other than the Kracken looking for a star player to hang their hat on, who will want to take on a $10 million Kane or Toews? Hawks would be smart to dump some of these players and take part of their contracts for a couple years....I mean, why not? If your gonna lose....do it with some pizzazz.

Ok.....dreamland is over. As long as the Bowmans stay, that will never happen. So everyone can brace themselves for more mediocre hockey.

Part of rebuilding is getting interim vet players who have the right work ethic to bring along the rookies the right way. You need cap for that. You can't just throw 19 rookies/sophomore onto the ice and say, "have at it!" especially with a coach so green he needs mowing.

If you look at the core players they all had a "mentor" of sorts. Crawford had Khabi (fresh off a cup win), Turco, and Emery. Toews had Lang, and then Madden. Kane had Havlat (when he was good), and then Hossa. Keith and Seabrook had Aucoin and Spacek, and later Campbell. Hjammer had Campbell and Sopel. Many of those players may not have been good in terms of skill (Hoss the obvious exception), but had the right attitudes and work ethic. Hjammer was the obvious one--you can tell how much of Sopel's game rubbed off on him and how that made Hjammer our best pure D-man in the dynasty years.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Yeah, I agree, a full rebuild is really dangerous in contact sports. You don't end up grooming the young guys you end up breaking them. This isn't basketball or baseball where pride is the only thing you can lose. You have to keep team integrity or it can get really ugly and end up in a nasty cycle of attrition and malcontent exits.

 

[Jack Lantern]

Without a full tear down Blackhawks never get Kane at #1 and Toews at #3.

The Cubs were really bad for years under Theo to get where they are. Same with the White Sox as they threw in the white flag and dismantled their pitching staff (trading ace Chris Sale, Quintana etc) but it looks like it's starting to payoff for them this year.

Big market Red Sox are at the early stages of cleaning house when they got rid of what looked to be Red Sox mainstay 27 year old league mvp (2018) and perennial gold glover Mookie Betts.

 

[LordKOTL]

Some poster wants a complete teardown but in the same breath re-sign a soon to be 36 year old goalie? No .. Just .. No

I am not implying Crawford would do this at all, but you do realize that Thomas, and Hašek, who had the best and 2nd best goaltending-years of all time, did it when they were 38 and 35, respectively.

 

[Granada]

Some poster wants a complete teardown but in the same breath re-sign a soon to be 36 year old goalie? No .. Just .. No

You can have a full rebuild with a veteran goalie. You're not just going to play some wet-behind-the ears goalie prospect(s) all year -- especially when the team in front is full of prospects already -- unless you want to be embarrassed by ridiculous scores like 15-2 every game. Getting your ass handed to you every night would do nothing for "progress" during a rebuild.

My point is: the Hawks will need a serviceable veteran goalie, even in a rebuild, whether that is Crawford or someone else. They will also need some vets up front on both D and in the forward core -- maybe not as many as they have now, but nevertheless. You can't just throw the Rockford Icehogs out there against NHL teams all year, lol

 

[Diehardfan]

You can have a full rebuild with a veteran goalie. You're not just going to play some wet-behind-the ears goalie prospect(s) all year -- especially when the team in front is full of prospects already -- unless you want to be embarrassed by ridiculous scores like 15-2 every game. Getting your ass handed to you every night would do nothing for "progress" during a rebuild.

My point is: the Hawks will need a serviceable veteran goalie, even in a rebuild, whether that is Crawford or someone else. They will also need some vets up front on both D and in the forward core -- maybe not as many as they have now, but nevertheless. You can't just throw the Rockford Icehogs out there against NHL teams all year, lol

Yeah, if you were gonna do a tear it down and rebuild it., I agree. Trouble is....that's highly doubtful. If Bowman was going anywhere, he'd probably already be gone. So, you got a frozen Cap which is only for now as I'm sure there will be a drop off with all the lost revenue from empty home stadiums across the league, then you down at your roster and you see that you are already stressed with a handful of off the chart contracts. Again, you still got the Bowmans hanging around which spells more of the same to me. A painfully slow infusion of youth all coming from the backside of the roster.....the big guys are going nowhere because it's a league wide issue....no one wants those contracts, even someone like Kane is nearly untradable. The Hawks have dug themselves a huge monetary hole here.

 

[Jack Lantern]

I am not implying Crawford would do this at all, but you do realize that Thomas, and Hašek, who had the best and 2nd best goaltending-years of all time, did it when they were 38 and 35, respectively.

My response to that poster was his take on doing a complete teardown while signing a 36 year old goalie. Can't have one without the other. Complete teardown means you go all in and sell the house. Worked well for the Cubs (Theo landed multiple top 5, top 10 draft picks), paying dividends for the present day White Sox when they unloaded Sale, Quintana, and the Blackhawks back in the day landing back to back #1 and #3 draft picks.

OR

You can go partial tear down every year (remember when they signed D'Wayne Wade) and become the Bulls....

 

[Raskolnikov]

My response to that poster was his take on doing a complete teardown while signing a 36 year old goalie. Can't have one without the other. Complete teardown means you go all in and sell the house. Worked well for the Cubs (Theo landed multiple top 5, top 10 draft picks), paying dividends for the present day White Sox when they unloaded Sale, Quintana, and the Blackhawks back in the day landing back to back #1 and #3 draft picks.

OR

You can go partial tear down every year (remember when they signed D'Wayne Wade) and become the Bulls....

Ok but thats not how this works. You still spend all your free agency dollars on expiring contracts, Crows would be perfect for this on a 1 or 2 year reasonable deal,

SO YOU CAN TRADE THEM AT THE DEADLINE. You still tank with a defense learning on the job, split games with Suppan(which Crow won't like but suck it), and trade Crow and Keith at the deadline to a contender, maybe Toews if you get lucky and eat a bunch of cheddar.

Kane you can trade for young player value at any time to Buffalo, or a team like Colorado or the Lightning if they fall short this year, and again, if you eat a bunch of cheddar that deal will be greased before you finish the offer.

I'd almost rather see the trio set free to compete at the highest level than endure another soft ass beating trying to carry the corpse of a Stan Bowman experiment team led by Harry Potter.

If we have no chance of fixing the D or getting some kind of forecheck that doesn't look like the Wicked Witch of the West's baby monkey army, they might as well go get 2 firsts and 3 young players or something for Kane and they could be good again in 5 years.

 

[Granada]

My response to that poster was his take on doing a complete teardown while signing a 36 year old goalie. Can't have one without the other. Complete teardown means you go all in and sell the house. Worked well for the Cubs (Theo landed multiple top 5, top 10 draft picks), paying dividends for the present day White Sox when they unloaded Sale, Quintana, and the Blackhawks back in the day landing back to back #1 and #3 draft picks.

OR

You can go partial tear down every year (remember when they signed D'Wayne Wade) and become the Bulls....

You have no idea how an NHL rebuild works. You can't just assume it works the same way in the NHL as it does the MLB.

And by the way -- since you love bringing the #1 and #3 draft picks up -- Nikolai Khabibulin was the Hawks' goalie in both of those years. Since there's no doubt you're clueless as to who Khabi was (since you're obviously a bandwagoner), Khabi was in the league for over 10 years at this point -- i.e. a veteran goaltender.

 

[Jack Lantern]

You have no idea how an NHL rebuild works. You can't just assume it works the same way in the NHL as it does the MLB.

And by the way -- since you love bringing the #1 and #3 draft picks up -- Nikolai Khabibulin was the Hawks' goalie in both of those years. Since there's no doubt you're clueless as to who Khabi was (since you're obviously a bandwagoner), Khabi was in the league for over 10 years at this point -- i.e. a veteran goaltender.

attack poodle working hard in this one. Your friend showing up in 3...2...1 ? ? ? ?

Look at the strong choice of words when I didn't instigate but stick to hockey, "You have no idea how NHL works", "Clueless", "Bandwagoner"

Is it no surprise the Blackhawks forum on this side of the boards is dead? Others probably have attempted to post here in past only to get trolled by posters like Granada, lol

 

[Diehardfan]

You have no idea how an NHL rebuild works. You can't just assume it works the same way in the NHL as it does the MLB.

And by the way -- since you love bringing the #1 and #3 draft picks up -- Nikolai Khabibulin was the Hawks' goalie in both of those years. Since there's no doubt you're clueless as to who Khabi was (since you're obviously a bandwagoner), Khabi was in the league for over 10 years at this point -- i.e. a veteran goaltender.

LOL, looks like Dumbdick made another friend. I put him on ignore. I just figured he does a far better job of making himself look foolish than I could ever do. Although, I will say he did make me laugh when he went crying to the mods for help. Classic.

 

[Jack Lantern]

No chance Tryhardfan has me on ignore.

hahhahaha