Skille & Hawks agree to 1-year deal

[whalerhawk]

[quote name="roshinaya"]I don't get the negativity with regards to Skille.[/quote]

I think its easy to understand, actually. The guy was the 7th overall pick. Hindsight is 20/20, but we could have had Kopitar, Setoguchi, Marc Staal, Martin Hanzel, Tukka Rask, Nickas Bergfors, TJ Oshie, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Niskanen, James Neal, Marc Eduard Vlasic, Justin Abdelkater, Paul Stasney, Guilluame Latendresse, or Kris Letang with that pick.



Granted, that's unfair to Skille to single out all the guys after him who have made an impact, but the fact of the matter is that Skille was considered a reach in the 7th spot when we drafted him and has shown little since we drafted him to suggest he was worth even first round consideration. The reason for the hatred is pretty obvious to me. You hate to waste draft picks that should result in a player that makes some kind of impact to your team fairly quickly.



If Skille was a 2nd round pick, nobody would be bitching.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="whalerhawk"]

I think its easy to understand, actually. The guy was the 7th overall pick. Hindsight is 20/20, but we could have had Kopitar, Setoguchi, Marc Staal, Martin Hanzel, Tukka Rask, Nickas Bergfors, TJ Oshie, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Niskanen, James Neal, Marc Eduard Vlasic, Justin Abdelkater, Paul Stasney, Guilluame Latendresse, or Kris Letang with that pick.



Granted, that's unfair to Skille to single out all the guys after him who have made an impact, but the fact of the matter is that Skille was considered a reach in the 7th spot when we drafted him and has shown little since we drafted him to suggest he was worth even first round consideration. The reason for the hatred is pretty obvious to me. You hate to waste draft picks that should result in a player that makes some kind of impact to your team fairly quickly.



If Skille was a 2nd round pick, nobody would be bitching.[/quote]



I disagree. But it is what it is. The guy has never been given a legit shot with the Hawks and is dogged by the fans because he doesn't produce during the 8 minutes a game he's been given on the 3rd or 4th line.



As for the draft picking give me a break. None of those guys except Kopitar are "Great" NHLers and Kopitar was passed up by three other Clubs after the Hawks.

 

[whalerhawk]

Ron, Evan Brophy was a second round pick for the Hawks that year, as was Michael Blunden. Neither of those guys have been given a fair shake either, but both have had cups of coffee with the big club (Blunden is now with Columbus). Nobody bitches about those guys. People bitch about Skille because he was taken at a point in the draft when you expect to get some kind of impact player, not someone who the team hopes can turn out to be a solid 3rd or 4th line grinder.

 

[whalerhawk]

While none of those guys I mentioned have turned out to be NHL All-stars (save Kopitar), the fact is that they have ALL outperformed Skille to this point, some by a wide margin. Staal could be a very good player in this league, Rask is now the starter in Boston after supplanting a former Vezina winner, Letang is a big part of the Pittsburgh blue line, and I didn't even mention Jon Quick, taken in the third round that year and who has been the starter in LA the past two years. Don't try to make these guys out to be stiffs, because in most cases, they aren't.

 

[Guest]

Neither of those guys had the skill set skille has either. You guys have railed on him since he was picked. I'll wait till the kid gets a legit shot before doing that. As of now he hasn't.





And I'm sorry you do NOT always expect an impact player at pick #7. I love the idiots that throw Kopitar out there. Where exactly was he taken. Yea.



I refuse to rail on the kid, have seen him PLENTY OF TIMES at both levels, until he gets a legit shot. As of now, NO ONE can say he has. Or they don't know what they are watching.

 

[whalerhawk]

[quote name="R K"]Neither of those guys had the skill set skille has either. You guys have railed on him since he was picked. I'll wait till the kid gets a legit shot before doing that. As of now he hasn't.





And I'm sorry you do NOT always expect an impact player at pick #7. I love the idiots that throw Kopitar out there. Where exactly was he taken. Yea.



I refuse to rail on the kid, have seen him PLENTY OF TIMES at both levels, until he gets a legit shot. As of now, NO ONE can say he has. Or they don't know what they are watching.[/quote]

I hope Bowman doesn't have that mentality, or any GM for that matter. If you don't expect an impact player at #7, then you either think very poorly of the talent coming out of juniors/high schools that year, or you have no faith in your scouting staff.

 

[Pez68]

[quote name="whalerhawk"]

I think its easy to understand, actually. The guy was the 7th overall pick. Hindsight is 20/20, but we could have had Kopitar, Setoguchi, Marc Staal, Martin Hanzel, Tukka Rask, Nickas Bergfors, TJ Oshie, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Niskanen, James Neal, Marc Eduard Vlasic, Justin Abdelkater, Paul Stasney, Guilluame Latendresse, or Kris Letang with that pick.



Granted, that's unfair to Skille to single out all the guys after him who have made an impact, but the fact of the matter is that Skille was considered a reach in the 7th spot when we drafted him and has shown little since we drafted him to suggest he was worth even first round consideration. The reason for the hatred is pretty obvious to me. You hate to waste draft picks that should result in a player that makes some kind of impact to your team fairly quickly.



If Skille was a 2nd round pick, nobody would be bitching.[/quote]



Pretty much this.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="whalerhawk"]

I hope Bowman doesn't have that mentality, or any GM for that matter. If you don't expect an impact player at #7, then you either think very poorly of the talent coming out of juniors/high schools that year, or you have no faith in your scouting staff.[/quote]





It all depends on the draft year. I hope Bowman isn't like you guys who have given up on a 23yr old kid thats never been given a legit shot. :dance:



Now the cards are right for him to prove himself. Either he does or all those arm chair fans can run around screaming "I told you so". Good luck Jack. He was with the team the entire playoff run so should know what it takes.

 

[Pez68]

I only see one person here that has basically given up on Skille. Who has given up on him aside from IHF? I think people just expected a lot more out of a #7 pick, especially given what some of the guys taken after him have done. I know my bitterness towards him has always come from the fact that we could have had Kopitar instead. :lol:



Personally, I applaud any guy that is willing to take a pay cut or renegotiate his contract in order to make the big club, which Skille stated on record in the past. If you've watched Skill, it's hard not to see some NHL potential in the skillset he possesses.

 

[DBQHawkFan]

[quote name="Pez68"]I only see one person here that has basically given up on Skille. Who has given up on him aside from IHF? I think people just expected a lot more out of a #7 pick, especially given what some of the guys taken after him have done. I know my bitterness towards him has always come from the fact that we could have had Kopitar instead. :lol:



Personally, I applaud any guy that is willing to take a pay cut or renegotiate his contract in order to make the big club, which Skille stated on record in the past. If you've watched Skill, it's hard not to see some NHL potential in the skillset he possesses.[/quote]



This is going to be his shot to show it. His cap hit is friendly for the Hawks now and he should be in the gyms and on the ice right now working his tail off to prove he is ready for this shot. If he comes to camp and hasn't done that, then it is his own fault what fate he gets. Ask RK about Seabs and Toews workouts during the season. I can only imagine how hard they work in the off season. They are excellent role modles for all the young (I guess I should say younger) players on the team!

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

[quote name="DBQHawkFan"]



This is going to be his shot to show it. His cap hit is friendly for the Hawks now and he should be in the gyms and on the ice right now working his tail off to prove he is ready for this shot. If he comes to camp and hasn't done that, then it is his own fault what fate he gets. Ask RK about Seabs and Toews workouts during the season. I can only imagine how hard they work in the off season. They are excellent role modles for all the young (I guess I should say younger) players on the team![/quote]



Isn't Skille older than Toews?



Gotta hope Skille kicks it into extra gear, because so far I have been unimpressed. However, I can see why the people in Rockford love him... he seems like a nice guy and he's a gamer, he brings his best every time I've seen him... I just don't think it's good enough.



I will take RKs optimism as my own for this coming season and hope he has a Versteeg like story.

 

[Guest]

IHF, Whaler, Maiden whos not here, TJD, I could go on and on. There are a lot of fans that have given up on him, while not seeing him get a legit shot ever.



I'm also not saying I'm pro Jack Skille either. But until he either proves those who are or aren't, right or wrong, I'll stand by he deserves his shot to prove it one way or the other. I do believe he has the talent.



As for your last paragraph I agree 100%. He know's this is his time to show he belongs. One of the reasons I was pissed off Beach played the way he did during prospect camp. Although knowing the Cap situation Beach must know by now they won't be able to afford his salary until at least next season.



at 600k Skill now gives us another servicable wing for cheap. 2 more of those, a vet D man cheap and they should be set once the Niemi issue is resolved.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="Stu Grimson"]



Isn't Skille older than Toews?



Gotta hope Skille kicks it into extra gear, because so far I have been unimpressed. However, I can see why the people in Rockford love him... he seems like a nice guy and he's a gamer, he brings his best every time I've seen him... I just don't think it's good enough.



I will take RKs optimism as my own for this coming season and hope he has a Versteeg like story.[/quote]





He may very well not, but until he gets the chance it's very short sighted to call it either way. Especially since really this is the first time he'll be afforded that legit shot roster/depth wise.

 

[whalerhawk]

I hope to God Skille proves me wrong, but honestly, what's he going to do on the fourth line?



We all keep talking about him getting his "opportunity", but with 8-10 minutes of ice time per game and having guys like Bickell, Reasoner and Dowell on his line, I'm going to temper my enthusiasm.



He's a great fit at 600K and I'm all for that, but if this were baseball, Skille would be the definition of an "innings eater."

 

[Guest]

2nd line. I'd like to see him with Sharp and Kane just to see what he has.



He's no 4th line player. If they put him there you'll all be correct because I don't see him producing on a line like that. Although I might take Skille over Burish. I'll wait and see what he does with his opportunity.

 

[whalerhawk]

Interesting. I don't see them putting him there. There are five definites for the top two lines, but there is one opening that could be filled by a number of guys.



Kane/Toews/Brouwer

Hossa/Sharp/???



??? = Stalberg, Skille, Bickell, Kopecky, Makarov, Beach.



I have to think the front runner for that spot right now is Kopecky, given Hossa's man-love for the guy, but if Skille gets his shot in that spot, that's the only way we will truly see what his potential is. And it would have to be for a minimum of 20 games, otherwise its not a fair assessment.

 

[PatrickSharpRules]

Now see Skille has talent, no problem spending 600k on him.

 

[PatrickShart]

Skille's numbers are better than Dowell's or Bickell's..yet they get some "benefit of the doubt" to fill a role?



Bickell - 24yrs old - AHL- 228gms - 51g - 58a - 109pts/ NHL 23gms - 5g - 1a - 6pts

Dowell - 25yrs old - AHL- 211gms - 22g - 43a - 65pts/ NHL 23gms - 3g - 2a - 5pts

Skille - 23yrs old - AHL - 189gms - 63g - 73a - 136pts/NHL 30gms - 5g - 3a - 8pts



Bickell was a 2nd round/41st overall...and he gets some sort of "free pass" based on drafted 34 picks later...Hawks passed on Krecji, Booth, Franzen, Dubinsky, Edler..hell, Brouwer was taken in the same draft rounds later...

 

[Kerfuffle]

Skille has always been one of those 4A players. Let's be realistic - if he was that good he wouldn't have spent years in the minors. This signing isn't making anyone do backflips in Chicago. This is a settle-for signing - no doubt about it.

 

[Guest]

[quote name="Kerfuffle"]Skille has always been one of those 4A players. Let's be realistic - if he was that good he wouldn't have spent years in the minors. This signing isn't making anyone do backflips in Chicago. This is a settle-for signing - no doubt about it.[/quote]





I'm not sure about that where the depth on the Hawks was so good, he couldn't crack the line up.



Personally I'm more interested in seeing how Makarov pans out but I'll have no judgement Skille can't contribute to the 2nd line until he proves he can't. As of yet, he hasn't proven it.