We get Tikhinov!!

[Raskolnikov]

Nah...my Bud sense is telling me "If you build it they will come."

These Russian kids were called here. They play hero hockey. They see the way the Hawks play and they want to play here, they are defecting and coming back to America together in a situation picked out by the one who played in the NHL already and knows the ropes. Nobody said they are dumb....but they talked about coming back to NHL for 6 months and were highly sought after and the lesser one, Tikhinov, was a first round pick the NHL sought dearly after the 2014 picks. I mean...there is some potential here.

 

[fatbeard]

Meh, nothing to get particularly excited about.

No, but you can't win without depth and guys like Kruger show how valuable grindy, defensive-oriented bottom 6 guys are. That's what Tikhinov is.

 

[Ton]

No, but you can't win without depth and guys like Kruger show how valuable grindy, defensive-oriented bottom 6 guys are. That's what Tikhinov is.

Lets just hope they can be grindy, defensive-oriented bottom 6 guys and not the stereotype.

 

[ClydeLee]

Tikihnov isn't really a European Russian guy. Sure he was born there and his grandfather was the legendary coach but He grew up in California and Kentucky. And played in the US hockey leagues.

 

[The Hawk]

For all of the positives you guys are saying, they just lost Brandon Saad who is going to be a legit STAR in the NHL. Dumb loss.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

For all of the positives you guys are saying, they just lost Brandon Saad who is going to be a legit STAR in the NHL. Dumb loss.

lol

 

[PatrickShart]

Well if that's the case, Dano will be even better. He had a better ppg than Saad at 20 without Toews, Kane, Hossa carrying him

 

[Tjodalv]

For all of the positives you guys are saying, they just lost Brandon Saad who is going to be a legit STAR in the NHL. Dumb loss.

There is an entire 12 page thread bitching about that, but it wasn't dumb if he gave them no choice. If he simply priced himself out of the range of being able to sign him and still fill out the rest of the roster with contributors there really wasn't much that Bowman could do other than get as much as he could in return. Anisimov should be solid as a 2-3C for the next several years, and if they're lucky Dano develops into something special (21 points in a player's first 35 games is nothing to sneer at).

Not sure why you're even bringing Saad up in this thread anyways given that Tikhonov had absolutely nothing to do with the trade.

 

[fatbeard]

For all of the positives you guys are saying, they just lost Brandon Saad who is going to be a legit STAR in the NHL. Dumb loss.

I like how you wrote "STAR" in all caps, as if it adds some weight to your idiotic comment. Saad is a good player. He is a good, young player. But he is also a guy who put up 50 points on a line with Toews and Hossa, and his production when not on that line was disappointing. And that is not a player worth 6.5 AAV.

 

[Ton]

I like how you wrote "STAR" in all caps, as if it adds some weight to your idiotic comment. Saad is a good player. He is a good, young player. But he is also a guy who put up 50 points on a line with Toews and Hossa, and his production when not on that line was disappointing. And that is not a player worth 6.5 AAV.

Lets see what he signs for before ripping Saad on $6.5 AAV.

Vermette just signed for under $4 AAV. WTF?

 

[ClydeLee]

Lets see what he signs for before ripping Saad on $6.5 AAV.

Vermette just signed for under $4 AAV. WTF?

What he finally signs for isn't really the factor still... because there could of been the offer of 6.5 still from elsewhere or anything around that range that still would of hampered the Hawks. It's not like, oh if he signs now for a 5.25M deal with the Columbus you can say, OMGZ why didn't Stan sign him then... well that's the fault and connection between the agent in negotiation. They didn't let there be a safe enough standing to allow it.

 

[Ton]

What he finally signs for isn't really the factor still... because there could of been the offer of 6.5 still from elsewhere or anything around that range that still would of hampered the Hawks. It's not like, oh if he signs now for a 5.25M deal with the Columbus you can say, OMGZ why didn't Stan sign him then... well that's the fault and connection between the agent in negotiation. They didn't let there be a safe enough standing to allow it.

How is it not a factor? If he signs for $5M with Columbus, then that means he didn't sign a $6.5M offer from anyone else, lol.

 

[ClydeLee]

How is it not a factor? If he signs for $5M with Columbus, then that means he didn't sign a $6.5M offer from anyone else, lol.

Because It is failing acknowledge how landscapes and moments change with altering situations.

Does that mean he didn't receive a 6.5 Mil offer? no, does it mean if Chicago never traded him he wouldn't of received one, No. It's making unfounded assumptions to think it wouldn't be different.

 

[Ton]

Because It is failing acknowledge how landscapes and moments change with altering situations.

Does that mean he didn't receive a 6.5 Mil offer? no, does it mean if Chicago never traded him he wouldn't of received one, No. It's making unfounded assumptions to think it wouldn't be different.

If he signs with Columbus for $5M... he didn't get a $6.5M offer from another team. That's an assumption, but probably valid to conclude.

Do you really think he would leave millions on the table to sign with Columbus for $5M when he hasn't even stepped foot in the city yet? Do you think that because he's in Columbus, another team wouldn't try and sign him for $6.5M if they wanted to originally when he was a Hawk? What "change" would effect any of this?

Nothing has changed. If he signs for $5M or less, Stan fucked up. It's OK to admit that.

 

[ClydeLee]

The entire league landscape has changed... the team he is on isn't in a fearful cap tight situation for now and future seasons in the immediate way Chicago has. Much has changed. Yeah if he signs there it is likely he received nothing better than what they offer. Though it's vastly changed.

Pittsburgh wasn't certain they would get Kessel in the situation. Florida hadn't traded for Riely Smith & Savards contract, and there is some other teams who were in the running for potentially making a pass that made other signings too The Flames have signed Frolik, the Caps have made some signings, the Devils may still be out there open in space, but other teams that had the potential to consider Saad are limiting.

There are significant variables that happen in the world and it's silly to ignore how they can impact the various other elements.

 

[The Hawk]

I like how you wrote "STAR" in all caps, as if it adds some weight to your idiotic comment. Saad is a good player. He is a good, young player. But he is also a guy who put up 50 points on a line with Toews and Hossa, and his production when not on that line was disappointing. And that is not a player worth 6.5 AAV.

Ever hear of EMPHASIS? He is 22 years old and showed his great potential this year and in the play-offs. Now if he made a huge demand and wasn't willing to compromise, that is another thing but to ignore his great upside is showing a lack of recognition on your part. His great speed will be missed.

 

[fatbeard]

Ever hear of EMPHASIS? He is 22 years old and showed his great potential this year and in the play-offs. Now if he made a huge demand and wasn't willing to compromise, that is another thing but to ignore his great upside is showing a lack of recognition on your part. His great speed will be missed.

But he did make a huge demand and wasn't willing to compromise. It was a ridiculous demand, considering that Kane & Toews got 6.3 AAV on their second contracts. Even accounting for cap inflation, Saad's demand was absurd and rendered him un-signable. Too many Hawks fans are acting like Saad was The Greatest Blackhawk Ever, or was going to turn into it, the moment he was traded. He will be missed, but keeping him at his asking price would've hurt the Hawks far more than trading him for a good return.

 

[Probie2429]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Saad sign for less in Columbus than what he would have gotten in Chicago (via an offer sheet). Columbus doesn't have cap issues and has made it clear they will match anything and everything that comes Saad's way. No GM is going to offer sheet Saad in Columbus because said GM will look like a total fool around the league especially within the inner circles. In Chicago, that was a different story since an offer sheet would have forced a cap restrained team into making a decision whether to keep or not.

My guess is that Saad's agent is now pushing for a bridge deal in Columbus so he can hit RFA in 2 years in hopes of getting the heck out of there to a better franchise. Saad's camp wanted to play chicken with Stan Bowman and clearly got played big time. Stan sent Saad to Columbus where he has no leverage in the negotiations. That's also why Saad hasn't signed there yet because the priorities have changed.

Saad got greedy and now he will be playing on a borderline playoff team with far less talent around him. Hope his golf game improves.

Next time Saad is a free agent, he should be prepared to make it known to his agent what his wishes are like staying with the best franchise in sports.

At least Desjardins got the memo. Oduya seems to get it, and from all inclinations so does Kruger.

 

[Probie2429]

But he did make a huge demand and wasn't willing to compromise. It was a ridiculous demand, considering that Kane & Toews got 6.3 AAV on their second contracts. Even accounting for cap inflation, Saad's demand was absurd and rendered him un-signable. Too many Hawks fans are acting like Saad was The Greatest Blackhawk Ever, or was going to turn into it, the moment he was traded. He will be missed, but keeping him at his asking price would've hurt the Hawks far more than trading him for a good return.

It won't be hard for Anisimov and Dano to outproduce Saad next season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Dano put up 40-50 points if Q gives him the same opportunity that Saad was afforded coming into the league.

 

[Raskolnikov]

It won't be hard for Anisimov and Dano to outproduce Saad next season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Dano put up 40-50 points if Q gives him the same opportunity that Saad was afforded coming into the league.

I just watched all of Dano's goals. I think we might have been over zealous about Dano on first sight seeing production and age. He is a bit of a cross between Shaw and Toews. He is a sharp shooter for sure, kind of scrappy for his size. He gets in there and scores rebounds with a good quick stick but he isn't the playmaker I initially though the the Hartnell assist. Almost all his goals were eerily similar and now I'm not sure how that translates to our style of play and other style of hockey he will have to adapt to and find himself in that same situation where he is succesful.