2025 26 Roster…too Soon

[Toews2Bickell]

There's zero smoke to this "Bedard wants out" narrative until I hear it from him. Some Seravalli/Button/Spittin' Chiclets douchy pontificating about it I keep seeing on social media isn't enough to convince me

Has Frank put that rumor out there? He's kind of connected with Hawks stuff being that he's on their network a lot

 

[x Tame Impala]

Has Frank put that rumor out there? He's kind of connected with Hawks stuff being that he's on their network a lot

I don't know if it was him specifically, I just saw some reel on IG with hockey people talking about how the Sharks rebuild was going SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than the Hawks and Bedard is wasting away. That they should alter how the draft works to avoid future Bedard situations. Seravalli was there with them

 

[ColbyChaos]

Question: should we be willing to trade our 2026 1st if top 10 protected? I’m sure no one wants to trade it unprotected, but it would still be a decent trade chip.

Likely to slide to 2027 (unprotected) when hopefully we’ll be out of the basement. But maybe it’s preferable to have a good young player now than a 2027 pick that will likely need another 2 years before being ready to contribute. That pick + could bring someone pretty decent.

We are not in the position at all to trade unprotected picks that’s how you get another Columbus situation with a team drafting top 5 with our pick. We are still likely to be bad in both 2026 and 27

 

[ColbyChaos]

3rd overall straight up for both?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Signing Bobrovsky did end up being a great move, you can't argue that. Artemi Panarin's league 4th highest cap hit has not helped the rangers win a Cup. He routinely underperforms statistically and to the eye test. For the same reasons a Mitch Marner UFA signing would be terrible pending a miraculous turnaround where the team that signs him can rely on him to have elite production when the games matter most. No one cares about President's Trophies or winning your division.

Paying Marner $14+ million to come to Chicago and put up 90-100 points a year for a few seasons and then disappear in the playoffs is a terrible decision. Just a rumor I read on the Leafs board but the guy (and Matthews) is apparently hated by all of his teammates. He doesn't show up when it matters, blames everyone else, and commands the most egregious amount of money he can get at the expense of making his team better. Him boosting Bedard's production and making us a bubble team that gets stomped on helps no one.

We've drafted a very promising D core, we have a potential superstar forward in year 3 of his career, and of our offensive picks aside are going to start being evaluated at the NHL level soon. Not to mention we just traded for Knight. There's a lot to like here, Marner doesn't help us win championships.

So the guy who had 49g & 71a for 120 point underperformed? That's Panarin last year. Over his Rangers contract he's average almost 1.3 PPG. IMO - he's not underperforming statistically, and he's certainly not be carried by better offensive players.

IMO - it's not a good approach to blame one player for a team not winning the Cup.

Agree on the general approach that the Hawks should take (your last paragraph).

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I don't know if it was him specifically, I just saw some reel on IG with hockey people talking about how the Sharks rebuild was going SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than the Hawks and Bedard is wasting away. That they should alter how the draft works to avoid future Bedard situations. Seravalli was there with them

all based on vibes

 

[Hawkaholic]

so the idea is that you cannot pay someone more than say 12.5m aav if you lock up Bedard this summer at that rate, or that you need to lock up Bedard first before exceeding his cap hit with another move?

I'm not sure Bedard is the main issue. He has to earn his big contract first. If Bedard has another meh season, he wont be getting anywhere close to 10+mil. It's the players that will need a raise in 3 or 4 years you have to worry about.

 

[x Tame Impala]

So the guy who had 49g & 71a for 120 point underperformed? That's Panarin last year. Over his Rangers contract he's average almost 1.3 PPG. IMO - he's not underperforming statistically, and he's certainly not be carried by better offensive players.

IMO - it's not a good approach to blame one player for a team not winning the Cup.

Agree on the general approach that the Hawks should take (your last paragraph).

In the playoffs he underperforms. Which is my whole point. You pay his cap hit for his regular season production which is spectacular but then come playoff time you get a guy who’s points nearly drop in half.

 

[Taze em]

From 2020-present we have drafted 10 first rounders which is an all time record. With four more on the way in the next two years. You simply cannot have fuller cupboards. There’s never been fuller cupboards in NHL history.

In other words, Chicago will break its own record for most 1st rounders in a five year span each of the next two years.

The next closest team in the entire history of the modern draft (back to 1970s) is Buffalo with 9 drafted from 2019-2023. In that span their biggest free agent signing was Jason Zucker 1 year 5 million and Taylor Hall 1 year 8 million. How has austerity and letting the kids grow worked out for them?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I'm not sure Bedard is the main issue. He has to earn his big contract first. If Bedard has another meh season, he wont be getting anywhere close to 10+mil. It's the players that will need a raise in 3 or 4 years you have to worry about.

Agree in general, but with SJ gone there is very little left on the roster who is committed to long term. Raises in 3 years are guys coming off ELCs, not guys who are UFA eligible.

 

[x Tame Impala]

From 2020-present we have drafted 10 first rounders which is an all time record. With four more on the way in the next two years. You simply cannot have fuller cupboards. There’s never been fuller cupboards in NHL history.

In other words, Chicago will break its own record for most 1st rounders in a five year span each of the next two years.

The next closest team in the entire history of the modern draft (back to 1970s) is Buffalo with 9 drafted from 2019-2023. In that span their biggest free agent signing was Jason Zucker 1 year 5 million and Taylor Hall 1 year 8 million. How has austerity and letting the kids grow worked out for them?

I'd like one more crack at a franchise level forward next draft and then we have liftoff, IMHO

 

[Taze em]

Let’s get silly
If Bedard scores 100 points
Nazar scores 80
Rinzel wins the Calder
Levshunov has 60 points
They sign Marner for 14
Knight wins the vezina

They probably still have 40 million in cap space after they sign all of them lol with elc players to fill out wherever they want until at least 2030.

 

[TheFridge]

From 2020-present we have drafted 10 first rounders which is an all time record. With four more on the way in the next two years. You simply cannot have fuller cupboards. There’s never been fuller cupboards in NHL history.

In other words, Chicago will break its own record for most 1st rounders in a five year span each of the next two years.

The next closest team in the entire history of the modern draft (back to 1970s) is Buffalo with 9 drafted from 2019-2023. In that span their biggest free agent signing was Jason Zucker 1 year 5 million and Taylor Hall 1 year 8 million. How has austerity and letting the kids grow worked out for them?

5 of those 9 picks have happened from 2022 and beyond. So, what are we judging here? They also traded their franchise centre for pennies on the dollar after alienating him away from the franchise and gave away Reinhart in that span.

The Sabres could literally be:

Benson - Eichel - Reinhart
Peterka - Thompson - Zucker
Kulich - Norris - McLeod

With a backend featuring Dahlin, Power and Byram.

This is what happens when you have 4 GMs in a 12 year period.

 

[ColbyChaos]

5 of those 9 picks have happened from 2022 and beyond. So, what are we judging here? They also traded their franchise centre for pennies on the dollar after alienating him away from the franchise and gave away Reinhart in that span.

The Sabres could literally be:

Benson - Eichel - Reinhart
Peterka - Thompson - Zucker
Kulich - Norris - McLeod

With a backend featuring Dahlin, Power and Byram.

This is what happens when you have 4 GMs in a 12 year period.

7 coaches as well

 

[LavalPhantom]

We are not in the position at all to trade unprotected picks that’s how you get another Columbus situation with a team drafting top 5 with our pick. We are still likely to be bad in both 2026 and 27.

Well that’s why I specified top 10 protected.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Well that’s why I specified top 10 protected.

And the puck the following year would be unprotected which we are still not in a position to be giving up

 

[LavalPhantom]

And the puck the following year would be unprotected which we are still not in a position to be giving up

I don’t entirely disagree. Just thought it could be a way to get a young but ready player instead of waiting to 2029 for that pick to have an impact.

 

[Pez68]

When is earliest that Bedard can sign an offer sheet? After today he really should consider all his options for future especially if Hawks offseason is as terrible as it has started out

Lol. God, just shut up. Your opinions have been a constant downward spiral since 2010. In 2015 you suggested the Hawks sell. When do you think your opinions will actually have credibility?

 

[Nazzz]

From 2020-present we have drafted 10 first rounders which is an all time record. With four more on the way in the next two years. You simply cannot have fuller cupboards. There’s never been fuller cupboards in NHL history.

In other words, Chicago will break its own record for most 1st rounders in a five year span each of the next two years.

The next closest team in the entire history of the modern draft (back to 1970s) is Buffalo with 9 drafted from 2019-2023. In that span their biggest free agent signing was Jason Zucker 1 year 5 million and Taylor Hall 1 year 8 million. How has austerity and letting the kids grow worked out for them?

???
Who cares about breaking this record?
This rebuild started in the fall of 2021 and the 2022 Draft. Let them work, the oldest players in our system are barely 21yo.
There will be no playoff chances until they are at least 25 years old.

 

[Crow]

Let's not get silly here. If Marner UFA is same as Panarin UFA result, that's a great result for whomever gets him. No need to double down "but no Cup" as that's more of a goal post moving (I think NYR has had good success but had too many misses at the top of the draft/poor development of young players as the thing likely ending their "window"). Panarin outcome would be good argument for why you would sign him because elite talent doesn't come around in UFA very often.

Bobrovsky's delivered 43 playoff wins to Florida. What else are you signing a UFA Goalie for? If he was ever the worst* contract in the league, that has proven both false and a reflection of goaltending being a super volatile position.

UFA is fine for the right guy. It's the premature trades of futures for 25 year olds (because they're "so young!") that scare me more than anything.

The balls falling for the rangers twice should have negated the impact of signing a free agent hurting a rebuild. They also got Fox, a top ten dman for nothing.

I don’t think much can be learned from the rangers signing Panarin situation that is applicable to other rebuilds and free agent signings.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Moving the discussion about Marner here, instead of simply posting about it in the GM thread.

Supposedly, Powers says in the latest Powers and Laz podcast (Patreon exclusive) that the Hawks aren't interested in going after Marner in free agency.

Here's an image from reddit, that's a screen grab from Twitler, that's supposedly a quote from Powers on the podcast.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Here's whats out there outside of Marner (Projected salary)

 

[WarriorofTime]

Good with either Tavares or Duchene as bridge players as I figure you can likely get either on short deals given age.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

There was a TSN video put out on their YT page recently that was talking about Sam Bennett at 10m per...6.5m per isn't happening and if it does then he'll likely stay with Florida

 

[CallMeShaft]

I could see Mantha as a buy-low candidate for us. Would be cheap, has a long history with Blashill, could net us a pick if healthy at the deadline. Would be a good team for him to go to, he'll get minutes here in a low pressure environment; good situation for a guy coming off an ACL injury in his early 30s.