Is this the year that's been talked about forever?

[HLLYWD99]

When it no longer looks like we can compete for the Cup, throw dynamite on the Mutha !

 

[BreadKick]

To answer the OP's question though, and like others have said, the Hawks will go as far as Keith takes them

Maybe I will ask obvious, still... why Keith is that cornerstone? What makes him so special?

 

[x Tame Impala]

He's a Hall of Fame defenseman on an extremely helpful contract. Replacing him will be really difficult. To a lesser extent look at how different the Wings look without Lidstrom. #1 D don't grow on trees and #1 D like Keith especially more rare

 

[BreadKick]

He's a Hall of Fame defenseman on an extremely helpful contract. Replacing him will be really difficult. To a lesser extent look at how different the Wings look without Lidstrom. #1 D don't grow on trees and #1 D like Keith especially more rare

Thanks!

 

[Sarava]

Unless lottery tickets keep falling in their lap (Panarin), the Hawks are probably going to suck in 5 years or so.

That might be when they blow it up and trade Kane and Toews off. But let's enjoy the ride until then. It would be nice if they nabbed 1 or 2 more cups before this thing goes south.

 

[hawksfan50]

Well there are some strategies Stan can use to replace tge talent traded or the picks he gave up....One is to try grabbing free agents from Europe like he got with Panarin ...pros who were never drafted or drafted by rights given up by their drafting team...guys who are already many years pro over there and in mid or late 20s. ...but there nerds to be open spot up for grabs to entice them to sign here..Secondly he could try landing one or more top NCAA free agents especially if a real talent goes K.Hayes on his drafting team after finishing his Senior season...or it might be
Undrafted juniors in the NCAA who developed into good players and decide to leave after their junior year.. There is also a larger crop of Seniors graduating who are free agents never drafted but thise types usually are not as good as junior year completed collegiate who decide to turn pro instead of playing their Senior year because scouts have told them they can have a good shot at getting an mhl job...Should there be any K.Hayes type Senior grads who bail on their drafting team to go free agent ...those special opportunity cases would be fertile for Stan to pursue..Again there must e some spios on the roster open for us to land one of these ...Few top free agents of any category would want to join the Hawks if they realize they will be sent to Rockford if no room at the Inn with the big club in the show. BUT these 3 types of free agent cases could replace lost draft picks we gave up in trades to go all in for the NOW ....In fact they probably are a lit better talents than tge crap-shoott of 18 year Olds that te draft is ...especially when you draft late in each round like the Hawks would have..


Also..Stan still has the 2017 picks and probably they add to those by trading Shaw this summer for cap reasons..The 2017 draft will be Stan's draft show after giving up 1st and 2nd rounders in 2016 draft and starting to lose valuable 2018 picks in the desperate effort to improve Now for another Cup run.


Finally we still have something left in the cupboard
.
Motte (unless he goes K.Haues on us ....which is why Stan should convince him.to leave scholarship this summer) does too many things well not to be a star for us no matter what line or role they give him..

I also like Forsling's chances to have a long career on our d-corps...

John Hayden can be a good 3rd liner for us. ..


Less certain about Pokka ...Probably they move him for picks if he cannot Crack the big club to Q's satisfaction..


SCHMALTZ..still not sold on him or position he would play with us..So I think they swap him maybe in a deal with Pokka to move up again into the 2016 draft or to get other prospects and picks back from.other teams that fit our needs better. IF we sign some free agent d-men from Europe or the NCAA they feel are reader to take a spit immediately they surely will package Pokka then. If TT really is our longer term 3C Schmaltz is not going to.play 4C for us..so he is tradeable for picks and or prospects and maybe we package him and Pokka together to get a good player in 7-12 spot in the draft that fits a future role a few years out when we will need to infuse that player....If tge right fit player is still 9n the board at a draft slot Stan can make the deal for then he ought to swing it. SO AGAIN THE HERE MAY BE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET BACK YOUNG TALENT to re-stock ournpipeline with players more likely to secure stating spots on our roster.

 

[TKK]

Someone made a great point here, Hawks will be elite till Keith stays elite NHL defenseman, so considering he's 33 right now, we're looking at 4-6 years championship window.

Also, as some of you already said, 2-3 years from now Hossa (with projected decline) will become a Cap burden, so that's jet another obstacle in Bowman's way.

Btw. if Teravainen/Schmaltz and Pokka/Forsling, prove to be an adequate replacement for Hossa and Keith, we may be even looking at 10 years championship window (till Toews and Kane start to decline).

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

No, I think their window is open for another 5 years at least.

 

[Blackhawks]

I just hope we have some college/Europe kids signing free agent contracts soon, I have not seen any so far this year which is a bit strange. We had Guss, TVR and Panarin last couple years that panned out of the bunch that were signed, if we can restock with a hidden gem or two we should be alight.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Keith is signed for another 7 years until right around his 40th birthday. He'll obviously decline a little bit, but I think he'll still be an excellent dman until the end.

His salary will go down quite a bit by then, but I don't see him retiring if he can still play.

 

[BobbyJet]

In reply to the op question: Yes.

I think in the next 44 hours or so will see a lot more action around the league.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Well there are some strategies Stan can use to replace tge talent traded or the picks he gave up....One is to try grabbing free agents from Europe like he got with Panarin ...pros who were never drafted or drafted by rights given up by their drafting team...guys who are already many years pro over there and in mid or late 20s. ...but there nerds to be open spot up for grabs to entice them to sign here..Secondly he could try landing one or more top NCAA free agents especially if a real talent goes K.Hayes on his drafting team after finishing his Senior season...or it might be
Undrafted juniors in the NCAA who developed into good players and decide to leave after their junior year.. There is also a larger crop of Seniors graduating who are free agents never drafted but thise types usually are not as good as junior year completed collegiate who decide to turn pro instead of playing their Senior year because scouts have told them they can have a good shot at getting an mhl job...Should there be any K.Hayes type Senior grads who bail on their drafting team to go free agent ...those special opportunity cases would be fertile for Stan to pursue..Again there must e some spios on the roster open for us to land one of these ...Few top free agents of any category would want to join the Hawks if they realize they will be sent to Rockford if no room at the Inn with the big club in the show. BUT these 3 types of free agent cases could replace lost draft picks we gave up in trades to go all in for the NOW ....In fact they probably are a lit better talents than tge crap-shoott of 18 year Olds that te draft is ...especially when you draft late in each round like the Hawks would have..


Also..Stan still has the 2017 picks and probably they add to those by trading Shaw this summer for cap reasons..The 2017 draft will be Stan's draft show after giving up 1st and 2nd rounders in 2016 draft and starting to lose valuable 2018 picks in the desperate effort to improve Now for another Cup run.


Finally we still have something left in the cupboard
.
Motte (unless he goes K.Haues on us ....which is why Stan should convince him.to leave scholarship this summer) does too many things well not to be a star for us no matter what line or role they give him..

I also like Forsling's chances to have a long career on our d-corps...

John Hayden can be a good 3rd liner for us. ..


Less certain about Pokka ...Probably they move him for picks if he cannot Crack the big club to Q's satisfaction..


SCHMALTZ..still not sold on him or position he would play with us..So I think they swap him maybe in a deal with Pokka to move up again into the 2016 draft or to get other prospects and picks back from.other teams that fit our needs better. IF we sign some free agent d-men from Europe or the NCAA they feel are reader to take a spit immediately they surely will package Pokka then. If TT really is our longer term 3C Schmaltz is not going to.play 4C for us..so he is tradeable for picks and or prospects and maybe we package him and Pokka together to get a good player in 7-12 spot in the draft that fits a future role a few years out when we will need to infuse that player....If tge right fit player is still 9n the board at a draft slot Stan can make the deal for then he ought to swing it. SO AGAIN THE HERE MAY BE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET BACK YOUNG TALENT to re-stock ournpipeline with players more likely to secure stating spots on our roster.

Could Schmaltz be a top-6 wing option?

 

[chicagoskycam]

It would be nice if the cap had a couple decent increases to offset the impact of the TK contracts, doesn't look like that's happening for a while. I don't see Hossa retiring but he's definitely not the same guy. I don't think TT stays with the team with current contracts, cap projections.

 

[Blackhawks]

Someone made a great point here, Hawks will be elite till Keith stays elite NHL defenseman, so considering he's 33 right now, we're looking at 4-6 years championship window.

Also, as some of you already said, 2-3 years from now Hossa (with projected decline) will become a Cap burden, so that's jet another obstacle in Bowman's way.

Btw. if Teravainen/Schmaltz and Pokka/Forsling, prove to be an adequate replacement for Hossa and Keith, we may be even looking at 10 years championship window (till Toews and Kane start to decline).

Hossa can be easily traded to a team that wants a player with a big cap hit but a small salary if Stan wants to go that route, I dont know how realistic it will be though to do that as Hossa probably does not want to be traded and can retire easily if he is which will come back to bite the Hawks.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Is Hossa going to want to play for $1,000,000 a year. He could probably go play overseas for more.

 

[DPHawk]

Is Hossa going to want to play for $1,000,000 a year. He could probably go play overseas for more.

He can't go overseas while under contract with the Hawks unless they let him. I doubt the Hawks will let him retire from the NHL to play in Europe while they get stuck with a big cap penalty.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

In theory, if he gets that bad, couldn't they waive him and loan him like they did with Rundblad?

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

In theory, if he gets that bad, couldn't they waive him and loan him like they did with Rundblad?

Yea, but they'd still be on the hook for most of his cap hit.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

Yea, but they'd still be on the hook for most of his cap hit.

Right, but if he wanted to play closer to him, keep getting payed by the Hawks for a few years and play there.
Im sure Rocky and Stan will find someway not to get caught up in the recapture mess

 

[chicagoskycam]

Hoss seems like a dedicated player and keeps adding to impressive career stats. Hawks should find him some nice endorsement deals