We have a GM problem

[ello]

Honestly Bedard not taking the step forward that we all expected is a big reason for the lack of success this season, imo and I'm sure KD was taking that in part into his projection of this team.

Say he was the 90+ point generational player that we'd hoped to see. He probably would've meshed a lot better with TT and Bert who'd likely be probably like 60+ point guys and team scoring would be up as a whole.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Honestly Bedard not taking the step forward that we all expected is a big reason for the lack of success this season, imo and I'm sure KD was taking that in part into his projection of this team.

Say he was the 90+ point generational player that we'd hoped to see. He probably would've meshed a lot better with TT and Bert who'd likely be probably like 60+ point guys and team scoring would be up as a whole.

That's on Kyle and Richardson.

Bedard didn't have a competent line until Frank started playing with him.

 

[Larmer83]

That's on Kyle and Richardson.

Bedard didn't have a competent line until Frank started playing with him.

"Frank" had a below average camp. He didn't deserve a roster spot to open the season. He performed well in Rockford and earned his call-up.

That's how it should work.

 

[Hawkaholic]

No question the team was built to be better, healthier, and deeper with NHL talent.

Nobody said "good" but they were definitely built to be better. All 4 lines, all 3 pairs, and the net were much deeper and much healthier and much more talented than the previous year.

I don't think anybody out tanking CLB, SJ or ANA to start the year. 29th and low 70s points was the consensus, TSN, Athletic, etc. all had them ahead of those 3 but still below MTL, PHI, DET, CGY, etc.

I don't recall more than a couple people them projecting under 60pts, their current pace, almost every discussion had them closer to where the Preds are at rather than their current spot and that would have been seen as a major improvement, which matched the spending and acquisitions on paper.

I figured they'd be last, I guessed they would improve 10pts, but that was assuming goaltending was about the same, or better, but that hasnt been the case. Who knows, they could pace a little higher as the season goes on and they shed LRs bad habits. But they should have fired him last year if they wanted to see even more improvement.

 

[Crow]

I figured the goaltending would be worse. I posted as such somewhere. I’m not sure it is much worse though is it? I feel like it is worse overall but soderblom has been a lot better. Mrazek is ass lately, but it might be recency bias on my part that makes me think it’s a big difference.

 

[statswatcher]

I’m not sure it is worse though is it?

so far team save percentage has been .002 percentage points worse.
.892 last season, .890 through 49 games this season.

 

[Crow]

so far team save percentage has been .002 percentage points worse.
.892 last season, .890 through 49 games this season.

I think the defense has been better but I have no way to prove that.

 

[Pez68]

Honestly Bedard not taking the step forward that we all expected is a big reason for the lack of success this season, imo and I'm sure KD was taking that in part into his projection of this team.

Say he was the 90+ point generational player that we'd hoped to see. He probably would've meshed a lot better with TT and Bert who'd likely be probably like 60+ point guys and team scoring would be up as a whole.

Lol!!!!!

 

[kmwtrucks]

I think KD gave a honest assessment. the positives are Crev, allen, rechel, Soda have taken steps forward and could be part of the core. the early results on Dach and Nazar are trending up. add lagerty and Del M and you can start seeing a vision. my guess is we add Moore rinzel, lardis, Misiak, greene, thompson allen James harding to the mix at Mostly AHL level. KK and lev has been adequate. I'm hoping for a big jump in year 2 for lev with a full off season and training camp. add 1 of schafer, hagens, misa to the pool and a top 6 UFA. I feel like its starting to come together a little. my hope for the trade deadline is we move donato for something and either murp (please get healthy) or dickinson 50% retained for a solid asset.

in regard to hall. look at it this way we traded and retained for the right of Pridham he is about 20th in GPG in the OHL and is 6-2 185 and can really skate. I think we will know more after his 1st year in the NCAA but it feels like a steal for a 3rd rounder.

 

[WarriorofTime]

in regard to hall. look at it this way we traded and retained for the right of Pridham he is about 20th in GPG in the OHL and is 6-2 185 and can really skate. I think we will know more after his 1st year in the NCAA but it feels like a steal for a 3rd rounder.

Every time a 3rd round pick turns into a good player, it's made out to be a crazy hail mary outcome, but 3rds have a pretty decent hit rate and there's always some that turn into good players with a few that obviously are more than that. Any player you use a 3rd on should at least be a nice add into a prospect pool and then they take it from there. They aren't 6ths.

 

[BHawk21]

I honestly have ZERO complaints about Davidson. We dont know how any of these picks will work out yet. Levshunov could easily be better then Demidov. Korchinski could be a #1 in 3 years. We dont know yet.

He came in with a plan tore everything down to the studs. We are still at the bottom hopefully we hit on this top 5 pick. Then UFA and we try to climb back up. We havent got the the part where its fair for criticism.

 

[GIADF]

I honestly have ZERO complaints about Davidson. We dont know how any of these picks will work out yet. Levshunov could easily be better then Demidov. Korchinski could be a #1 in 3 years. We dont know yet.

He came in with a plan tore everything down to the studs. We are still at the bottom hopefully we hit on this top 5 pick. Then UFA and we try to climb back up. We havent got the the part where its fair for criticism.

I wouldn't say I have full blown complaints, but I have concerns. Eventually he's going to make a huge move whether that be trading Jones, a proposal like the Demidov one being accepting, or a huge UFA signing. At that point I'll probably have more of a made-up mind on him.

But I don't love the Brodie move, however he can fix that easily. As long as he's not blocking a young guy next year by keeping Brodie I can get over that signing.
Bert/TT - meh, although Bert has been a great linemate of late for Bedard. This might have been more of a LR issue than KD signing Bert. TT is whatever.
Hall trade - I don't love that he gave up a retention spot handcuffing himself to just one now, but maybe he has no intention of trading Murphy this year with him having one more year on his deal and TDL to try and move him.

He hasn't had a ton of chances to make any moves that I love yet partly because of where they're at in the rebuild. I think that'll change some this off season, though.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Hall trade - I don't love that he gave up a retention spot handcuffing himself to just one now

How? Hawks always knew they'd have to retain to move Hall. They still have one and they probably aren't going to retain to move Jones for nothing right now, nor should they. Probably explore options on both Jones and Murphy in the offseason when the prospect of an Aaron Ekblad bidding war makes teams throw up a bit and then realizing there's no other RHD to sign. Murphy having been out makes him a harder move right now. Having them here also lets the young guys play on their natural side.

 

[GIADF]

How? Hawks always knew they'd have to retain to move Hall. They still have one and they probably aren't going to retain to move Jones for nothing right now, nor should they. Probably explore options on both Jones and Murphy in the offseason when the prospect of an Aaron Ekblad bidding war makes teams throw up a bit and then realizing there's no other RHD to sign. Murphy having been out makes him a harder move right now. Having them here also lets the young guys play on their natural side.

I would have just not moved Hall to use the retention spots on Murphy and Donato, ideally in a package together and shoot for a 2nd at least or maybe even a 1st like the McCabe/Lafferty trade.

Murphy is already practicing with the team again and the TDL isn't until March 6th or so. More than enough time for him to get a few games in, show he's ready to go, and then send him packing. He's 31 and has played 700+ games, the league doesn't exactly need more tape on him to see what he's capable of.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I would have just not moved Hall to use the retention spots on Murphy and Donato, ideally in a package together and shoot for a 2nd at least or maybe even a 1st like the McCabe/Lafferty trade.

Murphy is already practicing with the team again and the TDL isn't until March 6th or so. More than enough time for him to get a few games in, show he's ready to go, and then send him packing. He's 31 and has played 700+ games, the league doesn't exactly need more tape on him to see what he's capable of.

If a team wanted both, Hawks could retain on Murphy and just not retain on Donato. His cap hit was only $2 million this year.

Realistically, Murphy's not getting moved before the deadline and there isn't enough of a market for him. Right now, they DO need tape to determine if they're moving significant draft capital for a guy they'd expect to have healthy for a 20+ game playoff run. He's fine to bring back for next year because Levshunov and Rinzel should not be starting in the NHL anyways, but his value is also probably not better now compared to offseason.

 

[GIADF]

If a team wanted both, Hawks could retain on Murphy and just not retain on Donato. His cap hit was only $2 million this year.

Yeah, and they could probably find someone else to pitch it on the retention for next to no cost as well.

Like I said, not the end of the world. It's just there are more small moves that I find myself disliking more than liking, even if it's just very minor.

 

[ClydeLee]

Retaining on Donato is not gonna make a lick of difference to a team to add more value of a trade.

 

[GIADF]

Retaining on Donato is not gonna make a lick of difference to a team to add more value of a trade.

He plays a useful role and style on a team with Cup aspirations, and there are a handful of playoff teams that couldn't take on his full hit even if he were replacing someone making the league minimum. But ok.

Every dollar matters in a cap world.

 

[WarriorofTime]

All I know is that the NHL is going to flip over in the course of the next 7 years as all active deals expire and the extremely narrowly ranged prime-heavy best player lists gets old.

Tell me based on the slate of 23 and Under NHL Talent, Prospects and Draft Capital how the Hawks are not very well slated in that time to be looking prior to the end of it as one of the best teams with what should be realistic and achievable outcomes?

Buffalo goofing up the Reinhart/Eichel rebuild (both those guys 1st line Cup winning players) when most of the other crappy teams from that era went onto success seems to have scared people around the League. There is no real evidence at this time that Chicago is "another Buffalo" outside of pure speculative doom and automatically declaring a worst case outcome or everybody the Hawks draft.

If Bedard were to get 70 points, he'd be the first U20 player to do that in seven years (2017-18).... Even 65 and that holds. Granted once you get to 60 that list expands and you have to include... 18 year old Connor Bedard.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

so far team save percentage has been .002 percentage points worse.
.892 last season, .890 through 49 games this season.

That's a little misleading IMO. Soderblom was rocking like an .870 last year and pretty much a guaranteed loss. Mrazek was .915ish and was outright stealing games on occasion. This year Soderbloom has been solid and Mrazek well below league average, but there have been significantly fewer goaltenders stealing points.

Said another way, on average about the same but the highs were higher and the lows were lower. The "low" games don't really matter because with the roster the Hawks can't overcome bad or even average goaltending.

 

[Pez68]

He plays a useful role and style on a team with Cup aspirations, and there are a handful of playoff teams that couldn't take on his full hit even if he were replacing someone making the league minimum. But ok.

Every dollar matters in a cap world.

His cap hit is $2M. That's absolutely pennies come the TDL. Come on.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

His cap hit is $2M. That's absolutely pennies come the TDL. Come on.

Agree in principle. Would also add that there is always an option of paying a 3rd team a 5th or so to retain the small $s on Donatos contract if it were absolutely necessary.

 

[Clownish]

Why did Kyle give AA extension? There is a cap floor and that is why.

This is why an overpayment for practically any top line forward should've been the plan, if not this past offseason then the one before it. AA, Brodie, and the other 4th liners signed adds up to the same price tag as a so-called overpayment for Guentzel or any other free agent in the past two offseasons. A 3-5 year term would've meant nothing as far as cap flexibility and probably minimal asset depreciation when the contract became an expiring deal when it would then be unloaded for those precious 3rd round picks.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Retaining on Donato is not gonna make a lick of difference to a team to add more value of a trade.

Depends how cap strapped they are.

Vegas, Minnesota, Carolina, Tampa, Jersey, Dallas, Florida... they could all fit a guy in at $1M, but $2M might be considerably more difficult.

 

[WarriorofTime]

This is why an overpayment for practically any top line forward should've been the plan, if not this past offseason then the one before it. AA, Brodie, and the other 4th liners signed adds up to the same price tag as a so-called overpayment for Guentzel or any other free agent in the past two offseasons. A 3-5 year term would've meant nothing as far as cap flexibility and probably minimal asset depreciation when the contract became an expiring deal when it would then be unloaded for those precious 3rd round picks.

No thanks to a 34 year old Jake Guentzel in 2028 with 3 years left on a $10 million cap hit and a 10 team trade list.