We have a GM problem

[hockeydoug]

I wonder if KD is going to respond to LR's whoopsie or just limp around through Thanksgiving.

 

[Putt Pirate]

Like could be a good coach in a team with talent. He seems to stunt the O the way he coaches or something.

 

[BobbyJet]

Like could be a good coach in a team with talent. He seems to stunt the O the way he coaches or something.

Which O do you speak of?

It literally consists of one player, make that one 19-year old sophomore that ops check very tightly.

 

[TheFridge]

Which O do you speak of?

It literally consists of one player, make that one 19-year old sophomore that ops check very tightly.

The Hawks entire breakout scheme at the start of the year was for D to rim it around the boards and have a winger bump it back to the middle or chip it out to a middle-drive forward coming through the zone with some speed. Now that teams have adjusted to that, the Hawks don't break the puck out. It's a major reason why they're struggled to produce at 5v5.

The Hawks clearly aren't an incredibly talented team but they shouldn't be scoring at basically the same clip as last year, but that's basically what's happening. That's on the coaching staff.

 

[Blackhawks]

He’s a clueless clown, sounds smart and all but that’s about it, we need someone who has a brain.

 

[TLEH]

I haven’t liked their pick value strategy and I haven’t loved the progression from our 2nd rounders besides Kantserov maybe.

Vlasic contract is a clear W.
I thought Korchinski playing last year was an L.
I’ve liked what they did in the first round for the most part, besides Moore.

Thought he did well on DeBrincat.
Dach trade was good value and good timing.

He’s still a wait and see for me.

 

[thedarkstark]

I like the fact that he hasn't given any outlandish contracts with very long term, but his drafting is starting to worry me. I know we won't really have a good idea of how well a draft turns out for 3-5 years later, but I think the 2024 draft is going to end up haunting us for a decade+

 

[Chuck Testa]

I like the fact that he hasn't given any outlandish contracts with very long term, but his drafting is starting to worry me. I know we won't really have a good idea of how well a draft turns out for 3-5 years later, but I think the 2024 draft is going to end up haunting us for a decade+

I was team Demidov all the way. I mean, it was reported that they tried to move back up to 4 and get both Lev AND Demidov but that didn't happen so now we'll have to wait and see what kind of player Lev turns out to be.

I figured the pick was going to be Demidov the second I saw them send Bedard up to make the pick.

 

[hawksfan50]

So the criticism KD is that unlike SJ he did not stay committed to the Tank and just adding youth till it got experienced =comitted to a longer slower set of Tank years..but instead decided to add some vets to help keep the score down to 3-1and4-1 i stead of 6-1or 7-1 losses as the Tank years roll on..

The critics sesmk would give up all draft picks to add higher priced free agents and or trade for vets who are still mod 20s but procing themselves out of their current team's cap.

Of course if such "gens" are available and KD trades all his good picks away and this still fails,then the Tank will last even longer!

1.I an not sure such guaranteed instant offense mid 20s vets are available for a high price anyway.

2.If KD did that and it still fails then he id fired anyway and we are in worse position with no good hogh first and 2nd round picks forctge continuing re-buikd.

All LD is doing is to reduce the score differential to avoid greater embarrassment until the draft picks accumulated reach kugelblitz syagecwhere the incoming yutes are "ready" and with hames experience to populate the team with at least 7 orv8 effective tilt thevice and scores to the Hawks from where it is now ...but thayvprocess takes time
. So he needed vet sto
-gaps to try making the loss scores more respectable than blowout loses piling up..

He hoped hus additional vets would rise the team to a more respectable 8-15 level but this clearly has not materialized.

So the bottom feeder yanking will continue this year and next ..

The idea of a pjayoff team by 26/27 season now seems shoved further away to 28/29 or more realistically 29/30.

I think we need to let the process play out...if by 28/29 tge team still is not at least 10-15 level then KD should be gone.

But I think fanfare just too unrealistic...we had hoped for an improvement this season to 70-75 points ..that seems unlikely given the zero offense given by the vetvinfusion Nd Bedard's regression to futile player ..

The team still needs a lot:
.2 top wingers
who can produce a combined 60+goals

.2 centers who can drive play ,win draws,and produce a combined 60+goals between them..

Bedard will need to be moved to wing.

Hawks can only get 2 Cs or 1 W and 1C of the 4 forward needs over next 2 drafts..even with that these players 2 to 3 years after draftaway from the Show.
Hawks might get other Cor other top wing from existing draftees (Boisvert as 2C?)
Or via top free agent expenditure at a point when all that is needed is sich a free agent gem to put us over the top on the needs chart up front.
Or maybe an existing draftee we already have proves he is capable of meeting that high standard for the 4 more effective scoring forwards we need.

As to the D we expect Levshunov and Rinzel to give long term help to the RD ..Vlasic Kaiser and EdM should be manning the left side ..

Murphy will be traded probablyvat TDL of 2026...
Of course tgere is still $9.5 and his long contract
So Hawjs will also need to eventually draft anotger RD to replace him..but thatvisxstill a long ling way away.Maybe start in 2027 or 2028 draft without first pick which by then woukd be just mid-pack halfway through round one...possibly try to move up giving 2nd abd 3rd rounders...

Jones contract ends after 29/30 season...Maybe we TDL him at TDL '2030...means we gotta usexaz1st rounder for a RD replacement startingv 2027 draft.because it will take a few years for that guy to be ready for the Show..

If Jones still our 1D in 29/30 it means Lev and Ronzel only got to 2D and 3D impact level so we will need tfat 1RD ...If Either Levor Rinzek is our 1D by 29/30 and Jones shoved diwn to 3D then we may just need anither 3 RD replacement..

IF Bedard had becone a difference-maker superstar this season or by next season...that woukd accelerate how long this process to top cobtendercwoukdctake...But since he has regressed in effectiveness that puts the time getting off the bottom out to a longer process.

Of we can get Martone or Misa in 2025cdraft it helps tgevfuturwvpicture enormously...
If Boivert takes off by his soph year next season then that would indicate we have an eventually incoming 2C dofferenxe-maker..

Boisvert doing fine for a freshman on a not that great North Dakota team..

Still to be seen:Marek Vanacker ...we shall monitor he soon to be infusion i the Brantford lineup.
Wonder if hgey use him on the same line as Nick Lardis?

Lardis isa special sniper that should help our PPscore ...

BUT neither Lardusxir Vanacker bring size so juryvoutxas to how many smaller forwards,we can use in tio six ...Nazar akso snalk as is Bedard
We obviously will need sone more size in too six.

It probably is easier to land top free agent wi gersxtgan centers who will make a difference.



Right now Hawks 3rd line is just a checking line...

The ideal is that eventually Hawks 3rd line is a 2 way line that can score a lot more than Hawks current 3rd line does.

Maybe Domenic James Ryan Greene and Aidan Thompson form such a 3rd line that can click together.

We know tgat on the Po both Lardisxand Thompson have shown they can beat goalies as goal scoring snipers when set up.. Both lije to shoot..
So maybe both our Po 1 and Po2 will get the snipers they need to make us much better more effective PP..

We will have to see how Vanacker might help ...

The most intriguing prospect might be Jack Oridham.. So far (albeit short tome in OHL...only 3 GP ..he already has 1g and 3 primary assists (2 of them on the PP for Kitchener) but I did nitcexoect sich speed and edges and puck control and playmaking...he just looks like a ojay driver and tgexway he separates into open space ..I think we may really have an effective talent here...I still am not sure on his shot ..but he looks to have good hans forcdekesxand short distance potential goal scoring ..
Put it this way ...in hiss first 2 OHL games he passes the eye test.

A nice surprise on the potential ..
So all is not bleak for the Hawks future.

Of immediate concern...Bedard's regression to futility and invisibility..

Oliver Moore's lack of progression.

 

[BHFAN92]

As critical as I was with the draft, I'd like to call it as I see it the free agency period has been very good. Fair play Kyle more of this please.

ya this aged like spoiled milk. Only Craig Smith had truly played well. Turbo looks disengaged most games, Bertuzzi looks like he robbed the bank, and Maroon, Brodie, Martinez flat stole contracts

I was team Demidov all the way. I mean, it was reported that they tried to move back up to 4 and get both Lev AND Demidov but that didn't happen so now we'll have to wait and see what kind of player Lev turns out to be.

I figured the pick was going to be Demidov the second I saw them send Bedard up to make the pick.

I was ok with the Levshunov pick as long as KD was able to trade back into top10 to snag a top tier forward. The rest of the draft is just yuck.

 

[OldScool]

ya this aged like spoiled milk. Only Craig Smith had truly played well. Turbo looks disengaged most games, Bertuzzi looks like he robbed the bank, and Maroon, Brodie, Martinez flat stole contracts


I was ok with the Levshunov pick as long as KD was able to trade back into top10 to snag a top tier forward. The rest of the draft is just yuck.

When signing veterans you are grabbing guys that just want the biggest paycheck at this point - they don't care about winning they just want the bag of money. Lets face it - if you are veteran and want to win then Chicago isnt on your list. Blackhawks have to overpay guys right now to get them here.

 

[MHO]

ESSAY INCOMING

I'll fully admit that I want to like Kyle Davidson because I agree with his overall vision for the team. I think we'll agree that he inherited a core of players that were expensive, didn't fit that well together, and would never win a cup. Now tearing everything down is the easy part of his job and building it back up is the hard part.

BREAKING THE ROSTER DOWN TO THE STUDS

I like the value he got for all of the players he decided to sell. I guess it doesn't really matter if he doesn't get the draft picks right but unfortunately it's still too early for that. Would Hagel or Debrincat make this team better right now? Yes but it's not like they'd be playoff contenders and they wouldn't have Korchinski, Moore, Boisvert, and Ludwinski in the system. There's probably no Bedard or Levshunov either. I don't think Kane would have resigned here whether KD wanted him or not and yeah, they could have gotten more for him but I think it's better optics to let Kane decide where he wants to go and future free agents will look upon that positively.

THE COACH

Getting a guy to come here to coach an overmatched team for a few years is probably not as easy as you'd think. But I'd say I like more of what Richardson has done more than not. His record sucks but yeah, he's been shorthanded most of his tenure and they should probably be better this year. Is it his fault that the team can't score? I don't know but they're competitive and playing hard every game. He's probably the Savard to the next Quenneville but I wouldn't call him a disaster by any means.

FREE AGENTS

I wish he didn't let Dylan Strome walk for nothing but given what he knew at the time, the cost, and the term it would take to keep him, I get it. We also don't know if he would be as good on this team as he is on Washington. I'm also not counting all the players he had to overpay to get to the cap floor. That's just part of doing business in the league.

Bertuzzi and Teravainen haven't looked great but I have a feeling they will benefit when the team has more talent next year. Maroon and Smith have been fine as gritty vets to go with the other players on the roster. Brodie has been an absolute disaster but it's not like his cap hit is huge with term. I'll bet he's bought out next year. The only reason I can think of as to why he got a second year on his contract is that KD wanted another vet around to play with all the kids next season as you don't want too many young defenseman at once. Except he's been awful.


TRADES

The only trades of consequence that I can remember that he's made, besides the sell off, are those that he's used cap space as a weapon. It's netted Mrazek, Dickinson, Hall, Foligno, Mikheyev, Beauvillier, Zaitsev, and some draft picks. Some trades have worked out better than others but I don't think he's gotten hosed yet. Admittedly it's hard to get hosed when you're selling veterans and cap space.

INTERNAL MOVES AND EXTENSIONS

The Vlasic signing is looking pretty damn good and the Reichel one isn't looking too bad either. I think that's about it as far as extensions of young guys go. Mrazek, Foligno, and Dickinson extensions are a little more expensive than what I'd like but I'm ok with them for now.

DRAFT & DEVELOPMENT

It's still too early. 2022 was his most recent draft and yeah, some picks are looking better than others but we all know that it's probably 5 years before you can close the book on evaluating a draft. He didn't pick Vlasic, Kaiser, Dach, Reichel, Slaggert, Allan, or Del Mastro but he's been involved with their development and they're all looking like NHL players. I'm not saying that turning a past first round pick like Reichel and seeing him have success on the 4th line is an accomplishment but I'd like to give him some credit for how late round defensemen picks have developed.

I watched the Hogs Wolves game last night and don't look now but Korchinski is starting to figure it out. The Hogs, minus Nazar, sucked as they lost 4-0. They looked much like the Hawks as they barely ever had the puck and couldn't score. But Korchinski looked mighty good. He made some great breakout passes and found guys in space, was a very dynamic skater leading the rush, and didn't look to get beat defensively much. I'm excited to see him back up when they promote him again and he's definitely the closest thing we have to Quinn Hughes. Will he become that? Probably not but I'm excited about him again after last year's debacle.

I think we're all excited about Nazar and Rinzel. Ludwinski and Hayes ae looking like misses at the moment but I'm intrigued by Savoie. He's got some Andrew Shaw in him but he's much faster. I'm also intrigued by how Thompson and James are producing in college but yeah I have no idea if that will translate. Kind of like what I saw last night from Marcel too. Not sure what that is but there might be a 4th liner on a good team in there.

LEVSHUNOV DEMIDOV DEBATE

I watched Levshunov last night and he wasn't good. Demidov is producing in the KHL and looks dynamic but I still don't hate the pick. You can clearly see that Levshunov has the tools and he's 18 playing defense in the AHL which is not easy. His motor or perceived lack of effort is concerning as it doesn't look like he's that interested in trying hard. Maybe he's still adjusting? I don't know but I'm still excited to see what he does with all of those tools as he gets more comfortable playing while the season goes on.

I'm not sure what Lev will become but going into the draft, he was the only guy who had the potential to become a #1 defensemen on a cup contender and being right handed didn't hurt. There isn't a guy like that in this upcoming draft and it doesn't look like there is in 26 either. But there are a shit ton of dynamic forwards coming out and the Hawks roster won't be looking so bad if they can get one or two of them. So even knowing what we know now, I'm still ok with drafting Levshunov.

OVERALL OPINION

I think KD has done a good job transforming an aging and flawed core into what the team is now. Rebuilds in hockey take time and yeah, the results aren't guaranteed. Right now, the team plays hard and pretty good defensively with some building block for the future but they just can't score. So top line or top 6 forwards are the gaping hole of the roster and having Demidov in the system would feel better for many of us.

But if Nazar turns into something, another draft pick like Kantserov, Moore, Lardis, Boisvert, Vanacker, Mustard, or Spellacy turn into something, they land Martone, Hagens, or Misa, they sign Rantanen, Ehlers, or Marner, they just might be cooking.

Thank you for attending my TED talk

 

[kmwtrucks]

Lev has not been great and Im concerned with his casual attitude. I prefer guys that have more of a killer instinct and slightly more serious. but he was hurt, he has moved up 3 Div in 3 years so I still think he can be a Ok player just does not look like a #1 or #2 at this point. Sacha has been fine for a big forward 8 pts in 11 games. Vannacker has not even played. yes think we could have gotten him without moving up. all 3rd rounders have looked good. Nazar rinsel trending up along with thompson. KK trending down. Kantersov and lardis still could be top 6 guys ( abit early to say) its just the way it is some prospects trend up and some back. its been a mixed bag but that is true with any prospect pool. A lot of players from last years draft are trending down. this team is better then last year. Arvid and Rechiel are really the only bright spots.

 

[BobbyJet]

ESSAY INCOMING

I'll fully admit that I want to like Kyle Davidson because I agree with his overall vision for the team. I think we'll agree that he inherited a core of players that were expensive, didn't fit that well together, and would never win a cup. Now tearing everything down is the easy part of his job and building it back up is the hard part.

BREAKING THE ROSTER DOWN TO THE STUDS

I like the value he got for all of the players he decided to sell. I guess it doesn't really matter if he doesn't get the draft picks right but unfortunately it's still too early for that. Would Hagel or Debrincat make this team better right now? Yes but it's not like they'd be playoff contenders and they wouldn't have Korchinski, Moore, Boisvert, and Ludwinski in the system. There's probably no Bedard or Levshunov either. I don't think Kane would have resigned here whether KD wanted him or not and yeah, they could have gotten more for him but I think it's better optics to let Kane decide where he wants to go and future free agents will look upon that positively.

THE COACH

Getting a guy to come here to coach an overmatched team for a few years is probably not as easy as you'd think. But I'd say I like more of what Richardson has done more than not. His record sucks but yeah, he's been shorthanded most of his tenure and they should probably be better this year. Is it his fault that the team can't score? I don't know but they're competitive and playing hard every game. He's probably the Savard to the next Quenneville but I wouldn't call him a disaster by any means.

FREE AGENTS

I wish he didn't let Dylan Strome walk for nothing but given what he knew at the time, the cost, and the term it would take to keep him, I get it. We also don't know if he would be as good on this team as he is on Washington. I'm also not counting all the players he had to overpay to get to the cap floor. That's just part of doing business in the league.

Bertuzzi and Teravainen haven't looked great but I have a feeling they will benefit when the team has more talent next year. Maroon and Smith have been fine as gritty vets to go with the other players on the roster. Brodie has been an absolute disaster but it's not like his cap hit is huge with term. I'll bet he's bought out next year. The only reason I can think of as to why he got a second year on his contract is that KD wanted another vet around to play with all the kids next season as you don't want too many young defenseman at once. Except he's been awful.


TRADES

The only trades of consequence that I can remember that he's made, besides the sell off, are those that he's used cap space as a weapon. It's netted Mrazek, Dickinson, Hall, Foligno, Mikheyev, Beauvillier, Zaitsev, and some draft picks. Some trades have worked out better than others but I don't think he's gotten hosed yet. Admittedly it's hard to get hosed when you're selling veterans and cap space.

INTERNAL MOVES AND EXTENSIONS

The Vlasic signing is looking pretty damn good and the Reichel one isn't looking too bad either. I think that's about it as far as extensions of young guys go. Mrazek, Foligno, and Dickinson extensions are a little more expensive than what I'd like but I'm ok with them for now.

DRAFT & DEVELOPMENT

It's still too early. 2022 was his most recent draft and yeah, some picks are looking better than others but we all know that it's probably 5 years before you can close the book on evaluating a draft. He didn't pick Vlasic, Kaiser, Dach, Reichel, Slaggert, Allan, or Del Mastro but he's been involved with their development and they're all looking like NHL players. I'm not saying that turning a past first round pick like Reichel and seeing him have success on the 4th line is an accomplishment but I'd like to give him some credit for how late round defensemen picks have developed.

I watched the Hogs Wolves game last night and don't look now but Korchinski is starting to figure it out. The Hogs, minus Nazar, sucked as they lost 4-0. They looked much like the Hawks as they barely ever had the puck and couldn't score. But Korchinski looked mighty good. He made some great breakout passes and found guys in space, was a very dynamic skater leading the rush, and didn't look to get beat defensively much. I'm excited to see him back up when they promote him again and he's definitely the closest thing we have to Quinn Hughes. Will he become that? Probably not but I'm excited about him again after last year's debacle.

I think we're all excited about Nazar and Rinzel. Ludwinski and Hayes ae looking like misses at the moment but I'm intrigued by Savoie. He's got some Andrew Shaw in him but he's much faster. I'm also intrigued by how Thompson and James are producing in college but yeah I have no idea if that will translate. Kind of like what I saw last night from Marcel too. Not sure what that is but there might be a 4th liner on a good team in there.

LEVSHUNOV DEMIDOV DEBATE

I watched Levshunov last night and he wasn't good. Demidov is producing in the KHL and looks dynamic but I still don't hate the pick. You can clearly see that Levshunov has the tools and he's 18 playing defense in the AHL which is not easy. His motor or perceived lack of effort is concerning as it doesn't look like he's that interested in trying hard. Maybe he's still adjusting? I don't know but I'm still excited to see what he does with all of those tools as he gets more comfortable playing while the season goes on.

I'm not sure what Lev will become but going into the draft, he was the only guy who had the potential to become a #1 defensemen on a cup contender and being right handed didn't hurt. There isn't a guy like that in this upcoming draft and it doesn't look like there is in 26 either. But there are a shit ton of dynamic forwards coming out and the Hawks roster won't be looking so bad if they can get one or two of them. So even knowing what we know now, I'm still ok with drafting Levshunov.

OVERALL OPINION

I think KD has done a good job transforming an aging and flawed core into what the team is now. Rebuilds in hockey take time and yeah, the results aren't guaranteed. Right now, the team plays hard and pretty good defensively with some building block for the future but they just can't score. So top line or top 6 forwards are the gaping hole of the roster and having Demidov in the system would feel better for many of us.

But if Nazar turns into something, another draft pick like Kantserov, Moore, Lardis, Boisvert, Vanacker, Mustard, or Spellacy turn into something, they land Martone, Hagens, or Misa, they sign Rantanen, Ehlers, or Marner, they just might be cooking.

Thank you for attending my TED talk

Thank-you for your review. Obviously, a lot has to unfold before we can fully review KD.

 

[WarriorofTime]

THE COACH

Getting a guy to come here to coach an overmatched team for a few years is probably not as easy as you'd think. But I'd say I like more of what Richardson has done more than not. His record sucks but yeah, he's been shorthanded most of his tenure and they should probably be better this year. Is it his fault that the team can't score? I don't know but they're competitive and playing hard every game. He's probably the Savard to the next Quenneville but I wouldn't call him a disaster by any means.

Yes, fundamentally it's a Loser Job. Your prospects for a future NHL Head Coaching job are forever saddled with a garbage record attached to your resume. You'll always find someone 'depserate' enough because there are only 32 NHL Head Coaching jobs and it may be your only opportunity, but nobody in demand or with good options is taking it. Even mediocre coaches like Sheldon Keefe will get another Head Coach job right away because they have a shiny regular season record attached to their name. That's just the reality of NHL Coaching Opportunities. Unless you pull an absolute hidden gem that was being overlooked by the hockey world, your tank years are more than likely going to result in a career Assistant mediocre at best head coach because it's a poison job. That's why I say let LR play it out, look for a new coach this offseason.