We have a GM problem

[ClydeLee]

Looked and he left the wild December last season after an investigation but nothing seemed to be disclosed nor is why it happened said by any wilds fans I saw

 

[Blackhawks]

I mean, the chances of GMs sticking around on teams for a long period of time is pretty slim, it's not like you are going out on a limb here.

Do you understand anything or does everything fly right over your head? I am not saying when hes fired in 5 years but when it’s clear that hes garbage at his job in 5 years and everything is in hindsight.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Do you understand anything or does everything fly right over your head? I am not saying when hes fired in 5 years but when it’s clear that hes garbage at his job in 5 years and everything is in hindsight.

Sounds good buddy

 

[hockeydoug]

This is good news, experienced outside eyes for a change.

 

[WarriorofTime]

NHL Standings have been fairly stagnant for a bit, other than the Devils, but looking through CapWages, a great turn over is inevitably coming. All these flat cap signed $9 million - $10 million Prime-Aged contract steals have allowed some teams to coast. Probably also a result of COVID but the young teams that were collecting the picks, other than the Devils, haven't had much success in breaking through.

But look through the ages of all the best players, and of the notable players on the best teams. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews top TSN's Top 50 NHL Player list | TSN

It's basically all prime 26+ year old players playing on contracts signed or taking them into UFA years. I think that this will go down in NHL history as a very strong era of concentrated talent, the "McDavid cohort" so to speak. Of course this collection of talent was largely drafted when the Hawks were at their most competitive, so that (and mismanagement of course) goes a long way to explain why the Hawks are where they are now.

Flash forward 7 years. All those 27-29 year olds today will be 34-36 years old. The rising cap will be used up to re-sign them to much larger numbers by then, or their teams will make the tough decision to part with iconic franchise players. The most competitive teams today will be in a familiar situation over the course of then to now where in order to be competitive they'll have to:

1) cross their fingers their aging starts will age super well and still be superstars well into their 30s as they hold off younger players from "top player" statuses. History shows us this sometimes happens, but often does not

2) stay very aggressive in the pursuit of trades and free agents.. fair enough, but they will likely have to avoid having any bloated contracts on their books, as teams often do when chasing glory, and hope their aging stars are still a draw.

3) hope they can push some players through from their draft/prospect pool that can become future core pieces. It's easy enough when you are just drafting pieces you hope can be depths to supplement a great core. It's much harder to get brand new core pieces themselves entirely as your picks are going to be late.

Compare this to the currently rebuilding/stockpiling prospect teams, which

1) will have their current slate of high draft picks and prospects gradually entering into their own prime years, with the hope that they replace the last batch as the top players in the League. History does say that some of them will bust, which is unfortunate for whomever is holding the busts, but that many will become top players

2) will have a clean cap over the course of the next few years to be in a favorable position to make big free agent signings/trades.

3) will also be making later draft picks, in the hope that a couple of them emerge out to be both core and depth pieces

In this respect, Chicago is a well positioned team for that "next generation". In seven years, Bedard will be 26 years old. I like the move to bring in Chris O'Hearn who has experience in managing salary cap and will be brought in primarily to fill that function.

Inevitably, some team from the current group will be the surprise team that hangs around way longer than people would have expected (Boston this generation, Detroit the previous, who then eventually turned into lengthy rebuild team) and some team from the lower group will be the "forever" rebuild team that can never seem to get out of the rut of cycling draft picks in and out and acting as little more than the NHL's farm team (Buffalo this generation, Florida the previous, who then eventually turned into big competitive window team).

On a macro level though, there is almost no chance that there's not a big flip over the course of now to seven years from now. Time will tell where Chicago will fall, but the only reason to think they are destined to be the new Buffalo is essentially blind skepticism that the prospects will all stink, the wrong draft selections made and that they'll inevitably screw up the build phase one way or another.

 

[kmwtrucks]

Do you understand anything or does everything fly right over your head? I am not saying when hes fired in 5 years but when it’s clear that hes garbage at his job in 5 years and everything is in hindsight.

there are fair # of things KD has done that I might not of. Last draft I would have taken DEMI at #2 thought trading up for SB and vannacker probably did not need to happen. I thought Pridham was a reach for a trade up (this I was wrong on) I thought the TT and bertuzzi signings we solid when you factor there age 29 ish and 3 to 4 years. Martinez maroon and craig smith at 1 year. Brodie at 2 years I thought was bad and it was. that said. AL I had # 3, Sacha and vannaker are both 2 way physical players (both need for hawks) at 22 and 33 I would have really liked them. Mikeyovuv at $4 mil plus a 2nd is very good trade. mzark foligno and dickson have been fine of 2 year deals. AA was a bad signing. we have no cap dumps (he did not sign SJ) at this point. have a stocked farm system and a stocked future draft. has he done everything right NO but he has hit more then he has missed yes. his longest term signing has been a steal. Arvid reichel allen and CREV (6-8 230LB RD) all seem to have a place in the NHL and are 21-23 wtih Arvid 25. I think Allen and CREV could be a really good 3rd paring on a playoff team in 3 years. I guess I look at the positives. we are on pace for -68 compared to -129 61 pt jump. that is big. if we did that next year we would be in the 8 seed in the west right now. his plan was being bad for a few years, i think he knows next year we need to start turning better play into wins. (a worst we have probably a top 5 pick in a weak draft) He wants his team to be one of the fastest teams in the league with one of the largest DEF teams in the league. all of which is a plan i Like. CAT HAGEL and DACH were a core that was going to have us draft 8-12 PURGATORY.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Anyone that think Wirtz will accept this "Hawks will be terrible for years" plan are kidding themselves

Expect pressure to start this offseason to improve team and frankly if no improvement is seen to start next year, then Davidson firing will be reasonable possibility

Rebuilds take time but that doesn't mean an organization should expect no improvement in team thru process

This year pathetic performance clearly is below what expectations were set with offseason moves and Davidson himself stating improved performance was expected

There is no one else to blame going forward. If team does not improve that is on Kyle and Kyle alone

 

[ClydeLee]

Anyone that think Wirtz will accept this "Hawks will be terrible for years" plan are kidding themselves

Expect pressure to start this offseason to improve team and frankly if no improvement is seen to start next year, then Davidson firing will be reasonable possibility

Rebuilds take time but that doesn't mean an organization should expect no improvement in team thru process

This year pathetic performance clearly is below what expectations were set with offseason moves and Davidson himself stating improved performance was expected

There is no one else to blame going forward. If team does not improve that is on Kyle and Kyle alone

Danny always has already accepted it. Last and this year wouldn't be this way if he didn't.

the expectation has been likely to rise to a 5th-10th worst team next year.

 

[Behn Wilson]

Tthe Blackhawks have hired former Wild assistant general manager Chris O’Hearn as the Vice President of Hockey Operations. He added that O’Hearn is an attorney with expertise in contract negotiations and CBA. O’Hearn served as Bill Geurin’s top assistant general manager and contract negotiator from 2019 until he and the team parted ways in December 2023.

Morning Chirps: Blackhawks Add to the Front Office, Kings Return Home

The Chicago Blackhawks will take the day off today after last night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. They will get two more days to prepare for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who come to town on Friday. The team added someone to the front office on Monday who could fill a vital role in […]

chicagohockeynow.com

 

[Hawkaholic]

Anyone that think Wirtz will accept this "Hawks will be terrible for years" plan are kidding themselves

Expect pressure to start this offseason to improve team and frankly if no improvement is seen to start next year, then Davidson firing will be reasonable possibility

Rebuilds take time but that doesn't mean an organization should expect no improvement in team thru process

This year pathetic performance clearly is below what expectations were set with offseason moves and Davidson himself stating improved performance was expected

There is no one else to blame going forward. If team does not improve that is on Kyle and Kyle alone

Or lower ticket prices, no one is paying top dollar to watch last place product. Hawk fans seem pretty fair-weather too.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Or lower ticket prices, no one is paying top dollar to watch last place product. Hawk fans seem pretty fair-weather too.

Remember in Jerry Mcguire when Jerry got fired for his memo, Yeah that is what would happen to anyone who suggests cutting prices on tickets

Hell, we have seen time and again shitty teams raise prices on fans because they would rather milk top dollar out of 12-13k than give any relief for fans to watch shitty product

 

[Behn Wilson]

The weather was brutal I am not surprised people stayed in. I remember some days when attendance low due to weather when they would give out free hot chocolate to those that braved it.

I trucked out to West Chicago last night for a conert (Venom Inc) and I was debating staying in but I made it. Great show, not as good as the original Venom by a long shot though.

EDIT - off topic but just found out that John Sykes of Thin Lizzy just died. Bummer. RIP John!

 

[Hawkaholic]

Remember in Jerry Mcguire when Jerry got fired for his memo, Yeah that is what would happen to anyone who suggests cutting prices on tickets

Hell, we have seen time and again shitty teams raise prices on fans because they would rather milk top dollar out of 12-13k than give any relief for fans to watch shitty product

Yeah, I know. But rushing the rebuild is a worse idea.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I agree we have a GM problem if TJ Brodie is not either on LTIR or in the AHL for the 2025/26 season.

 

[Giovi]

The weather was brutal I am not surprised people stayed in. I remember some days when attendance low due to weather when they would give out free hot chocolate to those that braved it.

I trucked out to West Chicago last night for a conert (Venom Inc) and I was debating staying in but I made it. Great show, not as good as the original Venom by a long shot though.

EDIT - off topic but just found out that John Sykes of Thin Lizzy just died. Bummer. RIP John!

Sykes was an underappreciated talent, RIP.

 

[MHO]

I agree we have a GM problem if TJ Brodie is not either on LTIR or in the AHL for the 2025/26 season.

Well the fact that Nolan Allan is sitting for Brodie to play represents a coaching problem. Interesting to see what happens when Murphy comes back.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Anyone that think Wirtz will accept this "Hawks will be terrible for years" plan are kidding themselves

Expect pressure to start this offseason to improve team and frankly if no improvement is seen to start next year, then Davidson firing will be reasonable possibility

Rebuilds take time but that doesn't mean an organization should expect no improvement in team thru process

This year pathetic performance clearly is below what expectations were set with offseason moves and Davidson himself stating improved performance was expected

There is no one else to blame going forward. If team does not improve that is on Kyle and Kyle alone

My dude it was record breaking cold.

Chicago signed the 43rd and 49th most expensive total value signed contracts of the July 1, 2024 - now current contract cycle, and people think there were some serious expectations. Come on now. If Wirtz wanted them to be aggressive, they certainly could have been a lot more aggressive.