We have a GM problem

[Dead Meat]

This is for all of the "we're worse than last year" people:

 

[Hawkaholic]

This is for all of the "we're worse than last year" people:

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It's really hard to improve in this league, from year to year, especially if you are a bad team.

 

[Dead Meat]

It's really hard to improve in this league, from year to year, especially if you are a bad team.

I thought that the new goalie would've helped improve this team the most...

 

[Hawkaholic]

I thought that the new goalie would've helped improve this team the most...

I think he would have, but thankfully Soderblom has stepped up a bit. I think Brossoit is better, and can improve them even more if fully healthy though. Unfortunately, Mrazek has taken a big step back.

 

[Blackhawks]

This is for all of the "we're worse than last year" people:

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Teams are judged on standings, standings are the real representation of improvement as it shows your improvement relative to how the entire league is improving, the Hawks didn’t improve this year. But let’s give it to you, let’s say they improved by some microscopic amount, again it goes back to standings, if you are still a bottom feeder then you needed to improve much more, also 6 points is not much, it could be a luck deviation. Win 3 more close games you would have lost last year and there is your difference. It’s not a true representation of improvement.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Teams are judged on standings, standings are the real representation of improvement as it shows your improvement relative to how the entire league is improving, the Hawks didn’t improve this year.

it doesnt feel like much of an improvement thats for sure, but also not a bad thing, better off being terrible so they can add more to the pipeline

 

[statswatcher]

Teams are judged on standings, standings are the real representation of improvement as it shows your improvement relative to how the entire league is improving, the Hawks didn’t improve this year.

they've actually improved by 6 points in the standings compared to last year. you can see it in the post you are responding to.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Uh... goal differential, anyone?

 

[Hawkaholic]

Uh... goal differential, anyone?

Nah, doesn't matter, can only judge a team based off of where they finish in the standings, Blackhawks said so.

 

[Castle8130]

Yeah sure, we have a small improvement in the standings from last year, but this team looks the exact same. Carrying around Korchinski all of last year was a pretty big hole in the lineup and we couldn't do anything about it, but last year our vets like Foligno and Dickinson were playing much better

 

[GIADF]

Yeah sure, we have a small improvement in the standings from last year, but this team looks the exact same. Carrying around Korchinski all of last year was a pretty big hole in the lineup and we couldn't do anything about it, but last year our vets like Foligno and Dickinson were playing much better

I was looking at Foligno's numbers and was surprised he has as many points as he does. I agree, he's playing worse this year relative to his expected role on the team.

Not that it should be of any surprise either, the guy is 37 years old and plays a heavy game. It would be a mistake to expect him to be productive in really any role next year at his age.

 

[Callidusblackhawk]

Yeah sure, we have a small improvement in the standings from last year, but this team looks the exact same. Carrying around Korchinski all of last year was a pretty big hole in the lineup and we couldn't do anything about it, but last year our vets like Foligno and Dickinson were playing much better

Here is where this team was last year on 2/6:

Today:

Goal differential has improved quite a bit. There is still a long way to go obviously, but to me this team is much more fun to watch than last year.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Yeah sure, we have a small improvement in the standings from last year, but this team looks the exact same. Carrying around Korchinski all of last year was a pretty big hole in the lineup and we couldn't do anything about it, but last year our vets like Foligno and Dickinson were playing much better

You can't expect a huge improvement, by just adding a couple top 9 players and depth Dmen. Some players will regress, others will improve. They are in more games, and are competing well against top flight teams most nights. Progress 6-10pts each year and we'll be happy in 3-5 years.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Goal differential has improved quite a bit. There is still a long way to go obviously, but to me this team is much more fun to watch than last year.

Yes, but only since the coaching change.

The start of the season with LuRich was legitimately dreadful.

 

[WarriorofTime]

If a good trade opportunity for Jones opens up in the offseason, probably take it. Which if happens means another tank season with ‘26 a good draft, depending on what level of good play you pull from the young guys pushing roster spots. Davidson could be a sacrificial lamb at that point but it could also be an ok thing for hawks long term. Then you bring in someone with a good feel for the pro scouting and roster construction and see how four years of a tanked up prospect pool can go from there.

 

[ClydeLee]

Yes, but only since the coaching change.

The start of the season with LuRich was legitimately dreadful.

Yes to more fun but LuRich is what kept them closer this year in the goal differential point, they were way closer in those games. This is from that boring style.

They had like 2 games that were 3 goal losses. The Vancouver being the only notable one. They also has 2 3 goal wins. They lost or won 2-1/ 2-3 in many of those games. Sörensens era has multiple 4 goal losses & some 1-5 loss games. They're trending worse goal differential way now.

 

[Castle8130]

You can't expect a huge improvement, by just adding a couple top 9 players and depth Dmen. Some players will regress, others will improve. They are in more games, and are competing well against top flight teams most nights. Progress 6-10pts each year and we'll be happy in 3-5 years.

If it takes the Hawks 5 years to rebuild from here, they have failed the rebuild. Thats about 9 years (starting from the 2022 draft)

 

[GIADF]

Yes to more fun but LuRich is what kept them closer this year in the goal differential point, they were way closer in those games. This is from that boring style.

They had like 2 games that were 3 goal losses. The Vancouver being the only notable one. They also has 2 3 goal wins. They lost or won 2-1/ 2-3 in many of those games. Sörensens era has multiple 4 goal losses & some 1-5 loss games. They're trending worse goal differential way now.

Richardson was 8-16-2 with a goal differential of -18, so -0.69 per game.
Sorenson is 8-15-4 with a goal differential of -27, so -1 per game.

Not to mention Sorenson got the benefit of some new coach energy when the firing took place.

I can't wait until we have a real coach again. The next hire needs to be someone who has proven even mediocrity at the NHL level.

 

[Hawkaholic]

If it takes the Hawks 5 years to rebuild from here, they have failed the rebuild. Thats about 9 years (starting from the 2022 draft)

Disagree, It takes a while for prospects to pan out, especially Dmen, where most of our draft capital is tied up in. If we are a good contender in 5 years, its a success. When you start from nothing, it takes longer than 5-7 years to build it up again. More like 7-9 years. This isn't football.

 

[Castle8130]

Disagree, It takes a while for prospects to pan out, especially Dmen, where most of our draft capital is tied up in. If we are a good contender in 5 years, its a success. When you start from nothing, it takes longer than 5-7 years to build it up again. More like 7-9 years. This isn't football.

9 years is insane! Even when you end the rebuild, you never know how big your window is. That's crazy to accept a 9 year rebuild as a realistic plan. That's a Buffalo Sabres/Coyotes level of bad

 

[WarriorofTime]

If it takes the Hawks 5 years to rebuild from here, they have failed the rebuild. Thats about 9 years (starting from the 2022 draft)

Just curious, if the Hawks continue to be struggling the next few years, but then in 4 or 5 years have made a huge jump and go to be a dominant force for the next 8 or 9 years (basically covering ages 25-34 from the Nazar, Korchisnki, Rinzel draft class, plus younger for the subsequent ones), will the rebuild have failed because it didn't hit an arbitrary timeframe to get good? More a philosophical question I guess

 

[Castle8130]

Just curious, if the Hawks continue to be struggling the next few years, but then in 4 or 5 years have made a huge jump and go to be a dominant force for the next 8 or 9 years (basically covering ages 25-34 from the Nazar, Korchisnki, Rinzel draft class, plus younger for the subsequent ones), will the rebuild have failed because it didn't hit an arbitrary timeframe to get good? More a philosophical question I guess

Years and years of awfulness take a pretty big toll on a team's fan base. If the Hawks are terrible for an entire kids childhood, for the possibility of being a powerhouse when they become an adult, the payoff is not worth it. If the Sabres won the cup next year, I'm not sure any of those fans have anymore feeling left in their bodies to enjoy it. The Hawks are also a significantly wealthier franchise than any of these teams at the bottom and have an economical advantage.

Also, if the Hawks are great 5 years from now, a lot of that success is because of the actions made a year or 2 prior to the team taking off. There are way better solutions a GM can come up with than sucking for a decade to get high picks. Look at teams that have been successful powerhouses like Pittsburg, Tampa, Dallas, and even the old Hawks.

 

[Hawkaholic]

9 years is insane! Even when you end the rebuild, you never know how big your window is. That's crazy to accept a 9 year rebuild as a realistic plan. That's a Buffalo Sabres/Coyotes level of bad

It's crazy to think its going to be a 5 year rebuild. Especially when you started out with literally nothing. There were no prospects in the pipeline when they tore it down, there was no good to elite NHLers on the team when they drafted Bedard. 7-9 years is a much more realistic time frame for your prospects to develop to be great to elite players. After 7 years, you hope to be contending for the playoffs, 9 years you hope you are winning your division/championships.

Point me to a team who started out with nothing and became a contender in less than 7 years. You can't find a team that did that. Most teams who had a 1st overall pick had players around those picks to help them. Chicago had nothing.

 

[Hawkaholic]

There are way better solutions a GM can come up with than sucking for a decade to get high picks. Look at teams that have been successful powerhouses like Pittsburg, Tampa, Dallas, and even the old Hawks.

Like what? Pittsburgh had legit NHLers and Malkin and Fleury drafted on their team when they drafted Crosby, Tampa had Martin St. Louis, Lecavalier, etc when they drafted Stamkos and drafted Hedman the next year, old Hawks had a plethora of great prospects in the pipeline when they drafted Toews and Kane and Dalls never rebuilt at all, and they haven't won jack squat.

Those are completely differnet situations than what the Hawks are in right now.

 

[WarriorofTime]

It's crazy to think its going to be a 5 year rebuild. Especially when you started out with literally nothing. There were no prospects in the pipeline when they tore it down, there was no good to elite NHLers on the team when they drafted Bedard. 7-9 years is a much more realistic time frame for your prospects to develop to be great to elite players. After 7 years, you hope to be contending for the playoffs, 9 years you hope you are winning your division/championships.

Point me to a team who started out with nothing and became a contender in less than 7 years. You can't find a team that did that. Most teams who had a 1st overall pick had players around those picks to help them. Chicago had nothing.

The Hawks wasted so much time 2017-18 through 2020-21, basically four seasons when they needed to rebuild but were chasing mediocrity. In a perfect world, Bedard comes at the end of a rebuild