What to do from here....

Backyard Hockey

Dealing With It
Feb 13, 2015
14,496
5,572
The choice is simply. Richardson had to go.

Bedard isn’t developing. Kurashev has regressed. Dickinson has as well (outside of last game).

The roster is improved on both sides of the ice. Soderblum is playing buck better.

And…the team is worse

That’s on the coach.

Start there
 

hawksfan50

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
14,511
2,083
People expectedxan acceleration of the re-build time line when we got Bedard.. but he has regressed this season.. lost his center role..cannot get free to the better scoringvskot,and when ge does shoot,either misses the net or cannot beat oposcgoalies..

So there isvno acceleration...

Re-builds as a poster above said take about 7+ years ...we find ourselves in year 2 without an effective star 1C and 2C ...with 1 core LD on the roster (Vlasic) 2 core RD still in the pipeline ,1 STAH average vet dman(Murphy)who also will not be around for the eventually Cup contender,,young pipeline wingers who still are 1-3years away froma roster spot,and uncertain pipeline Centers becoming star top 2 line drivers ...may sone can ,maybe they also lije Bedard have to pkay as wingers ..and we have a whoke bunch of #4andc5 -7riater spio dmen either here now (Kaiser and Akjan) or in Rockford (EdM orobaly justcax3 or 4D candidate..

It still is very iffy..and of course we still have the Albatross..a $9.5 "1RD " who is flawed and is not a Pp P threat at all...


Needs to materialize for Hawkscto beca Cup co tender:

A legit 1D to also be great as a Pp qb in starxeffectiveness.(Can Lev or Rinzel become that? Maybe..but we should have at least better iffebsive 2RD and 3RD than we have now..

In any case Seth willbebivervthe Hill when we contend so we have to find another RD whoveithervis a Halmarsson impectcshutdiwn D or is bettervthan even Rinzel or Lev willbe giving us a stellar right side D..

On the left side D...Vladic is one piece in place...remains to be seen if Kaiser Aljan or EDM rises to impact 2LD with sone offehsivebimpact as ax2 way D.

Any of Aljan Kaiser orxEdM you can insert as adequate 3KD.

So realy still 1LD and 1RD filing certain roles are still needed for that contender team to contend.

For forwards we have still to find at least 1 star C and 1 adequately impactful 2C to drive top 2maybe Nazar can be one of those two top Centers ..maybe Boivert can be the other..
but we we keeo drafting Center candidates just in case either Nazar or Boisvert do not fill those needs over next2 to 3 seasins..lines.

We have outscore winger candidates in rhe pipeline to challenge for top 2 li eor top 3bki
.We have candidates for 3C and 4C.


So that is ate least 3 more drafts to get at least 1 star 1C + a 1LD with offebsive impact and 2 way d impact or who plays 2LD with offensive 2 wayb mpact if VlaSic is the big mobutesx1LD.

And we need 1morexRD who is either better than even Rinzel and Levshunov driving offense pr who is a shutdown guy like Hjalmarsdon who can still move pucks outbofvthe d-zone to drive transition attacks .

Now we cannot getcalk tgat from justvthec2025vdraft..goingvto nerd 2025,2026 andc2927 drafts to find these solutions.

Might get morex2C candidates ..

In wibgercnerds...morecsize woukd help ifvthey can be top scorer threats to.. we have lots of average size or small guy wing ears already drafted.

The impresdivevOHL debut of Jack Prodham indicates he may be one of the winger solutions also having good size..Colton Dach is still too inconsistent whether he can becone a top 2line wing or just another guyc at 3W or 4W.
So a sizey powwer forward who can sore goals is another needing thectop 2 lines.


We can draft 3 ofctgse 5vneeds over nextc3 drafts and trade orcsign freexahebtscforvthevotgerc2 potential needs.

So that still to conebpjan will still involve a 3 ,4or 5 year timetable yet to cone after this season for full fill in solutions.

If it iscthrse morexseadobsctill contender then it woukd be a 7vyear re-build o full frition...but ONL if Bedardxsnaosvputvofvhiscgoal scoribgvfuility..if not we have to find a prospectvwho can score lots of goals in thevtop 2 lines to replace what we thought we had solved with Bedard.


Bottom line atvkeadtc4 tpb5vmorexseadobs before we see re-build fully completed.

Thisvos realistic.


Itvwoukdvhavecaccekeratedvif Bedardcprogresedxas achoalbscoreeand not regressed this season(actualky goes back to ladtc14cGPblast srason) so ax35 game regression periodcfprvhis slump (onlyv4 goals).

You cannotvsyaycin top 2blinesvorvevenninNHL longbow thatis how futile youvarevi a top six forward rile.


Hopefully Brdatdcgets back to scoribg goals as expecyed..if not he may not be on our fiture Cup contending team.

Is it possible Hawks build a contender with by having 3,not 2 scoring lines with almost equal offense ?

Maybe..if all top 3b lines or even all 4 ines chip in goal scoring from all 3 players on each line then a team of slightly better than average forwards could combine into a solid offrbsive threat team..

Line 1 60 goals (3x20 )
Line 2 60 goals (3x20)
Line 3 60 goals (3x20)
Line 4 30-36goals (3x10 -12 )
D-corps 30-35 goals

That would be a score by committee alk hands generate to get enough offense type team and that could replace need for a big scorkbg first and second line featuring 3 or 4 big scoring sets carry on most of the offense witb3rdxamd 5th lines in just checking roles.

But the reality is most contenders have just 3 or 4 top goal scorong threats and may be1 dman who gets 15goals or more while rest of the D gets less than double digits in goals scored.

So seems to me Hawks need 3 to 4 more dtaftsxto fond more star elite players for featured roles plus 1 orc2vpkayers from tradevir free agency who can supply mosfibgbiffebse solutions.

Tgevootionnofca by Comitte scoringvis a greaterv ongshot but if it does conecthat way then maybe then Bedard will not bebo that team if he cannot score his by Conitte share letcaline return to ekitecstar scoring status.
 

StreetHawk

Registered User
Sep 30, 2017
29,243
11,341
With free agents Chicago went hard after Guentzal and he opted for TB. Probably more of the same if that is the type of ufa you are targeting. Someone with options will go elsewhere until Chicago has shown it will turn the corner unless you grossly overpay for the player. Guys don’t want 2 or more years of losing when they get to pick their spot.
 

HawksDub89

Registered User
Apr 17, 2019
1,757
1,925
Step 1: 1st line of Bedard - Dickenson - Teravainen and leave it that way the rest of the season regardless if they struggle.
Step 2: Leave the kids in Rockford until the Trade Deadline and trade whoever you can, get whatever picks you can get. (Hall, Muphy, Martinez, Donato)
Step 3: Call up the deserving kids to fill the empty roster spots to finish the season, and play them a lot of mins regardless if they struggle or not.

Off-season: Fire the coach and all assistants. Stay the course, don't make stupid signings like high priced UFAs, fill some holes with some depth players looking to rebound from down years and have another good draft.

Yeah I was with every bit of this until the last part of the off-season.

At some point there needs to be some momentum in the standings. A losing culture is a real thing. If there’s an A level forward available via free agency you absolutely inquire. Trade too.

Three years of dog shit losing ass hockey isn’t good.
 

HawksDub89

Registered User
Apr 17, 2019
1,757
1,925
With free agents Chicago went hard after Guentzal and he opted for TB. Probably more of the same if that is the type of ufa you are targeting. Someone with options will go elsewhere until Chicago has shown it will turn the corner unless you grossly overpay for the player. Guys don’t want 2 or more years of losing when they get to pick their spot.

You’re not wrong, but this is a great market and players can sense when teams are close.

If you can pitch one of these big FAs the future of Bedard, Nazar, Martone (as an example) Levshunov, Vlasic is soon than you never know. If/when some of these kids pan out things will trend upward quickly.

This is Chicago, not Ottawa.

But I do get your point about losing.
 

StreetHawk

Registered User
Sep 30, 2017
29,243
11,341
You’re not wrong, but this is a great market and players can sense when teams are close.

If you can pitch one of these big FAs the future of Bedard, Nazar, Martone (as an example) Levshunov, Vlasic is soon than you never know. If/when some of these kids pan out things will trend upward quickly.

This is Chicago, not Ottawa.

But I do get your point about losing.
If you are holding the 11OA pick after an 82 point season then you’ve shown you are getting close, around 10-12 points out of a WC spot. But holding a bottom 3 with following 62 point season based on current point pace of 0.381, then you’re 30 points out.

Chicago has a destination edge over Det, Buffalo, Columbus in that Great Lakes region. Minn seems to have guys who want to come back to their home state more than Michigan kids. But, still need to show you’re turning the corner to bring guys in.
Those other kids need to show something before most guys would consider signing.

It’s the same as the any rebuilding club. Do you make a trade to bring in more established players first before enough of the kids show well in the nhl or do you wait u til they show you. Free agents likely want to see it first before committing.
 

Hawkaholic

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
32,355
11,995
London, Ont.
Yeah I was with every bit of this until the last part of the off-season.

At some point there needs to be some momentum in the standings. A losing culture is a real thing. If there’s an A level forward available via free agency you absolutely inquire. Trade too.

Three years of dog shit losing ass hockey isn’t good.
Ya that point just isn't now. I'm ok with making trades, just not over paying UFAs near the end of their prime to try and get marginally better. 3 years of losing is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
 

MHO

Registered User
Sep 27, 2023
175
182
I'm more ok with overpaying for free agents than I was in the past because the salary cap keeps going up every year. When it comes to getting free agents, it should be a good sign that Teravainen and Bertuzzi came here at their market value. This was before they both decided to suck so far. Chicago, despite being bad, is a great city in a large market for endorsements without all the press attention like New York, Boston, or Toronto and that matters.

Now it would definitely help if they were playing better. Keep this in mind as they play against both Colorado and Winnipeg in April after the trade deadline. So at that point, the roster should resemble the future more than it does now and Rantanen and Ehlers will have a good look at what the team looks like going into next year despite the fact that they'll be near the bottom of the standings.
 

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