Re: NHL (Blackhawks included) offseason thread

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm still dumb with contracts. So if we matched him, does that mean he's ours? Or can other teams still sign him to offer sheets?

 

 

He signed the offer sheet, at which point the Blackhawks had the right to match, and now that they have, his signature essentially transfers from the San Jose offer to the Blackhawks contract.

[brinoch]

I'm still dumb with contracts. So if we matched him, does that mean he's ours? Or can other teams still sign him to offer sheets?

 

If it's like other sports, the Blackhawks matched so they have to pay him whatever the Sharks offered him and he is still a Blackhawk.

 

He's a Blackhawk.

[kujay]

I'm still dumb with contracts. So if we matched him, does that mean he's ours? Or can other teams still sign him to offer sheets?

 

If it's like other sports, the Blackhawks matched so they have to pay him whatever the Sharks offered him and he is still a Blackhawk.

 

He's a Blackhawk.

 

Especially when Seabrook gets his, that's way too much money to have tied up in your top four defensemen. I don't care how good they are.

 

So far this offseason, the most disappointing thing to me is that Campbell is still on the team.

[Flames24Rulz]

I'm still dumb with contracts. So if we matched him, does that mean he's ours? Or can other teams still sign him to offer sheets?

 

If it's like other sports, the Blackhawks matched so they have to pay him whatever the Sharks offered him and he is still a Blackhawk.

 

He's a Blackhawk.

 

Especially when Seabrook gets his, that's way too much money to have tied up in your top four defensemen. I don't care how good they are.

 

So far this offseason, the most disappointing thing to me is that Campbell is still on the team.

 

Trading Campbell would have solved a few issues. Sure your defensive pairings take a hit, but he actually had value across the league after a solid postseason run. I'm not really sure if his value will ever be higher and plus, we're stuck with that albatross of a contract for years and years.

 

Thank God we matched Hammer, though.

[jersey cubs fan]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

[17 Seconds]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

 

I don't remember any criticism at all

 

Also, Foley was in love with him all season

[Flames24Rulz]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

 

I don't remember any criticism at all

 

Also, Foley was in love with him all season

 

Yeah, I always thought that he was one of our more consistent players all year long.

[brinoch]

I'm still dumb with contracts. So if we matched him, does that mean he's ours? Or can other teams still sign him to offer sheets?

 

If it's like other sports, the Blackhawks matched so they have to pay him whatever the Sharks offered him and he is still a Blackhawk.

 

He's a Blackhawk.

 

Especially when Seabrook gets his, that's way too much money to have tied up in your top four defensemen. I don't care how good they are.

 

So far this offseason, the most disappointing thing to me is that Campbell is still on the team.

 

Only because of Campbell, though. Seabrook will end up with a long-term deal likes Keith's -- figure $4.5M-$5.3M cap hit per year. I'm fine with paying top 4 defensemen $5M each, so long as the 3-4 would be 1-2's on another team. What would be better is to have 3 elite $5M caliber

 

Keith: $5.5M

Seabrook: $5.3M

Hjalmarsson: $3.5M

Campbell: $7.1M

 

$21.4M -- and Campbell is a third of that. I also think that Hjammer's contract is tradeable. I've wondered about the possibility of a Kaberle for Campbell swap or something similar. I don't know if you can do this under CBA, but I also wonder if the Hawks could sign Campbell to an extension that reduces the cap hit by adding cheap years (that's the biggest problem with the contract) a la Hossa.

 

Still and all, the philosophy of building from the back out is a very good one. I'd rather pay defensemen big bucks than goalies.

[brinoch]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

 

He was great this year. Last year, during the regular season, he wasn't great -- just decent. But as the season progressed, he got stronger and stronger and was *really* very impressive during the playoffs. This year, he was simply excellent all season long and did an excellent job in the playoffs (excepting that one game which I've forgotten all about).

[UMFan83]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

 

I don't know, I seem to remember nothing but praise for him for the most part. He's probably almost overrated in the minds of many Hawks fans. I'm almost stunned he got blame, but almost no criticism when his miscues led to two goals scored in one of the SCFs games we lost to Philly. He has a lot of positive credit built up to Hawks fans.

 

But I think his skillset is a must. Since we've taken such a hit to our forwards this summer, along with losing another dman in Sopel, I think we need defensemen that can help initiate offense by getting the puck up the ice, something that hammer does well. In my mind, the difference between him and the average defensemen is much larger than Niemi and the average goalie (which Niemi may or may not be exactly that). Obviously 1 goalie is greatly more important than 1 defensemen but keeping that those top 4 defensemen in tact greatly lessens the job the goalie needs to do.

 

Personally, I think Niemi is gone. In a situation where we have almost no cap space, there are at least a few goalies out there for cheaper and Niemi's value has never been and will probably never be higher, it's hard to justify keeping him if him and his agent play hardball for more money (or if the arbitrator sets his price at more than we can afford)

[SpongeWorthy]

When the Blackhawks were facing an insurmountable 2-1 series lead I remember Hjalmarsson getting a lot of flak.

 

Or was that game 4 that he had those giveaways?

[17 Seconds]

game 4

[Prizefight]

Very happy about matching Hammer. It probably means us losing Niemi which I'm okay with picking between the two. The Hawks and Niemi are going to go to arbitration at the end of July and unfortunately the Halak contract is going to drive the price of Niemi higher than we are going to be able to afford (probably around the 3.5m/y mark)

 

I"m expecting us to ultimately sign Marty Turco to a 1 year 1-2m type deal and go into the season with Turco and Crawford.

[Old Style]

:clapping:

[Exile on Waveland]

Sigh of relief.

[Soul]

I don't remember a ton of criticism, but I also don't remember as much overflowing love for Hammer and I am seeing now.

 

I'm glad we matched; you guys know more about Hockey than I do so I'll defer to your happiness :)

 

See ya Niemi, it was a fun FUN ride.

[kujay]

I don't remember a ton of criticism, but I also don't remember as much overflowing love for Hammer and I am seeing now.

 

I'm glad we matched; you guys know more about Hockey than I do so I'll defer to your happiness :)

 

See ya Niemi, it was a fun FUN ride.

 

Even last year when he was making more mistakes, you could see the solid play coming more and more often. Then this year he turned into a very dependable blueliner. I'm not going to go through it roster by roster, but he HAS to be the best #4 defenseman in the league. And, as someone else noted, Foley has had a boner for him for over a year.

[kujay]

I wish the Hawks could have add Campbell to the Versteeg deal and gotten Kaberle. That would have left enough cash for Niemi.

[Magnetic Curses]

Am I wrong or is all this Hammer love relatively recent? I could have sworn I read a lot of criticism as recently as midway through this season, and definitely last year. I think I liked him more than most early on, but probably not as much as the rest now.

 

he would have been on the top pairing for the sharks.

[Magnetic Curses]

I wish the Hawks could have add Campbell to the Versteeg deal and gotten Kaberle. That would have left enough cash for Niemi.

 

campbell's not just dead weight like huet, he's a very good blue-liner. someone trying to make the floor should have taken him by now.

[Drew Doughty]

I wish the Hawks could have add Campbell to the Versteeg deal and gotten Kaberle. That would have left enough cash for Niemi.

 

campbell's not just dead weight like huet, he's a very good blue-liner. someone trying to make the floor should have taken him by now.

 

i thought the islanders might take him. they need big contracts. if you tacked on a prospect, they would probably go for it later in summer if they still haven't signed anyone.

[brinoch]

I wish the Hawks could have add Campbell to the Versteeg deal and gotten Kaberle. That would have left enough cash for Niemi.

 

campbell's not just dead weight like huet, he's a very good blue-liner. someone trying to make the floor should have taken him by now.

 

i thought the islanders might take him. they need big contracts. if you tacked on a prospect, they would probably go for it later in summer if they still haven't signed anyone.

 

The problem is that Campbell has a limited no movement clause -- I think it's pretty unlikely that he'd accept the Islanders as one of his 8 teams (or waive his no trade).

[NewUserName]

I wish the Hawks could have add Campbell to the Versteeg deal and gotten Kaberle. That would have left enough cash for Niemi.

 

campbell's not just dead weight like huet, he's a very good blue-liner. someone trying to make the floor should have taken him by now.

 

i thought the islanders might take him. they need big contracts. if you tacked on a prospect, they would probably go for it later in summer if they still haven't signed anyone.

 

The problem is that Campbell has a limited no movement clause -- I think it's pretty unlikely that he'd accept the Islanders as one of his 8 teams (or waive his no trade).

 

and his value would have to be replaced

[Magnetic Curses]

and they'll be bad, real bad

[SpongeWorthy]

So what kind of (regular) season can we realistically expect? Bottom half of the West?

 

Should I invest in the NHL package? I want to watch a lot of games next year.