Re: NHL (Blackhawks included) offseason thread

[NewUserName]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2010/07/skille_hawks_agree_to_one-year.html

 

Hawks sign Skille for $600,000. The article also mentions that the Hawks are close with Bickell.

 

Very good sign.

 

well, that's gotta all but seal it that the hawks will fit under the cap and probably be able to bring back niemi.

 

unless someone signs him to a nice offer sheet.

 

i'd still be shocked if we could end up getting niemi at around 2 mil

 

He filed for arbitration, he can no longer be signed to an offer sheet.

[sherwood921]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2010/07/skille_hawks_agree_to_one-year.html

 

Hawks sign Skille for $600,000. The article also mentions that the Hawks are close with Bickell.

 

Very good sign.

 

well, that's gotta all but seal it that the hawks will fit under the cap and probably be able to bring back niemi.

 

unless someone signs him to a nice offer sheet.

 

i'd still be shocked if we could end up getting niemi at around 2 mil

 

Niemi can't sign an offer sheet anymore. At this point there are 3 options:

• 
  1) They come to an agreement before arbitration
  2) The Hawks accept the arbitrators decision and sign Niemi to a 1 year deal at that amount
  3) The Hawks reject the decision and Niemi is a UFA

[17 Seconds]

yup, im still dumb about hockey free agency

[kujay]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2010/07/skille_hawks_agree_to_one-year.html

 

Hawks sign Skille for $600,000. The article also mentions that the Hawks are close with Bickell.

 

Very good sign.

 

well, that's gotta all but seal it that the hawks will fit under the cap and probably be able to bring back niemi.

 

unless someone signs him to a nice offer sheet.

 

i'd still be shocked if we could end up getting niemi at around 2 mil

 

I don't think the arbitrator is going to triple his salary. He was making $827K, I think. I think $2M is about right, honestly.

[Magnetic Curses]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2010/07/skille_hawks_agree_to_one-year.html

 

Hawks sign Skille for $600,000. The article also mentions that the Hawks are close with Bickell.

 

Very good sign.

 

well, that's gotta all but seal it that the hawks will fit under the cap and probably be able to bring back niemi.

 

unless someone signs him to a nice offer sheet.

 

i'd still be shocked if we could end up getting niemi at around 2 mil

 

I don't think the arbitrator is going to triple his salary. He was making $827K, I think. I think $2M is about right, honestly.

 

the hawks could probably go to 2.2 with. i'd still like to get rid of reasoner and bring up beach, as much of a douche as he is. however, reasoner replaces madden as the 4th center. this is with john scott as the 7th defenseman/13th forward and a cullimore/vishnievskiy 3rd pairing.

 

essentially, you got:

 

kane/toews/brouwer

hossa/sharp/stalberg

kopecky/bolland/bickell

makarov/reasoner/skille

scott

 

as your lines. not much of a drop-off, really. we had to rebuild our 4th line and shuffle in stalberg and bickell. that's a solid playoff team with our two top pairings returning and probably our goalie.

[Wilson A2000]

There isn't anything like Bird rules in the NHL is there?

[brinoch]

This roster is under the cap.

 

At this point, everything really depends on the cost for Niemi or a free agent stopgap like Turco. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks sign Niemi for two years (or more) with cheap early years to reduce the cap hit. I could also see them doing a one-year $1.75M-$2.25M contract.

 

I still think one of Reasoner or Kopecky has to go. Cullimore is a corpse. If Sopel made you worried and Boynton scared you, then Cullimore will stop your heart virtually immediately. From what I've heard, they are trying to sign Boynton and Hendry to give Vishnievsky another year to season. So this could still go down a bit (Boynton presumably would be cheaper than Vishnievskiy). From all accounts, Vish sounds like he is going to be pretty good, and it might be his time, but money is tight and he's still very young. I could see more seasoning.

 

I also wonder if there might not be a chance to resign Madden on the cheap to free up Sharp to move back to wing. He hasn't had any movement that I know of, and he's getting up there in years. I could see him coming back since the market isn't great for him. If he doesn't, though, I think you'll see Toews, Sharp, Bolland, and Dowell as the centers. Kruger is a possibility, too, which would be at the expense of a guy like Makarov. That would plus up the roster below by less than $200k and move Sharp back to wing. This allows the Hawks to interchange between the two throughout the season if need be. Beach is too expensive (and frankly he needs to grow up). They have more flexibility on how the younger guys fit in than we realize.

 

Jonathan Toews — $6,300,000

Patrick Kane — $6,300,000

Marian Hossa — $5,275,000

Patrick Sharp — $3,900,000

Dave Bolland — $3,375,000

Tomas Kopecky — $1,200,000

Troy Brouwer — $1,025,000

Viktor Stalberg ($65,000) $850,000

* Bryan Bickell — $600,000

* Jack Skille — $600,000

Igor Makarov — $552,500

Jake Dowell — $525,000

DEFENSEMEN

Brian Campbell — $7,142,875

Duncan Keith — $5,538,462

Brent Seabrook — $3,500,000

Niklas Hjalmarsson — $3,500,000

Ivan Vishnevskiy — $821,667

* Jordan Hendry — $625,000

John Scott — $512,500

GOALTENDERS

* Antti Niemi — $2,000,000

Corey Crawford — $800,000

BUYOUTS

NONE

LOST VIA REENTRY WAIVERS

NONE

CARRY-OVER BONUS PENALTY

$4,157,753

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

ROSTER SIZE 21

SALARY CAP $59,400,000

PAYROLL $59,100,756

BONUSES $65,000

CAP SPACE $364,244

[brinoch]

There isn't anything like Bird rules in the NHL is there?

 

Alas, no. The cap ceiling is a hard cap. You can't even violate it and pay a luxury tax (I think the Hawks would have done that to keep the team together). Think about that 180 turn from Bill Wirtz to Rocky Wirtz.

[Wilson A2000]

There isn't anything like Bird rules in the NHL is there?

 

Alas, no. The cap ceiling is a hard cap. You can't even violate it and pay a luxury tax (I think the Hawks would have done that to keep the team together). Think about that 180 turn from Bill Wirtz to Rocky Wirtz.

 

I don't know why they went from no cap to a hard cap all at once. Something like Bird rules would have been nice, at least for the Blackhawks.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Got shipping confirmation for my DVD today from nhl.com. Woot.

[Magnetic Curses]

This roster is under the cap.

 

At this point, everything really depends on the cost for Niemi or a free agent stopgap like Turco. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks sign Niemi for two years (or more) with cheap early years to reduce the cap hit. I could also see them doing a one-year $1.75M-$2.25M contract.

 

I still think one of Reasoner or Kopecky has to go. Cullimore is a corpse. If Sopel made you worried and Boynton scared you, then Cullimore will stop your heart virtually immediately. From what I've heard, they are trying to sign Boynton and Hendry to give Vishnievsky another year to season. So this could still go down a bit (Boynton presumably would be cheaper than Vishnievskiy). From all accounts, Vish sounds like he is going to be pretty good, and it might be his time, but money is tight and he's still very young. I could see more seasoning.

 

I also wonder if there might not be a chance to resign Madden on the cheap to free up Sharp to move back to wing. He hasn't had any movement that I know of, and he's getting up there in years. I could see him coming back since the market isn't great for him. If he doesn't, though, I think you'll see Toews, Sharp, Bolland, and Dowell as the centers. Kruger is a possibility, too, which would be at the expense of a guy like Makarov. That would plus up the roster below by less than $200k and move Sharp back to wing. This allows the Hawks to interchange between the two throughout the season if need be. Beach is too expensive (and frankly he needs to grow up). They have more flexibility on how the younger guys fit in than we realize.

 

Jonathan Toews — $6,300,000

Patrick Kane — $6,300,000

Marian Hossa — $5,275,000

Patrick Sharp — $3,900,000

Dave Bolland — $3,375,000

Tomas Kopecky — $1,200,000

Troy Brouwer — $1,025,000

Viktor Stalberg ($65,000) $850,000

* Bryan Bickell — $600,000

* Jack Skille — $600,000

Igor Makarov — $552,500

Jake Dowell — $525,000

DEFENSEMEN

Brian Campbell — $7,142,875

Duncan Keith — $5,538,462

Brent Seabrook — $3,500,000

Niklas Hjalmarsson — $3,500,000

Ivan Vishnevskiy — $821,667

* Jordan Hendry — $625,000

John Scott — $512,500

GOALTENDERS

* Antti Niemi — $2,000,000

Corey Crawford — $800,000

BUYOUTS

NONE

LOST VIA REENTRY WAIVERS

NONE

CARRY-OVER BONUS PENALTY

$4,157,753

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

ROSTER SIZE 21

SALARY CAP $59,400,000

PAYROLL $59,100,756

BONUSES $65,000

CAP SPACE $364,244

 

i think toivonen is more realistic than crawford as his hit is 250,000 less and every penny is important. this way they can keep reasoner or bring up beach.

 

AUTO-GENERATED CAPGEEK.COM LINES

FORWARDS

Jonathan Toews ($6.300m) / Patrick Kane ($6.300m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)

Patrick Sharp ($3.900m) / Dave Bolland ($3.375m) / Tomas Kopecky ($1.200m)

Marty Reasoner ($1.150m) / Troy Brouwer ($1.025m) / Viktor Stalberg ($0.850m)

* Jack Skille ($0.600m) / * Bryan Bickell ($0.550m) / Jake Dowell ($0.525m)

DEFENSEMEN

Brian Campbell ($7.143m) / Duncan Keith ($5.538m)

Brent Seabrook ($3.500m) / Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.500m)

Ivan Vishnevskiy ($0.822m) / * Jordan Hendry ($0.625m)

John Scott ($0.512m)

GOALTENDERS

* Antti Niemi ($2.000m) / Hannu Toivonen ($0.550m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

(these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)

ROSTER: 21; CAP: $59.4m; CARRY-OVER PENALTY: $4.158m

PAYROLL: $59.398m; BONUSES: $0.065m; CAP ROOM: $0.067m

 

that's skille/reasoner/dowell on the 4th line, and i've removed the ill-favored jassen cullimore, whom i understood was brought in to be the 7th d-man. but hendry has more experience so that's all good.

[jersey cubs fan]

There isn't anything like Bird rules in the NHL is there?

 

Alas, no. The cap ceiling is a hard cap. You can't even violate it and pay a luxury tax (I think the Hawks would have done that to keep the team together). Think about that 180 turn from Bill Wirtz to Rocky Wirtz.

 

I don't know why they went from no cap to a hard cap all at once. Something like Bird rules would have been nice, at least for the Blackhawks.

 

The cap helped the Blackhawks leapfrog teams that used to spend at will. They were on their way up, but the parity brought on by the cap likely made it happen faster than it would have.

[kujay]

Got shipping confirmation for my DVD today from nhl.com. Woot.

 

Yes sir! Me too.

[kujay]

essentially, you got:

 

kane/toews/brouwer

hossa/sharp/stalberg

kopecky/bolland/bickell

makarov/reasoner/skille

scott

 

as your lines. not much of a drop-off, really. we had to rebuild our 4th line and shuffle in stalberg and bickell. that's a solid playoff team with our two top pairings returning and probably our goalie.

 

I agree that we have a solid roster as you put it together. The problem, and it's unavoidable, is depth. There ain't none.

 

So if we have a charmed season without injuries, everything will be fine. But if we have a Detroit-like season, this team could miss the playoffs.

[Magnetic Curses]

 

http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af131/ChicagoNativeSon1/Hawks%20Fun/Huet-AHL11.png

 

 

i saw this over on sch and thought it was hilarious.

Edited July 16, 2010 by Stannis

[Soul]

That's cruel. But yeah, it gave me a good chuckle.

 

It loaded slow for me too, so I was wondering "WTF why is Huet on a cover for NHL 11?"

[kujay]

That's awesome.

[UMFan83]

essentially, you got:

 

kane/toews/brouwer

hossa/sharp/stalberg

kopecky/bolland/bickell

makarov/reasoner/skille

scott

 

as your lines. not much of a drop-off, really. we had to rebuild our 4th line and shuffle in stalberg and bickell. that's a solid playoff team with our two top pairings returning and probably our goalie.

 

I agree that we have a solid roster as you put it together. The problem, and it's unavoidable, is depth. There ain't none.

 

So if we have a charmed season without injuries, everything will be fine. But if we have a Detroit-like season, this team could miss the playoffs.

 

Yeah but if most teams had the injuries Detroit had last season, they miss the playoffs. They had a crapload of talent out with injuries. It would be like if Kane (Zetterberg), Hossa (Holmstrom), Sharp (Franzen), Campbell (Kronwall), and Bolland (Cleary) all missed at least 20 games in the season, and at one point several of them at the same time.

 

I'm not worried about the worst case scenario because most teams aren't going to survive that. Plus, I don't know if I'm correct in this line of thinking so correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like we have a lot of unproven talent in both the backend of our roster and in Rockford. The talent isn't necessarily high potential talent, maybe medium potential. So I feel like if some of the guys on the bottom 2 lines fail, we should be able to find a reasonably effective pairing by mixing and matching throughout the season.

 

That said, due to those depth issues, as well as possible championship hangover, I'm not going into the season expecting to be good enough to beat any team on any night like I felt last year. But I think the potential is there, with a little luck on our side, to be a top team in the conference.

[Soul]

If it means reload/develop a little this year, and then make another serious run next year, I'm OK with that.

 

I still think we're a team to watch.

 

Doesn't anyone think Kane/Toews are still not at their peak besides me? I think they'll be even better next year.

[NewUserName]

There isn't anything like Bird rules in the NHL is there?

 

Alas, no. The cap ceiling is a hard cap. You can't even violate it and pay a luxury tax (I think the Hawks would have done that to keep the team together). Think about that 180 turn from Bill Wirtz to Rocky Wirtz.

 

I don't know why they went from no cap to a hard cap all at once. Something like Bird rules would have been nice, at least for the Blackhawks.

 

The cap helped the Blackhawks leapfrog teams that used to spend at will. They were on their way up, but the parity brought on by the cap likely made it happen faster than it would have.

 

Bill Wirtz was one of the owners who pushed real hard to get a hard cap, which was the main reason that the whole season was locked out.

[jersey cubs fan]

Bill Wirtz was one of the owners who pushed real hard to get a hard cap, which was the main reason that the whole season was locked out.

 

Thanks for the news flash.

[Prizefight]

This cracked me up, from Second City Hockey

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/131889/huet-ahl11-2.png

[UMFan83]

This cracked me up, from Second City Hockey

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/131889/huet-ahl11-2.png

 

Look 6-7 posts above yours

[Prizefight]

This cracked me up, from Second City Hockey

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/131889/huet-ahl11-2.png

 

Look 6-7 posts above yours

 

 

Bah spoilers my bad. Just did a quick scroll through for the image. I'll edit my post to something deep and insightful

[Old Style]

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/07/blackhawks-agree-to-terms-with-skille.html

Skille signed a one-year, $600,000 contract