2017-2018 Blackhawks

[kujay]

Lost that game in the 1st.

 

And yeah I like the Duclair move a lot.

[biittner77]

Lost that game in the 1st.

 

And yeah I like the Duclair move a lot.

 

This potentially could create competition with Hinostroza for that first line left wing spot. It's also interesting that they took Clendening back in the trade. Arizona did that so they could have another roster spot available for future trades of whomever they still have to dump at the deadline. Clendening is nothing more than an AHL depth player but that might make it easier to trade Gustafson or perhaps Kempney. Not that they get much for either of those guys individually but there's always a market for reasonable defensemen and they could be part of a larger trade to get someone more interesting.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Damn. I knew it's been bad but I didn't expect to check the standings and see them in last place.

[UMFan83]

Damn. I knew it's been bad but I didn't expect to check the standings and see them in last place.

 

Slightly deceiving. If they were in the pacific there would be 4 teams behind them in the standings. If they were in the east with that point totals they’d be in the playoffs. But yeah not a great season at all. 3 points out of a playoff spot and one of the teams ahead of them has 3 games in hand.

 

All that said, go on one 8-1-1 run or something like that and they are probably on solid footing. Not saying it will for sure happen or anything but who knows. The real concern is Crawford. No one knows anything about why he’s on IR and recent comments from players suggest it might not be an injury keeping him out.

[Brian707]

Looks like vertigo and he might miss rest of season

 

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/blackhawks-fear-corey-crawford-could-be-out-for-the-season-sources/?utm_campaign=Chicago+Sun-Times&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1516156453

[kujay]

Well, vertigo is no joke, I can attest.

 

I don't envy Stan right now. But if he goes LTIR can't they get his money off the cap for the rest of the year like they did with Kane a few years ago?

[biittner77]

Well, vertigo is no joke, I can attest.

 

I don't envy Stan right now. But if he goes LTIR can't they get his money off the cap for the rest of the year like they did with Kane a few years ago?

 

Yes but the complication happens next season when they have to get back under the cap. The other part is that without Crawford, who can they get that will actually be enough to get them into the playoffs? Or, should they rebuild on the fly and angle for that lottery pick. It's tough for the Hawks to break up the core for a variety of reasons but there's an old saying about trading a guy a year too early vs. too late.

 

Trading Seabrook has been discussed. What about Keith? He's still the Hawks best defenseman and a future HOF but if they are thinking about an overhaul he'd likely garner a lot of interest. I doubt they'd actually do it but they don't have a lot of guys that they could trade without it actually hurting.

[Brian707]

I hear the Cap could go up 7 million for 18-19

 

https://www.si.com/nhl/2017/12/09/nhl-salary-cap-2018-19-season

[kujay]

Well, vertigo is no joke, I can attest.

 

I don't envy Stan right now. But if he goes LTIR can't they get his money off the cap for the rest of the year like they did with Kane a few years ago?

 

Yes but the complication happens next season when they have to get back under the cap. The other part is that without Crawford, who can they get that will actually be enough to get them into the playoffs? Or, should they rebuild on the fly and angle for that lottery pick. It's tough for the Hawks to break up the core for a variety of reasons but there's an old saying about trading a guy a year too early vs. too late.

 

Trading Seabrook has been discussed. What about Keith? He's still the Hawks best defenseman and a future HOF but if they are thinking about an overhaul he'd likely garner a lot of interest. I doubt they'd actually do it but they don't have a lot of guys that they could trade without it actually hurting.

 

I don't think it's worth angling for a high draft pick. They wouldn't get that high, and picking 10th most years isn't much different than picking 20th.

 

But yeah the back end seems to be where they could get decent value in return without breaking up the team completely. Problem is the cost of a team taking on a Seabrook or Keith contract would probably limit how much we would get back.

 

I don't like these bye weeks. Too long without hockey.

[biittner77]

Well, vertigo is no joke, I can attest.

 

I don't envy Stan right now. But if he goes LTIR can't they get his money off the cap for the rest of the year like they did with Kane a few years ago?

 

Yes but the complication happens next season when they have to get back under the cap. The other part is that without Crawford, who can they get that will actually be enough to get them into the playoffs? Or, should they rebuild on the fly and angle for that lottery pick. It's tough for the Hawks to break up the core for a variety of reasons but there's an old saying about trading a guy a year too early vs. too late.

 

Trading Seabrook has been discussed. What about Keith? He's still the Hawks best defenseman and a future HOF but if they are thinking about an overhaul he'd likely garner a lot of interest. I doubt they'd actually do it but they don't have a lot of guys that they could trade without it actually hurting.

 

I don't think it's worth angling for a high draft pick. They wouldn't get that high, and picking 10th most years isn't much different than picking 20th.

 

But yeah the back end seems to be where they could get decent value in return without breaking up the team completely. Problem is the cost of a team taking on a Seabrook or Keith contract would probably limit how much we would get back.

 

I don't like these bye weeks. Too long without hockey.

 

The cap going up makes it a lot easier to move Seabrook. Old timey GMs probably love Seabrook and still value him, especially at half his current salary.

 

The Hawks don't really have to angle for a lottery pick, they just have to miss the playoffs. Maybe they could get the guy that does the NBA lottery to run the NHL lottery. That way the Hawks could "win fair and square without any possibility of it being fixed and their winning had nothing to do with them being a major market and the league wanting to give them every chance to be good since it will help the league".

[UMFan83]

Well the bye week didn’t do much

[Brian707]

Well the bye week didn’t do much

 

 

I went to that horsefeathering game. Playoffs seem like a long shot at best

 

7-3 to the Islanders lol. The UC by the 3rd period reminded me of going to games around 2003

[UMFan83]

Ok I’m officially throwing in the towel on the Blackhawks making the playoffs. They aren’t good but at least have a couple of decent young pieces.

[17 Seconds]

being on the wrong end of a dynastic run sucks

[Regular Show]

being on the wrong end of a dynastic run sucks

 

I blame the hard cap in hockey in maybe prematurely ending this Blackhawks dynasty... It also sucks that the Blackhawks play in the hardest division in the NHL. This stupid playoff format also hurts them with no easy matchup in the first round.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but losing M. Hossa also really hurt.

[Brian707]

being on the wrong end of a dynastic run sucks

 

I think they have one more cup in them. They kinda ate where the Penguins were 3 or 4 years ago

[squally1313]

being on the wrong end of a dynastic run sucks

 

I think they have one more cup in them. They kinda ate where the Penguins were 3 or 4 years ago

 

They'll need the cap to go up a decent amount. It feels like our cap situation seriously limited what we could do this year, and we really aren't dropping much money off the team going into next year. I know it's supposed to, but I really think next year, maybe the year after is all you could really hope for. Seabrook is pretty much unplayable now, much less the next six years of his contract. Toews has shown signs of decline for a couple years now While Keith and Kane are still playing at a very high level, who knows how long that will last (Keith will be 35 this summer).

[minnesotacubsfan]

Toews has been a huge disappointment the last few years

[biittner77]

Seabrook's deal was bad when he signed it but, at the time they didn't really have much of a choice. I still think they could trade him for some salary relief but it will still suck paying a once great player a lot of money to go away. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect the kids to develop quickly enough to not miss a beat but there's plenty of reasons for optimism past this season. DeBrincat is good. Forsling made progress. Oesterle was a nice surprise. Kampf will be a pretty serviceable guy and Schmaltz has star potential.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

being on the wrong end of a dynastic run sucks

 

It's been a nine-year run with 3 Stanley Cups. If this is the end of it, I'm pretty OK with how it turned out.

[philosophizer75]

I'm biased, but I think that Crosby-Malkin-Letang is a better core to build around than Toews-Kane-Keith/Seabrook.

 

I've never been very high on Toews though. I think it would take an unbelievable overhaul to get another Cup in this window for the Hawks.

[squally1313]

Seabrook's deal was bad when he signed it but, at the time they didn't really have much of a choice. I still think they could trade him for some salary relief but it will still suck paying a once great player a lot of money to go away. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect the kids to develop quickly enough to not miss a beat but there's plenty of reasons for optimism past this season. DeBrincat is good. Forsling made progress. Oesterle was a nice surprise. Kampf will be a pretty serviceable guy and Schmaltz has star potential.

 

Haha, guessing you read the same Faxes From Uncle Dale that I did. Was going to post it, but it's behind a soft paywall.

 

The cap staying relatively flat the last few years hurt a lot. They just weren't anticipating the Kane/Toews deals to be taking up such a large percentage.

 

Seabrook deal, I get it. He was a hero in 2015, and I don't know what the market was back then, but I'm guessing it was around what we signed him for. Bickell deal was obviously terrible, but as good as he is, Teuvo isn't bringing this team to the top of the standings. Same thing with giving up Johns with Sharp. Danault would be a nice piece, but you can't fault them too much for making a deadline trade in 2016 after how well it worked in 2015 (though i guess you could blame the disconnect between Q and Stan on who they were acquiring, as neither player contributed much of anything).

 

At the end of the day what you're seeing is a dynasty ten years in. The current team is nowhere near a top team, but with Crawford I'd say they would have comfortably been a playoff team (Crawford: 16-9-2, Others: 8-12-6). Over an 82 game grind, it's tough to rely on Keith/Seabrook/Toews. In the playoffs, I wouldn't have counted them out.

 

At this point, it's not worth rushing Crawford back for a, best case scenario, sprint to a 7 or 8 seed. Hope the kids keep developing...DeBrincat/Toews/Duclair has looked good, Saad/Schmaltz/Kane can be really good, figure out a Kruger-esque line around Kampf, and then find more scoring to fill out that last line. Hopefully whatever Crawford is dealing with, it clears up by the start of next season, and give it one more good run.

[squally1313]

I'm biased, but I think that Crosby-Malkin-Letang is a better core to build around than Toews-Kane-Keith/Seabrook.

 

I've never been very high on Toews though. I think it would take an unbelievable overhaul to get another Cup in this window for the Hawks.

 

Crosby>>Toews

Malkin>=Kane

Keith>Letang>Seabrook (Keith/Seabrook>>>>Letang).

 

I get the argument, especially at this point, but ultimately both teams have 3 Cups over their run. As bad as our season has been this year, we're all of 7 points behind the Penguins, and that's with Crawford being hurt and us playing in a much tougher division. We'll see if either team can add one more Cup, but I don't think the Hawks are as far away as you think for the next year or two.

[philosophizer75]

Yeah the pens have been a pretty inconsistent team this season too. They seem to have figured some things out since the all-star break though. Been scoring a lot of goals and winning more. They were like 5th or 6th in the Metropolitan a week or two ago and now they're 2nd.

 

Still really wanna see a Penguins-Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final. To settle once and for all which team is the true dynasty of the decade.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Yeah the pens have been a pretty inconsistent team this season too. They seem to have figured some things out since the all-star break though. Been scoring a lot of goals and winning more. They were like 5th or 6th in the Metropolitan a week or two ago and now they're 2nd.

 

Still really wanna see a Penguins-Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final. To settle once and for all which team is the true dynasty of the decade.

 

I think if that's a question, the real answer is "neither."