Blackhawks offseason summer 2024

[Derwood]

Oilers now have four players at $9.5M AAV or higher. How the hell does that work under the current cap? How do you field the rest of the team?

[jersey cubs fan]

3 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Oilers now have four players at $9.5M AAV or higher. How the hell does that work under the current cap? How do you field the rest of the team?

That’s Stan’s problem to figure out 

[Derwood]

I cheer for a team that is half rookies every year and they don't have enough money to sign more than one star at a time. I can't math how teams carry 4 or 5

[WrigleyField 22]

2 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

That’s Stan’s problem to figure out 

I've seen this one before 

[jersey cubs fan]

Artyom Levshunov won’t be using the upcoming prospect showcase as a springboard into the Blackhawks’ NHLtraining camp as other top rookies have in the past.

The Blackhawks announced Wednesday that Levshunov will miss the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase this weekend after suffering a recent right foot injury. The injury occurred when Levshunov was struck in the foot by a puck in a recent training session. Levshunov’s return timetable was not announced

[jersey cubs fan]

Lots of roster predictions going out this week as camp gets set to begin following the various prospect showcases last week. The first preseason game is a week away in Detroit. 
 

And today they announce Nick Foligno as the captain. He’s here for two more seasons at an inflated rate as reward for babysitting last season. He’s also predicted by most to be a 4th line guy. Not sure how many teams have 4th line captains, but it can’t be many contenders. 

[Derwood]

2 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Lots of roster predictions going out this week as camp gets set to begin following the various prospect showcases last week. The first preseason game is a week away in Detroit. 
 

And today they announce Nick Foligno as the captain. He’s here for two more seasons at an inflated rate as reward for babysitting last season. He’s also predicted by most to be a 4th line guy. Not sure how many teams have 4th line captains, but it can’t be many contenders. 

For what it's worth, I was very happy with Foligno when he was captain of Columbus. He will ALWAYS stand up for his players and is a tremendous leader.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Lots of roster predictions going out this week as camp gets set to begin following the various prospect showcases last week. The first preseason game is a week away in Detroit. 
 

And today they announce Nick Foligno as the captain. He’s here for two more seasons at an inflated rate as reward for babysitting last season. He’s also predicted by most to be a 4th line guy. Not sure how many teams have 4th line captains, but it can’t be many contenders. 

Foligno has pretty much been the acting captain since he arrived in Chicago. He's a tremendous dude to have around the kids. Whatever impact he has, especially on Bedard, will only be positive and help him when he eventually is awarded the "C". And the Hawks have the cap space anyway. 

Marty Lapointe played the same role pre-Toews. Seabrook and Keith spent a lot of time as Lapointe's teammates before Toews came in and took over the leadership role. Don't understate the importance of those guys around young players.

Edited September 18, 2024 by Tank

[jersey cubs fan]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

Don't understate the importance of those guys around young players.

I don’t mean to understate the importance of solid veterans around the kids, it’s more about pointing out the awkwardness of this roster construction. They wanted to stop losing on purpose so they got a bunch of vets and overpaid several just because they can. Foligno makes sense as the captain on this roster but the biggest reason is he won’t be around long. Seth Jones also made sense but because he’s going to be here a long time, they really couldn’t give it to him. 
 

Most roster predictions I’ve seen have Foligno as the 4th line wing, which has to be somewhat unique.  Captains on good teams are generally top 6 guys at least. It’s just another reminder that this isn’t a competitive roster right now and despite splurging in the offseason, the goal is more about being respectable losers rather than exciting winners. 

[Tank]

5 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

I don’t mean to understate the importance of solid veterans around the kids, it’s more about pointing out the awkwardness of this roster construction. They wanted to stop losing on purpose so they got a bunch of vets and overpaid several just because they can. Foligno makes sense as the captain on this roster but the biggest reason is he won’t be around long. Seth Jones also made sense but because he’s going to be here a long time, they really couldn’t give it to him. 
 

Most roster predictions I’ve seen have Foligno as the 4th line wing, which has to be somewhat unique.  Captains on good teams are generally top 6 guys at least. It’s just another reminder that this isn’t a competitive roster right now and despite splurging in the offseason, the goal is more about being respectable losers rather than exciting winners. 

This team reminds me a lot of the 2005-07 Hawks where they are in that weird transition period between full on rebuild and young, budding contender. The goal of this season isn't so much to take a big step as it is to change the culture to one of optimism for 2025-26. Maroon, Martinez, Foligno are the Lapointe, Aucion, Cullimore for this team. Guys brought in to inject the winner's mentality and provide leadership to a young group of kids. I have a feeling we will look back on this season as a really important step forward. The Hawks will finish below .500, but they're gonna be competitive every night.