Confirmed Buy-Out [CHI] Blackhawks buyout Brett Connolly and Henrik Borgstrom

[Brent Burns]

Maximizing their chances at Bedard, like so many others

 

[The Red Line]

Chicago buys out two forwards who combined for 8 points last season. With one of them spending nearly 75% of the season buried in the AHL. And folks freak out.

No one is freaking out in this thread at all, relax.

People are pointing out that Chicago is making yet another negative value move, and the aggregate of all of these negative value moves over the past week or so is worthy of discussion and very much open to criticism.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

This is a real-life version of the movie Major League except it's hockey vs. baseball.

Damn right it is.

They have a big blow up picture of Rocky Wirtz in the corner and after every win they pull off an article of clothing down to his adult diapers.

I don’t see nooooo winning steaks, just sayin

 

[Teemu]

People are pointing out that Chicago is making yet another negative value move

Dropping two sub-repalcement players isn't a negative value move

 

[Sticktape]

Love to see teams making moves no matter what they are.

 

[The Red Line]

Dropping two sub-repalcement players isn't a negative value move

Buying them out and paying penalties on their contracts for two years is the definition of negative value...

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Do any of these buyouts come with punitive damages and NDAs?

 

[inthewings]

Incompetent would be holding onto these waste of roster spots

I get the feeling that many, many worse players will suit up for Chicago this season.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Buying them out and paying penalties on their contracts for two years is the definition of negative value...

Not when your rebuilding and wont be spending to the cap

Buyout hits are actually value in that scenario as it will ultimately save more $ for Hawks overall

 

[Viqsi]

They still have Kane, Toews, Johnson, Kurashev up front and Jones, Murphy, Stillman, McCabe on the back end. They could and probably will sell some of those at the deadline, but they aren't bereft of vets yet. Borgstrom wasn't going to be the difference maker, and Dach's confidence likely would have been crushed by the upcoming season So the only vet they got rid of who could have been part of the solution is Debrincat. And they may even add a few vets in free agency who better fit their new team profile.

Not sure this is quite as big a tear down as you think.

I don't think TyJo is going to hold up under that pressure and given all that's gone on I'm not yet convinced they keep Kurashev. And even if I'm wrong on both that's not enough forwards.

The blueline is "fine" (by these standards) but admittedly I can't remember who they'd currently be developing there in the first place off the top of my head. (EDIT: OMFG I'm an idiot, of course they just drafted Korchinski and Rinzel.)

I'm just looking at this roster and shaking my head, thinking "Reichel and Nazar are going to be absolutely destroyed as prospects and that's not just a damned shame, it ought to be a crime." (Then again, given the precedents set with Dach and Boqvist, this was perhaps inevitable...)

 

[ClydeLee]

I swear to G-d, everybody makes this particular strawman mistake...

Yes, having those top end stars greatly increases the chances of winning. BUT if you rip everything up like the Blackhawks are doing in an attempt to gamble for one, then even if you do get the guy (at best a weighted coin flip, and it is not weighted in your favor) the odds of him actually being able to lead the scrambled, broken, demoralized ash heap that constitutes the rest of the team that's left over are pretty much nonexistent. By tearing your team to shreds like this, you destroy any hope of being able to develop the supporting cast and you end up with folks that have all the talent in the world but zero motivation or confidence. We've seen it so many times before.

The goal isn't for 1 guy to do it all... It's still gonna be about being in a long rebuild for 3 years or so after that.

 

[Viqsi]

The goal isn't for 1 guy to do it all... It's still gonna be about being in a long rebuild for 3 years or so after that.

...Obviously, but the rest of the guys aren't going to be able to develop well if they're expected to immediately take on heavy NHL minutes. That's the problem.

 

[threeVo]

Could this rival the three headed monster that was the 2014-2015 Sabres, Oilers, and Coyotes rosters?

 

[joestevens29]

Maximizing their chances at Bedard, like so many others

Seems like if these guys are that bad they should just keep them all.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Who is gonna play hockey for Chicago at this point?

They will play the Zamboni guy in the net, it will guarantee them at least a couple of wins against the Leafs.

 

[mouser]

No one is freaking out in this thread at all, relax.

People are pointing out that Chicago is making yet another negative value move, and the aggregate of all of these negative value moves over the past week or so is worthy of discussion and very much open to criticism.

Buying out players who already had negative value is not necessarily a negative value move.

The buyout cap space doesn't matter since Chicago is rebuilding. Chicago saves some payroll on players they don't want and opens up roster slots for other players.

Now, buying out Johnson would be a negative value move, as his buyout term would extend into the years Chicago hopes to be competitive.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Maybe they're preparing to take every teams cap dumps.

Nemeth going to be too pair in Chicago next season

 

[Lays]

No way Toews/Kane aren’t traded soon. No way

 

[sheriff bart]

Gotta feel bad for Chicago STH's

 

[VaporTrail]

Does Chicago have a mascot ? He may be on the chopping block next ?

 

[crashthenet]

Whatever on Borgstrom although there is almost no one to replace him so why not just carry him for the year. Maybe he leaves on his own. Connolly was an actual NHL player albeit over-payed for who he is. Don't see many of those on the roster. Any return to form he could yield something in return later in the season. I know collecting assets isn't a priority however.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

No way Toews/Kane aren’t traded soon. No way

If they ask out the Hawks can move Kane most likely

Toews is more difficult because of his decline + salary even at retention. He is most likely TDL when he will be more affordable to move to contender to provide depth at LW or C

I am hoping Connor Murphy is traded soon but he has partial NTC as well as Jake McCabe but his struggles in first half of last year probably make him less appealing to teams at moment. He also has a limited NTC but it's a no Canada list it appears (7 team list = 7 teams in Canada) so that isn't much of an issue

Plus, Hawks probably want at least one of them around with Jones to be vet with kids

Whatever on Borgstrom although there is almost no one to replace him so why not just carry him for the year. Maybe he leaves on his own. Connolly was an actual NHL player albeit over-payed for who he is. Don't see many of those on the roster. Any return to form he could yield something in return later in the season. I know collecting assets isn't a priority however.

If someone has a pulse and can skate that is instant replacement for the bum

Whatever on Borgstrom although there is almost no one to replace him so why not just carry him for the year. Maybe he leaves on his own. Connolly was an actual NHL player albeit over-payed for who he is. Don't see many of those on the roster. Any return to form he could yield something in return later in the season. I know collecting assets isn't a priority however.

If Connolly was NHL player he wouldn't have been cap dump from Florida and playing in Rockford

He isn't good enough for NHL at this point

 

[TLEH]

Colorado used to suck... Tampa Bay used to suck..

You win by sucking. Its a proven thing. Winning in the NHL is hard and there is a lot of luck involved. Just because EDM hasn't supported McDavid and Draisaitl to the best of their abilities doesn't mean that their team isn't better after sucking. They played unreal this playoffs and just ran into a better team.

Its about sucking, and sucking at the right time. If you develop the prospects correctly, if you add external pieces to your team that insulate the youth, all those things matter too, and you have to do those right, but at the end of the day you win with superstar pieces and the best chance to get superstar pieces is in the top 5 so... I welcome it.

CBJ is doing a great job at building a team. They've drafted well, they have two GMs on the Payroll (Stan Bowman is the second) and they look like they are on the up and up. I think repeating what they have done is a lot harder than just being awful on purpose.

 

[Cypher]

Why even buyout Borgstrom?

It would have been a 1 million caphit this year, then RFA. You bury him, so only have $75,000 against this cap this year, than don't qualify him next year.

Instead, with the buyout he counts as $83,334 against the cap this year, and $183,334 next year.

Like what is Chicago thinkin? I get there's actual dollars paid out involved, but your Chicago, you have money.

 

[Sparty]

I feel like there's a game of chicken going on between the front office and Patrick Kane.

"We're going to trade you"
"No I have an NMC"
Chicago makes trade
"We're going to trade you"
"No I have an NMC"
Chicago waives roster players
"We're going to trade you"
"No I have an NMC"

How many crap moves do they have to make until Kane waives his NMC?