Salary Cap: Goaltending Future

[BobbyJet]

sounds like Darling will be with the Hawks next year... not the Hogs. Wonder if this means Raanta or Crawford is going to be traded after seasons end

Some hard decisions need to be made, but not quite yet:
http://alongtheboards.com/2015/01/blackhawks-cap-crunch-core-player-must-dealt-question/

.... and with the Canadian dollar still sinking, those decisions seem to be getting tougher with each passing week.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Crawford this year 19-11-2 with 2.28 GAA and .920 sv pct this year

32-23 with 2.21 GAA and .920 sv pct for career in playoffs

And people still complain about him ,, I don't get it

Reminds me of when Wing fans thrashed Osgood and how he was easily replaceable. How many cups did Wings win with Legace and Joseph as #1 with those powerhouse teams?

please make a trade now and get rid of the dead beat we all no who that is

Who would this dead beat be?

While it would be a significant risk for the Hawks I think it is worth it to trade Crow and go with Darling and Raanta. Both have shown that they can play and to be honest Crow concerns me with how fragile he is mentally at times.

When?

Crawford carried Hawks on his back most of 2013 playoffs and the 1st 2 series last year

This fragile mentally stuff is pretty laughable to me as is the hate for Crawford at this point

The guy spent years buried in AHL and worked his ass off to get to NHL despite some doubting him. This guy was thrown into fire behind bad team in 2010-11 and nearly stole 1st round vs Nucks

After most wrote him off for bad sophomore year he bounced back to put forth his finest years as he won cup and lost WCF

And here we are with Hawks doing well and Crawford playing well and he still is hated for some odd reason

Guess what look at the contracts for #1's around NHL. Crawford is in line with what most 1-15 starters are making at this point

 

[LordKOTL]

With Raanta, and a bit less so Darling, opposition will start to make book on them soon, if they haven't already (a.k.a. the reason for the sophomore slump).

Asking Raanta and/or Darling to work through that all the while having to not only bail out the newcomers' mistakes, but the mistakes that are core is won't to make, might not be the wisest move.

At least Crawford has done that before and shown some success--maybe not as much as we the fans would like.

Ultimately I think if you're going to break in a new or sophomore goalie, you have a strong established D-core. If you're going to break in new D skaters, you have an estabished goalie. You don't do both at the same time and realistically, next season Hammer, Keith, and Seabs is all we've got going into it. If Raanta, Darling, all of the new D-men, all of the new O-men, and even the offensive core proper take a field day defensively, those three are going to be driven harder than a rental car when you pay the "anything happens, you walk away" insurance.

 

[hockeydoug]

Ultimately I think if you're going to break in a new or sophomore goalie, you have a strong established D-core. If you're going to break in new D skaters, you have an estabished goalie. You don't do both at the same time and realistically, next season Hammer, Keith, and Seabs is all we've got going into it.

Doing anything different that what you're saying is asking the Hawks to just bow out of contention for a year. As you said, in all likelihood, half of the top 8 defensemen or more will have less than 200 NHL and/or less than 100 games with the Hawks and that's asking for trouble with unproven goalies.

 

[hockeydoug]

Reminds me of when Wing fans thrashed Osgood and how he was easily replaceable.

No kidding.
I think Crawford might even be a little more consistent too. He's playing to his contract too. I strongly disagree that he's overpaid relative to the market as a goalie in his prime, with a Jennings, a ring, and an outstanding record in elimination games. He's been just fine through 3 different goalie coaches so far too.

Why mess with something that's working so well relative to the rest of the competition?

 

[LordKOTL]

Doing anything different that what you're saying is asking the Hawks to just bow out of contention for a year. As you said, in all likelihood, half of the top 8 defensemen or more will have less than 200 NHL and/or less than 100 games with the Hawks and that's asking for trouble with unproven goalies.

That's basically the core of my argument for keeping Dr. Craw at least through next season:

Since most moves of next-year-roster-players will be for cap reasons, little cap has to be coming back. Since we can establish that Seabs, Keith, and Hjammer are the only established D-men we'd be keeping that are on the payroll next year (everyone else is not on the payroll, and will need to be resigned, or not established, like TVR), it negates moving Crawford for cap--then you're essentially moving Crawford to get/retain known defensive quantities. Right now, those would be Rosi (should retire), or Oduya (Not worth his salary or even a reasonable pay cut). You're than attempting to attract a quantity from outside of the organization--either via direct trade or FA signing, and in either case, it's going to necessitate the movement of another large piece to make cap--like Sharp.

 

[Foster81]

No kidding.
I think Crawford might even be a little more consistent too. He's playing to his contract too. I strongly disagree that he's overpaid relative to the market as a goalie in his prime, with a Jennings, a ring, and an outstanding record in elimination games. He's been just fine through 3 different goalie coaches so far too.

Why mess with something that's working so well relative to the rest of the competition?

He's been vary good in the shootouts to. I will be happy when oduya and rosy are off the books.

 

[Bubba88]

It's not about being happy to get him rid. Not about being happy to lose him...

It's about the Cap and being happy to Keep Seabrook/Sharp/Saad/(Krüger for me)

 

[BK]

When?

Crawford carried Hawks on his back most of 2013 playoffs and the 1st 2 series last year

This fragile mentally stuff is pretty laughable to me as is the hate for Crawford at this point

The guy spent years buried in AHL and worked his ass off to get to NHL despite some doubting him. This guy was thrown into fire behind bad team in 2010-11 and nearly stole 1st round vs Nucks

After most wrote him off for bad sophomore year he bounced back to put forth his finest years as he won cup and lost WCF

And here we are with Hawks doing well and Crawford playing well and he still is hated for some odd reason

Guess what look at the contracts for #1's around NHL. Crawford is in line with what most 1-15 starters are making at this point

You are misreading what I have posted (maybe I was not clear enough so my apologies). I don't want to get rid of Crow. I think from a salary standpoint he would be my choice to move. When I speak to the topic of Crow being fragile mentally I am talking about how he gets in funks that last longer than one or two games. Do I think he is paid the right amount? Yes I do but the doesn't mean he is paid the right amount for our cap purposes. If we are going to trade 1 person to fix our cap it might have to be Crawford.

In regards to you opinion about Raanta and Darling they have both played well when they have played. Statistically Raanta and Darling have played better.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I think people on here think we'd be find with Darling + Raanta just because Darling is tall and takes up a lot of net and Raanta is cheap. Neither have proven anything in meaningful games and seriously lack NHL experience for us to trade away a legitimate #1 goalie. Crawford is this team's past, present, and future. Accept it folks.

 

[ReillyO]

I think people on here think we'd be find with Darling + Raanta just because Darling is tall and takes up a lot of net and Raanta is cheap. Neither have proven anything in meaningful games and seriously lack NHL experience for us to trade away a legitimate #1 goalie. Crawford is this team's past, present, and future. Accept it folks.

I agree about the inexperience of the backups. With 20/20 hindsight, Halak seems to be doing ok for the Isles, which would be a 2M savings, but you can't count on a starting goaltender with anything left in the tank being cast off by two teams the way he was.

 

[BobbyJet]

I think people on here think we'd be find with Darling + Raanta just because Darling is tall and takes up a lot of net and Raanta is cheap. Neither have proven anything in meaningful games and seriously lack NHL experience for us to trade away a legitimate #1 goalie. Crawford is this team's past, present, and future. Accept it folks.

In a perfect world yes, you're right, but Hawks need to make a decision after the last game (hopefully) in June. Can we justify the team being strong enough to be a legit contender in 2015-16, or not. If the answer is no, than by all means shop Sharp, and probably Hossa as well. Perhaps even Seabs. But if the answer is yes, then what is the least disruptive way to compete for another year? I know my answer. It's trade Crawford, if it is even possible, and figure things out cap-wise from there.

Will that happen? Highly doubtful, but if not, I reckon Hawks will be waiting 2-3 years before getting back to where we are now.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

If we are going to be a legitimate contender, Corey is going to be on the team.

 

[Crazy_Ike]

If we are going to be a legitimate contender, Corey is going to be on the team.

We already won a Cup with essentially the same core without Crawford. He is not as necessary as you think.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

We already won a Cup with essentially the same core without Crawford. He is not as necessary as you think.

Better than Raanta and/or Darling at this point.

 

[JaegerDice]

I like Crawford, I just think a league-average goaltender is more easily-replaceable than Sharp's almost guaranteed 30 goals per year (and yes, I realize this year is not the greatest season to be making that claim )

That said, I don't think he's going anywhere next season. Maybe the season after, if Raanta or Darling step up and prove they're legit NHL goaltenders by taking a bigger chunk of the schedule against higher-tier teams.

 

[Crazy_Ike]

Better than Raanta and/or Darling at this point.

Yes, we should keep Crawford this season.

Afterwards? We shall see.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Chris Kuc
‏@ChrisKuc
Rockford IceHogs' Michael Leighton named AHL goaltender of the month for January. #Blackhawks

 

[BobbyJet]

I like Crawford, I just think a league-average goaltender is more easily-replaceable than Sharp's almost guaranteed 30 goals per year (and yes, I realize this year is not the greatest season to be making that claim )

Why not. Sharp was injured and just recently has been back to his old form. He's been one of the better Hawks lately.

That said, his underwhelming performance in last year's POs was a concern then ... hopefully it was an anomaly.

 

[JaegerDice]

Why not. Sharp was injured and just recently has been back to his old form. He's been one of the better Hawks lately.

That said, his underwhelming performance in last year's POs was a concern then ... hopefully it was an anomaly.

I just meant claiming he's guaranteed for 30 goals in a season where he's probably not going to get 20 is kind of bad timing.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

Think Sharp hits 30 this year?

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Think Sharp hits 30 this year?

Not a chance

 

[LordKOTL]

This year Sharp has scored only 3 of his 10 goals ES.

Last year Sharp scored 24 of his 34 goals ES.

In other words, his conversion rate was .293 ES GPG last season, while it's .083% this year.

Even Hossa, who's offensive struggles this year are borderline legendary, is averaging .088 ES GPG this year.

I'm not going to sneeze at the fact Sharp is leading everyone on the 'hawks with 7 PPG on the year, but realistically he's been milquetoast so far this year at ES.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

Thats my point.
While losing Sharp would really suck, and I don't want to lose him...
It wouldn't be the end of the world

 

[x Tame Impala]

I have a Sharp jersey, he won't be traded