Injury Report: Murphy out 12 weeks with back injury (9/19)

[Artorius Horus T]

Connor Murphy out 8 weeks, what's this mean for Blackhawks' Henri Jokiharju?

 

[Rick C137]

Yup, absolutely awful offseason for Bowman, once again.

How would you have addressed the defense? Just curious.

If you can’t get a big fish D for a good price it honestly made more sense to stand pat and go in on the UFA market next season rather than blow assets to try and make a run in a year when 3-4 teams in the West seem to be going all in. Only big time D that was available was Karlsson and I don’t think there’s any chance the hawks would have been able to sign him as he’s said he wants what he’s worth. At absolute minimum he’s getting 11mil.

Just let the kids play this year.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

They are going to have to open it up and try to just plain out score the other team every night, and they don't have the depth up front to do that.

Or the coach.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Rutta is a question mark considering how he played down the stretch last year. Not really young.
Gustafsson isn’t a good Dman (BK even said he thought he should be in the AHL this year)
He brought in Manning, which is a joke, and he’s not young.
Seabrook isn’t young.
Keith isn’t young.
Murphy I could see Bowman wanting him to be played.
HJ shouldn’t be rushed on to the team, especially if it’s a “rebuild” year.

I guess if you are OK just punting the year with no playoffs again, you are happy with his moves. Seems silly when his job and the coaches job is on the line.

 

[piteus]

Isn't losing Murphy the equivalent of losing a #5 DMen? Unless you think this kid is going to be a legit top 4 DMen, I'm not too concerned.

I hope he gets better and becomes a solid contributor for the Hawks in due time. However, "oh well."

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Isn't losing Murphy the equivalent of losing a #5 DMen? Unless you think this kid is going to be a legit top 4 DMen, I'm not too concerned.

I hope he gets better and becomes a solid contributor for the Hawks in due time. However, "oh well."

Murphy might be the second best defenseman on this team. After Keith it’s a whole bunch of mystery boxes.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Rutta is a question mark considering how he played down the stretch last year. Not really young.
Gustafsson isn’t a good Dman (BK even said he thought he should be in the AHL this year)
He brought in Manning, which is a joke, and he’s not young.
Seabrook isn’t young.
Keith isn’t young.
Murphy I could see Bowman wanting him to be played.
HJ shouldn’t be rushed on to the team, especially if it’s a “rebuild” year.

I guess if you are OK just punting the year with no playoffs again, you are happy with his moves. Seems silly when his job and the coaches job is on the line.

Without Crow there’s nothing much they could have done to make the playoffs without selling futures which would have been a mistake.

 

[BK]

Rutta is a question mark considering how he played down the stretch last year. Not really young.
Gustafsson isn’t a good Dman (BK even said he thought he should be in the AHL this year)
He brought in Manning, which is a joke, and he’s not young.
Seabrook isn’t young.
Keith isn’t young.
Murphy I could see Bowman wanting him to be played.
HJ shouldn’t be rushed on to the team, especially if it’s a “rebuild” year.

I guess if you are OK just punting the year with no playoffs again, you are happy with his moves. Seems silly when his job and the coaches job is on the line.

Did I? Not questioning you but I honestly don't remember.

I am slowly opening up to Gus as his underlying numbers are really good. There is a fine line with advanced numbers and Gus is an example of that. Gus could be a diamond if his advanced numbers continue if he get more time but I am not sure they will.

Murphy is a #4D. Losing him hurts. He needs to be used correctly and have to constantly look over his shoulder.

 

[Rick C137]

Rutta is a question mark considering how he played down the stretch last year. Not really young.
Gustafsson isn’t a good Dman (BK even said he thought he should be in the AHL this year)
He brought in Manning, which is a joke, and he’s not young.
Seabrook isn’t young.
Keith isn’t young.
Murphy I could see Bowman wanting him to be played.
HJ shouldn’t be rushed on to the team, especially if it’s a “rebuild” year.

I guess if you are OK just punting the year with no playoffs again, you are happy with his moves. Seems silly when his job and the coaches job is on the line.

What move would you have made to fix the defense? I keep seeing people say how Stan had a bad offseason because he diddnt fix the D. What realistic move was available to him that he passed on outside of Karlsson? We need a top 4 D and there wasn’t much available outside of taking a massive risk on Karlsson. Teams generally don’t trade top 4 d for magic beans.

You can’t force moves just to make moves. Sometimes you need to be patient and wait for the right move to become available.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

What move would you have made to fix the defense? I keep seeing people say how Stan had a bad offseason because he diddnt fix the D. What realistic move was available to him that he passed on outside of Karlsson? We need a top 4 D and there wasn’t much available outside of taking a massive risk on Karlsson. Teams generally don’t trade top 4 d for magic beans.

You can’t force moves just to make moves. Sometimes you need to be patient and wait for the right move to become available.

A lot of posters seemed to have wanted de Haan or John Moore. I'm not sure whether getting either would make this team a contender.

 

[Rick C137]

A lot of posters seemed to have wanted de Haan or John Moore. I'm not sure whether getting either would make this team a contender.

I don’t think either of those guys can be considered good top 4 players. Either would be a great bottom pairing add to a contender. Neither fix the D.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

De Haan is certainly a top four guy. Neither make this team contenders, but holy hell either make this team look better.

 

[piteus]

Murphy might be the second best defenseman on this team. After Keith it’s a whole bunch of mystery boxes.

And that is why my expectations for the upcoming season was poop already. Unless Murphy went on the Barry Bonds workout this off season, Murphy at #2 is frightening.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

And that is why my expectations for the upcoming season was poop already. Unless Murphy went on the Barry Bonds workout this off season, Murphy at #2 is frightening.

Yep. Now think how scary it is without him.

 

[piteus]

Yep. Now think how scary it is without him.

I am. The good thing is that when you're already close to the bottom, there isn't much to fall. It's like the elevator giving out on the first floor.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Shaping up to be his worst.

I don’t see how this team makes the playoffs outside of the top guys playing like top guys the whole year. They can’t afford any disappearing acts.

With Crawford dealing with Post-Concussion(now that we've finally learned that) I think spending any sort of money on this team was stupid anyway. It's rebuild time folks. As much as I want to see Kane in a Hawks sweater for the entirety of his career if he has another 85+ point season you have to consider moving him. Window closed, etc. They're just buying time until Seabrook and Toews are off the books. If Toews has a rebound year you have to consider moving him too. There just isn't enough here, in both cap space and talent. This reminds me a lot of the Vancouver situation when they had the Sedins and Luongo taking up most of their cap and they weren't worth anywhere near that type of money anymore. That is how the game is designed, though.

 

[bwana63]

Addition by subtraction.

Hot take city.

 

[bwana63]

In light of Murphy's injury, HJ makes the team.

 

[Enyaw]

The year of rebuilding with the Kids .......... begins

 

[RememberTheRoar]

If Joki bursts onto the scene, what do you do with Murphy when he comes back? Do you make him a third pairing guy, let him bump Seabrook down, or do you just trade him?

 

[Hawkaholic]

I would have signed vet Dmen that could make our D respectable, without rushing the kids on to the roster. Hamhuis, DeHaan, doesn't even have to be legit top 4 guys.

Now we potentially have to force HJ into a role he isn't ready for, or Carlsson, or Dahlstrom, or whomever.

I guess I'm just maddened by the direction of this team. Rebuilding makes zero sense unless you trade Kane and Keith right now. By the time all these Dmen are legit top 4 NHL Dmen (if they ever get there), Kane, Toews, and especially Keith will be in the twilight of their careers. Either do a rebuild, or trade futures to get this team back into contention.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

I would have signed vet Dmen that could make our D respectable, without rushing the kids on to the roster. Hamhuis, DeHaan, doesn't even have to be legit top 4 guys.

Now we potentially have to force HJ into a role he isn't ready for, or Carlsson, or Dahlstrom, or whomever.

I guess I'm just maddened by the direction of this team. Rebuilding makes zero sense unless you trade Kane and Keith right now. By the time all these Dmen are legit top 4 NHL Dmen (if they ever get there), Kane, Toews, and especially Keith will be in the twilight of their careers. Either do a rebuild, or trade futures to get this team back into contention.

I think they’re counting on one of the D to make a McAvoy-type jump.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

If Joki bursts onto the scene, what do you do with Murphy when he comes back? Do you make him a third pairing guy, let him bump Seabrook down, or do you just trade him?

Bump Seabrook.

 

[Pez68]

I would have signed vet Dmen that could make our D respectable, without rushing the kids on to the roster. Hamhuis, DeHaan, doesn't even have to be legit top 4 guys.

Now we potentially have to force HJ into a role he isn't ready for, or Carlsson, or Dahlstrom, or whomever.

I guess I'm just maddened by the direction of this team. Rebuilding makes zero sense unless you trade Kane and Keith right now. By the time all these Dmen are legit top 4 NHL Dmen (if they ever get there), Kane, Toews, and especially Keith will be in the twilight of their careers. Either do a rebuild, or trade futures to get this team back into contention.

At some point, you have to see if defensive prospects can play in the NHL.

Dahlstrom is 23 and has spent 2 seasons in the SHL, and 2 seasons in the AHL.

Carlsson is 21 and has been playing in the SHL for 3 years.

That said, the hole on the right side is Joker's to lose. By all accounts, they think he's ready. He needed to work on his defensive game, and he did that. He needed to bulk up, and he did that.

 

[piteus]

Bump Seabrook.

I do not condone murder.

In all seriousness, is Seabrook our #3 DMen? Is he still in the top 4?