Prospect Info: Prospects Part 5: IceHogs/Fuel/College & Juniors/Int'l

[Sarava]

No way. College has been good to the Hawks. Keep the College Forward, Swedish D train rolling. It's been working.

Has it? In recent years, the best prospect came out of the CHL - despite loading most picks in to NCAA players. Unless you think Hayes was a better pick/prospect than Saad.

 

[BK]

TVR/Pokka/Johns/Paliotta

TVR is solid but he is nothing more than a solid #5 dman. He is too slow.

This is all true. He is a very good player. But Pokka and Johns do those things too and have done them at a higher level. I'm just saying, the competition between TVR/Pokka/Johns/Paliotta will likely have 2 losers. If you are Paliotta's agent why even expose him to that risk? There are alot of teams who have spots ready for Paliotta uncontested from the jump.

You are once again discounting College Hockey/Hockey East. The game I saw him play against Jack E/BU he looked pretty damn good while the rest of his teamates looked over matched. The difference between college hockey and the AHL is not the Grand Canyon (remember Darren Haydar who dominated the AHL right out of college but could not do much in the NHL?).

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Oh god its happening again isn't it?

Paliotta is going to go UFA route ,, He see's all the Righty's in Rockford and wants out

Please someone tell me I am just reading too much into it. That statement from his agent sounds exactly like what Hayes agent said last year

 

[BK]

Oh god its happening again isn't it

Paliotta is going to go UFA route ,, He see's all the Righty's in Rockford and wants out

Please someone tell me I am just reading too much into it. That statement from his agent sounds exactly like what Hayes agent said last year

Hayes' agent was much more stand offish and spoke to the chance of Jimmy leaving. If he doesn't sign soon (next few weeks) then we should be worried. I don't think we are as log jammed as everyone thinks with JO/Rosi/Timo/Rundblad all potentially leaving.

 

[Taze em]

If Paliotta doesn't sign by Wednesday it's over and he's going FA.

 

[Sarava]

Oh god its happening again isn't it?

Paliotta is going to go UFA route ,, He see's all the Righty's in Rockford and wants out

Please someone tell me I am just reading too much into it. That statement from his agent sounds exactly like what Hayes agent said last year

Keep in mind. There's a very real chance we deal with this same crap when Schmaltz comes up. Yeah he grew up a Hawk fan, but his brother will be on the Blues.

 

[hawksrule]

Ugh, his quotes in Powers' article (albeit from January) do sound somewhat ominous. The 'haven't thought about signing' line never sounds believable. Idk if you need to be an insider to read it. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bla.../hawks-prospect-paliotta-negotiating-contract

Paliotta said in late January he was focusing on his college season and hadn’t thought much about signing with the Blackhawks yet. He spoke positively about the Blackhawks and understood the defensive depth they possessed in their system.

Edit: to clarify, article from today, quote from Jan.

 

[Taze em]

Keep in mind. There's a very real chance we deal with this same crap when Schmaltz comes up. Yeah he grew up a Hawk fan, but his brother will be on the Blues.

No way. They will pull Schmaltz out of school quick. The only guys this happens with is late bloomers. Schmaltz isn't a late bloomer.

 

[Sarava]

No way. They will pull Schmaltz out of school quick. The only guys this happens with is late bloomers. Schmaltz isn't a late bloomer.

Good point. though what scares me, is the allure of the college degree.. Some kids really want it and/or get pushed by their family's to get it. And you can't blame them.

As for Schmaltz himself. You are probably right. And if I'm the Blues I push real hard to sign his brother this summer. Because if they wait until next summer, he might pull a Hayes on them and sign with his brother in Chicago. Not sure the Hawks would stoop to that though.

 

[Hawkaholic]

What can you do if he decides to test free agency though? Nothing. That's the downfall of having a deep prospect system. It's not like your going to stop drafting guys you really like just because there is a chance they may not sign with you 4 years down the road. Just the nature of the business.

Would love to sign Paliotta, but won't blame him if he signs else where. Just won't have much respect for him if he does, much like Kayes.

 

[Sarava]

Well if you feel he's NHL ready or darn close (as I've heard some who watch him often say), you could do what probably happened with Kayes. Promise him a spot on the roster...and then move one of the other depth guys for picks/prospects/help moving out Bickell/whatever. Would suck continually losing assets like this.

 

[Illinihockey]

Next CBA they need to change the rule to help teams sign players that they draft. Perhaps make the team that signs your player give up a 1st round pick (top 10 protected) sort of like baseball does with free agents that receive qualifying offers.

 

[Sarava]

Agree. And with guys like Hayes last year, and Paliotta this year. There's probably teams quietly making promises to his agent if he waits until August to be a free agent.

 

[Taze em]

If Paliotta leaves it will suck but not really. If a player that good decides to go elsewhere that should tell you something about the perception of the Hawks D youth around the NHL.

 

[Sarava]

If Paliotta leaves it will suck but not really. If a player that good decides to go elsewhere that should tell you something about the perception of the Hawks D youth around the NHL.

Or it could tell you nothing about the Hawks depth, and just tell you that team x promised him a roster spot and to stay there the full season. NHL salary > AHL salary.

 

[Illinihockey]

Or it could tell you nothing about the Hawks depth, and just tell you that team x promised him a roster spot and to stay there the full season. NHL salary > AHL salary.

Can you give a 1 way contract to a player on an ELC?

 

[Sarava]

Can you give a 1 way contract to a player on an ELC?

No. I was just guessing that some under the table promises could be made.

 

[Taze em]

It should be so simple. We are the only team that can get him in pro games this season. He can get his bonus money and some RFD salary as soon as he signs. It should have happened by now. Tomorrow night comes with no signing and this thing is going to August 15th.

 

[Taze em]

I also don't know why Hinostroza hasn't signed a PTO with the IceHogs yet but that's less important.

 

[clydesdale line]

Have to be? I think you are discounting college hockey a bit. From what I have seen from Paliotta his game transitions well to the pro level (skating/vision/physically/patience with the puck) and he carried a UVM team that plays in a stacked Hockey East.

Agreed 100%. He already skates better than both Johns and Pokka from what I've seen. Kid is a slight, maybe a full step above the other two all around.

 

[BK]

I think the Hawks should sign him and let him play some games with the Hawks now. What is the worst that could happen? Worst case he is Rosi and best case his talents/skill set translates and we capitalize on him playing well. This is not a kid we are talking about he is an adult so the physical worries should not be there. The reward far out weighs the risk to me with this.

 

[Taze em]

Agreed 100%. He already skates better than both Johns and Pokka from what I've seen. Kid is a slight, maybe a full step above the other two all around.

Completely disagree.

 

[Sarava]

I also don't know why Hinostroza hasn't signed a PTO with the IceHogs yet but that's less important.

I was wondering if signing Hinostroza was a panic move - like if the Hawks already know or believe Paliotta isn't signing here. They might need to sign some of these guys sooner than they ideally would have liked too.

 

[Taze em]

I think the Hawks should sign him and let him play some games with the Hawks now. What is the worst that could happen? Worst case he is Rosi and best case his talents/skill set translates and we capitalize on him playing well. This is not a kid we are talking about he is an adult so the physical worries should not be there. The reward far out weighs the risk to me with this.

I would love to do this like they did with Carey last year but the Hawks are capped out, I think. The only guys you can send down without exposing to waivers are Teravainen and Nordstrom and I think only Teravainen would get it done because Nordstrom makes 600k.

 

[BK]

I would love to do this like they did with Carey last year but the Hawks are capped out, I think. The only guys you can send down without exposing to waivers are Teravainen and Nordstrom and I think only Teravainen would get it done because Nordstrom makes 600k.

They might be able to do some cap dancing to get around this.