2020-21 Expected Roster Talk - Part 3

[RememberTheRoar]

Kane and Cat's chemistry is reminding me of... dare I say... Kane and rookie Panarin? No I'm not saying DeBrincat is the same kind of talent Panarin is but their chemistry when Bread was a rookie is pretty similar. Then you have Suter who is playing the Anisimov role cept not as big, but better speed. Suter is ALWAYS around the net. I'll call it a poor man's Party Line.

Ya, cat and Kane are nice together but let’s not forget how freakin bad they can look if given the wrong center. Them with Suter is just simply working right now and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Suter is opening up space for these guys with speed and with hard work, two thing Strome is incapable off. He also may be faster than either of Toews and Dach.

Until it stops working, you stick with it IMO.

I’m not proactively breaking them up when Toews and Dach return. There are other hard working and skilled players to go with those two guys.

Also, I don’t know if this is a poor man’s version of the Party Line. The Party line did its damage with heavy offensive zone starts and sheltering and still had only average fancy stats. This line is not being sheltered and has significantly better fancy stats, so far.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

If both Dach and Toews come back, other center position should be Suter and Kampf. Strome would be odd man out and since he is useless in wing that would mean that he is traded out.

I think Suter is ahead of Strome right now. If Toews and Dach came back today, I think it’s Strome who would be most affected.

Two years in a row where this guy has deservingly lost his spot to a rookie.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Ya, cat and Kane are nice together but let’s not forget how freakin bad they can look if given the wrong center. Them with Suter is just simply working right now and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Suter is opening up space for these guys with speed and with hard work, two thing Strome is incapable off. He also may be faster than either of Toews and Dach.

Until it stops working, you stick with it IMO.

I’m not proactively breaking them up when Toews and Dach return. There are other hard working and skilled players to go with those two guys.

Also, I don’t know if this is a poor man’s version of the Party Line. The Party line did its damage with heavy offensive zone starts and sheltering and still had only average fancy stats. This line is not being sheltered and has significantly better fancy stats, so far.

Opinion: Put Dach in between them and they have an actual skilled center that does all of the things Anisimov did and more. That could end up being the best line in hockey.

Strome is going to have to learn how to play RW or gtfo.

Lines:

DeBrincat-Dach-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Strome
Kurashev-Suter-Nylander
Hagel-Kampf-Carpenter

 

[bwana63]

Opinion: Put Dach in between them and they have an actual skilled center that does all of the things Anisimov did and more. That could end up being the best line in hockey.

Strome is going to have to learn how to play RW or gtfo.

Lines:

DeBrincat-Dach-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Strome
Kurashev-Suter-Nylander
Hagel-Kampf-Carpenter

Plug in Reichel for Strome. Johnson (or Barratt) may replace Carpenter (love him though). That's a very strong forwards group.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Plug in Reichel for Strome. Johnson (or Barratt) may replace Carpenter (love him though). That's a very strong forwards group.

Long-term, sure. Next year, not so sure. I don't think Reichel is going to be NHL ready until the 22-23 season.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Opinion: Put Dach in between them and they have an actual skilled center that does all of the things Anisimov did and more. That could end up being the best line in hockey.

Strome is going to have to learn how to play RW or gtfo.

Lines:

DeBrincat-Dach-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Strome
Kurashev-Suter-Nylander
Hagel-Kampf-Carpenter

Ya, if Cat-Suter-Kane fall off then I’d try Dach between them next. But as of right now, I’m not messing with them. Stat wise, they’re literally one of the best lines in the NHL currently, you don’t need to imagine it happening.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Ya, if Cat-Suter-Kane fall off then I’d try Dach between them next. But as of right now, I’m not messing with them. Stat wise, they’re literally one of the best lines in the NHL currently, you don’t need to imagine it happening.

Speaking of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" Kubalik-Strome-Kurashev was working really well and JC won't go back to it. What gives?

The Hawks could have a really strong top 6 this year with:
DeBrincat-Suter-Kane
Kubalik-Strome-Kurashev

and then, for now:
Janmark-Soderberg-Hagel
Wallmark-Kampf-Carpenter

Both of these lines have shown really good chemistry but the 2nd one isn't being played

But JC insists on putting Hagel or Janmark with Kubalik/Strome

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Speaking of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" Kubalik-Strome-Kurashev was working really well and JC won't go back to it. What gives?

The Hawks could have a really strong top 6 this year with:
DeBrincat-Suter-Kane
Kubalik-Strome-Kurashev

and then, for now:
Janmark-Soderberg-Hagel
Wallmark-Kampf-Carpenter

Both of these lines have shown really good chemistry but the 2nd one isn't being played

But JC insists on putting Hagel or Janmark with Kubalik/Strome

Colliton is clearly limiting Strome’s minutes and reducing his role, that probably has a lot to do with it.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

If he’s in, I’m in! Cat and Kane to the f***ing moon! They’re going to need a congressional hearing about this line.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

“Kaner’s easy to play with because he makes so many plays,” Colliton said. “He’s so clean, he rarely turns the puck over, he does a lot of things that allow you to be in the offensive zone and he can find you when you’re open. But he’s also hard to play with because he demands the puck and there’s a high level of expectation that you’re gonna execute because he can; he’s that good. There’s plays he can make that not many others can make, so it can be hard, especially for a young player. That opportunity to play with him is so big. They want it to work so bad that sometimes that gets in the way.

“Brinksy, he’s used to it now. He knows what he needs to do to be successful. The best thing he can do is be willing to carry the puck, take more responsibility, not always defer, be a threat yourself. The power-play goal they scored, Brinksy took it, he won a battle, he was a threat to score, pulled everyone with him and then all of a sudden Kane’s got that much more time as opposed to when you take the puck out of the corner and just staring at Kaner because that’s where the puck’s got to go. It’s fun to watch Brinksy want to take all that responsibility all on his own.”

 

[scorehawks]

Kurashev has all the tools be be elite centre. Going forward Toews, Dach, Kurashev and Kampf. All four push the pace. I don't see Dylan Strome a centre on Hawks after this contract unless ongoing issues with JT.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

“That’s definitely a difficult thing obviously early in your career,” DeBrincat said. “I’ve played with him enough now to know when to give it to him, when not to. I was definitely one of the guys who struggled with that at the start and just wanted to give it to him all the time. But there’s times and places for that. You just got to figure out when that is. Most of the time it’s a good play to give it to him, but sometimes you got to keep it and shoot it.”

“We can be just as good as myself and Artemi were, and the good thing is that we’ve spent a lot of time together, we’ve talked about certain plays, had the communication and I really like him as a person, too,” Kane said. “He’s fun to hang out with and that develops a little chemistry, too. Obviously you look at things like I’m a left-handed shot playing my off wing, he’s a right-handed shot playing his off wing, there’s a lot that can be created there as far as side-to-side passes and we can create that way. We’ll just keep building. I think I have a lot of confidence in him as a linemate. He can make all the plays, too. Like I said, we’ll just keep building on that, keep trying to get better and better.”

 

[RememberTheRoar]

One non-quote line from the article:


Pius Suter’s addition at center to Kane and DeBrincat is worth some attention as well. That line has been consistently driving possession. DeBrincat, Strome and Kane often spent a lot of time in the defensive zone and then would capitalize on their skill and score. The line had a 39.66 expected goals percentage last season. Compare that to DeBrincat, Suter and Kane having a 55.48 percentage.

One league scout thought Suter has certainly helped that line with retrieving pucks, defending and playing around the net, but he also believed the Blackhawks have a potential game-changing line if Kirby Dach is played in between DeBrincat and Kane when Dach returns from injury.

 

[Brightwing]

“Kaner’s easy to play with because he makes so many plays,” Colliton said. “He’s so clean, he rarely turns the puck over, he does a lot of things that allow you to be in the offensive zone and he can find you when you’re open. But he’s also hard to play with because he demands the puck and there’s a high level of expectation that you’re gonna execute because he can; he’s that good. There’s plays he can make that not many others can make, so it can be hard, especially for a young player. That opportunity to play with him is so big. They want it to work so bad that sometimes that gets in the way.

“Brinksy, he’s used to it now. He knows what he needs to do to be successful. The best thing he can do is be willing to carry the puck, take more responsibility, not always defer, be a threat yourself. The power-play goal they scored, Brinksy took it, he won a battle, he was a threat to score, pulled everyone with him and then all of a sudden Kane’s got that much more time as opposed to when you take the puck out of the corner and just staring at Kaner because that’s where the puck’s got to go. It’s fun to watch Brinksy want to take all that responsibility all on his own.”

This is really important and probably one of the barriers to successful PPs in the past. Everyone starting at Kane waiting for him to do something.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

This is really important and probably one of the barriers to successful PPs in the past. Everyone starting at Kane waiting for him to do something.

Keith in particular is really bad with this because any time he's got the puck on his stick on the PP he's either looking to defer to Kane or he's putting it into shinpads...Its been a big problem with the PP in the past, they need a true threat at the point and once they have it then they will be even more deadly as a unit because Kane, Cat and Strome make things happen even without that point threat

 

[bwana63]

Keith in particular is really bad with this because any time he's got the puck on his stick on the PP he's either looking to defer to Kane or he's putting it into shinpads...Its been a big problem with the PP in the past, they need a true threat at the point and once they have it then they will be even more deadly as a unit because Kane, Cat and Strome make things happen even without that point threat

We are *finally* nearing the point where Keith is no longer a PP staple. And that's a very good thing.

 

[Idionym]

Kubalik-Toews-Suter
DeBrincat-Dach-Kane
Kurachev-Strome-Nylander
Hagel-Carpenter-Kampf

Keith-Mitchell
Beaudin-Murphy
Zadorov-Boqvist

Lank
Subban

_______________________________________________

If Toews isn't back:

Kubalik-Dach-Suter
Cat-Kurachev-Kane
Hagel-Strome-Nylander
Highmore-Carpenter-Kampf

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Kubalik-Toews-Suter
DeBrincat-Dach-Kane
Kurachev-Strome-Janmark
Hagel-Carpenter-Kampf

Keith-Mitchell
Beaudin-Murphy
Zadorov-Boqvist

Lank
Subban

_______________________________________________

If Toews isn't back:

Kubalik-Dach-Suter
Cat-Kurachev-Kane
Hagel-Strome-Nylander
Highmore-Carpenter-Kampf

Bolded lineup round one of playoffs... You'd love to see it

 

[Pez68]

Bolded lineup round one of playoffs... You'd love to see it

Imagine thinking at the beginning of the season that this team could be good....without Toews.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Imagine thinking at the beginning of the season that this team could be good....without Toews.

i have nothing to say anymore about what this team will or will not do, was so wrong about it before the season, but dach and toews added to the forward group would be awesome to see if this team can just hang on and give them a shot at having any incentive to return, which would mean playoffs...at least kirby, think he has at least been skating

 

[Pez68]

i have nothing to say anymore about what this team will or will not do, was so wrong about it before the season, but dach and toews added to the forward group would be awesome to see if this team can just hang on and give them a shot at having any incentive to return, which would mean playoffs...at least kirby, think he has at least been skating

It's crazy.

 

[Muffinalt]

One non-quote line from the article:


Pius Suter’s addition at center to Kane and DeBrincat is worth some attention as well. That line has been consistently driving possession. DeBrincat, Strome and Kane often spent a lot of time in the defensive zone and then would capitalize on their skill and score. The line had a 39.66 expected goals percentage last season. Compare that to DeBrincat, Suter and Kane having a 55.48 percentage.

One league scout thought Suter has certainly helped that line with retrieving pucks, defending and playing around the net, but he also believed the Blackhawks have a potential game-changing line if Kirby Dach is played in between DeBrincat and Kane when Dach returns from injury.

That's where I'm at too. Suter is working very well, but you just have to think Dach is an amazing fit with those too as well. Toews for example, I think isn't as good stylistically the way he plays.

Personally id still keep Suter there coz Dach can carry his own line, and that way we'd have three top lines and the usual beast 4th.

DeBrincat - Suter - Kane
Kubalik - Toews - Kurashev
Hagel - Dach - Nylander/Shaw/Strome
Janmark - Kampf - Carpenter

Dach and Hagel even showed nice chemistry together already, at the very least theyd be a possession monster line imo. Nylander could be a nice fit as third banana actually. That 4th line is nuts.

The good thing is if injured guys come back we are injury deep for playoffs. Soda, Wallmark, Johnson, Highmore... good extras.

D is pretty similar too, just greener.

 

[ploppsdman]

You usually are not successful when you rely on rookies. Hagel, Mitchell, Beaudin, Kurashev (reminds me of Danault), and Lankinen have all exceeded reasonable expectations and have changed the complexion of this team. The Nylander days are done. Skill + effort days are here again.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

That's where I'm at too. Suter is working very well, but you just have to think Dach is an amazing fit with those too as well. Toews for example, I think isn't as good stylistically the way he plays.

Personally id still keep Suter there coz Dach can carry his own line, and that way we'd have three top lines and the usual beast 4th.

DeBrincat - Suter - Kane
Kubalik - Toews - Kurashev
Hagel - Dach - Nylander/Shaw/Strome
Janmark - Kampf - Carpenter

Dach and Hagel even showed nice chemistry together already, at the very least theyd be a possession monster line imo. Nylander could be a nice fit as third banana actually. That 4th line is nuts.

The good thing is if injured guys come back we are injury deep for playoffs. Soda, Wallmark, Johnson, Highmore... good extras.

D is pretty similar too, just greener.

Ya, that's where I'm at for now. The idea of Toews and Dach each carrying a line without an elite winger while the Kane line remains a top line in the league is simply Flavortown worthy.

 

[Muffinalt]

Ya, that's where I'm at for now. The idea of Toews and Dach each carrying a line without an elite winger while the Kane line remains a top line in the league is simply Flavortown worthy.

Definitely

And we have the depth wingers too.