Confirmed with Link: Blackhawks Sign Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk

[Hawkaholic]

Svedberg and Fournier were not that impressive at all in the London tourney nor in the pre-season games that I watched. Johns was impressive, but I think they would like him to be a top 4 defenseman sooner rather than later so logging big minutes in the AHL will be key for him.

Keiths minutes will always hover around 25-27mins per game until he starts to show that he can't handle it. That won't be for a few years at least, imo. Chara is still logging big minutes in BOS and he doesn't have near the fitness level or skating stride that Keith has.

Why send TVR down or even think about it at this point? He has been solid at both ends of the rink, especially defensively. Just wait until he gets his offensive game going, it will make us forget Leddy sooner rather than later.

 

[BobbyJet]

Svedberg and Fournier were not that impressive at all in the London tourney nor in the pre-season games that I watched. Johns was impressive, but I think they would like him to be a top 4 defenseman sooner rather than later so logging big minutes in the AHL will be key for him.

Keiths minutes will always hover around 25-27mins per game until he starts to show that he can't handle it. That won't be for a few years at least, imo. Chara is still logging big minutes in BOS and he doesn't have near the fitness level or skating stride that Keith has.

Why send TVR down or even think about it at this point? He has been solid at both ends of the rink, especially defensively. Just wait until he gets his offensive game going, it will make us forget Leddy sooner rather than later.

Yep, his decision making of when to jump into the offense could turn out to be one his strengths. He has aleady shown a hint of it, and even at this early stage he seems eager to expand his role.

 

[Bubba88]

Edzo is still talking about the Bickell goal when TVR created that space, I can even hear him here in Germany

 

[ClydeLee]

Where is this myth that Keith cannot log heavy minutes and still be effective coming from? If his average comes down a minute he is right where he has been during some of the best seasons of his career (and the team's best seasons).

He has gotten tons of PP minutes this year as well which greatly inflate his TOI total.

From the team being bad 2010-11 to 2011-12 when Keith had to log extra long minutes to make up for the lack of a 3rd pairing that Q would use. But I think it's overblown now that Rozy is healthy and TVR keeps up his performance, it Keith won't need to log extra tough minutes. It's true most of those boosted PP minutes won't hurt him.

 

[Hawkaholic]

From the team being bad 2010-11 to 2011-12 when Keith had to log extra long minutes to make up for the lack of a 3rd pairing that Q would use. But I think it's overblown now that Rozy is healthy and TVR keeps up his performance, it Keith won't need to log extra tough minutes. It's true most of those boosted PP minutes won't hurt him.

Which seasons were those out of these TOI?

26:53
26:35
25:34
26:53
(random order from 2008-09 -> 2011-12)

Hint, he won the Norris in one of those seasons.

And please don't tell me that him playing 20 more seconds/game is a big deal.

 

[ClydeLee]

Which seasons were those out of these TOI?

26:53
26:35
25:34
26:53
(random order from 2008-09 -> 2011-12)

Hint, he won the Norris in one of those seasons.

And please don't tell me that him playing 20 more seconds/game is a big deal.

I'm not saying it's valid, but it's when the perception began.

 

[Note Worthy]

I thought van Riemsdyk looked really good for you guys in the game Saturday night. Just curious if he's been pretty decent in his NHL starts or was Saturday one of his better games?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I thought van Riemsdyk looked really good for you guys in the game Saturday night. Just curious if he's been pretty decent in his NHL starts or was Saturday one of his better games?

He's seemingly getting better and better. He's been very solid for us all year so far, though his minutes started out small. As Q's obviously getting more okay with him handling larger loads and as TVR grows in the NHL, I'm thinking we should expect a nice blossoming. Won't remotely pretend that he's first line material, but solid second line potential, very possibly.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

He's been an awesome surprise for us this year. Been playing extremely well, at least according to most. Just seems to calm with the puck and makes a lot of smart plays.

 

[CallMeShaft]

I thought van Riemsdyk looked really good for you guys in the game Saturday night. Just curious if he's been pretty decent in his NHL starts or was Saturday one of his better games?

He's been consistently good. A pleasant surprise given the fact that he never played in the AHL or NHL before. Could earn a full time spot on the second pairing this season if he keeps it up.

Also, his cap hit is only 925k for this season and the next. Gotta love that.

 

[DPHawk]

Always great when you can get a player like TVR for nothing.

 

[Bubba88]

he's been a pleasant surprise so far for sure. He outplayed every other Rookie or bubble Player like Rundblad for sure.

 

[BobbyJet]

he's been a pleasant surprise so far for sure. He outplayed every other Rookie or bubble Player like Rundblad for sure.

He's been our best dman when it comes to defending.

 

[TheDoorDoctor]

Id give the best defensive defense to hjalmersson... But TVR has been good. When there was a two on one against him he did a great job! Also he is not afraid to jump up into the attack and am very surprised he still has no points, but those will come if he continues to play this good!

 

[Note Worthy]

Thanks for the responses. He didn't look flashy but he always made the smart defensive play Saturday and looked extremely calm with the puck for a rookie. Looks like he'll be a great defenseman for you guys.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

He didn't look flashy but he always made the smart defensive play Saturday and looked extremely calm with the puck for a rookie.

This is exactly it. It's always nice to have a player like this on your team, so I hope he continues to do this. Don't have to be flashy to be a good player, just have to make the plays that help your team, and TVR has done that so far. Happy for the kid, really pulling for him to continue this play and for Q to increase his minutes as well if he does continue to impress.

 

[hockeydoug]

He's turning into a solid defensive option but he struggles keeping plays alive and pucks in. The Hawks are deep enough to live with it, I hope he gets better in that area. Overall, I really like what we've been seeing from him. I'm not complaining about anybody playing above their cap hit so I'm happy to see him work through some of the mistakes in October.

 

[Blue Liner]

He's turning into a solid defensive option but he struggles keeping plays alive and pucks in. The Hawks are deep enough to live with it, I hope he gets better in that area. Overall, I really like what we've been seeing from him. I'm not complaining about anybody playing above their cap hit so I'm happy to see him work through some of the mistakes in October.

That's just a pro-level experience thing. I think that will come as he plays more games and continues to adjust. I've noticed the same but like you said, it's nothing that's glaring or hurting them right now, especially in light of him doing everything else so well.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

I would just like to see him get a bit faster. That is my only nag on him I have so far. I guess I just got used to Leddy being in that spot. He has been really good and I am really happy we have him back there.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I already love this kid.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

I hope he can slot into Oduya's spot next year

 

[CallMeShaft]

I hope he can slot into Oduya's spot next year

He did play well with Hammer for the first few games. Also, we probably won't be able to afford Oduya's cap hit next year.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Losing Oduya would hurt the depth on D. I'm hoping he signs at a discount and they roll with something like:

Keith Seabrook
Hjalmarsson TVR
Oduya Johns

Plus they could still play Hammer and Oduya together in certain situations and put TVR on the left side if they had to. It gives them a lot of options.

 

[Taze em]

I wonder what Oduya will get in the open market. He is such a weird player. He doesn't have size, doesn't hit, doesn't block an inordinate amount of shots, doesn't score and doesn't really even get assists. His value is complete unquantifiable by basic statistics. On paper he just looks like a guy who eats minutes and doesn't do anything.

 

[Bubba88]

I'd even consider buying a Jersey
If they wouldn't be that expensiv