Saad=Reborn

[Hawkaholic]

Columbus had Jones -23 years old, Werenski - 20 years old, Nutivaara -23, Ryan Murray -24
Boston had Carlo - 21 years old, McAvoy -19 years old, and Grzelcyk -23
Devils has Mueller, Butcher and Severson and Santini all 22-23 years old..

might not all be apples to apples, but it is happening around the league

To be fair, none of those teams have done anything in the playoffs with those Dmen, yet.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

I don't think he is at their level, that is about as elite as it gets for a young defenseman, but definitely somewhere in between which is perfectly fine for a late 1st round pick.

I think we can easily succeed with Joker and Boqvist in the top 6 and load up and land a Mark Stone/Panarin in free agency.

My issue would be locking up another defensemen (Seabs, Keith, Murphy all signed) to a long term deal (no matter who it is, that is what needs to happen to get these guys..John Moore got 5 years IIRC) and blocking another spot for our young kids. I totally understand they all are not guarantees to make it, but you have to keep room open if you feel they will be impact players which Management seems to feel at least Boqvist and Mitchell will be...

Beaudin, Krys, Hillman, etc are all solid wild card guys who can potentially be top 4 dmen, but I am not holding spots for any of them...but Joker, Boqvist and Mitchell...yeah, I would make sure there is room here for them to make this team and show what they can do.

Don't sign guys that you can't trade when those young kids are ready to go.

If Boston needed to move that Moore contract, I'm sure they'd have very little trouble doing it. If the Hawks needed to move the Murphy contract for a spot for Boqvist/Mitchell, it wouldn't be that hard.

Using guys like Gus, Manning, Davidson, and Rutta as the placeholders for the young kids will not make this team competitive next season.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

While I don't necessarily think that Murphy is a #3, the way I'd describe him is a solid middle pairing guy. Low end #3, solid #4, and a high end #5. Ideally, he's on your bottom pairing, but that is only if you're super deep on D. There aren't enough quality defensemen to go around for that to be the case most of the time. With the Hawks having Keith and Seabrook here for the remainder of their careers, they really can't afford to keep him around. His cap space needs to be used for a defender with top pairing potential, or who is a low end #2/High end #3-4. In my mind, #3-4-5 defenders are almost the same guy. Hammer was a low end #2. He was on the 2nd pairing because the Hawks were insanely deep.

Fair, still not the elite level guy that you need. He's very much a complimentary piece in a good defense.

 

[AmericanDream]

Don't sign guys that you can't trade when those young kids are ready to go.

If Boston needed to move that Moore contract, I'm sure they'd have very little trouble doing it. If the Hawks needed to move the Murphy contract for a spot for Boqvist/Mitchell, it wouldn't be that hard.

Using guys like Gus, Manning, Davidson, and Rutta as the placeholders for the young kids will not make this team competitive next season.

but I think that is kind of horrible asset management...why sign a guy to a 5 year deal only to move him the following year when you know you have blue chip prospects waiting?

I understand what you are saying, but that doesn't look good to free agents either to sign a deal and then get moved out...Hawks are better off IMO to try and find a serviceable middle pairing guy to hold things together and see what the kids can do...Murphy might be that guy when/if he comes back..I agree those guys are movable, but seems kind of pointless to sign them if they themselves will not be impact players to your team, and they might hold someone who could be back from doing so.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

but I think that is kind of horrible asset management...why sign a guy to a 5 year deal only to move him the following year when you know you have blue chip prospects waiting?

I understand what you are saying, but that doesn't look good to free agents either to sign a deal and then get moved out...Hawks are better off IMO to try and find a serviceable middle pairing guy to hold things together and see what the kids can do...Murphy might be that guy when/if he comes back..I agree those guys are movable, but seems kind of pointless to sign them if they themselves will not be impact players to your team, and they might hold someone who could be back from doing so.

Because these blue chips may not only be a year away.

I want to see this franchise protect itself from the defense we have this year, and from having to burn another year of the core as a development year.

If it means pissing off a guy like Gardiner by trading him in 2-3 years, so be it.

If we're going to throw around money this offseason, I'd rather see them use it on defense first as our forward production is near par with other playoff teams.

 

[LDF]

but I think that is kind of horrible asset management...why sign a guy to a 5 year deal only to move him the following year when you know you have blue chip prospects waiting?

I understand what you are saying, but that doesn't look good to free agents either to sign a deal and then get moved out...Hawks are better off IMO to try and find a serviceable middle pairing guy to hold things together and see what the kids can do...Murphy might be that guy when/if he comes back..I agree those guys are movable, but seems kind of pointless to sign them if they themselves will not be impact players to your team, and they might hold someone who could be back from doing so.

be cold blooded...... the players and their agents don't give discounts or such.... so why rtn the favor to the players in other ways.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Skinner wouldn’t really be high on my list because I think he will be over paid.

Stone would be my target.

I'm thinking Stone is gonna get PAID $$$$$
60+ pt player and 26 years old. Any 7x deal is going to be buying up quite a few FA years.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Because these blue chips may not only be a year away.

I want to see this franchise protect itself from the defense we have this year, and from having to burn another year of the core as a development year.

If it means pissing off a guy like Gardiner by trading him in 2-3 years, so be it.

If we're going to throw around money this offseason, I'd rather see them use it on defense first as our forward production is near par with other playoff teams.

We are 100% in agreement. Sign a top 4 guy on defense for fair money. If the kids take a little longer than expected to be able to handle that kind of role, you are covered. If they come up and are ready to play to their potential, we can move a dman or have a over qualified 3rd pairing. It's a good problem to have.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

We are 100% in agreement. Sign a top 4 guy on defense for fair money. If the kids take a little longer than expected to be able to handle that kind of role, you are covered. If they come up and are ready to play to their potential, we can move a dman or have a over qualified 3rd pairing. It's a good problem to have.

When you look at our overall forward production, it looks like we’re in better shape than a team like Boston is.

I don’t think we need to chase $7-$9.5 million AAVs at forward.

Smaller contracts for guys that are middle-6 upgrades (Dzingel types), sure. But I don’t know if we need our homerun UFA pickup to come at forward.

 

[BobbyJet]

Because these blue chips may not only be a year away.

I want to see this franchise protect itself from the defense we have this year, and from having to burn another year of the core as a development year.

If it means pissing off a guy like Gardiner by trading him in 2-3 years, so be it.

If we're going to throw around money this offseason, I'd rather see them use it on defense first as our forward production is near par with other playoff teams.

Gardiner is not a player that Hawks need. Period.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Gardiner is not a player that Hawks need. Period.

That’s fine, whoever the player is that can be an upgrade. Schmidt? (Nevermind, just signed this morning)

 

[icekoob]

Slow your roll.

I’ll believe it when he maintains the effort.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Slow your roll.

I’ll believe it when he maintains the effort.

You know the thread was posted half-jokingly, right?

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Saad skipped morning practice again. Better be hurt. Even JT is showing up to every optional morning skate after routinely skipping them for a while. Only player that is also skipping them routinely is Keith, and thats fine.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Saad skipped morning practice again. Better be hurt. Even JT is showing up to every optional morning skate after routinely skipping them for a while. Only player that is also skipping them routinely is Keith, and thats fine.

He could be a little banged up.
Took some hard contact a few times in the last game, including that crash into Gibson.

 

[BK]

I'm thinking Stone is gonna get PAID $$$$$
60+ pt player and 26 years old. Any 7x deal is going to be buying up quite a few FA years.

Stone is worth the money to me, Skinner is not. This would be a Hossa vs Havlat type choice to me.

 

[RememberTheRoar]

Stone is worth the money to me, Skinner is not. This would be a Hossa vs Havlat type choice to me.

If Stone is Hossa-lite, would you put him with Toews, and DeBrincat with Kane?

 

[Toews2Bickell]

DeBrincat-Toews-Stone
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Sikura-Anisimov-Kahun
Kampf-Kruger-Hayden
Fortin

Would approve of this lineup. Great part is signing Stone and Sikura coming up adjusts the forward group in such a way that gives it great balance and its a very realistic plan for next summer. They can essentially let Rutta, Kunitz and Ward walk to do it.

 

[BK]

If Stone is Hossa-lite, would you put him with Toews, and DeBrincat with Kane?

I would put him with Kane.

 

[BK]

Perfect world for me is that we move Saad and add Matt Duchene and Mark Stone.

I would then run this top 6 and use the 4th line typically how we have and the 3rd line to bring up our young offensive forwards.

12-19-8
MS-MD-88

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Perfect world for me is that we move Saad and add Matt Duchene and Mark Stone.

I would then run this top 6 and use the 4th line typically how we have and the 3rd line to bring up our young offensive forwards.

12-19-8
MS-MD-88

If we’re getting 88 a forward and paying him 8+ I prefer Panarin. Stone and Toews together would be havoc as far as being an elite two way line. Not as sold on the Duchene idea, but it depends what version of Saad we see this year. Hesitant to add two big contracts with term, especially given how inconsistent Duchene has been. Could be Bobby Ryan 2.0 type deal.

 

[AmericanDream]

so we are talking about Stone in our lineup for next year...

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Has Stone played any LW?

 

[migi]

Duchene has history playing against top-competition as Crosby’s winger so why not go with:

Trade Saad, sign Panarin and Duchene.

DeBrincat - Toews - Duchene
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Sikura - Schmaltz - Kahun

Duchene is so versatile so he could play as C later when Anisimov is traded.

 

[icekoob]

You know the thread was posted half-jokingly, right?

Touché..