The Hawks

[Phil68]

Listening to Hockey analyst scratching their heads trying to figure why the Hawks are not a playoff team. Hearing them saying they have Toews, Saad, Kane and Keith, at worse that should be enough to them in the playoffs. There's a lot of quality hockey left with those players and fact that Toews and Kane are 100 greatest players, they understand why they are so Bad.

My take is Toews although having an ok season, but he is not an elite top 1st line center. He needs to be paired with A BRAD Marchant level player along with a Pasternak. Frankly this is Toews real level in my point of view. Kane is really playing offense by himself and the defense for the Hawks need another season to level out with NHL experience.. I don't see the Hawks making the playoffs. Unless they maybe unload Toews and we all know that's not happening..

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[HighNote]

They have 0 depth.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Their defense is old and/or bad and they traded away Panarin.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I called this... sorry Hawks fans but it was bound to happen, just be happy with those three cups and call it a good run. Which in that case I believe they are. But this is the biggest example of the Salary Cap playing its role.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

It’s the defense (and goaltending lately.)
They’ve started 7 of their last 10 games by going down 0-2.

They’re creating plenty of scoring chances and have plenty of possession offensively.

 

[PensandCaps]

They're paying a 50 point C 10.5 million. That's why they suck.

 

[cliffclaven]

Kane and toews have been the only bright spots. Besides Keith, they have no one else that can play defense. Everyone else, except manning is soft as charmin and perfect fits in this new league. They lost panarin, saad is a shell of what he was, Crawford is mediocre at best... I still think his concussion issues are not over. Hoss “retired” so did sharp, and they lost their best defenseman to Arizona.

Kane, toews and Keith have 2, maybe 3 years left. Seabrook is done. After that, withe the exceptions of debrincat and saad/anisimov, it’s AHL caliber, and players like strome that haven’t developed yet. It’s gonna be a long rebuild.

 

[Phil68]

You can still see a high level of a player in Kane. But Toews?? Either way at some point one of the two Kane or Toews will be traded within a year if they are going to rebuild or retool

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Jack Hughes will be a nice boost for their rebuild.

 

[cliffclaven]

You can still see a high level of a player in Kane. But Toews?? Either way at some point one of the two Kane or Toews will be traded within a year if they are going to rebuild or retool

Nobody Is going to take either one of those contracts at this point.

 

[Noisia]

Should of traded Panarin for prospects/picks/etc instead of Saad.

 

[solidprospect]

Most of the players mentioned are passed their prime years or already peaked.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

They're paying a 50 point C 10.5 million. That's why they suck.

Toews is still a good player and the 2nd leading scorer on the team

Brent Seabrook isn't even worth a 6th of his AAV at this point and he's got a ton of years left.

 

[Rolo]

Kane - High end 1RW
Toews - Mid-end 1st C

Debrincat - 2 LW/RW
Saad - Low end 2LW

Strome - project 2C
Anisimov - Solid 3C
Kahun - 3LW/RW

Kampf - Low end 3C
Hayden - Bottom 6 winger
Perlini - Bottom 6 winger

Fortin - 4LW/AHLer
Martinsen - AHLer
Kruger - Low end 4C/AHLer
Kunitz - Should have retired

Keith - 2nd pairing LD
Jokiharju - very raw project 2RD
Forsling - potential 2LD

Murphy - Injured, but 4/5RD at best
Gustafsson - 5/6LD as best
Rutta - 5/6RD at best
Seabrook - Should be retired

Crawford - Not the same anymore. Low end 1G

Ward - bottom tier backup

This team sucks.. (I'm a Hawks fan btw)

 

[Some Other Flame]

It's not really that complicated. They won cups, paid their players and in the process, lost a ton of depth because of the cap and win now trades. Their core got old and complacent. Eventually their drafting+developmental systems couldn't keep up and now neither can the team.

Look back at some of their trades as they sought to win; Bowman for example, signs Bickell to that awful contract after that last cup win. Shortly thereafter, he's forced to trade Teuvo to get rid of it. Follows that up with trading a first plus for Ladd who did nothing for them. Losing Panarin for Saad was another huge blow, especially with Dano failing to develop.

The Kings and Penguins are in the same boat too (the Penguins for the second time) . The Kings gave up Miller, Jones, and a couple of firsts for Sekera and Lucic and have nothing to show for it too. The Penguins paid their important depth players like Guentzel, Murray and Rust but lose Bonino, Fleury and Cole among others. It's just how it goes.

And it's not just a loss of on ice talent; winning franchises routinely see their off ice supporting talent poached by other organizations. All of it eventually produces a systemically weaker organization on and off the ice that desperately needs to take a step back and take some time to regroup, accumulate assets and talent before they can be properly competitive again.

 

[Section88]

.... is this thread a joke

 

[Phil68]

The Pens are not in the same boat. If you actually think the Pens won't make the playoffs, you're way off. 2 Crosby and Malkin are leagues above Toews and Kane and to boast they have Kessel. Crosby And Malkin even after the 09 Cup they were no nowhere near missing the playoffs. The year before the 09 cup they were in the finals. The pens two top players were and are higher end players than the Toews and Kane by a long shot

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Lose for Hughes

 

[thesaadfather]

Toews and Kane (and sometimes Saad and Strome) are our only good players now. Everyone else is over the hill, still young and raw, or shouldn't be playing in the NHL.

 

[the_fan]

Hawks had their success IMO. 3 cups shortly after their rebuild is a pretty damn good accomplishment

 

[clydesdale line]

Toews is still a good player and the 2nd leading scorer on the team

He's been our best player this season, especially since Colliton took over. The other vets are going through the motions it seems.

 

[serp]

They're one of the worst defensive teams in the league and their goaltending isn't exactly crisp either these days. That gets you no playoffs and straight into the draft lottery.

 

[Crow]

They're paying a 50 point C 10.5 million. That's why they suck.

Nope. Try again.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Toews has been like 14-15 season level so far this year. It's the defense and depth killing this team night in and night out.

 

[Jay haller]

Lol at people praising Kane in the 3rd dude finally gave a **** for the first time since the home opener.

He’s been in float mode for pretty much a year and half.