Speculation: The Official Offseason Roster Discussion Thread

[ClydeLee]

Oh there’s definitely people suggesting we tank/use our cap space to take on bad contracts. That’s essentially quitting. Saying stuff like “we’re gonna suck regardless so let’s just not even try to upgrade the roster”.

Well some see they critically need another high end talent and some age on the possible breakout D prospects to hit success again

 

[featherhawk]

Well some see they critically need another high end talent and some age on the possible breakout D prospects to hit success again

okay I did not know, I don't read all the posts

I would like us to sign Alex Martinez for sure he would be my first target to be honest on D.

 

[RayP]

Well some see they critically need another high end talent and some age on the possible breakout D prospects to hit success again

I am in this boat that you need at least one elite talent to win a Cup. STL is probably the only team in the last decade+ to win a Cup without a bonafide elite talent, but even that year ROR was an absolute monster for them.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I am in this boat that you need at least one elite talent to win a Cup. STL is probably the only team in the last decade+ to win a Cup without a bonafide elite talent, but even that year ROR was an absolute monster for them.

Pietrangelo very much is an elite talent and has finished in top 5 of Norris voting several times

 

[RayP]

Pietrangelo very much is an elite talent and has finished in top 5 of Norris voting several times

When I say elite I'm talking guys who you can make an argument for being the absolute best at their respective position. There was never a season he had that I would put him in that conversation, he was always a step back of those guys IMO.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

When I say elite I'm talking guys who you can make an argument for being the absolute best at their respective position. There was never a season he had that I would put him in that conversation, he was always a step back of those guys IMO.

Well ROR the year the Blues won cup was without a doubt the finest defensive forward in NHL

So by your definition then yes ROR was elite talent

 

[ozzzie19]

I would be surprised if the Hawks don’t get Seth and another top 4 defenseman. So with Murphy, that leaves 3 spots for the young D. Enough room to give them enough minutes in situations where the are set up to succeed, but not too much reliance on them that we’ll repeat last year. I think, along with the improved top 3, and another year of experience and competition amongst the young D, will result in a potentially average defense.

 

[SimpleJack]

I am in this boat that you need at least one elite talent to win a Cup. STL is probably the only team in the last decade+ to win a Cup without a bonafide elite talent, but even that year ROR was an absolute monster for them.

Good thing for us we’ve got Patrick Kane. A playoff legend. Let’s get him back there and let him work some magic.

 

[Illinihockey]

Exactly. Why the hell are so many people ready to quit on the season before we even have a set roster? It’s insane…

Last years Hawks team damn near made the playoffs and had much less talent than next years team is going to have(barring another injury crisis).

And look at the Canadians who came out of nowhere and made it to the SCF.

You just never know. We’ve still got 88…let’s try and compete dammit!

the Hawks finished 9 points out of the playoffs and were on pace for an 80 point season

 

[SimpleJack]

the Hawks finished 9 points out of the playoffs and were on pace for an 80 point season

Because they fell apart at the end of the season. They were in a playoff position for quite a while. And again…that was without any legit top 6 centers. We had several injuries to defenseman as well.

If the Hawks get a healthy Boqvist, add a couple new pieces including someone like Jones/Hamilton, full season of Murphy and Stillman and more growth from the other young defenseman…then that blue line will be much improved.

AND you get full seasons of Dach and Toews….all of a sudden we’re incredibly deep at forward. Lots of scoring.

Maybe add a goalie too?

There’s a great opportunity for us to be a competitive team that can make the playoffs. I still expect Colorado and Vegas to be the class of the West but it’s also rather wide open with many unknowns, and if you just make the playoffs and things go our way you never know.

 

[Muffinalt]

So if nothing happens:

Kalynuk - Murphy
De Haan - Boqvist
Stillman - X

X being competition for Jones, Mitchell, Beaudin and Regula.

I mean obviously not good, but for a rebuilding/tooling team it's not hopeless. Plenty enough time for all the kids/youngsters. Pretty good prospects too.

But for sure there is some kind of a move coming. That X is a nice spot for a 1d too.

De Haan - Hamilton
Kalynuk - Murphy
Stillman - Boqvist

De Haan's spot could be upgraded even now or once he comes off the books.

Unproven yes, but not too bad imo. There are things to build on.

All changes quite a bit if we trade for Seth Jones ofc.

 

[Illinihockey]

Because they fell apart at the end of the season. They were in a playoff position for quite a while. And again…that was without any legit top 6 centers. We had several injuries to defenseman as well.

If the Hawks get a healthy Boqvist, add a couple new pieces including someone like Jones/Hamilton, full season of Murphy and Stillman and more growth from the other young defenseman…then that blue line will be much improved.

AND you get full seasons of Dach and Toews….all of a sudden we’re incredibly deep at forward. Lots of scoring.

Maybe add a goalie too?

There’s a great opportunity for us to be a competitive team that can make the playoffs. I still expect Colorado and Vegas to be the class of the West but it’s also rather wide open with many unknowns, and if you just make the playoffs and things go our way you never know.

Guess what, all the games count. They played two of the worst teams in hockey at the start of the year and got Jennings level goaltending for about 6 weeks out of two guys that no one thought would be any good. When they played the rest of their division they "fell apart." For months anyone with a brain was saying look at these underlying numbers, what they are doing now is completely unsustainable. It wasn't a surprise they ended up where they ended up. The surprise was that it wasn't much worse.

 

[giza]

To JC's credit, he had the Hawks playing with a lot of effort, but when the playoff stretch drive came around, the effort of the competition became the same or more and the talent/experience gap took hold. They simply didn't have another gear to tap into. Hopefully, with Toews at the help, they youths a year more experience and an improved blueline (somehow), they can somehow make the playoffs.

 

[Muffinalt]

How about trading for Hampus Lindholm or Cam Fowler?

Anaheim im sure could be convinced to move one of them. Lindholm is I guess a Seth Jones type situtation coming off the books next year - I could be convinced for both trading for him or waiting and singing him in 22.

If we could sign Hamilton, a Hamilton/Lindholm or Fowler/Murphy trio would be pretty solid core imo with the remaining kids supplanting.

 

[Northernhawk]

Wow! So okay I was looking at capfriendly to see where exactly the Hawks stand cap wise...
Wow!
So right now I have 18 players signed at $55,361,667 plus Olli Maatta retention of $750,108 that's puts the Hawks at $56,111,775 with the five remaining spots currently being available for our 6 remaining RFAs and maybe Hinostroza as a UFA...lots of cash available! Seattle will snatch up a player either a signed(Connolly, Carpenter or deHaan) or unsigned(Zadorov or Gaudette)...so the Hawks have upwards of $25-28 million to spend...and that doesn't include Hardman, Entwistle, Borgstrom, Reichel or Beaudin!

Kane 10.5
Toews 10.5
DeBrincat 6.4
Kubalik 3.7
maybe Connelly 3.5
Strome 3.0
maybe Carpenter 1.0
Dach 0.9
Kurashev 0.8
Nylander Suter Hagel Kampf and maybe Gaudette and Hinostroza

maybe deHaan 4.5
Murphy 3.8
Stillman 1.3
Mitchell 0.9
Kalynuk 0.9
Boqvist 0.9
Jones 0.8
maybe Zadorov

Lankinen 0.8
Subban 0.8

Could defiantly do both Seth Jones and MA Fleury...

 

[Northernhawk]

Hawks need to do a MA Fleury deal first to acquire a 1st rounder for a Seth Jones deal

So something like Subban and 7th rounder in 2021 to Vegas for Fleury, 1st in 2022 and a 6th in 2021

Then the Hawks trade a 1st in 2022(Columbus choice between Vegas and Chicago pick) Strome, and Beaudin(hate to see him go) or Zadorov for Seth Jones

So that would be an additional $12.5 million this year for Fleury and Jones less about $4 million from the players moved out...so another $8-9 million in salary, very doable

I love the idea of Jones but not wanting to give up the 11th overall this year so an acquiring of a 1st from Vegas would offset that

Keeping our picks in line for the next two drafts and greatly improving our current roster

 

[Mrfenn92]

Hawks need to do a MA Fleury deal first to acquire a 1st rounder for a Seth Jones deal

So something like Subban and 7th rounder in 2021 to Vegas for Fleury, 1st in 2022 and a 6th in 2021

Then the Hawks trade a 1st in 2022(Columbus choice between Vegas and Chicago pick) Strome, and Beaudin(hate to see him go) or Zadorov for Seth Jones

So that would be an additional $12.5 million this year for Fleury and Jones less about $4 million from the players moved out...so another $8-9 million in salary, very doable

I love the idea of Jones but not wanting to give up the 11th overall this year so an acquiring of a 1st from Vegas would offset that

Keeping our picks in line for the next two drafts and greatly improving our current roster

Hawks should not trade next years first

 

[Illinihockey]

Hawks should not trade next years first

Maybe if its top 10 protected

 

[Kevin Musto]

Maybe if its top 10 protected

No.

 

[ploppsdman]

Why is a broken bottom feeding team trading a 1st round pick? Chicago needs to recognize who they are: a bad team with a worse coach.

It is past time to clean house.

 

[Cullksinikers]

Why is a broken bottom feeding team trading a 1st round pick? Chicago needs to recognize who they are: a bad team with a worse coach.

It is past time to clean house.

Montreal just went from finishing 24th and being in the bubble to the SCF in one season. The NHL has an incredible amount of parity, and the Central Division isn't getting better; it's getting worse. The Hawks have firepower up front to stay in games. A couple savvy moves on the blueline and for a veteran netminder could have them in the playoff race thanks to their new-found cap flexibility. The Hawks have plenty of intriguing young players, some solid veterans, and cap space. I think the Hawks are incredibly unknown and it's hard to gauge them since the potential big moves are yet to be orchestrated. Do I think they are a Cup contender as soon as next year? Absolutely the hell not. However, depending on who they can add, that will truly determine this team's ceiling.

 

[Illinihockey]

All the Hawks need is a generationally great goaltender to get hot, play only average teams, get lucky and then they can get their asses kicked by a talented team and be back to square one. Montreal is going to be bad next year. Nothing about a fluke playoff run when they got to play all Canadian teams until the semis is going to change the trajectory of their franchise

 

[Hawkaholic]

Montreal just went from finishing 24th and being in the bubble to the SCF in one season. The NHL has an incredible amount of parity, and the Central Division isn't getting better; it's getting worse. The Hawks have firepower up front to stay in games. A couple savvy moves on the blueline and for a veteran netminder could have them in the playoff race thanks to their new-found cap flexibility. The Hawks have plenty of intriguing young players, some solid veterans, and cap space. I think the Hawks are incredibly unknown and it's hard to gauge them since the potential big moves are yet to be orchestrated. Do I think they are a Cup contender as soon as next year? Absolutely the hell not. However, depending on who they can add, that will truly determine this team's ceiling.

Peoples infatuation with building a team to hopefully squeak into the playoffs, hopefully get hot, and hopefully just make the Cup Finals, is something. I'd rather they built a team that is more like Tampa, and less like Montreal.

 

[Cullksinikers]

Sheesh. Let's try that again. No one wants to build a team based upon "fluke" runs like Montreal just had. However, some of the rumored adds this offseason are the Vezina winner and a legit top-2 defenseman. Adding players of that caliber to the mix can change things in a hurry from being into the lottery to being a playoff team in a league with that much parity. That's all I was getting at. The Hawks have plenty of expendable assets that have decent trade value, as well as cap space for this first time in a long time. It's one thing to be involved in rumors, and it's another to execute said moves. I'm in wait-and-see mode on the Hawks. They're a long ways off right now, but a couple decent moves could accelerate this retool if you will.

 

[SimpleJack]

Sheesh. Let's try that again. No one wants to build a team based upon "fluke" runs like Montreal just had. However, some of the rumored adds this offseason are the Vezina winner and a legit top-2 defenseman. Adding players of that caliber to the mix can change things in a hurry from being into the lottery to being a playoff team in a league with that much parity. That's all I was getting at. The Hawks have plenty of expendable assets that have decent trade value, as well as cap space for this first time in a long time. It's one thing to be involved in rumors, and it's another to execute said moves. I'm in wait-and-see mode on the Hawks. They're a long ways off right now, but a couple decent moves could accelerate this retool if you will.

Nope. Nonsense. It’s hopeless. It’s over(even though we don’t even know what the roster is gonna be and still have like 25mil in cap space). Why try to compete when you can just quit and tank instead?