2016 is in the books. Bowman spent more of his owners money on salaries than any other gm. The cap crunch, chapter 6, is underway. Kruger getting a raise to 2.85. Shaw due a big raise Scuderi eating 1.125 of dead space Bonus money to Panarin and Roszival is measured in millions Bickell's 4 million dollar cap hit still has to be moved Seabrook's raise kicks in Hossa thrived as a 3rd line RW for 5.25 against the cap Other stuff: Expansion news will impact roster management. No first or 2nd round pick this year right now Prospect pool is pretty light Schmaltz still hasn't signed a contract Forsling did sign a contract Q and Bowman signed for 4 or 5 more years So business as normal for the Hawks. Up against the cap, depth is very suspect, a few players racking up the miles and lots of bloated contracts are in the way. First significant move for Bowman: Should be a nice addition to the blueline's bottom pair, maybe even the 4 slot. I have no idea how his game will translate to the NHL. Kempny is nice UDFA signing, and since he's an ELC, the likelihood of getting a better addition cheaper is slim and none right now.
Was hoping the Sabres would land Kempny. They're in on most UDFA's, which is a nice change from a couple years ago. But, other than MN State Nelson, it looks like they go somewhere else. Chicago still has a huge advantage because they're winners. It's a great signing for the Hawks just like the Calder* winner was a year ago. (* Chicago will get the Calder this year.) It's all part of their mastery of skirting around cap restraints. I, BTW, have come around to thinking that Shaw could be a fit in Buffalo. I'll still think of him as a nut jabbing asswipe.
As you should. Lots of good trade scenarios, or at least ones that make sense, since Buffalo wants to start winning before everybody becomes more expensive and Chicago needs cost controlled depth. I think Ristolainen is going to conduct a national awakening next year. I will happily give you Seabrook and Shaw and other things.
Uh, Bob, you're not bringing Rasmus into this discussion, are you? Listen to what TM has to say to that ... ... ... brpppp, brpppp, brpppp
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/06/01/zawaski-blackhawks-can-solve-cap-woes-with-1-unpopular-move/ Makes some sense as a possible option , doesn't mean I like it but perhaps.
Campbell is definitely interested in Chicago. He was out honing his soccer skillz with 3 and 4 year olds this weekend in the west suburbs. He's established in the area still. I think he runs his charity stuff out of Chicago too. Unless they found structural damage on Anisimov's body, I don't want him traded just to keep Shaw. When the time comes, he'll be an expansion draft casualty and then CHicago will fill the role with maybe Schmaltz or one of the Euro UFAs.
https://theathletic.com/2016/06/09/artemi-panarin-contract-negotiations/ Scott Powers was the BOOYAH (espn) beatwriter for the Hawks for a number of years and I really thought the quality of his work and insight took off the last few years before they gutted staff. Anyway, above is about Panarin's future contract.
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/b...-bryan-bickell-to-hurricanes-for-draft-picks/ Great that they were able to finally moves Bickell .... hate seeing Teravainen let go though.
This is pretty much a disaster of a trade barring another major transaction, meaning a trade. There just isn't enough gain from this move compared to a buyout. If they weren't moving Teravainen out to assure a landing spot for another team's malcontent or a unsigned FA like Vesey, this move is a borderline disaster for a team looking to contend with a top heavy roster. We'll see what happens. I was able to make sense of the Sharp trade (declining player on huge cap hit that overlapped with 2 years of T+K) right away. Daley plugged a hole on paper, it made sense even though it worked out poorly. Trading Saad landed another LW option and plugged the gigantic 2C hole while giving some capspace to boot. It stung but the trades made sense. In this case, as it stands today, it doesn't make sense if they plan on contending. Bickell was eligible to be bought out. Teravainen wasn't going to be a superstar next year, but he was going to out play his cap hit and that's something this roster doesn't have enough of.
If they extend Shaw on a bloated contract like Kruger, I'm going to be chugging the haterade all summer unless they makes some very creative moves.
I have a feeling that may be what their looking to do but as usual we will see what Stan the Man has in mind moving forward.
All the arrows are pointing to a Shaw extension. I'm not a fan of a player like Shaw getting a big contract so I anxiously await arrows pointing a different direction. Already too tough for Kruger to play to his contract.
Schedule is out .... looks like I can see them in Florida in late March http://www.secondcityhockey.com/201...2016-2017-regular-season-schedule-start-times
I liked the direction of their picks, but those later 2 2nds looked like guys they may have been targeting a little later than they were picking. Tough to say. I'm of the opinion they weren't ready for a Shaw trade that landed them 2 16' 2nd rounders.
I kinda pull for the Hawks so this is not a butthurt motivated comment. I took DeBrincat off my Sabres board (not that TM cared). There's small, fast, & tough. And, there's small, fast, fragile, and quite possibly stupid. I hope I'm proven wrong when I place Alex in the second group.
