Hawks should take a gamble on Kaapo

Created by: ChiHawk

Team: 2024-25 Chicago Blackhawks

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 22, 2024

Published: Mar. 22, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

Hawks end up, through the lottery, with the #4 pick. Celebrini and Levshunov are off the board. Lindstrom, Demidov or Eiserman are the order to take, but Hawks may decide to push to get Bedard a linemate sooner than later. Lindstrom is a C, and Demidov is locked up in the KHL for at least 2 more years so they may look at Eiserman to be ready in just one more year.

Eiserman - Bedard - KK could end up being a very good line for a long time to come; so if nothing else, this is just spitballing out of an interesting look. KK is pretty good defensively and bedard and eiserman will need a big defensive forward so he fills that role. Bedard is a playmaker and goal scorer but Eiserman is obviously a stud of a natural goal scorer giving Bedard an option and a double threat with both feeding each other goals. KK is there to support those two and worth the late 1st in next year's draft to take a chance on.

Eiserman, Nazar and Moore are another season away of turning pro, but just taking a look here at line combos for the 25/26 season; the season after next. Donato and Hall will be gone by then.

Rinzel, Hayes, Greene still in the AHL, but the idea is to see how the team starts taking shape in the 2025/2026 season. 2026/2027 will be exciting IMO.

2nd line of Moore, Nazar and AA will be a speed line...all extremely fast players. AA's puck handling leaves a lot to be desired but he's a short term plug.

Kurashev, Dickinson and Reichel could prove to be an interesting combo as a solid 3rd line IMO. Eventually, Green, Hayes or Dach steps up to replace Dickinson. For the record, I'm not that high on Dach as some fans are. IMO, he will end up a 3rd liner, maybe 4th or not make it.

Free Agent Signings

RESERVE LIST		YEARS	CAP HIT
Nazar, Frank		3	$950,000

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Vlasic, Alex	4	$4,000,000
Reichel, Lukas	3	$1,750,000
Anderson, Joey	2	$1,000,000
Guttman, Cole	2	$1,000,000
Kakko, Kaapo	3	$2,500,000

CREATED		YEARS	CAP HIT
Eiserman, Cole		3	$925,000
Moore, Oliver		3	$925,000

Trades

CHI

Kakko, Kaapo [RFA Rights]

NYR

2025 1st round pick (TOR)

Buyouts

Josh Bailey: $1,166,667

Retained Salary Transactions

Jake McCabe: $2,000,000 (50%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
26	$87,500,000	$65,707,500	$0	$6,422,500	$21,792,500

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Eiserman, Cole $925,000$925,000	Bedard, Connor $950,000$950,000 ($3,500,000$4M) C RFA - 2	Kakko, Kaapo $2,500,000$2,500,000 RW RFA
Moore, Oliver $925,000$925,000	Nazar, Frank $950,000$950,000 RW, C RFA - 2	Athanasiou, Andreas $4,250,000$4,250,000 LW, RW UFA - 1
Reichel, Lukas $1,750,000$1,750,000 LW, C RFA	Dickinson, Jason $4,250,000$4,250,000 C, LW UFA - 2	Kurashev, Philipp $2,250,000$2,250,000 LW, C, RW RFA - 1
Slaggert, Landon $912,500$912,500 ($850,000$850K) LW RFA - 1	Foligno, Nick $4,500,000$4,500,000 LW, C, RW UFA - 2	Guttman, Cole $1,000,000$1,000,000 C RFA
	Dach, Colton $825,000$825,000 ($82,500$82K) C RFA - 2	Anderson, Joey $1,000,000$1,000,000 RW RFA

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Vlasic, Alex $4,000,000$4,000,000 LD UFA - 6	Jones, Seth $9,500,000$9,500,000 RD NMC UFA - 6	Commesso, Drew $925,000$925,000 ($425,000$425K) G RFA - 2
Korchinski, Kevin $918,333$918,333 ($1,000,000$1M) LD RFA - 2	Murphy, Connor $4,400,000$4,400,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 2	Mrázek, Petr $4,250,000$4,250,000 G UFA - 2
Kaiser, Wyatt $916,667$916,667 ($425,000$425K) LD RFA - 1	Allan, Nolan $825,000$825,000 ($82,500$82K) LD RFA - 2	Söderblom, Arvid $962,500$962,500 G RFA - 1
Del Mastro, Ethan $855,833$855,833 ($57,500$58K) LD RFA - 2

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Hall, Taylor $6,000,000$6,000,000 LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 1
Donato, Ryan $2,000,000$2,000,000 LW, C, RW UFA - 1

Top Comments

Mar. 22 at 3:02 p.m.

FoxYou727

Joined: Oct. 2020

Posts: 1,001

Likes: 569

I mean I'd take a gamble on him too but his best season was 40 points. A foward whos best season was .5 ppg isn't worth a 1st, doesn't matter if he was 2nd overall that was half a decade ago

ChiHawk, Hawksguy81 and Garak liked this.

Mar. 22 at 3:03 p.m.

wojohawk

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 1,107

Likes: 1,449

Other than his draft position, there is nothing in Kakko's body of work that suggests his value should be a 1st. I would consider a non Hawks own 2nd and a prospect of some sort (nothing in the top dozen or so of the Hawks pool). Kakko has enough NHL games under multiple respected coaches that he is more likely to be what he is and not someone that blossoms in a change of scenery. And he is also going from pretty cheap to getting a pay raise as an RFA when his agent uses his 40 point season as the reference point.

ChiHawk, Hawksguy81 and Garak liked this.

Mar. 22 at 3:05 p.m.

LivingAnew

Joined: May 2023

Posts: 405

Likes: 525

Thanks, ChiHawk, for all the thought you put into this post. It's exciting to contemplate the Hawks' future, and you help me see that better. It's easier to suffer the pain now, for a better glimpse of what will no doubt be a different team with MUCH more potential in a few years.

If I'm the Hawks, I'd make your deal for Kappo. Somehow, I bet that Ranger fans will have another opinion! {;- )

Cheers, LA

ChiHawk and Garak liked this.

Mar. 22 at 3:12 p.m.

ChiHawk

Joined: Apr. 2017

Posts: 19,091

Likes: 9,419

Quoting: FoxYou727

I mean I'd take a gamble on him too but his best season was 40 points. A foward whos best season was .5 ppg isn't worth a 1st, doesn't matter if he was 2nd overall that was half a decade ago

He's likely worth a 2nd for a flyer, but Rangers fans go crazy so was being generous

FoxYou727, LivingAnew and Garak liked this.

Mar. 22 at 3:14 p.m.

Stanley_Cup_To_Manhattan

Am Yisrael Chai

Joined: Oct. 2018

Posts: 18,660

Likes: 6,760

No chance the Hawks trade their original 1st but NYR would consider it for Tampa's first this year (after we take care of them in the first round lol)

In all seriousness if Moore, Rinzel, Nazar, or a 1st are the table the Rangers definitely consider it.

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