The loss of Crawford last year was catastrophic. Toews, Saad, Keith and Seabrook weren't great either. I bet this team is back in the playoffs next year if they stay healthy.

I love the fact that you put Schmaltz on the wing with Toews and Saad. Don't see Hawks not taking a defenseman in this draft. So Wahlstrom is a bit far fetched. But this looks great. I just hope Stan doesn't go nuts again because of one bad year. The Nashville series I understand, but this was a goaltending problem, they should get more of a fringe starter as a back up.

Anisimov and Murphy need to go, they're dead weight. Oesterle was playing 20 a night on the top pairing and suddenly he's a healthy scratch over Murphy and Seabrook? Yikes. I expect Kampf will be 4C, his face off numbers are great and he's sound defensively. There's too much money available to not go after a big name via trade/free agency. Even more money if you trim the fat.

With a healthy Crawford this group may make the playoffs and lose in first round. I guess that's better than last year and more of what we come to expect. They need to be able to score more goals next year. First line has 2 guys who struggle of svore and one who struggles to shoot. I like Kane and kitty cat though.

Anisimov isn't dead weight per say, he's not bad. His contract is big and we can free up that space so I understand the desire to trade him. Murphy started playing a lot better later in the season as it appeared he started understanding the system better but I don't think he's worth his contract and a few teams are in dire need of defense so agree he is expendable. I don't think Oesterle is fitting well. Heck, they even through him on offense late in the season. He's cheap and worth exploring more but while fast, his physicality is not there losing a lot of board battles and passing isn't great. The Hawks have room to pick up a couple great role players like Riley Nash, a pretty damn good 3C or 2C, and THomas Hickey as a 2nd line pairing on D who is physical and plays with a lot of grit. They can even go after JVR or Kane...they need scoring help on the LW.

Glad to see Schmaltz not in the 2C role....his faceoff percentage is horrible and only putting extra burden on Toews and that's the last thing Toews needs is more ice time as he looks worn out.

Absolutely agree. They need a pickup like JVR or Kane. Can't go into this season hoping Saad or Toews returns to form. If Toews is Toews again and Saad has another bad year, the Hawks aren't going anywhere. Not to mention Defensive issues with Keith slowing down and Seabs not more then a 14 minute a game guy now.

I think they should definitely get one of Boqvist, Bouchard, or Hughes if they're available but if they're taken in the top 7 then I would find it tough for the Hawks to pass up on Wahlstrom. Thanks for the feedback on the lines, I definitely think they should try Schmaltz with Toews and Saad and keep Anisimov with Kane because that's where he is best.

I guess I don't mind trying Schmaltz back and wing in general, but not on that line because he's an open ice player...not so much the board play and cycle. I really just hate the idea of losing his defensive ability at the center position. 3rd in the entire NHL in takeways and has one of the best takeaway/giveaway ratios. Takes care of the puck REALLY well. I like him driving the puck across the opponents blue line with his speed. Something they need from a center and not just Kane. Schmaltz also doesn't really have a shot...relatively speaking. He's an assist guy. He'll continue flourish with guys like Debrincat on his wing.

I'm not in love with Anisimov, but I don't think his contract is absurd AT ALL. We had (2) guys with net front presence last year...this would be losing on of those guys and leaving Toews to do all the work in front of the net. I'm fine trading Murphy. I just think you'll get more for Oesterle/Rutta @ the TDL because of the lower cap hits and less term. Maybe Murphy can play opposite a Henri Jokiharu or Quin Huges??? I definitely see Bowman getting a Dman in the draft.

Oesterle was playing 20 a night on a struggling team. Murphy and Seabrook are better, by far. That's not even up for discussion. Yes there is money available but I think the Hawks will not make a huge free agency signing and wait until the following summer and sign a big name defensemen.

Sure one of the top 4 defensemen in the draft would be ideal but every mock draft has them going before the Hawks pick. We've already seen that Anisimov can't play with anyone but Kane so he needs to be on the second line center. Schmaltz would be great on that line, as we've seen, but he has great vision and playmaking ability to open up Toews and Saad and possibly get them going. Schmaltz was great playing with Toews in the 2016-2017 season. The Toews line can shut down any line in the NHL and they also can score. The Kane line will always be lethal and DeBrincat would be great with Anisimov standing in front of the net.

I don't think they need to spend big on a forward this free agency, they're hurting at D. Ideally it would be nice to sign a top 4 defenseman but no one is that appealing besides Carlson. I can see the Hawks waiting to spend big next year when all the good defensemen will be available in free agency. To me it seems like Bowman wants to see development in Murphy, Gus, Forsling, and Jokiharju before he brings in another guy.

Well then count the Hawks out again from any chance at a run in the playoffs. They need scoring and they need a veteran established D guy. With the right moves, offloading Murphy, Anisimov, or both, they have room to bring in a Thomas Hickey or Calvin DeHaan on D and a solid LW like Kane, Perron, Neal, or JVR. This will help the young guys on D and upfront develop more. Toews, Saad, Keith, Seabs all looked like crap this year and the young D guys haven't shown more the role playing as a 4th, 5th, or 6th D guy.

I've seen a couple mock drafts that have the Hawks picking up Hughes or Bouchard at #8. Let's also not forget, the Hawks can easily give both 1st picks to a team like AZ to trade into the 5th position.

Okay so you move Anisimov and Murphy and sign DeHaan for example, similar contract to Murphy. That's completely fine. Then you sign a top 6 left winger for around 6 million. Our center depth becomes absolutely terrible at that point. We have plenty of wingers who can score but we have no depth up the middle. Toews and Schmaltz can be 1 and 2 but then who's the third line center? If you sign a guy then we have no cap space going into the next summer when we have to sign Schmaltz. We can't hand out 3 big free agency contracts and repeat the same mistakes going forward.

No doubt. I think Hughes or Bouchard would be awesome at number 8. My scenario is just if they're gone which seems to be pretty likely. I think the Hawks need to go best available with their 8th overall pick. Moving up would definitely be interesting too.

Bouchard has some concerns with his skating, though - it's, at best. average.

Putting Schmaltz in the C position is not smart on the top 2 lines. His FO percentage is horrible and putting too much burden on Toews especially in penalty/power play positions. Keep Anisimov as a 2nd or 3rd C and add Riley Nash at about $3m per year. Kampf on the 4th line. That would greatly improve FO percentage and still allow Schmaltz, with a change of schemes, to play defensively as a winger. Dump Murphy or Rutta for cap space. Pickup Hickey or DeHaan for around $3M. In this scenario, you've only spent $2.2m more and you still have a fair amount of space left to sign a LW scorer.

I'll run a armchair team now...give me a few minutes.

Why not move up to the 5th spot?

It really depends on which d-man in available imo. All of the d-men not named Dahlin are likely at least two seasons away from making a meaningful impact at the NHL level, if not longer, at least based on history of d-men picked around there and the scouting reports on the top guys in this draft. Wahlstrom, though, could potentially step in right away next year if he wanted - he's already skating and shooting at a NHL level and he's got some size that he shouldn't be overpowered. He is committed to Harvard for next year, though.

Either way, I could see many teams being enticed by how he's 1) a bit more of a sure bet than the d-men and 2) he'll likely make it to the NHL faster. If Boqvist, Dobson, and Hughes are gone by the 8th pick, it honestly might be better to go for a forward like Wahlstrom (if available) instead of Bouchard (who has some concerns over his skating) or any of d-men in the next tier down like Wilde or Smith.

Bouchard has better numbers then Jokiharju or Noah Dobson in the CHL. He is NHL ready with likely the best slap shot and accuracy aside from Dahlin in the draft. His issue is his first step and acceleration aren't good but he is quick once he gets going, but he is highly physical and passing is a plus. He gets out of position at times though. He would be great anchoring the power play. He is very much like a Brent Burns.

Oh I'd definitely be open to it depending on the cost and willingness of Arizona. If we could package Anisimov and Murphy going to AZ and maybe Dvorak coming back that would be ideal. Dvorak can be our third line center and Arizona would now have Stepan, Anisimov, and Strome down the middle. Not too bad there either.

Bouchard is not NHL ready- none of the d-men outside of Dahlin are according to like anyone who scouts them. And yes, Bouchard has better numbers because his size helps in a league of younger player, but that's why so many larger players end up busts when picked high. Btw I don't dislike Bouchard by any means and would not be mad / disappointed if he was the one selected, but with the NHL focusing much more on skating ability, I'd rather err on the side of caution and go with the better skating d-man over size / physicality. Dobson also has size + is a pretty excellent skater + is potentially better defensively.

Honestly, I'd prefer Boqvist to either but I think he'll be gone by 8.

Check out the team I just posted.

I disagree. He already has 3 years in the minors and is projected to be NHL playable at some point in the season. He also will likely be a 2nd pairing eventually in the NHL with a potential to be a top pair if he can improve his skating. Boqvist has better upside no question but will take longer. I wouldn't take Dobson over him but Hughes yes.

Hmm a lot of players have 3 years in juniors before they're drafted - like most of them. Also, if Bouchard wasn't ready at camp, then he wouldn't play in the NHL this season anyway - the agreement with the CHL means he either plays in the NHL or has to go back to juniors.

The likelihood of him playing next year in the NHL is low because of that rule tbh and that's pretty common for where he would be picked. It typically takes 1-3 years for d-men selected between 6-10 to impact the NHL (i.e. play in half a season), at least historically. Like for example, there have been 32 d-men selected in the top 10 since the 2008 draft., and of those 32:

6 d-men impacted the NHL the season immediately following their draft: Schenn, Doughty, Hedman, Larsson, Hanifin and Seth. All of them were top 5.
7 d-men took only 1 season, 9 d-men took 2 seasons, and 8 d-men took 3 seasons or more. There were 3 d-men selected in the 2016 or 2017 draft that I can't place yet because they haven't played in the NHL yet. 1 would be in the 3rd category and the other two at least in the 2nd.

So yeah, it's not impossible that Bouchard will play next season, it just seems less likely for a 8 pick to step right in. There are some example of the 1/2 year guys playing a little in the NHL their first season removed from their draft, but smaller amount. Ristolainen, who was taken at #8 in 2013, played 34 games in NHL his first season so he was close.

Anyway, any of the d-men the Hawks might select would also follow a similar timeline - I only brought up time because forwards tend to advanced quicker to the NHL and that will be a draw for some GMs for a guy like Wahlstrom. And like I said, I like Bouchard overall, his skating reviews just worry me a little. Any of the d-men are going to have some issues cause of youth.