Chicago got swept by Nashville, the Hawks didn’t win a game in that series. And they went to the Cup Final in ‘15, not ‘14.

Unless the Salary Cap Ceiling is going up to about 90M, I don't understand how you will have 20M when FA rolls around.

Unless the Salary Cap Ceiling is going up to about 90M, I don't understand how you will have 20M when FA rolls around.

Dude, first off Schmaltz is a stud - a legitimate #2 ceneter, and second - the Blackhawks have 20 million in cap space.

The Hawks have lots of options to drastically improve this team.

There were a few reasons why the Hawks failed last season. The Hawks played 20 rookies last season, that's a lot - why did they play 20 rookies? because Bowman didn't have the cap space to improve this team via free agency, so he was stuck picking through the UFA bargain bin. Also, Corey Crawford got vertigo in December and up until then the Hawks were a playoff team, not only that but the team as a whole had a down year (it happens) but the biggest reason why the Hawks had a lousy season was mainly because they were stuck playing rookies - especially on defense... The only defenseman the Hawks had that played more than 50 NHL games were Keith, Seabrook and Murphy - that's not good..... Not to mention in goal Forsberg & Bureube had almost no NHL experience at all and the same can be said for the bottom 6......Wingels, Sharp and Bouma (who was eventually sent down to the AHL mid-season) were the only bottom 6 guys with any significant NHL experience - the rest of the bottom 6 were basically rookies.

With 20 million in cap space the Hawks can go out and get the vets they need to fill out the team..... Lets not forget the Hawks also have trade bait to bring in some assets as well....... Anisimov is no longer needed, I'm sure the 27th overall pick is in play for the right player and Crawford could be traded as well (or potentially go on LTIR).... I don't know what's going on with him really...

The Hawks have all the important core players they need to be a contender next season, in Toews, Kane, Keith, Saad, DeBrincat, Schmaltz and Seabrook (if he can regain form)....... All the Hawks really need is a legitimate #2 LW (Wahlstrom, Kovalchuk, TVR etc) to play with Schmaltz and Kane, a couple of legitimate veteran defensive/two-way specialists (Wingels, Bozak, Vermette etc) that can win draws in the bottom 6 and 1 top 4 defenseman (J. Faulk) and a veteran #5 defenseman (John Moore)........ And depending on the goaltending situation and Crawfords health a legitimate veteran backup (Hutton, Ward etc)..... And the Hawks will be fine.

The Hawks are nowhere near Detroit status, the Hawks run isn't even close to up yet - sure it's getting narrower but the Hawks have maybe 5 years left..

Look, if the Hawks were done I would admit it and think about the best rebuild possible - but they're not close to rebuilding yet...

The Hawks downfall last season was 80% cap related and 20% the fact that the core didn't have anyone to play with that knew the system because the were ROOKIES....

Yes, I am aware many hockey fans hate the Hawks and they would love to see the Hawks window closed and locked - but that just isn't the reality of the situation. Wishful thinking is not fact or reality....... I've been a hockey fan for 35 years since I was about 3-4 so I have seen plenty of contenders come and go so I know what a team looks like when it's time to rebuild and this Blackhawks team just isn't one of them....... The salary cap finally made it difficult for the Hawks to build a competitive team last season, and a lot of people questioned the trades Bowman made (but really didn't need to make last summer) but Bowman made those moves for a reason - so the Hawks wouldn't be in "cap hell" ever again or at least not in the near future and guess what? it worked - the Blackhawks now have 20 million in cap space to get the players they want - not the players they can afford...... Besides this past season of sucking got the Hawks the 8th overall pick in one of the deepest drafts in nearly 40 years so..... And I think the Hawks could draft a guy like Wahlstrom who could step right into the NHL considering Wahlstrom played on a line on the USDP program with a Patrick Kane clone named Jack Hughes (who will be taken 1st overall next draft).....SO...... The Hawks have a lot of options to make improvements this summer and they certainly will and I fully expect the Blackhawks to be a contender next season - there is zero doubt in my mind there, just as long as they address the obvious issues that plagued them all last season...

Sorry, but this is a cap era and very good teams can take a temporary step back due to cap constraints but then turn around a season later and be a contender like nothing happened...

The Blackhawks will be fine.

Cap will be between 78 and 82 million. But you also spend way too much on your top players. And players like Hossa and Anismov cost a lot of money for not that great of production.

What I'm saying is that what went wrong with the Hawks last season can be fixed.....What I'm saying is the salary cap finally made it difficult for the Hawks to put a team together that can contend last season (they had the star power, just not the supporting cast)...... This season will be different because the Hawks have plenty of cap space and with the emergence of Schmaltz and DeBrincat as legitimate young top 6 forwards filling out the rest of the team with legitimate veteran players the Hawks need to contend won't be very difficult...

What worries me the most actually is goaltending actually, no one knows anything about Crawford's situation.

Like I have said: if I thought the Hawks were done I would be posting ways how they could rebuild, but they're not done so I'm not thinking about that at all.

not a hawks fan at all but they'll be back next season. do I think they will win the cup? no. but I think they'll once again be a premier team in the west. people on this site LOVE to use recency bias for players or teams. yeah the hawks sucked this year but like HawksFan28 says they have plenty of cap room to improve their roaster and some good trading chips. people saying hawks are done are the same guys saying caps should trade ovechkin, pens should buyout Fleury, etc.. at some point in their career. they look at SUCH A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE!!!! one bad season doesn't define a player or team

This isn’t just looking at what they did last year. This is the fact that Keith and Seabrook aren’t getting any younger, and they have massive holes throughout the lineup. Signing free agents can’t build a team, just ask Dallas. This team needs 1-2 top four defenseman, and a handful of secondary scoring from the forwards, oh and by the way both Toews and Saad are making 2x the amount of money they should be given their production.

Seabrook sucks now I’ll give you that but I think Keith can rebound and have a solid 50 point year. They do have holes but so did Pittsburgh Penguins pre jim Rutherford and he did an excellent job in acquiring low risk high reward players and promate players from within. I also believe saad can be a steady 25 goal 60 point player. He had a bad year but he’s much better than a 30 point 3rd line winger. Toews is overpaid but he’s still a #1C no question about that. I see a lot of holes in their lineup of course, but I still see a very solid core with lots of potential for improvement

Yeah the core is good. But are we really going to call this team a legitimate Cup contender with the holes that they have in the lineup? If Bowman goes out and fills most of those holes, maybe. But right now, no way.

not a hawks fan at all but they'll be back next season. do I think they will win the cup? no. but I think they'll once again be a premier team in the west. people on this site LOVE to use recency bias for players or teams. yeah the hawks sucked this year but like HawksFan28 says they have plenty of cap room to improve their roaster and some good trading chips. people saying hawks are done are the same guys saying caps should trade ovechkin, pens should buyout Fleury, etc.. at some point in their career. they look at SUCH A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE!!!! one bad season doesn't define a player or team

Yeah the core is good. But are we really going to call this team a legitimate Cup contender with the holes that they have in the lineup? If Bowman goes out and fills most of those holes, maybe. But right now, no way.

The holes the Hawks have are easy to fill - they're not lacking much in their top 6 except for a legitimate #2 LW (which can be addressed via UFA)...... The "holes" the Hawks had were in their bottom 6 which were basically all rookies.... The "holes" the Hawks had were on defense - the Hawks lacked a legitimate experienced #4 defenseman and a legitimate and experienced #5-6 defenseman - both of which again can be addressed via UFA.

And look, It didn't help that Crawford went down in December - the Hawks were a playoff team when Crawford went down.... And guess who replaced Crawford? right a rookie goalie, and who backed up that rookie goalie? right a rookie goalie....

The Hawks have a the major pieces to contend - they just didn't have the supporting cast to contend because Bowman had no cap space to sign those players last summer, but this summer he does - he has cap space to bring in the pieces that will make this team a contender next season..

This should be obvious to anyone that followed the Hawks this past season......... The inexperience really killed the Hawks...... But what other options did Bowman have? his only option was to play the kids (who were ready to take the next step, just not all at the same time)....

The Pens are a good example, everyone thought they were done then they win 2 cups back to back....

Opening at 8-1 odds in the LV SuperBook (8-14-17), the Penguins were the favorite to win the cup. Looks like everyone thought they were done.

Opening at 8-1 odds in the LV SuperBook (8-14-17), the Penguins were the favorite to win the cup. Looks like everyone thought they were done.

Yes but that was after they acquired Phil Kessel. Previous to the Kessel trade and after the pens dissapointing regular season / early playoff exit many people pegged Pittsburgh as done and Crosby out of his prime

Where did all this space come from? They have no major pending UFAs to free up space for them.

Yes but that was after they acquired Phil Kessel. Previous to the Kessel trade and after the pens dissapointing regular season / early playoff exit many people pegged Pittsburgh as done and Crosby out of his prime

Yeah. I don't see Chicago getting a top-10 right winger in the NHL with their current assets. I don't really see how anyone could think that Crosby was out of his prime...I think more people pegged Pittsburgh as done because of the playoff goaltending of MAF.

Yea, they have no major UFA's .... They have 3 RFA's HInostroza, Hayden and Duclair but they're not anything major......... The cap is going up to 80M - and lets not forget that Hossa's contract is moot - meaning the Hawks really have 5.275 (Hossa's cap hit) more than what capfriendly says, because the Hawks (any team) can go 10% over the salary cap in the off-season as long as they're under the salary cap on day one of the regular season which the Hawks will be because that will be the day Hossa is placed on LTIR..

So at 80M the Hawks will have around 18M in cap space, at 82M they will have around 20M with only Hinostroza, Hayden & Duclair to sign whom are all RFA's...

The Hawks can fill their needs with 18-20M

https://www.capfriendly.com/ltir-faq#offseason

"Can LTIR be used in the off-season?

Yes, LTIR can be used in the off-season while the 10% off-season cushion is active. LTIR in the off-season is calculated using the basic equation outlined above, which permits a team to exceed the off-season salary cap. To use off-season LTIR the team must provide doctors proof that the player in question will continue to be injured at the beginning of the regular season for 10 NHL games and 24 calendar days.

At the start of the season the teams LTIR relief & ACSL is recalculated when the 10% cushion is removed."

So Hossa's contract doesn't affect Bowman at all - it gives the Hawks an additional 5.275 million to spend over what capfriendly has listed....