still wouldn't be a powerhouse

Yeah sorry dude, But no way are the Hawks bad enough to land Jack Hughes. Now that Detroit has lost Zetterberg for good. We're probably the prohibited front runners in the Jack Hughes sweepstakes.

Just keep in mind that being in last place gives an 18.5% chance of the #1 OA. Less than 1 in 5 is hardly a shoe in.

Right that's why tanking is no loner considered and option. Because there's still less then a 20% chance of success. Look at both Philly and Carolina around 12th place and both moved up to #2 any thing can happen.

Seeing Ejdsell and Hayden on Toews' wings immediately makes me sad. Start this assignment over, Stan, or you're fired.

At Toews current trajectory he is an elite third line center who plays as a first line center. You are going to have to accept that Q will always play him as the number 1 despite how in-effective he is. I simply put him with players who are going to help defensively on the first line, and hold the puck on the ice for when the scorers are going out.

Trust me I don’t like it, but it’s where we are at.

if the hawks are bad enough to land jack hughes, they're bad enough so that hughes won't make the differnce. The window is closed. The run is over. The hawks are dead.

If the hawks land Jack Hughes I would argue that the old window is closed, but a new one opened up. I think it is arguable that with Jack Hughes as a number 1 center we have as good of if not better personnel to take us back to a new championship window.

The Hawks are bad enough to have a punchers chance of a ping pong ball bouncing their way for Hughes with "injured " Crawford and selling a few pieces at the deadline. Add a capable goalie (and no I don't mean Ward), Hughes, have a couple d men kids blossom, add a piece with the 6ish a year in cap (plenty more then that if they move out Anisimov and/or Murphy), have Max Shalunov get out of the last year of his KHL deal and the turn around could be seismic.

Everyone who says “The hawks are dead” have no idea about our prospects/ current players capabilities. I hope it makes them feel better, because the hawks are coming back sooner than later.