Wait... Connor Murphy makes almost 4 million for 4 more years? Jesus

He's not a bad player, it just so happens that both teams he played for suck.

I love what u siad and yes Murphy is a good player. Reminds me of hjalmarrson. And bowman sucks as GM. And we fired one of the best coaches in the league? So stupid. But I like Murphy and If we get better players Murphy will play well. It be like jokiharju and boqvist is seabrook and Keith ( but better ) and Murphy like hjalmarrson.

Another thing. Stromes job is to not be agressive. And he’s played really good scince joined Chicago. Way better than when he played for arizona

Is it possible that Colliton is hand-tied by Stan, who wants to keep a stranglehold on dead last to secure the best chance at Hughes? Even if the coach is always chiefly involved in who to call up, I'm pretty sure the power to make actual roster moves resides with the GM... Could all be part of Stan's "let's suck as hard as we can" plan.

Our best dman is a 19 yearold while Keith is no longer a top pairing level player he could easily be a stud still in reduced ice time but right now we do not have the depth to do that. Goose, Rutta, Manning, should not play more than bottom pairing guys but this team basically has no choice since we must wait on Krys, Mitchell, Beaudin, and Boqvist to be ready.

I get wanting to see kids like Hillman and Sikura play now but what I believe is that they will be called up at this season once some of the fat is cut off this team at the trade deadline (mainly Rutta, Kruger, with possibilities like Gustafsson and Anisimov being dangled for picks as well.) This team will sell at the deadline and after that is done we will see Hillman, Sikura, Edjsell, get more of a look. Not holding my breath on a manning trade but I can see Kruger going to a team wanting a PKing center that is defensively sound while Rutta would be our new kempny dangled for a pick to a team wanting D depth.

Overall while the season started good under Q you have to look and realize that a large majority of our wins and points simply came from our start where the team had like 9 straight games go to overtime to start the season.

I like Hayden-Kampf-Kahun as a fourth line. I think you put them together to form chemistry and make them realize they can succeed in that role. The sad reality of this team is we're playing those three guys in top six roles. That's why we're in last place, almost everyone on this team is slotted a line or two too high.

I would be willing to bet that Colliton has zero (or close to zero) say in the roster each night. I mean seriously...Who knows the IceHogs more than Colliton? No Body. Stan's afraid that if he stops putting guys like Rutta, Kunitz, Ward on the ice...then there won't be a trade partner for them @ the TDL. AND I hate to say it, but he's right about that. This year, this team was never a playoff team...Q or no Q. Is this proving Q is the best coach in the league. Yeah Probably. Would I have liked to keep Q...oh heck yeah, but the effort level of the Hawk players is absent too. Blocked Shots are way down. Physicality was never a strong point, but sticking up for your teammates never used to be an issue. It was last night. Here's the real sign. If Joki goes to worlds instead of play with the Hawks. Then you'll see the first deliberate move to take away one of the better defenders (I'm not ready to say best) from this team...and it's not like that year of ELC comes back. It's not a 9 game stint back to the OHL. It's just losing hockey. You'll see Sikura and Hillman in March I'm sure.

I'm not in a believing in tanking. it's like you're saying hinder the development of player just for a slightly better shot at Hughes. I see that hawks defence, it's really not to nhl average standards. and the forwards even with Kane an toews is below the nhl norm. yes there is a reason the hawks are a bottom five team this season, not enough good nhl calibre players.

At the end of the day though, how many of Winnipeg's goals were because of poor turnovers or zone coverage? That has nothing to do with Bowman trying to sabotage the team really, there's just no gel on this team.

I think we've all heard of the rumored power struggle between Bowman and Q, Q hated the Panarin and Hjalmarsson trade, and Bowman has seemingly set him up for failure, using him as a scapegoat. Meanwhile, the hawks are doing even worse without him. Colliton has no idea how to treat star players, and I wouldn't be surprised if the players are purposely playing bad for him. Q had this team at .500, and it's only gotten worse. Sikura and Dahlstrom just got called up so we'll see how that goes. Personally, I am not expecting a win in the next 5 games.

Oh, I would be very surprised to hear someone purposely playing poorly. The emotion when Kane scores a PP goal is real and they're professionals. Losing means you're bad at hockey. Now on the other hand...the league is MUCH closer than people think. They're not actually an AHL team. It's like this in other sports too! It's not as if Oklahoma can beat the Browns in football. Its not a real matchup. Were in a bad spot now, but lack of effort to me is different than purposely playing bad. The core isnt selling out on plays...yeah. but they not walking into the locker room mid game by choice.

Sabotage may be too strong a word, but I disagree. We all looked at this defense and said you'd have to be incompetent to think it is sufficient, say nothing of good. Rutta at 2.3? Brandon ****ing Manning at the same? Gus for two more years when he's already proven how much of a defensive liability he is? We all knew they were awful singings, and we know less than Bowman does on any given day.

There is no way he crafted that roster thinking he had a halfway decent defensive group. And if he knowingly did it, then he was okay with them being bad, he just has to play the public fiddle differently.

This is the most honest (and accurate) take I have seen so far this season.

And honestly, what else is Stan supposed to do? To be playoff bound, the team would have to earn 72 points over the next 50 games. That means the would need to perform at 118 point pace to even have a shot at a wildcard spot (assuming 95 points gets it done).

The smart play (and the only play, really) is to spit shine Manning, Kunitz, Rutta, and maybe even Anisimov enough so that someone will trade for them at the deadline. It's going to be a very long road to February 25th. After the deadline, we will probably see moves that make more sense (Rockford call-ups, lines that actually work, etc.)

With the best odds for a lottery pick secured, the Hawks will hopefully draft Hughes / Sikura, have Jokiharju, Boqvist, and Mitchell on the back end, and lots of cap space to make a splash in free agency.

I would not be surprised to hear it at all, Toews, Kane, Keith and Seabrook have put their heart and soul into this franchise. Q was there with them during the good times, they loved Q and knew he is one of the best coaches of all time. Q gets the blame for Stan's poor trades over the past 3 seasons and sharp decline in team depth. Eddie said it on the broadcast last night, at some point a message has to be sent. Everyone looks too comfortable. You can swap out the role players every game, but the hawks need a better defensive zone effort. The hawks aren't trying hard enough, they have more to give and I think a lot of fans would say that. Sure Kane is pumped to score, he's the best player in franchise history if you ask me. But at the end of the day, these guys are comfortable with losing, and you can debate if that's making them purposefully try less or not. A team with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in their primes should not be last in the league.

Sabotage isn't too far off, he moved Hossa's contract, along with Hinostroza and Oesterle, two very serviceable players who most would agree were two of the better players the hawks had last season, and he did next to nothing with that cap space. To say he didn't know the mistakes he made with the free agent signings would be asinine. He has scouts watching every game in almost every country, he knew what he was getting into with these players. He's made a lot more bad moves than good moves and at this point, he should start selling what he can.

Since Hughes is far from a guarantee...I'd be gunning for a high end centerman prospect. PHI has Frost and I think Q is heading to PHI. There could be something going in early 2019 there.

I don't really know the rules around compensation for Coaches but isn't the cost usually a middling pick? Hard to say "give me your first round pick from 2017" in this case, I would imagine.

EDIT: Sorry, it's clear to me now that you're thinking a trade could be made to send some of Q's favorite players to him in Philly.

Just when I wrote it down...Bowman brings up Dahlstrom and Sikura. I'm happy about it, but he had to do it right after I said March...oh well It's unfortunately due to an AA injury so the intent of keeping guys like Rutta on the ice.