Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 19,026
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1 - Agree on Dach. I don't think he's more then a middle tier 2C at his ceiling and may end up being a stand out 3C. Not sure why the Hawks drafted him over Turcotte. Yes, Dach is more NHL ready (albeit he'll need a year in the juniors IMO) but Turcotte has a 1C ceiling and will for sure be a very solid 2C. Again, this is just me watching them play...feel like Turcotte has more raw talent and will grow into his body more. Turcotte should spend a couple years in the juniors though.
2 - I have not read this on Jokiharju and not sure where the rumor is coming from. Agree that he was in the top 2 or 3 D guys on our team last year the way Q played him. I definitely saw him fall off after 25 games or so which tells me his conditioning isn't good enough for the pace and frequency of games in the NHL yet. That is fine and I'm definitely okay with him playing in Europe and the Minors last year. I believe the hawks felt they rushed him last year and I can understand that. Let's keep in mind he just turned 20. That said, with De Haan out till Thanksgiving or into December, Colliton would be an idiot not to play him and see how he does this time around. We'd be bigger idiots to trade him at this point unless the return is too good; say for Drouin straight up as an example.
3 - I really don't get this offseason. Did we improve on defense? Yes, but we made the logjam worse in the process by grabbing both Maatta and De Haan. I don't like the Maatta trade comparably and wonder if Bowman would have done that if he got De Haan first....hopefully the answer is no. Our biggest issue still is we don't have a bonafide top 6 winger. I'm guessing the hawks hope to strike gold with one of the young guys (Perlini, Sikura, Kublik, etc.). Caggs is not the guy and Shaw is okay on the top 6 but not a long term solution plus he'd be better in the middle 6.
4 - Lehner I was shocked but not necessarily a bad move. Crow is likely done as a Hawk after this season unfortunately. I think the Hawks know more about Crow's health then we do.
Anisimov has got to go.