You're absolutely delusional if you think there's any chance Smith isn't on the opening night roster.

Agreed, switch him dach or something. Dach should be back in juniors.

Both of you realize he was sent to the minors playing on the worst team in the league right? How on Earth am I delusional? Hawks have enough sandpaper in the line up and Smith is easily replaceable.

Due respect, cuz believe me, I respect your opinion there. Your right, he couldn’t crack the sens. However, I still think he can’t sit a 3 mil player. Plus, dach just shouldn’t be in the nhl yet.

Dach will get a look, hence, "Opening Night" titling. He could very well be sent back to junior after 9 games. No one expected Dubois or Kotkaniemi to make the NHL as quickly as they did as #3 overall. I think you can sit a $3 million dollar player. Hell, I think you can sit a $6.875 million dollar player in Seabrook. It's unlikely and won't happen, but more teams need to start benching guys. A large salary doesn't mean the player is any good.

And you realize he was never actually sent to the minors right? He was placed on waivers but never played a game there. What sandpaper does this team have? Shaw... I wouldn't put Saad or Caggiula in that category Smith brings. Plus he's actually good at faceoffs. Dach was barely 40% in junior. Why would you play a kid you want to develop 3rd line minutes. Go back and dominate and improve your weakness. Or play top 6 minutes here. He shouldn't play bottom 6

I'd propose this, at least for a few games.

8-19-88
12-17-77
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The only way Dach plays on this team in the next 4+ years is if he's 3C. Byram should've been the pick, but they're clearly convinced Dach can make this team.

Just a reminder when you bring up Dubois and kotkaniemi, both guys were on teams that didn’t have much in the way of centers. They easily slipped into those teams as 1-2 centers. Dach slips in easily as number 3. I guess I just don’t think there’s a need to rush him. But then again, I really don’t like dach or his style of play. He’s inconsistent and never actually dominates the whl like byram did or turcotte did with the USNDTP.

Nick C, you are the guy on here that definitely sees eye to eye with me. Agreed with everything you just said.

Byram won't be the wunderkind some think he will be.

Agree with you on Dach, however Kotkaniemi has been 3C all year in Montreal with Lehkonen and Armia. Dach as a 3C makes sense because of his size. It would be a good idea to teach him how to perform a shutdown role and mold him defensively, he could be a Toews replacement. Strome doesn't have that in his game, but Dach has that potential. Byram would be the perfect, instead COL got Byram and a solid 2C prospect in Newhook, that's a tough pill to swallow.

Honestly, I don’t see how he can’t. He’s on the perfect team that plays a style that is completely conducive to honing his game. I don’t see any down side to his situation.

He's an all-around D man, he's really a no brainer pick. Letting him drop to Colorado opens their cup window for the next 10 years.

Ya know what upsets me about that though, is dach isn’t meant to be that, at least to bowman. I said in another armchair that I expect the sun and moon from him. Stan basically made me when he took him over byram. Having said that, if he doesn’t score 90-100 points regularly, I’m gonna be disappointed. I know he’s suppose to be a 200 foot center. So my expectation is very unfair. But it is expectation that Stan and company created when they passed on a sure fire number one d man.

I mean, I don't think anyone would mind him being a Toews replacement. 100 point scoring centers are great, but how many have the leadership and defensive qualities of a Toews to win 3 cups? Unless they put him on the wing (Which I think severely reduces his ceiling), he's going to have to start there. Passing on Byram was a mistake, even with all the D in the system, they still went ahead and drafted a D in Vlasic the next round. I wish I understood their draft strategy.

The only reason I don’t want another is cuz I’d love a Crosby or malkin. 3 cups, mvps, art ross trophies, conn smythes. Believe me, I love toews, he’s been an unbelievable captain and leader. However, I just want a guy who play a speed game and score lots of points for once, at the center position. Last Time the hawks had that was Roenick and savard. In all honestly, Crosby’s defensive play is also underrated. I get ur point about dach and toews. Kopitar and Bergeron are in that argument too. But I keep making the joke: watch us finish dead last and end up with Alexis lafreneire. Pure point getter. That’s not a hit on the team, but I just don’t understand the direction the team is going in anymore. It makes no sense. Trade away jokiharju but don’t take byram??? What’s going right now??

I had to jump in here. All great thoughts! You guys really know your Hawks. As of right now, I'm FOR Dach making the team. Traverse City and Training Camp and the 9 game test still needs to happen and things are subject all the way until that 9th game, but I think the PROs out weigh the CONs. Dach would get to play more minutes in Saskatoon and in more situations. I wouldn't be upset if he was sent down, but Jesperi is a good comp and further to that point, Dach would be in a better situation than Jesperi. Dach can play between Saad and Shaw who are two true nhl professionals and can protect him both physically and stylistically. All (3) play strong cycle games and are best when they crash the net. Let's pretend Dach goes back to Saskatoon for a year. He's still not going to get more minutes next year. He's still not going to be on the #1 PP.

Moving in to center depth. Having too much is a good thing. I think we might be overrating Strome a bit here. I hope to all that's holly I'm wrong. I want to see Strome play away from Debrincat to get a big contract. I don't think the 7-8 year deal $7-$8M contract for Strome is a good thing. Strome's a #2C. He's never going to be a #1C. Dach might be able to though. With Dach and Toews...then Strome drops down to #3C. If Strome wants mega $. Maybe he's the guy that gets moved. Maybe Strome for Dustin Brown's (or Kovy's) contract and Turcotte??? ...just having some fun stirring the pot...

Colorado is going to be a very interesting team in the upcoming years. Nathan Mac is on one of the best contracts in Hockey and now Makar/Byram is a very good low cost Dpair.

There's a lot of people that don't think Byram is great defensively...or even good. He doesn't really have size and doesn't use the body.

I think a lot of you are forgetting that "hit ratio" on a 1st round D guy developing into a star or even a top 4 player is much much lower then a 1st round FWD making it as a star or top 6 or even top 9 player. The risk to take a D guy is much higher. I think it was a pretty easy decision for Bowman to take a forward. That said, while Dach is likely the NHL most ready center available after Hughes, passing on Turcotte was a mistake. Turcotte is much more naturally gifted in ability from skating, stick handling, passing, IQ, and shots but he's going to need to gain size and muscle. Dach has the size and muscle but he doesn't have the natural tools Turcotte has most notably the acceleration to play a strong 2 way game that Turcotte is known for. If both hit their ceilings, I see Dach as a very solid 2C in the league and Turcotte a very solid 1C. Splitting hairs maybe but because of playing with Hughes, I think that actually hurt Turcotte as he was often overlooked and would have been the 1C on any other team.

They believe Nylander is NHL ready and Colliton has coached many Swedish players and it seems he knows how to unlock untapped potential (Strome). I think this team definitely makes the playoffs. Lehner is a legit starter, Crawford will be healthy and able to rest much more. De Haan is a huge add in a very underrated deal Bowman made (Saarela is a nice sweetener in that deal who I think is NHL ready). Bowman made these moves to add competition in camp, and most likely a player will elevate his game and reach another level.

A part of me is for it, and another part of me is unsure he will beat out other rookies that will be looking for spots (Nylander, Saarela, Kubalik, Sikura). I don't think Colliton wants to put rookies on the same line, so the combinations will be difficult to make. Most NHL coaches insulate their rookies by placing them on a line with two veteran forwards. It'll be interesting to see how Colliton approaches that.

Ya know, I think I'm gonna add more response just to air my feelings one more time (as if I haven't already). That is, I'm still extremely bitter about this pick. As a fan, I always have faith in my team and expect that same faith be shown by the front office.

Now, I don't exactly know what they saw in this kid, but I know that they kept saying his interview was what put it over the top. You had players available at number 3, NUMBER 3, that were projected as 1st liners at their peak, but you took the 2nd liner instead. You passed on the best available to get bigger, essentially. You took an opportunity that hopefully doesn't anytime soon again and you went who "looked" ready instead of who pays off down the line. You did Montreal what did last year. You didn't set aside yourself being on the hot seat. You thought of only the quick fix. A quick fix, I might add, who has no business in the NHL next season, as evidenced by Kotkaniemi's own struggles this past season. So what is there to hope for? What's his peak? Will he be another Toews? Because that would require him to go beyond his potential. He can't win faceoffs, when he doesn't have the puck he largely goes missing, and he doesn't use his size. Think about that last one for a second, a 6'4'' 200 pounder doesn't use his size. He can deke the world for all anyone cares, but can he protect himself?

Even more important question: what purpose does he serve? The 2020 NHL draft is due to have countless centers projected to be drafted in the first round. You passed on a number one projected d man to rush on a slower, big body center. I know people think that d men bust more than forwards, but I'll direct everyone to Makar and Heiskanen two years ago. Small sample size, sure, but it doesn't change the fact that being projected that highly isn't for nothing. Busts happen all the time, so why do the Hawks go with the biggest gamble of them all? To size a GM's job? My team, this team I've cheered for since I was 4 years old, have gone from the gold standard of the league, playing speed based possession hockey, to resorting to making a team that needs "sandpaper" to get by. Does this mean we should trade Boqvist, Mitchell, and Beaudin? They are too small right?

I'm sorry to all you fans who show such faith this kid. I get that you want to be positive. But as someone who truly takes pride in trying to know everything I can about hockey, I'm scared. I really wish we didn't get 3rd overall and would have had 4th. If we picked this kid then, at least it MIGHT have been because byram was picked 3rd. Nothing in this pick makes sense to me, and the direction the team has gone in scares me. There's no speed, or rather not much of it. There's toughness, which everyone says "makes us tougher to beat." Not a winner, just able to put up a fight. He is a 200 foot forward? Cool, so is Turcotte, just with more speed, scoring ability, and work rate. I hoped as the summer went on I'd have reason to have faith in this pick, but I haven't had a reason. I ask people over and over to give me a reason to be. Tell me he's a leader, tell me he can actually score, tell me he will learn to win faceoffs, tell me he will actually be able to keep up with NHL hockey. Please, somebody!!!!!

I've been written off as being pessimistic and that I'll give him a fair chance. Bull****, that's the excuse people give when they can't make a logical argument to support this kid. So convince me, please convince me. I need to have faith in this kid if I will believe he will lead this team in the future. Cuz so far, this kid is all talk. I haven't once referred to him by name in this reply, so someone put value on his name for me. Otherwise, its just another nail in Bowman's coffin when he crashes and burns in this faster NHL.

@HatterTParty We've been through this and Dach is proving himself at every level. People want to give him a chance because he's EARNING it. Let's see how he does in Traverse City. The real question for you is...what does Dach need to do in order for you to give him a chance?

To be fair, I "truly take pride in trying to know everything I can in hockey" as well. I know people in the Blackhawks organization, but you don't see me tooting my horn about it. I agree with you, this isn't the ideal pick. I would've been much more comfortable with them taking Turcotte or Byram, but they didn't. Dach can be Toews' replacement, and that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. He's definitely earned a chance in the line up, and whether he starts on the wing or down the middle is completely up to Colliton. Dach and Boqvist were the two best players in prospect camp, and I can't see them not getting a look.