That 2nd line of Kane, Cat and Strome is a defensively nightmare for the Hawks. This is why Kane mostly played on the 1st line with Toews who plays great defense. Kane did play on the 2nd line double shifting when there were offensive zone starts (same for the 3rd line) but remove the offensive zone starts he only played on the 1st line for good reason.

Dach isn't going to play more then 9 games unless the Hawks move him to winger. Dach's faceoffs are brutal even in the juniors, he's not close to being ready as a center in the NHL.

Seabrook is not playing 1st line, Gus will with Keith. Boqvist is almost certainly playing in Rockford as his defense needs a lot of improvement.

Shaw is not a center and that 4C job is Kampf or Carpenter.

I agree Kubalik is a lock for a top 6. Nylander, if he makes the team is a top 9 player. Sikura, Perlini, and Nylander will be fighting for one of the top 9 spots; none of them would look good on the 4th line.

Agree with most.... except Dach.... you're right about face offs, but other than that and a concussion he is ready for the NHL....he arguably is the most ready out of his draft. Also I don't believe Sikura will ever be ready..
Classic 4A player (taking a baseball reference).

Dach isn't ready as a center and he is extremely similar to Strome. We can't have Strome and Dach both as a 2c and 3c who can't win faceoffs. A team can get by with 1 center that can't win faceoffs but 2 will kill their puck possession game.

If you watched the game last night, the 2 players on the ice that stuck out the most was #1 Sikura and #2 Nylander. Sikura's puck handling and vision is really good, better then 9 out of 12 forwards the Hawks iced last year. Plus, he plays defense and the forecheck. Sikura, surprisingly to most fans, had the best CORSI and possession metrics on the team last year. I know one thing is for certain, I like him a hell of lot more then Perlini.

Not for nothing but ....I told you so....

Told me so about Dach or Sikura? I don't agree with the decision to move Sikura down while keeping guys like Perlini and Quenneville up, but has to do with being waiver exempt

Sikura, though I'm very certain Dach would have made the team outright with a full training camp... there is nothing left for him in junior's....

Simply because the stakes are high on Nylander right now after trading Jokiharju, Perlini simply for being a former 1st rounder, and Kubalik is 27 on a 1 year deal. Sikura shouldn't be playing over Kubalik, he should play over Perlini, and the jury is out on Nylander. Nylander has more raw talent then Sikura, but Sikura so far is a smarter player, better stick control, and better defense. Nylander is faster with a strong shot and that means a lot in the league, and if Nylander blossoms he will be better then Sikura ever will be. I just don't get the need to keep Perlini around...he's dumb as a box of rocks it seems skating around like he's in a figure skating competition.