You are right that it won't happen but holy cow that has Lord Stanley written all over it.

I've got to say, I really don't think it is as implausible as you guys suggest. While none of these guys wants to play for pennies, if the offers from halfway decent teams just aren't there, I believe the Hawks will look very enticing to both Hudler and Vermette. No one wants to go to the Canucks, that's why Hudler is still waiting to see how things shake out with Vesey on the 15th, and what kind of offer he'll receive from Stan. Vermette and Q may not have seen eye to eye the whole time, but he responded excellently when benched a game, and he took key defensive zone face-offs that helped the Hawks immensely. Maybe he doesn't rack up a ton of points, but he's still a key contributor at the dot, someone to mentor Schmaltz possibly, but I feel the Hawks need him more because Anisimov kinda sucks at the dot.

What I think presents itself as more of a problem for this being reality, is that you are left with $8,000 in cap space. We know they need to leave enough space to allow for an emergency call up when someone inevitably gets hurt, but is only out for a game or two. But overall, I love this lineup and will now begin doing rain dances to see if I can will it into existence.

If I'm those guys i would sign with Chicago at a discount in a heart beat. Take the one year salary cut, play well and put up stats, get better contract next year. Look at Lee Stempniak for example. This guy was written off a couple years ago, now look at him.