Here is my idea for the hawks offseason
1. Trade Riley Stillman to the Seattle Kraken so they take Calvin De Haan, he might be an expiring contract, but we need to move on from him to let the other plans happen
2. Currently, the hawks have 3 guys who I would consider to be 3rd pair left shot guys, Zadorov, Keith and Kalynuk. I know the pairing of Zadorov and Boqvist might make sense in my head, but it just doesnt on the ice. Zadorov is too slow to be on a pair with Boqvist, he might be defensively responsible, but there's too many boneheaded decisions for it to make sense. If the choice is between keeping Keith or keeping Zadorov for that 3rd pair, Imo, the hawks roll with Keith as the third pair left side guy playing with Ian Mitchell. They gotta cut back on Keith's minutes, he's playing worse because of it.
3. They have to make a decision on who is gonna be the future next to Adam Boqvist. They can either go to the draft with Carson Lambos which I really like or they can go with a guy like Hampus Lindholm. In this scenario, I will show what happens if they add Lindholm in a deal moving off a first round pick. The hawks would then sign Lindholm to a deal 4 x 5.5AAV, which I think is perfectly fair and reasonable value for Lindholm. This move also makes sense for the Ducks too. 1. They just traded for Haydn Fleury and want to give him top 4 ice time/opportunity on likely the second pair behind Fowler. They can do that by trading Lindholm and putting Zadorov on their third pair for defensive responsibility. Im also sending the rights to Russian KHL vet Max Shalunov their way as well, he doesnt provide much value in terms of the deal but he scored well in the KHL and if he comes over next year he might crack the Ducks roster as they could use some depth scoring. He's not a prospect or even a young guy, but if he comes over, it could be a good piece for Anaheim. Chad Krys is a former second rounder who never really put it altogether, only 23 so maybe worth a bet to see if the Ducks can get him going. And the 2023 second rounder is conditional (read conditions below).
This will lead to the defensive pairings of
Lindholm-Boqvist
Beaudin-Murphy
Keith-Mitchell
Kalynuk
I like the structure that puts in place and if this group is given the opportunity to grow together (with Kalynuk replacing Keith in the long term plans) I think it can be a pretty formidable group.
Now that I've mentioned the defense plans, lets talk about the forward core (This is assuming Toews is back but Shaw is done)
First: Trades
1. Dylan Strome does not seem to have a future in Chicago, he had that great breakout season after his trade here, but he hasn't been that since. They tried to do the Cat-Strome-Kane line, but the defense was just too bad. I'm basing this return package off what the Florida Panthers gave up for Sam Bennett, who is a year older and never showed Strome's offensive upside to a top 6. The deal I'm making is with the Edmonton Oilers to send Strome back with another former Junior teammate, Connor McDavid. The deal is Dylan Strome to the Oilers in exchange for James Neal, Carter Savoie, and a 2nd rounder in 2022. James Neal is obviously not what he once was, this is mostly a contract for the Hawks and the Oilers save cap space, maybe Neal plays better with a change of scenery. Carter Savoie was a 4th rounder in 2020 but he already looks like a steal with a great freshman season at U Denver. His value is probably closer to a second rounder, which if you're counting, is the same value the Panthers gave up for Sam Bennett, who is worse than Dylan Strome, and also wasn't traded for a bad contract. The value checks out for me. Dylan Strome is better, had a better draft pedigree, has had better peaks in the NHL, is better right now and was also traded in a deal where the hawks take on a bad contract with no salary retained.
The other move is trading David Kampf to the Florida Panthers. The panthers are lacking defensive minded forwards in their bottom 6 and this is one for them, its also a player Q has some familiarity with.
Line 1: Hagel-Toews-Kubalik
If you're a diehard Hawks fan, you know how wonderful of a surprise Brandon Hagel has been this year, after the strong performance that Matthew Highmore had last season in the bubble, I expected him to be a mainstay in the bottom 6 for years to come, that certainly changed when Brandon Hagel came on the scene this year and basically was Matthew Highmore but better. A player he reminds me a ton of is Zach Hyman, and when I went and watched some old Steve Dangle content from when Hyman was a rookie, they remind me so much of each other, the kind of guy you love having as the third player on a line because he makes the stars around him better. Winning puck battles, being relentless, having an impact on PP, PK and even strength. I think the Hawks should keep giving Hagel the opportunities he has been getting and combine his chemistry with Kubalik with Kubalik's chemistry with Toews. Not to mention, Hagel and Toews can be a pretty great PK pair so having them together on even strength as well can work wonders.
Side note: every line with Jonathan Toews is line 1, but Kane's line will get just as much if not more ice time.
Line 2: Debrincat-Dach-Kane
This line was wonderful in the bubble last year, but it hasn't been as amazing as I have hoped it would be so far. I'm probably just asking too much of a 20 year old coming off wrist surgery. These 3 can work magic together once the chemistry is built. Kane has magic hands, Dach has underrated magic hands and Debrincat's shot is lethal. Hopefully Dach will be more willing to engage in puck battles when his wrist is more secure so his play so far being only okay doesn't worry me. Not to mention Debrincat is a pretty good forechecker given he's 5'7". If this line is given the opportunity to work well together. I'm sure it can be a top 5 offensively producing line in the NHL.
Line 3: Suter-Gaudette-Nylander.
I dont really like many of the Hawks options outside of the top 6 forwards. These guys all are here to basically prove they belong on the team long-term, throw Borgstrom and Kurashev into this mix as well. Gaudette needs to prove that his most reason season was a fluke and he is who he was last year. Nylander needs to finally show off his top 6 potential from his draft pedigree and Pius Suter needs to show his start to the season wasn't a fluke and keep producing on top of it.
Line: 4: Connolly-Carpenter-Kurashev
This is pretty mismashed. Kurashev has fringe top 6 potential, idk where he fits in this lineup to show it. He might be relegated to 1st line center in Rockford to gain some confidence. Connolly (along with Neal) are bad contracts that can possibly produce like they used to, and Carpenter is a really good 4th liner who has good possession stats as well as defensive PK numbers.
Extra forwards: Neal-Borgstrom
They'll get in when possible
The 2023 2nd round pick is conditional.
If the Blackhawks win a playoff round in 2021-22 AND the Blackhawks resign Hampus Lindholm, that draft pick is upgraded to a 2023 first rounder.
If either, but not both, of those things happen, a 2023 3rd is added to the deal on top of the second.
If neither happen, its just the 2023 2nd round pick
Overall I like the write up. You put in a lot of good thoughts.
ANA is going to want a lot more even if he's a pending UFA. To be fair to our prospects in relation to other team's prospects...what you're sending to ANA isn't really impressive. Unfortunately for Krys, he'll likely be sent to the ECHL next year. Shanulov may never come to the NHL. If you want to send Zadorov, Alex Vlasic (possible Lindholm replacement) , and a 2nd...that would be closer IMO. I don't have any issue acquiring Lindholm, I just think it'll take more.
I'd like to get a better backup goalie. Nothing against Subban, he's serviceable and he does excel when he's under pressure. It's just a dangerous situation to actually WANT him to be under pressure all the time. I need him to be more consistent and give up less rebounds.
I'd also like a true top 6 forward. Can Hagel be a top line guy? Who knows at this point. He gets better every time I see him play, but my expectations for the kid aren't that high just yet. I'd allow him more time on the 3rd line to provide maximum effort and a scoring edge.
I know Carter isn’t as good as Matthew, but his value as a prospect is certainly more than the 4th round value he had when he was drafted. 20 points in 24 games as a true freshman in the NCAAs top hockey conference, the NCHC is super worth mentioning and I think that due to him being farther on in his development by a year, I’d rather have him than a 3rd round pick in this deal, which is close to his value as a prospect rn.
Overall I like the write up. You put in a lot of good thoughts.
ANA is going to want a lot more even if he's a pending UFA. To be fair to our prospects in relation to other team's prospects...what you're sending to ANA isn't really impressive. Unfortunately for Krys, he'll likely be sent to the ECHL next year. Shanulov may never come to the NHL. If you want to send Zadorov, Alex Vlasic (possible Lindholm replacement) , and a 2nd...that would be closer IMO. I don't have any issue acquiring Lindholm, I just think it'll take more.
I'd like to get a better backup goalie. Nothing against Subban, he's serviceable and he does excel when he's under pressure. It's just a dangerous situation to actually WANT him to be under pressure all the time. I need him to be more consistent and give up less rebounds.
I'd also like a true top 6 forward. Can Hagel be a top line guy? Who knows at this point. He gets better every time I see him play, but my expectations for the kid aren't that high just yet. I'd allow him more time on the 3rd line to provide maximum effort and a scoring edge.
Adding Alex Vlasic to the deal sounds like it would make sense, keeping the conditions on the picks I had before. As I mentioned, Shalunov doesn’t actually have any value in this deal, he’s more of a throw in that the ducks might try to sign.
In terms of goalies, idfk man. Goalies are weird and as we saw with Lankinen tonight, sometimes, good goalies randomly suck. I decided not to touch it.
As for the Hagel thing, I really like his ability as a complimentary forward. I think that he can develop into a 4 line player and want to give him the opportunity to show he can be the Zach Hyman of the Blackhawks. The lines certainly wouldn’t be concrete and I would like to see Hagel get those opportunities working in the top 6 as a compliment, while also working in the bottom 6 as the play driver.
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