Why is wifi playing first line winger?

Both teams should say no. Hawks probably dont wanna trade Kurashev when he will still be one of 3 skill players on the team next year. I also don't think the Habs should trade Volokhin quite yet... Fowler is having himself a year, but college doesnt always serve as the best indicator for goalies and Volokhin's lookin real nice in russia

this person dosnt actually watch hockey. just reads the scores and the points.

Are you saying I don't or the person that posted

Kurashev is not getting traded because he’s one of the guys that sees the ice on a similar level to Bedard. When the hawks are competitive he could be a good 3rd liner who is able to jump up to fill an injury. Think Chris Kunitz for Crosby.

the genius who thinks arber is a wiinger, and belongs on the first line.

youre fine, cheer hard for ovie, i think he can get there!

While your instinct is to believe I know nothing about hockey, you shouldn't practice ruinous empathy. FYI, Xhekaj played forward until his softmore season in the OHL with Kitchener Rangers. Stop being disparaging and become a fan who can appreciate another point of view.

Chicago won't be competitive for a few years and I sincerely believe fellow Sudburian Davidson would take the deal.

I gotta disagree. I know it is hard to trade a player who is having success, but you don't get a good package for players who aren't playing well. And, let's face it, Bedard's future success does not hinge on having Kurashev on his wing, they will have no problem finding guys for Bedsy to play with. Although, I would probably swap those players with some that CHI would ACTUALLY have interest in, because I don't see KD having any interest in Harris or Ylonen.

I concur on all of your post, Garak - including that Harris or Ylonen aren't of much interest to the Hawks. As much as I like Kurashev, I think he can be traded for real good assets now, just as Dach and the Cat were. We can get short-term FAs in the short term, and have a lot of talent on the come (and yet to come) in the long term. Frankly, if MON substituted Mailoux for Harris and Ylonen, and kept the rest of the deal as stated, I think the Hawks take the deal.

Its not necessarily about Kurashev's value, or his future in Chicago. But if we enter next season with the expected lineup (assuming we dont win the lottery) of Bedard, Taylor Hall, AA, Lukas Reichel who MAYBE starts producing again, and Dickinson, with Nazar and Moore not in the NHL yet, Bedard is inevitably going to regress without a consistent linemate that he has chemistry with. And that to me is worth more than a late first. If you plan on bringing Nazar into the NHL consistently next year and Reichel is going to be a consistent producer, or you plan on signing someone whos gonna enhance Bedard's play so he doesnt have to do it all himself, then go for it. But as it stands right now, I dont know that Im a fan of making the current team worse.

I'm not so sure Mailloux would be on CHI's radar. He has some past off ice issues that KD would probably want to steer clear of. Although, it does seem like Mailloux has shown legitimate remorse, shown growth, and taken steps to remedy the situation, I still think, given CHI's recent history with the sexual assault scandal(s), they won't want to bring another situation like that into the fold.

I agree with you, Slick. Part of the reason I can see clear to moving Kurashev right now is that I'd also look to sign UFA Marchessault for two years at ~$8mm AAV (or more, if need be). Can you imagine him and Hall on either side of Bedard?

Good point. I was unaware of that. Still, if that's the only obstacle to a deal, I'm pretty sure the two teams could find someone else (or even another pick of some sort) to make it work.

Reasonable, but I am not worried about Bedard regressing in the least bit, he is going to be just fine. Again, they will find guys to play with Bedard, if they need to, and his success in the NHL does not hinge on having Kurashev on his wing. I have a feeling Kurashev was always expendable to Kyle Davidson and he was just hoping for him to have some success while they still had control over him, so that they could get a good package. Almost everyone on CHI's current roster should be expendable, and CHI has too much work to do for them to pass on a deal like this. I certainly don't think they should go crazy ripping the roster apart, but if you get an offer along these lines, at this point in a rebuild, you have to at least think long and hard about it.

Thinking through a point on this post, Garak, I'll bet you're right about Davidson thinking Kurashev wasn't a long-term solution... Why else would he/they elect to give him two years on his arbitration win, instead of one (which they had the right to choose). It could be that you're exactly correct... That if Kurashev did well, he'd be that much more cost-controlled and valuable in trade with a two-year deal, than one.

The chances of getting a Philip Kurashev out of this deal is minimal at best. A change to this deal that would make it worth it for Chicago also probably puts Montreal in too bad of a spot.

This is a valid way of thinking, but I prefer to think that the hawks put Kurashev through arbitration for 2 reasons. 1. To establish a precedent for RFA’s in negotiations and 2. Because they honestly did not believe Kurashev was worth his price and wanted to buy time. If Kurashev has not proven his case to the hawks after this season, or at least made a good start in doing so. This isn’t a mistake by Davidson per se, but if he cannot admit Kurashev’s value then that’s not a great sign.

I gotta believe Davidson is seeing value in Kurashev NOW (if not before)... I think you're right that he was buying time with him. And, as we all know, Kurashev certainly has made a jump this year.

Maybe it is just a timing thing with Kurashev? If Dach (Kirby) and the Cat weren't going to be on the same timeline as the Hawks needed for this LONG rebuild, then perhaps Kurashev isn't, either? Or, maybe some players just take longer to grow into becoming an NHLer? (Thinking of you, Patrick Sharp.)

It'll be interesting to see what happens next - with both Kurashev's development, as well as with the Hawks' rebuild. They may align together, they may not. No matter what happens in this regard, though, your point in another post is a valid one, IMO... If Kurashev is traded, the Hawks would need to acquire assets that have a high likelihood of becoming what Kurashev now actually is: an NHL player.

It is easy to say these things when a player is having success. But most of us, probably including you as well, were ready to move Kurashev as recently as the beginning of the season. So, again, you don't get good packages for players when they aren't playing well. I also think you over estimate what Kurashev is. He can hang in a top 6 with elite players, and that is definitely commendable, but as Bedard's time on IR showed, Kurashev doesn't really create or produce much offense on his own. We will absolutely be able to find another Kurashev when we need to, and probably an even better player. He was a 4th round pick. As for wingers for Bedard in the interim, we can take on a cap dump that can fill the role for a little while, like Lee or Smith etc., or sign a guy in free agency, like Marchessault etc. I am not worried about finding him guys to play with or his development. Nothing is going to stop him from being a superstar.

I am not necessarily saying "we have to move him", but if we can for a good package, it should absolutely be considered. Kurashev is more than likely not Bedards linemate in the future as so many have already alluded to. When this team is good, he is probably a "good" 3rd liner and/or top 9 floater.

Thx, Garak. This is important from your post, IMO: "He can hang in a top 6 with elite players, and that is definitely commendable, but as Bedard's time on IR showed, Kurashev doesn't really create or produce much on his own." This was in the back of my mind during this excellent discussion, and I think is important to understanding who Kurashev is/can be.

I hate to to think about moving him because I like him and how he's worked to get better over the years - a 4th rounder. Kudos to him, and to the Hawks, as well, for hanging in there.

We'll see what happens. As I shared before, if The Cat and K. Dach were movable, so Kurashev can be, as well. A contending team up against the cap may cough up an excellent return for a cost-controlled, up-and-down the lineup, relatively young player with 200-ft awareness. With high-end prospects now in the pipeline - and more to come with lots of future high-end picks - the Hawks could have quite the team in three to five years, or so (fingers crossed). Bedard will likely have plenty of even higher-end talent to play with, IMO.

Cheers, LA

For sure. That's my stance as well. There are lots of teams who could use Kurashev's services "right now", so we might as well sell high. I like him a lot and would also hate to move him, but for the good of the rebuild and from a "hockey as a business" standpoint, it would be a smart move.

I agree with you on much of this, but as an organizational philosophy I think the hawks are past “pulling the rug” out from under the team by trading our good pieces for future assets. To that end, I think I would rather have Kurashev here to help develop the younger players, like Bedard directly but also keeping a top 6 lineup spot away from Nazar/Moore etc until they earn it.

If you get a stupid offer for Kurashev you obviously have to take it, and you can supplement his loss in free agency, but if your options are to keep him for depth and maintaining a high level of compete/quality in the locker room vs a late first rounder and a couple of depth pieces I am keeping him all day.

For me to move Kurashev at this point it would take a Hagel /TJ (Tanner janananananannatl) package to do so. We have plenty of picks in the next couple of drafts, and you could argue with good health and production that Hall could net you a first rounder next trade deadline.

It's also probably worth noting that he is playing himself into a contract that will be higher value than what his value will be to this team when we are contending.

We already have 5 picks in the first two rounds this year, 4 next year, and 4 the year after. In this draft, the hawks second is almost certainly a late first at 2nd overall… trading Kurashev for a big package would make sense, but what need is that trade filling?