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Forum: Armchair-GMSep. 12, 2020 at 6:03 p.m.
Thread: Get Younger
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>LeafsFan4Ever34</b></div><div>I'm starting to think your not actually a Blackhawks fan</div></div>

every hawks fan that didn't just hop on the bandwagon in 2010-2015 would know that this is both not realistic and not what the team should do. 1. We aren't trading Toews. 2. Kubalik and Strome will both make like half of what they are making here and it will be short term deals. 3. Hawks don't want Matt Murray. Crawford is much better and can be signed for cheaper. We don't need to find the answer I net for the next decade today. The trades are awful. Murphy is worth a 1st and Johnson is a cap dump to start. No one is taking Seabrook and hawks fans know this, and Ottawa definitely won't take him for that return. Caggiula and Koekkoek are worth 4th round picks maybe. No where near a 1st. Finally, OEL's contract is awful. Hawks don't want him nor could we afford him in a realistic situation anyways.

Not sure why I even took the time to type that out, because this post really isn't worth it.
Forum: Site DiscussionSep. 9, 2020 at 11:22 a.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMOct. 21, 2019 at 11:07 a.m.
Thread: Last nights takeaways
Overall I very much agree with the analysis. Would love to see at least a game of Saad/Toews/Kubalik. I don't care if it upsets the 3rd line chemistry...it's just a game or 2 to try it out. I also agree that Nylander has found some chemistry and that's the line I don't want to break up. Allow him to continue to play there. Continue to develop they way he is. His situation is...don't mess with a good thing IMO. The 3rd line is a little different because Neither Saad or Kubalik are young prospects. They should adjust faster swapping lines. Also by adding just a little skill to that 4th line can make the opposing team respect the offense it has.

Also agree about Crow. He's had multiple own goals already which are partly to factor...and the PK is terrible again, but Lehner's also been solid. I want to see them split time 50/50 as much as possible.

As far as Dach. He's still only 18 years old. I do agree that he was very visible and I'm more ok with his play than how I interpreted the comments above. I'm not expecting a whole lot from him to be honest. 89% Ozone start...25% FO win...they're clearly giving him protected minutes. No team can keep that going. Unless he makes monumental strides, I don't see him playing more than a few more games. I'm perfectly fine with sending him down. Hopefully this gave him a hunger and a lot of lessons learned on what he needs to improve on. I'm still very excited for his future.
Forum: Armchair-GMAug. 22, 2019 at 1:01 p.m.
Thread: week 1 roster
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>CrazyK04</b></div><div>I feel like Dach should get 9 games. So should Boqvist.</div></div>

<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>newman23</b></div><div>smith wont play C on the 3rd line, maybe LW or 4C. Swap him and kampf. Also think both dach and boqvist both have a better shot at opening night than nylander</div></div>

<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>hawksfan1988</b></div><div>agree but .. i wouldn't be surprised to see Nylander on the top line with Toews and Kane so they give him the best opportunity to succeed and hope everyone forgets about losing Henri</div></div>

First things first, I hate to say it, but I don’t think we’re ever gonna hear the end of joker for nylander. Kane can get the best out of everyone, but even nylander doesn’t look like he could succeed with Kane cuz he’s way too lazy. It just doesn’t fit. Tough situation and solution to fix a logjam.......

On the other hand, boqvist hands down gets nine games and in all honesty should get permanent time by seasons end. The ahl will round him out but he is by far the best prospect we have and it’s not even close. He works harder, has more skill, and has developed the right way to earn his chances.

Which leads me to dach. Ohhhhh dach. There’s two scenarios that play out with this kid in my head. One, is that logic actually takes hold and people realize how unready this kid is. The second, and considering who our GM is and how desperate he’s gotten, is that he is rushed to the nhl. I really hope in all actuality he doesn’t even get nine games. Dach still lacks so much drive and effort which, mixed with his inability to use his body and clear lack of speed, is dangerous in today’s nhl. All it takes is dach skating with his head down once in nine games and someone puts him in the third row. People say there’s so much to like about him and that he’s nhl ready, but people gotta start paying attention to what does, or rather doesn’t do, without the puck. Not the times when he actually strips pucks, cuz that’s good. I mean the way he lacks the awareness to be an opportunist. I know I’m harsh on him, but at number three overall, that won’t change. Go back to juniors kid, and learn to actually dominate there first.
Forum: Chicago BlackhawksJul. 23, 2019 at 11:27 a.m.
Thread: Prospect Discussion
1.) Too early to tell. At the time of the draft I was a Bowen Byram guy. I can admit that. I did see a lot of posts saying the COL was going to draft Dach almost hands down, but we'll never know if that's true. I'm happy with what I've seen. Obviously, I like his size. I've been impressed with his speed. He's not going to out pace McDavid or Larkin, but being able to run down another much smaller forward is solid speed.
2.) The Best steal of this past draft? Hmm.... Again too early to tell. I liked Moberg's Friday scrimmage. I wasn't expecting much, but noticed him...whatever that means 3-4 years from now.
3.) The Hawks go pure best available in 2020. Their positional depth is pretty solid right now.
4.) Good question. He's going to get a full year in Rockford and learn how to be a middle 6 player IMO. He has a shot of making the team next year, but keep him with Reece Johnson and let them develop together. He's an example of a guy not to rush. Let him develop slowly.
5.) Skogs was really good. I hope they sign him. That might mean Nalimov requests a trade...or Stan just lets him leave, but who knows. Maybe Nalimov never comes over at all???
6.) I think Gravel and Slavin are the (2) biggest under-rated players in their system. People know about Kurashev now...he was my pick last year and I'm excluding him now. 3rd place under-rated is Galvas.
7.) Solid question and I think it's different for everyone, but that's kinda the answer. Their flexibility. Strome was moved around a ton in AZ. I don't just mean line to line...I mean city to city...coaching staff to coaching staff. In Strome's case providing consistency was key. Also, realizing that if you're a #3OA pick...you should have them in a Top 6 role. Maybe that's Top 6 in the OHL or AHL, but don't put him on the 4th line in the NHL. That's not who he is and those shouldn't be his type wingers. Another example is Panarin. Don't forget that he went undrafted. Yeah yeah, his talent is obvious now, but let's give credit to pairing him game 1 with Kane. There's a reason Panarin gave Kane a Rolex. It's putting him in a position to succeed. Saad next to Toews/Hossa? Again, a position to succeed.
8.) Dach/Boqvist is the answer. I also want to see Slavin at Colorado College and Ian Mitchell. 5th is Aleski Saarela.
Forum: Detroit Red WingsJul. 23, 2019 at 1:22 p.m.
Thread: What Now Discussion
1. Probably at least 2-3 years. That's at the very least. But you never know ...

2. Larkin

3. Try to trade for a young goalie. Maybe from a team who already has their future goalie.

4. Idk too much about him ... i know he was #9 overall in 2017 and that's about all i know.

5. Depends on the year he has. Right now he's probably worth 5-5.5M ...

6. He might. I think he'll score 30. He might have scored 30 if he had played all 82 games this year. I don't think he'll be a 40 goal scorer though. At least not a consistent 40 goal guy.

7. Waiting it out ... seeing how the team plays in 2019-20.

8. If they're in the playoffs, they shouldn't make any moves or make minor moves ... if they're out of the playoffs (which i think they will be), Mike Green is the guy i'm wondering about. Maybe Ericsson or Daley if another team has the cap space or if Detroit retains ... the contracts shouldn't be a big problem if a playoff team has cap space. If a team can't find anyone else for the right price, Ericsson/Daley could be an option as long as the other team has the cap space. The cap hit is gone after 2019-20 so as a rental it could work, or if it works out they could re-sign one of those guys at a more reasonable cap hit.
Forum: Armchair-GMJul. 23, 2019 at 1:02 p.m.
Thread: What now discussion 4
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>BeterChiarelli</b></div><div>The immediate problem with trading guys like Brown and Quick is their age and price points. These are expensive players actively regressing due to their age that will not be worth their value at the end of their contracts. Carter falls into this category too. The optimal route for getting them off the books would be compliance buyout during the next lockout. I don't think that there is substantial value to be had from any of those three. </div></div>

I gotta disagree to an extent here, and that's with regards to Brown. He's been actively their best winger for the past 2 years, and has shown a resurgence instead of a regression. It remains to be seen if Quick is regressing as the year he had last year is nothing more than an anomaly at this point. If he has another bad year, then I think it's safe to say he has regressed. Carter is where I do agree, but I'm hoping he's primed for a bounce-back year if the Kings actually do move him to the wing, which has been a topic of discussion amongst the team brass.

Their drafting has actually been really solid the past couple of years, enough to bring their prospect pool up into the top-10 of the NHL, according to a decent amount of experts. Beyond the first rounders, Jaret Anderson-Dolan is going to be fighting for a role this year and projects to be a really solid 3rd line center with significant leadership capabilities and grit (think Kyle Clifford as a center, with more skill but less fighting). In addition to that, Akil Thomas lit up the OHL last year. While he won't make the team this year and can't play in the AHL, look for him to make an impact in the 2020-2021 season at the professional level. Finally, adding Kaliyev to the crop of prospects this year has added an elite-level scoring piece that the Kings haven't had in ages, if they can develop him properly. If Matt Luff, Mike Amadio, and Austin Wagner can turn into full-time NHL'rs, the Kings could turn around their bottom-6 scoring woes/depth pretty quickly with some speed and talent the team hasn't seen in a decade +.

On the defensive side, Durzi, Clague, Brickley, and Mikey Anderson are all very close to making the leap, and I expect Bjornfot will push for a roster spot as early as next (2020-2021) season. The Reign defensive depth is very raw, but is loaded with proper NHL-level prospects. Add into that the surprise development of Markus Phillips for added depth in the AHL, the great rookie campaigns for Sean Walker and Matt Roy in the NHL, and the toughness element in Kurtis MacDermid as a 6/7th defenesmen, the Kings really are only missing that Byram-level defensive prospect to take over the mantle of Drew Doughty. But with Doughty still only 29, that's not an immediate concern for the team.

As far as coaching, nothing can be worse than WD last year. Maclellan was actually fairly effective when he took over for the Sharks, a team that was in a similar position as the Kings: One with a significant age gap between the star players and the prospects. He was able to gel them together very well, so I have decent hopes for the Kings. The management team definitely had a gaffe to start, with the Kovalchuk signing and assuming the team was still a contender, but once that belief was quickly killed, Blake made some very savvy moves. He flipped Tanner Pearson into a decent draft pick (after trading Hagelin to the Caps), got a return that seems to be pretty decent in Grundstrom, Durzi, and Bjornfot by trading Muzzin, and traded nearly all of the UFA's before the deadline to ensure they got something for the talent that wouldn't be returning this coming season. With the Phaneuf buyout, he's positioning the team to become younger on the blue-line, and hopefully JAD/Kupari get significant NHL time this season to make the front younger as well.