SalarySwishSalarySwish
Avatar

polyidos

Member Since
Jan. 8, 2017
Favourite Team
Chicago Blackhawks
2nd Favourite Team
Toronto Maple Leafs
Forum Posts
80
Posts per Day
0.0
Forum: Armchair-GMApr. 16, 2021 at 6:06 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>DJSums17</b></div><div>Flower is still good why are they giving up a 1st to get rid of him?

Subban is not worth a 3rd. Especially for Toronto who doesn't need him.</div></div>

Vegas has played games with 5 defensemen or 10 forwards for games this season because so they're so cap strapped. They've made it work, not great, for a shorterned season. As I said in an earlier reply, they need to dump salary to have a more flexible roster next season. They can't play a full NHL regular season that includes a 2 week break for the Winter Olympics where some of their players will play 2 hard weeks of hockey and expect to continue to win games. They're going to wear their players out. They wouldn't dump Fleury because they want to but because they're committed to Lehner long term and a cheap backup goalie for Lehner makes sense with the flat cap for the next 2-5 seasons. If I'm a GM, I'm not taking on Fleury's salary - even with him playing like he is - without Vegas giving me a 1st round pick too. That's going to be the new reality for a flat cap that could last 5 seasons (per Elliotte Friedman) - cap space is going to be traded with high draft picks and top prospects like never before. A good GM with cap space has all the leverage and should hold it like a kidnapper waiting for a ransom payment.

The Leafs have Campbell and Hutchinson signed for next season. If Hutchinson is such a good goalie, why isn't he their back up right now? They're going to roll all of next season with Campbell and Hutchinson?
Forum: Armchair-GMApr. 15, 2021 at 11:02 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Riley816</b></div><div>
Seattle, imo, takes young players and stays as close to the expansion draft floor, ~49 mil, and fills the top with ufas. Borgstrom or Stillman would be the choice. Brett Connolly types will be there from every team.
Take a chance and trading a 2nd rd pick are two different things. Toronto has Hutchinson and backup goalies will be plentiful.
</div></div>

I'm definitely shooting for the moon with the trade hopes. Subban is a former 1st round pick and decent back up option that'll land a quality pick or prospect. It might not be with Toronto and Fleury is a high hope that requires Subban be moved off the roster. Toronto's pick will likely be very late in the 2nd round so I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility for a low 2nd round/high 3rd round scenario.

In the expansion draft, I'm fairly confident the Hawks will protect Toews, Kane, DeBrincat, Strome, Hagel, Nylander, and Borgstrom at forward and Keith, Murphy, and Zadorov at defenseman. Borgstrom was the main piece of Connolly/Stillman trade for the Hawks so they're fine with losing one of the other 2. If the Hawks don't make any moves, Seattle will have a choice of Kampf, Carpenter, Gaudette at forward, de Haan or Stillman at defenseman, and Delia or Subban at goaltender. So, yes, Stillman could be the pick but I suspect otherwise. I think their roster will have more of a veteran look because Seattle is going to be expected to win in their first season and go to the playoffs like Vegas did or they're a failure.
Forum: Armchair-GMApr. 15, 2021 at 10:35 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMApr. 15, 2021 at 10:22 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 20, 2021 at 10:54 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 20, 2021 at 10:26 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 20, 2021 at 10:09 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 20, 2021 at 9:42 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>ThomasChaney</b></div><div>See that is true about Tervainen but I’m thinking about how we don’t have any other great forward prospects and with the way Wahly is playing he is going to be on the second maybe even first line within the next two years</div></div>

The Hurricanes top line this season before Teravainen was injured was: Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen. When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2015, Teuvo was playing on the 3rd line with Antoine Vermette because the Hawks were that deep with a Top 6 of: Saad-Toews-Hossa and Sharp-Richards-Kane. When Saad was traded to Columbus, Teuvo moved to the top line with Toews and Hossa and the 2nd line became Panarin-Anisimov-Kane because Panarin was signed and Anisimov was acquired in the Saad trade.

My point is Teravainen is exactly comparable to Wahlstrom down to their middle of the 1st round draft position. Blackhawks fans hate that he isn't on the Hawks but would rather have 3 Stanley Cups to show for it.

Also, the Blackhawks didn't have elite forward prospects when they were chasing Cups either because they drafted mostly defensemen, traded away their 1st round picks, or traded away their elite forward prospects to be cap compliant. If your team isn't sacrificing its future to win the Stanley Cup now, your GM isn't doing his job right because that's what it takes to win. It's the only way any team is going to beat the Lightning. There is no "we need this guy for the future" when you're competing for the Cup. That's something that teams who are going to let their Cup window slip by do.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 17, 2021 at 8:32 p.m.
Thread: Skinner
I don't even want Skinner for $4.5m a season. 6+ seasons is just way too long for a player who, by all indications, peaked and is on the decline. The Hawks only have to deal with Seabs contract for 3+ seasons. I'd trade Seabs deal to the Isles for Ladd's deal at 2+ years and retain some salary to save a year of paying Seabs.

I don't think the Hawks should take anything that lengthens their LTIR though. In 3+ seasons (after 2023-24), they'll be set to completely rebuild and potentially sign some big UFAs to go with the RFAs that they've determined to be their new core. That's probably the first year that the cap will increase again AND it's the first UFA year for both Auston Matthews and Sebastian Aho who will both be only 26 years old. I suspect they'll both test the free agent market. If Patrick Kane can be convinced to come back at say 6 years for $6m a season after his current deal. I think Auston Matthews wants to play with Kane. Can you imagine a Top 6 that includes Matthews, Kane, DeBrincat, Dach, and Reichel? William Nylander will be a UFA at 28 and Teuvo Tervainen will be too at 29 years old. There will also be veteran UFAs like Kopitar and Stamkos who could be signed for 1 year "Go for the Cup" deals. We'll see if Toews comes back to play - he could be a damn good 3rd line center.

With the short term high dollar contracts that some young players have signed to forego bridge deals, that 2024-25 season may be the season when the NHL becomes a little like the NBA and super teams form with superstars each taking a little less to fit under the cap and win some Cups on like short term 2-3 year deals. Drew Commesso will be 22 years old and possibly ready to try the NHL on an ELC in net. The Blackhawks young defense corps will be seasoned by then. They may also have one or both of the big boy defensive prospects that season - Alec Regula (6'4") and Alex Vlasic (6'6") will be 24 and 23 years old.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 17, 2021 at 1:48 a.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>ThomasChaney</b></div><div>I think Wahly is overkill</div></div>

Consider this: In the 2016 off season, while the Blackhawks were still a playoff team that hoped to compete for the Stanley Cup, they traded Teuvo Tervainen, a middle 1st round draft pick like Oliver Wahlstrom, to the Hurricanes on his ELC to just get rid of 1 year of Brian Bickell's $4m contract. Meanwhile, Ladd has 2 years left at $5.5m after this season on his contract. There's no way a team with cap space is taking on bad contracts in the next 3 years of the flat salary cap era without being handsomely rewarded for it with elite prospects and 1st round picks. The flexibility of cap space at this time is very valuable and in limited supply.

If you're a team in your Stanley Cup window, you trade away 1st round draft picks and elite prospects to acquire veteran depth and Top 6 Forward talent and Top 4 Defenseman talent to go for the Cup. The Blackhawks traded a 1st round draft pick to the Jets at the deadline to get Ladd for a playoff run before he signed his contract with the Islanders. The Blackhawks traded their young center prospect Phillip Danault to the Canadiens for 2 veteran Bottom 6 Wingers with chemistry, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann, to make a Cup run. The Blackhawks traded a 1st round draft pick and their defensive prospect, Klas Dahlbeck, to the Coyotes for Antoine Vermette and they won the Cup. It doesn't always result in a Stanley Cup but an organization should throw everything at the opportunity to win a Cup when the window is there because there are about 6 legit contenders for the Cup every season and only 1 team can win it. Then, that Cup window passes the other teams by and you don't want to be the San Jose Sharks.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 17, 2021 at 1:17 a.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 17, 2021 at 1:11 a.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 16, 2021 at 8:12 p.m.
Thread: AQUIRE PICKS
I like the trades for Janmark and Soderberg. I don't think any team will trade for Subban. There will be better back up goalies available with the expansion draft looming and every team only able to protect 1 goalie.

I think the issue with trying to trade de Haan before the deadline this season is going to be that, whatever team acquired him, they'd lose de Haan in the expansion draft to Seattle anyway because most teams already have at least 3 defensemen they'd prefer to protect. So, the Blackhawks are only going to be offered rental value for this season to a contender. Also, for a plus one year deal like de Haan's, contenders are going to target Ekholm from the Predators first. Ekholm's contract is more reasonable at $3.75m per season for the rest of this season and next season.

I've thought about trading de Haan a lot and, unless they find a great deal for him, I actually think it's better for the Hawks to hang onto him for the rest of this season and as expansion draft bait for Seattle. The Hawks 3 young defensemen aren't ready for a playoff run as starters without some protection on every pairing with a veteran. They'll benefit from playing out the season on a pairing with de Haan. Plus, Seattle may not take de Haan because his cap hit it too high and his contract is for only one more season, then, he's an UFA. With the flat cap, I'd rather that Seattle takes de Haan than Carlsson who is an RFA or one of the other unprotected younger Hawks. If de Haan isn't selected by Seattle, they keep him for one more season and the young defensemen get sheltered one more year. de Haan definitely won't be resigned by the Hawks after his current contract.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 16, 2021 at 4:51 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 14, 2021 at 6:44 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>ChiHawk</b></div><div>Hagel won't get close to that number; more likely $1.25M as he is a role player and rookie. Kampf is closer to that number but still not above $2M IMO. Nylander isn't getting over $1M. Suter has no leverage, unlike Kubalik, so $2M to $2.5M is max. Just because we have cap space, doesn't mean we should overpay our RFAs.</div></div>

I agree that Hagel will get less - probably $1.25m for 2 years. In general, I think Suter, Nylander, and Kampf all get a little less.

Overall, I think this is pretty close to what will happen. However, I don't think Janmark will be back with the Blackhawks. If he isn't traded by the deadline this year, I'd be shocked because he's probably the most likely to be dealt ahead of Soderberg. I don't think there will be a spot for him in the line up either - especially if Toews comes back and Strome isn't traded because that will push Strome or Suter to wing. I suspect Reichel will get 9 games to see at the start of the season and I could see him sticking in the NHL - he'll have already played 2 seasons with men in Germany.

I also don't think Janmark will be back because the Blackhawks will be carrying a bad contract or 2 or possibly 3 if Toews is done. Seabrook is done and Shaw is likely done too. If they don't make deals to take bad contracts at the deadline, they certainly will after the expansion draft as teams try to be cap compliant. I see them taking a big contract for a year or two like Loui Eriksson from the Canucks or Andrew Ladd from the Islanders in exchange for an elite prospect and/or 1st round draft picks. Zadarov's new deal will mostly be covered in the cap by what he's getting paid now plus the Saad retained salary which will be freed up. de Haan is likely taken by Seattle but, if he isn't, they'll certainly keep him to guide the new defensemen along until his contract expires or they'll deal him at the 2022 deadline if they're out of playoff position. If de Haan isn't back, his salary is the money the Blackhawks will use for the raises on the new deals for the other RFAs - Suter, Kampf, Hagel, Wallmark, and Nylander - who all get 2 year deals. This will give Bowman the same in-season flexibility to make deals to acquire new assets. I see the Blackhawks collecting prospects and picks for the next calendar year. I doubt they move anyone that isn't a pending UFA this season and next season.
Forum: Armchair-GMMay 6, 2019 at 12:53 p.m.
Thread: BEAST