Hall played on the 3rd line in Boston and every attempt to move him up to play with Boston's elite talent this past season resulted in lackluster production. He's 33 and has been a 50-60 pt player the last few seasons. It's been 5 seasons since he paced for more than a point/game. He definitely is not worth the 6 M cap hit and there have been questions about his worth ethic in the past. I think the Hawks should have gotten a pick or something coming back. Not a terrible trade but nothing I'm excited about.

Was Mitchell that much of a bust, or was it just a numbers game amongst defensemen?

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Yes it is.

Seth Jones still has 7 years left on that deal with a no trade clause. It is almost like the Blackhawks are required to have a terrible contract at all times.

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed forward Ryan Donato to a two-year contract that runs through the 2024-25 season, the team announced Saturday on Day 1 of NHL free agency. His cap hit is $2 million.

Donato, 27, registered 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 71 regular-season games last season for the Seattle Kraken and added two assists in 14 postseason contests. He had a career-best 16 goals and 31 points in his first campaign with Seattle.

Donato is a versatile forward who can play up and down the lineup. He will likely be a middle-six piece on the Blackhawks, who added some more forward depth to a young group.

Donato has spent six seasons in the NHL playing for four different teams, which includes Boston, Minnesota, San Jose and Seattle. Chicago will be the fifth. He was selected by the Bruins in the second round (No. 56 overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft.

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

Free Agency starts today.

I don't expect any big splashes or long term contracts as if you're the Hawks you have no need to commit to anything this year and you can just keep cash available for a very big splash next year when Auston Matthews tries to run back to the US and away from the toxic Toronto media and fan base.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

I don't want a bitch who runs away and cries at the thought of journalists. Fans are going to recognize you at our restaurants, too. Fuck off to Raleigh like everyone else if you don't like it

I don't want a bitch who runs away and cries at the thought of breakfast time Frank. Posters are going to recognize you and your mults, too. Fuck off to Midwest Sports Fan Board like Terry’s Peeps if you don't like it

That's the great thing about going to Chicago. It's a good hockey city, but all of the anger at underperforming players gets directed to Soldier Field.

Compare that to Toronto where you can score 40 goals in a season and that still isn't enough because the Leaf fans are dealing with the pain of futility since 1967.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

But wouldn't you agree that it's a pretty fucked-up system where the "hard markets" like Toronto, Montreal, and Edmonton subsidize the very operations of the easy ones like Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, Raleigh, or Nashville? People always want to play somewhere else, but those cities' overwhelming passion for the game is the reason players can play somewhere else. This is a disparity among markets that doesn't exist in other sports. The stakes are higher for the Yankees than they are for the Rays, yes, but players want to play for the Yankees and don't want to play for the Rays. It seems like a system that can't last forever.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

As you just pointed out, this disparity exists in both the NHL and MLB and it's not necessarily a new thing in MLB. The cities are different but each league has the HAVE's and the HAVE NOTS and for some reason, the league insists on keeping teams in markets that they think will "grow" the sport

Shit...the NFL thinks putting a team in Europe is going to be a good idea.

And in the NHL the majority of players want to play in the warm tax-free states. The tax savings are significant compared to the Canadian markets. Players are fleeing Winnipeg and Calgary partly because of not wanting to play in cold, boring, heavily-taxed cities. Tampa got their core players to sign slightly under-market contracts because of these factors. Ryan O'Reilly just choose Nashville over Toronto because of the calmer market, better weather, and Tennessee's tax status compared to Toronto. I think it's something that needs to be addressed in the NHL.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.