Drunk Squirrel wrote:
NWsider4-3-3 wrote:
yeah, brutal. rebounds are an issue. doesn't corral loose pucks in the crease, is another. the goaltending is where we'd thought it would be - the toggle switch has moved a bit to mrazek better/soderblum worse than anticipated for 2023-24.
commesso and gajan and 21/19 y/o, respectively. can't see them competing for the #1 goaltender next year. mrazek will need to stand on his head for 2 months at his age and contract for the hawks to turn him into anything better than a 4th/5th round pick at the deadline. clubs competing for the playoffs usually have stable goaltending.
just grin and bear it, i guess.
katchouk got sent down and the truth is another 3-4 players aren't nhl caliber. reichel needs to 'step up' t getting 2 points a week or you'll see him on the 90 going west to rockford. read where the hawks have considered it. really disappointing from him.
Stauber who is 24 is who'd they'd call up if Soderblom is just too awful for words or someone gets hurt. Doubt the results would differ much however. Just so many holes on this team, you hope the young defenders develop and the forwards drafted in last two years are ready to go in 24/25 but... Some players develop well and others are, well... Like Reichel. Who knows. Going to either have to trade or sign quality either way.
i agree. feel the hawks rate soderblum a ton more over stauber. if an injury occurs to either mrazek or soderbum, yeah, stauber will get the call. in the meantime, i believe the hawks were hoping soderblum would play well, beat out mrazek as the #1 and allow mrazek to leave after this season and open up more cash. the best laid plans...
soderblum has been brutal. the rebounds and being passive in goal stand out. i think we've all been fair, the players in front of him aren't the best, but soderblum himself has put a dent into the hawks short and medium term goaltender plans.
agree with trading (trading away some picks) or signing quality (restricted and unrestricted free agents). hall got injured, not the GM's fault...but, you can't have donato playing on bedard's line. need to upgrade certain spots with current nhl-caliber talent.