Hawks picks, natural/given/taken:


20 (from San Jose for 27 and 62): Nick Schmaltz
27 (to San Jose for 20 and 179)
58 (to Phoenix for Rundblad)
62 (to San Jose for 20 and 179, originally from Florida for Pirri)
83 (from Calgary for Bollig): Matheson Iacopelli
88: Beau Starrett
98 (from Toronto for Bolland): Frederik Olofsson
118 (to Washington via Long Island for Regin)
141 (from San Jose for some sort of draft pick trade): Luc Snuggerud
148: Andreas Soderberg
178: Dylan Sikura
179 (from San Jose for 27 and 62): Ivan Nalimov
208

Well, sucks to go out in the conference finals, because then you pick late in every round and you don't win the Stanley Cup. Late in the first, out of the second, top and bottom of the third, top of the fourth, twice at the bottom of the fifth, then natural bottom picks in the sixth and seventh where who the fuck cares anyway. Most everyone moved up one slot in the first because Jersey has to pick 30th as a diminished part of the Kovalchuk penalty. They originally weren't supposed to draft in the first round at all. This isn't going to be much of a draft after the top five or so, so maybe it's just as well that the Hawks don't really have a lot of good picks on the board.

The guy I'm crossing my fingers for with the Hawks is a kid on the Windsor Spitfires named Josh Ho-Sang. A year or two ago, people were talking about him going in the top five thanks to his speed and offensive creativity. However, he's now expected to plummet in the draft due to "character issues," which observers largely believe to be code for "he's black." He's also Chinese and Jewish, so imagine how giddy the yuppies in Toronto would be if they got their hands on him. There's talk that he could drop all the way into the early second, which means he would be right there for the Hawks at #27, and even though he's under six feet and liberally estimated at 170 lbs., he's still only 18 and could put a little more muscle mass on. Also, there is the McDonough factor in play here, where if you can draft a multicultural star in a city where you're still fighting the idea that hockey is just for white people, you probably should. I mean, the opportunity cost is manageable; you're drafting 27th in a weak-ish draft. So I say go for Ho-Sang. He could be another Brandon Saad.

Top of the draft order goes Florida, Buffalo, Edmonton, Calgary, Long Island, where they'll take some permutation of defenseman Aaron Ekblad, can't-do-a-pull-up and Patrick Kane doppelganger Samuel Bennett, center Sam Reinhart, German-center-playing-in-the-Dub Leon Draisaitl, and winger Michael Dal Colle. I've said many times here that you never take a defenseman first overall because if you suck so bad that you draft first, you have more urgent needs than a defenseman, who will take longer than a forward. Colorado proved me right by drafting MacKinnon over Seth Jones and then winning the division with his contributions looming large. However, Florida and Buffalo (who finished last but lost the lottery) are so terrible and mired in such long rebuilds that they can afford to take Ekblad and wait on him. They're in no hurry, and neither Bennett nor Reinhart appear to be on the level of MacKinnon (or Toews, whom the Blues turned down in favor of Erik Johnson, what stupid fucks). Also, in the case of the Oilers, you have a team that got fat on first-overall forwards for three years; if Ekbald falls to third, they should definitely take him.

As far as trades go, there's still talk that Tallon will flip the #1 for some sort of big return, but now it's coming out that Brian Campbell has gotten sick of languishing in the great nowhere of suburban Miami, so it might be hard to get your king's ransom for a first and get a good return on Campbell. If I were the Oilers, I'd try to trade that #3 pick for Keith Yandle of the Coyotes. The Oilers need an established defenseman, and the Coyotes need a young star forward, having nothing but old guys and tweeners up front. I'd look for Buffalo to trade for one more high pick. They've REALLY got draft fever.

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Sounding more and more like Vancouver will trade Chris Tanev, Hunter Shinkaruk, and sixth overall to Florida for the first overall. Doesn't really affect the Blackhawks unless it leads to a full-scale rebuild and a Ryan Kesler trade, but there it is.

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Neal sent by Pens to the Preds

My god, some of those moms are incredible, which makes sense as they are married to former nhl players... The sisters are pretty good too, but only the 18+ ones of course

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Chicago trades up!!!!

Nick Schmaltz. Know nothing about him

Is he under slot value?!?!?!

No. But he is two years away from being two years away.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Hockey nickname has to be Schmaltzie...

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Looks like a good pick, but I really had my heart set on Ho-Sang. Isles ended up getting him at 28, damn close to where I had him going at 27.

We start tomorrow at 31 and as it stands, the Hawks are off the board until 88. Johnny Oduya will probably become a pick somewhere in that range. Godspeed, black Swede.

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Schmaltz or schmalz or shmalz is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat used for frying or as a spread on bread in German, Austrian, Polish and thus by historical extension, to Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine as well.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Bollig traded for a pick.

To Calgary (oof!) for pick #83.

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Not a mult.

Third-rounder for a pile of crap? ALREADY WON THAT TRADE, BABY.

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All hail truculence. I hope committed indian can finally chill the fuck out.

Yeah, you know, they complained about Bowman giving him that contract, and so did I, but blustery dipshit Brian Burke just took on that stupid contract for that stupid player and gave us pick number -- wait for it... -- 83 for him. We'll be fine. We'll be fine.

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Through six of nine picks, the Hawks have taken zero players from major-junior. Three from the USHL, one from something called the USPHL Premier that I've never even heard of, one from the Minnesota high schools, and one from Swedish juniors. All these guys are college-eligible, which major-junior players are not. I guess basically what I'm saying is don't expect to hear from these guys any time soon.

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THey do not need to see any of these guys anytime soon.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

No, they sure don't. Rockford is already clogged. I'm guessing that's why they raced to take ol' Chicken Fat there, because he had the highest upside of any college player on the board, and college players have an extra two years to sign with their teams. It's a little hard to reconcile the draft being this long-term for us while so many other teams are getting instant contributors, but then I remember how much talent we already have, and that we don't need to worry.

EDIT: Hawks took a center out of Ontario's Junior A league (one below major-junior) and a 6'5'' Russian goalie. The latter is interesting.

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http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/1 ... spect-pool

Interesting: the Hawks have zero prospects in major junior. That's pretty risky to me. Plenty of guys in college, Junior A, USHL, and overseas, but not a single guy in major junior.

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