Hawks picks: gained in green, natural in black, lost in red

EDIT:
22 (to Winnipeg for Ladd)
50 (from Carolina for Teravainen/Bickell)
52 (to Philadelphia for Timonen)
83
95 (from Columbus for Saad)
113
143
144 (from Florida for Pirri)
173
203

With the surplus of money on the books and the deficit of prospects in the pipeline, the Hawks need to make a trade to get back into the meat of this draft.

Not drafting Josh Ho-Sang in 2014 may well turn out to have been a large oversight. I was a big advocate of taking a whirl on a guy with "character problems," which in the WASPified air of the Ontario Hockey League means little more than "isn't a rich white kid," who could contribute, if not immediately, at least sooner than a good college kid. Bowman instead drafted, well, a good college kid, traded up to do it, and now after two years and the prospect of a wide-open top six, wouldn't you know it, Schmaltz is nevertheless in no particular hurry to sign, knowing he can keep it up at North Dakota for two more years and run out the Hawks' rights like Kevin Hayes did.

If memory serves, Bowman had the same strategy in the '15 draft as he did in '14, which was to stock up on Junior A, college, Minnesota high school, and European kids, who all have the expanded four-year rights window instead of the two for major-junior players. One of those two years, we didn't draft a single kid out of major-junior, which shocked me. There's something to that strategy, but we've cleared out so many picks and prospects that there's no one ready to step in because we're still waiting on all those tortoises to reach the finish line.

I don't know what Marcus Kruger can fetch, exactly, but I have to imagine there's enough there to get you back into the top 60 somewhere. Kruger himself was a second-round pick, I believe, and carved out a nice role for himself (after Peter-principling out at #10 on the depth chart, mind you). I wouldn't rule out moving Teuvo for a pick, either, given that Panarin came out of nowhere to be the Parallel Kane we thought we were getting, and it turns out li'l Teuvo reacts to the potential for contact like a battered spouse.

So this won't really be a banner day for the Blackhawks -- that belongs to the Jets this year -- but I'm sure it'll end up meaning more than the draft chart would suggest.

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Yeah, I think lots of people were waiting for a reason not to have to care about hockey (not the least of whom being Score hosts), and now that the Cubbieeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss are back on top, no one will have to watch Hawks games to get their happy feelings. That this may not even be a playoff team this year should rip the band-aid off (Stars in, Perds in, Blues in, Jets coming on strong, Central might not send five if the Oilers and Flames get their shit back together) nice and fast.

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...The hell is Schmatz' problem? Hayes had a pretty stacked lineup to crack and a bitter brother. Schmaltz is somewhat from the area/region and just won the title in college. He is getting the same money on an entry level deal. I can not understand what the benefit of being a bitch and waiting out the 4 years will be? He signs this year and has to spend some time in Rockford and is a regular on the top 6 in 17-18 or he plays in college the next 2 years to cherry pick a team an be in their top 6 in 18-19.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

At least we're probably getting Jimmy Vesey on an ELC for nothing. If one college prick won't come here, another will.


Well, that's just it, by holding out for free agency, the likelihood of being assigned to the AHL by your new team is exponentially lower. I haven't checked recently but I believe you make roughly 10 cents on the dollar for every day you're assigned to the AHL instead of the NHL on an entry-level contract.

EDIT: it's worse than I thought. Teuvo Teravainen, for instance, had a real NHL salary of $925,000 last year. The AHL salary (which he never collected) was $70,000, or 7.5% of his NHL salary.

EDIT 2: I also realize that in my new role as the RFDC Memorial Bad Prediction Guy, we should hear that Schmaltz signed his ELC on, oh, Thursday, most likely.

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If he signed, something tells me with the cap problems, he would be a Hawk not a Hog.

Shaw will get you a 1st.

My problem is that I'm just losing interest in the league itself and the product on the ice. Kind of like what happened to me with the NBA (I was never a big Bulls fans though). It's just complete shit right now. I find alot of the games unwatchable and now the league does dumb shit like expanding into Vegas when they should be dumping teams.

On top of that I think the Hawks' run is over. I went from thinking I might never see this team win a Cup to winning 3 of them within a 6 year period. It's kind of numbed me. I also don't see how you compete anytime soon when 10.5 million of your cap is dedicated to the most spectacularly average and overrated player in hockey.

I still love the Hawks and watch the games but I didn't have the fire and passion this past season and I could care less what happens around the rest of the league right now.

I wasn't as into this season as I have been. I think that was because most nights the Blackhawks didn't seem interested either.

BANDWAGON FAN ALERT!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Yea, that didn't help.

This past season has completely changed my "only championships matter" mindset that Bernstein shoved down my throat for so many years when I use to listen to the show. 2010 and 2013 were so fun because those teams were so good during the regular season and rarely took nights off. In 2015, once Kane got hurt they took the rest of the regular season off. It made the Cup win, although still great, not as special to me.

I go to work everyday and when I come home I want to forget about the daily grind and drink some booze and watch my favorite teams kick some ass. To just coast with the idea that you will get by on skill alone and then turn it on for the playoffs is a big "fuck you" to the fans.

Sports is an entertainment business. Winning championships while being dull as fuck isn't going to do it for me for anymore.

If they would have won this year I don't think I'd have been as happy as in the past. I don't know if some of that team has lost interest too. I guess we have to wait and see how the next few years go. The journey is as important as the destination much of the time.

They will have to unload something to get something. And they cannot go into next season as is.
Very few players with Trade value:
Shaw, kruger, Crawford

They need both cap relief and defensive depth. Something will have to give.

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Now they have the 50th pick

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Bicks and TT traded to Carolina

Add another five years of Rockford as the farm club, extended through 2022. The affiliation might outlast the actual city of Rockford.

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I do not understand this mindset at all.

I have been able to witness one Bears championship, six Bulls championships, and three Hawks championships and all of them were exciting for me. I do not see how winning championships is not enough or "dull".

Was every game during those championship seasons amazing and fun? No, but that matters not to me now. I am happy to be able to have seen those championships. I have friends from other towns that are my age that have not seen their teams win anything.

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

I can't speak for the day-to-day of the Bulls, and I wasn't alive for DA BEARS, but the Hawks' first two championship teams spent most of the regular season merrily beating the shit out of everyone, the only exceptions being a little dip in March 2010 and a few duds very near the end of 2013. Every game, no, but for the most part, actually yes.

There is something uniquely disappointing about trying to slog through the winter and having your hockey team be putrid most nights. When the Cubs suck, at least you can go outside and stuff. Losing 5-0 to the fucking Carolina Hurricanes or whatever just turns an already bad case of cabin fever to madness.

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Losing 5-0 to Carolina in a season where they win a championship matters not.

If championships are not enough for you then you are a spoiled bitch fan.

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

Yeah. I also used to hate the over analysis of every loss the Bulls had during the MJ era. STFU and enjoy.

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Elections have consequences.

I do not want to watch a disinterested team night after night. If they'd havegotten thru this year it would have been a great ending to a disappointing season. I feel like they didn't deserve it this year and it would have been a little unfulfilling.

Compare the championships. I thought 13 was the best. They rolled thru those 40 games and the 17 seconds was awesome.

I don't need to compare championships. I enjoyed all of them and at the end of the year I was satisfied to see my team win a championship. And next season if they are disinterested some throughout the season and come away with another cup then I will be completely satisfied again.

So would you guys be happy with a season where they were completely interested all regular season and then lose in the playoffs? Would that be acceptable to you as a fan?

It wouldn't be for me.

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

Not happy, but at least I know it mattered most of the time.

So basically unless they play a perfect season and win a championship you are not going to be happy.

I find that sad.

But I guess whatever works for you guys.

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

no. that's not quite right either.

Agreed, but it sucks when you sell the farm to get bounced in the first round.

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Kids you'll probably never hear about again:

39 (from Montreal for Shaw): Alex DeBrincat, OHL Erie
45 (from Montreal for Shaw): Chad Krys, National Development Team
50 (from Carolina for Teravainen): Artur Kayumov, Russia U-18 Team
83: Wouter Peeters, Austrian League Red Bull Salzburg
110 (from Long Island for pick 95): Lucas Carlsson, Elitserien Brynas IF
113: Nathan Noel, QMJHL Saint John
143: Mathias From, Swedish juniors
173: Blake Hillman, University of Denver
203: Jake Ryczek, USHL Waterloo

Taking three players in the second round is nice, but a more urgent concern is that Shaw and Teravainen are gone and we don't know how they'll be replaced. Nice that Stan played it safe with his highest pick and just took a kid from the best junior league instead of outsmarting himself with some USHL pick.

I don't get sending the fourth-round pick to the Isles for a lower fourth and a sixth next year. I'd rather draft at 95 than 110. Anything past the second round is a longshot for making the NHL, but going out of the top 100 feels like you're throwing a pick away.

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The next 2 years, are going to be retooling years. Yes I said tool, Mike Murphy.

Uhhh, we're retooling for a 31-year-old Jonathan Toews? That's a bad bet. One more headshot and he'll be too stupid to piss himself.

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I don't disagree, but you still have a little cap issue, expansion draft, and a possible buyout of hossa.