Is it going to suck seeing #7 in another sweater? For sure, but this is also one of the most obvious compliance buyouts in the NHL. It has to be done. $6.875M for 4 more years... Has to be done.
I think Strome's going to get a 1 year prove it deal. There's a lot going on in this situation. Strome was injured for a good part of last year AND was also asked to play wing a lot...for some dumba$$ reason. He can't help those and kudos for playing out of position, but his performance this year was NOT close to what it was last year. He's a true center and this wing experiment failed terribly... It was almost as bad as watching Kane play center in 2011. UGH that was painful! Strome's likely a #3C on this team. It is what it is, BUT the Hawks might be able to keep him with Debrincat. Having them together...even on the 3rd line...is a luxury. That's definitely some scoring depth which all teams need.
As for the top 6. That top line needs to play together for AT LEAST the 1st 15 games. They've played outstanding together. Heck, if they play well enough maybe we can convince Saad to stay in CHI, but this time for a reasonable contract.
The 2nd line. Dach's a playmaker and really is the center that Kane's been looking for his entire career. Would it be a better fit if Dach was 100% developed already...sure, but that's not what we have today. They need A LOT of ice time together because that is a lethal dynamic. Either one of them can bring the puck across the blue line and Dach's already proven he can play in front of the net. Kane needs a snipe across from him...which is easier said that done, but that's why I put Kurashev there. He probably has the highest talent level/vision out of all the forwards currently in Rockford.
Why did i NOT put Nylander there? I honestly just think that he plays better in a bottom six role. That's NOT AT ALL a knock on who he is. That doesn't mean he can't play there. It just means don't try to fix something that isn't broken. Don't over think it. If he plays better on a 3rd or 4th line...just keep here there. Results are Results.
As for that 4th line. it's a high energy line with a pretty solid faceoff guy. Nylander seems to be taking well to that role. Don't fight it.
Now for the hard part. The defense. It's a lot of guys for ice time. Beaudin will likely start out in Rockford which is fine. Let's see how DeHaan is with his injury situation. He may start out LTIR just for better conditioning for the full year. That gets us down to 7. Unfortunately maybe a Seeler or Koekkoek will get waived.
Now for the exciting part. The cap might not be going up, but that $6.875M means we can likely afford Lehner AND Crow again. Yes, it's optimistic, but they did it last year and by all accounts they were happy and we could all witness how well they each played when they tandem in net.
The biggest draw back to this approach. It's not going to make people happy when much of the roster stays the same. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different results is kinda the definition of insanity. What I'm going to stay to those people... The Hawks played more rookies than ANY other team in the NHL. What isn't realistic...is expecting every other team's rookies to develop, but 100% of the Hawks rookies to NOT develop. I hope Boqvist is working out like a mad man right now...getting bigger and tougher. I hope Dach doing the same. He's still just 19 years old and 3rd youngest player in the entire NHL. Kubalik can bring a full year of comfort knowing that he's a true NHL talent...not trying to figure out who he is (although I place some blame there on Jeremy Colliton because most fans saw this out of the gate).
Who I would draft... I hope either Rossi or Perfetti are available. Then Lundell. What I'd like to see is another center, but a smaller/speedy scoring center. This can help create greater line differences. Thunder and Lightning.
The 2nd round pick, I'd probably go with best goalie available, but would 100% understand if there's someone else that jumps out at them.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
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