Offseason Complete

Équipe: 2021-22 Blackhawks de Chicago

Date de création initiale: 17 août 2021

Publié: 4 sept. 2021

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

I have the kids down in rockford for 1 more year (Mitchell/Beaudin/Reichel/Borgstrom/Kurashev/etc) just so they can play a full year together and get used to each other. Think a couple of these guys are basically NHL ready but giving them more minutes and responsibilities in the ahl cant hurt either.

Trades: Buffalo gets arguably a better goalie that is still youngish and salvageable.

Kubalik-Toews-Dach: Kubalik and Toews had some good chemistry together. Dach wasnt great on faceoffs so I wouldnt make him the NO. 2 center just yet. Have him take faceoffs if Toews gets kicked out and have him play PK2 because he was pretty good on PK. Now is the time for Dach to take the next step and I think he does.

Cat-Strome-Kane: A lethal line until it wasnt. Strome can be that 60 point player we had when we first got him especially if Kane and Cat are with him. He isnt a bottom 6 player hes too skilled to be playing less than 15 minutes. Hopefully he worked on his skating this offseason since its the only thing holding him back. Also he has a 47% FO% which is actually okay for a center (I thought it was a lot worse). Cat and Kane are the main scorers on this team hopefully Kane is healed from his injuries towards the end of the season and isnt exhausted by Colliton asking him to carry the team every night.

Hagel-Johnson-Connolly: Hagel is a beast and the lifeblood of this team giving 200% every shift out there and is easily becoming my favorite player. I think Hagel can become a Hyman type player, and if he exceeds expectations maybe becoming a Mark Stone-esque player. Johnson was a decent pickup and becomes our #2 best FO guy (#1 if Toews doesnt come back but he probably will). I saw some people putting Johnson on the top line with toews which is a bad idea, we need to spread our faceoff wins up and down the lines if we want to control possession. Even though Johnson was playing 4C on TB keep in mind that it was on the stacked TB team with like +20 million in cap room so his points arent indicative of him as a player, hes an ideal 3C and can play in the top 6 if we needed him to. Connolly isnt a 4th liner and shouldnt be utilized like one, he provides good depth scoring for us and has a decent shot. I would buy him out personally because his contract makes things more difficult next year, but if Bowman wanted to, he would have done that within a week of trading for him. If things go well I expect 25-35 points from Connolly, maybe more.

Khaira-Gaudette-Nylander: Khaira is the kampf replacement. He's big, defensively responsible, and delivers big hits which seems to be what Colliton wants. I've always liked Khaira so I'm happy we got him. Gaudette was a sneaky good pickup, I would have been happy with him playing 3C tbh but Johnson relegates him down. With Gaudette putting on 20+ lbs and putting up respectable numbers in limited time and games I think he will be really good. I wouldnt be surprised if he potentially plays higher up in the lineup. Very excited to see him play more. Nylander is back I'm intrigued to see what kind of stuff he's learned from the year long recovery. I remember him being pretty effective on the fourth line but giving him PP time will be nice too. Hopefully he explodes offensively.

Mccabe-Jones: Our new top pairing and welcome additions to suspect d-core. No matter what you think about the Jones trade hes the best piece right now, and possibly into the future. Jones was always in conversation for the Norris , and even though hes had a rough 2 years theres no reason to believe that he cant return to form. The contract isnt great, but if he can play like he did in the beginning of his time in CBJ then he's worth the money. Mccabe is someone I always liked, and he managed to be a good player with positive analytics on the Sabres which is incredible. Jones says he wants to be more of an offensive dman so being paired with Mccabe allows Jones to do that.

Kalynuk-Murphy: Murphy has been our best dman for a couple seasons now, and we just signed him a team friendly deal which is fantastic. With other people shouldering the load, maybe we can see more offense from him. Kalynuk was a pleasant surprise, he was awful the first game then pretty good the rest of the season. I dont know what his ceiling is but it could possibly be pretty high, why not have him play top 4 minutes to see?

Stillan/Jones-CDH: I like CDH a lot and would rather not trade him if we could help it, hes a fantastic person and shot blocking machine albeit injury prone. I'd prefer if we had a vet like him in bottom pairing if we go to the playoffs. Stillman seemed like a younger and cheaper physical presence than Zadorov so no wonder we traded Z. Neither of them were particularly flashy but ill take the guy doing the same thing for less money. I know nothing about Caleb jones but if hes even a quarter of the dman his brother is then he'll be a fine top 6 dman. We will probably see a lot of switches between C.jones and Stillman this year to try and figure out who is the best option. I put Stillman first because I know what he can bring.

Fleury-Lankinen: Fleury is a vezina goal tender, he has to be the starter and we'd be crazy not to. Besides we dont want to see an Allan Walsh picture of Fleury with a tomahawk in his back or something. Lankinen is the future starter of this team but last year was kinda a dumpster fire with goal tending. Lankinen wasnt fully ready to take over the starting position, but he was absolutely brilliant most nights and hung out to dry. He should be getting 30ish starts this season just to keep him fresh but also to be mentored by MAF. I 100% beleive that Lankinen can become a starting goalie, maybe not elite but a dependable starter.

Who didnt make the cut:
Kurashev: He has great hustle and drive, but he went long stretches without scoring. 1 more year in the A and he should definitely be ready.
Carpenter: Carp was great his first year then invisible his second year, not sure what happened. He's still a servicable player being a great FO guy and PKer just not sure where we slot him in over others, unfortunately he probably gets pushed out with the new talent.
Borgstrom: Before the Johnson trade I had him or Gaudette as the 3C since he seems skilled enough. Liiga isnt a joke and he put up decent numbers in a limited role. Borg was the main piece of that Florida trade so if he doesnt become something then the trade is kinda a dud for us.
Entwhistle: I like Ent a lot and he didnt look out of place at all up here so would be cool to have him stick around but maybe 1 more year in Rockford wouldnt hurt.
Reichel: He's not ready no point in rushing him. To the A he goes. $5 says Colliton plays him the entire season and ruins his confidence and development by scratching him and haivng him play 5 minutes a night.
Beaudin: I think he played really well for the young D and hope we see more of him but knowing how bowman likes to trade away all his first round picks I have a bad feeling we will lose him. Beaudin is one I hope we keep.
Mitchell: I was really not impressed with Mitchell he was really soft and seems like he was rushed out the gate. I think he can become a great player but rushing his development never ends well.
Delia: Love Delia as a person but hes at best a backup and isnt better than Lanks. The delia era might be over after this year folks, hopefully he backs up another competitive team. I'd have Delia and Cale Morris as the 2 AHL goalies and have Soderblom play a full year in the SHL.

In my opinion, Hawks are significantly better than we once were and are absolutely in the fight for a playoff spot, but the teams in the central got a lot better too.
Dallas had a bunch of good pickups that make them well rounded and if Seguin and Radulov return healthy then they will be a top team. The jets are basically the same team offensively and overhauled their D making it a lot better. Avs are always very scary. Blues get more potent offensively and are basically the same team. The Preds are weaker, losing Ellis, Rinne, and Ardvisson is a big blow I wouldnt expect them to make the playoffs. The coyotes are the coyotes and theyre trying their hardest. Minnesota all depends on Kaprizov but even then, their center depth is super weak and can Talbot/Kahkonen be outstanding again? And with the pacific being such a weak position, 5 teams from the central will be making it and we will definitely be in the mix unless Colliton screws up royally.

1.

2.