Disregard the cap. This is also best-case scenario.
1st line: Saad-Toews-Panik
Even though it is only preseason, Brandon Saad impressed me in his first game back. Not only did he have a hat trick, he showed great chemistry with Richard Panik. If that’s not a coincidence, this line is going to be absolutely insane this year.
Jonathan Toews has had a couple bad years, there no denying that. But in his defense, he hasn’t had any consistent line mates through those couple years since Stan traded Saad away, and now he has Saad back and it’s his 2nd year with Richard Panik. He has great chemistry with both of those guys. I wouldn’t be surprised if Toews was point per game this year, but a more realistic total is around 70 points.
Richard Panik as I said before has great chemistry with both Toews and Saad, which will be crucial to this years point producing. Panik really rejuvenated his career since coming to Chicago. He is capable of getting 20-25 goals and I’d say around 60-65 points in an ideal year.
This line will also be superb defensivley, as Toews is a Selke contender, and Saad is great in his own right.
2nd line: Debrincat-Schmaltz-Kane
In my opinion, Debrincat proved to us that size doesn’t matter, by playing great against the Wings on Thursday. Not only did he score a goal, but I feel he held his own physically and didn’t get pushed around as much as I thought he would. As I’ve said in other armchair teams, Alex has the talent to have been drafted top 5 in the 2016 Draft, and if he continues to play like he did against Detroit, he’ll make Stan Bowman look like a genius. I feel that his biggest positive is his release on his shot. It’s just so quick, and if you combine that with his passing ability and the way he sees the ice, you have an offensive dynamo playing with Patrick Kane.
Nick Schmaltz really impressed me in the games against Detroit and Columbus. Okay, he had what, 4 assists and a goal? That’s great, but the thing about his game that I was the most excited about was how hard he was backchecking. Absolutely incredible. If he does that all season, this line will have crazy possession numbers, which will lead to tons of goals from Debrincat and Kane. Then you add in Schmaltz’s offensive talent, and this immediately becomes one of the best lines in the league. However, most of this is only possible if Nick can make his faceoff percentage better.
Patrick Kane is just that, Patrick Kane. I don’t need to explain that anymore.
Obviously, Schmaltz and Debrincat are not going to be point per game players, and they probably won’t get more then 60 points, but Patrick Kane will probably excel with these two guys, and could still reach the 80 point mark.
3rd line: Sharp-Anisimov-Hartman
Patrick Sharp will not be scoring 30 goals like he used to here. All I want from Sharp is to play most of the season and put up 15-20 goals. We need him to mentor the new young guys coming in, even though we already have lots of those guys. Sharp plays well defensivley, and is a “Sharp” shooter. Wow, that was bad. Lol.
Artem Anisimov is going to be the 2nd line center if Schmaltz doesn’t improve his faceoffs, but assuming he’s the 3C, he may put up more points playing against some lesser competition. He plays good defensivley and can use his big frame to open up space for Sharp to get a shot.
Ryan Hartman was a guy that I thought was just a big power forward, but he’s shown that he possesses a great shot, and plays above average in his own end. He isn’t just a power forward goon. IMO he is more of a bigger, more talented Andrew Shaw. He’ll probably elclipse the 20-25 goal mark this year.
4th line: Kero-Dauphin-Hayden
Kero is just your typical 3rd/4th line player, and does everything right. He doesn’t put up 20 goals a year or anything, but he contributes enough and is stellar defensively.
Laurent Dauphin shocked me. He was just so good defensively against Columbus and he’s a great penalty killer. IMO, he’s just a more offensive Kruger, on a cheaper contract. He is one of the few forwards that just stand there and block shots. And he blocked 3 Panarin one timers on the same PK shift, plus he scored a goal, which is just awesome to see from somebody I didn’t expect to even play this year.
John Hayden isn’t a 4th line player. He has enough talent to play on the 3rd line, but like I said, the depth pushes him down. He showed glimpses of talent in his short stint last year and put up decent numbers. I feel we could see a breakout year from him if we have any injuries throughout the top 9.
Extras: Wingles-Bouma-Jurco-Tootoo-Hinostroza
Wingles was a great signing for Stan this offseason. If I’m not mistaken (I didn’t google this), he was one of the, if the the number 1 guy in hits for the Sharks last year, which is exactly what we need this year.
Bouma is another one of those physical, scary guys that you want on your team to produce energy.
Can’t the same thing be said about Tootoo?
Tomas Jurco never really turned out in Detroit, and hasn’t broken out or anything in Chicago, but I like the way he’s been playing. He has a ton of talent, and I look forward to hopefully seeing him do well at the NHL level.
Vinnie Hinostroza hasn’t turned out to be anything great in Chicago, but he has shown glimpses of talent. He is serviceable if Q decides he wants him in the lineup over anyone else.
Our forward core is filled with lots of talent, physicality, and defensive players, and it’ll be fun to see how Q fits everything in as there is only 12 spots.
Defensive pair 1: Keith-Murphy
Duncan Keith is starting to slow down, but he is still an elite defenseman in the NHL. He sees the ice well, and makes great stretch passes to send guys on breakaways. One thing that I really like about Duncan’s game is how deceptive he is. I remember watching Game 1 against Nashville in 2015 in double overtime, and seeing him take a fake clapper multiple times to move the defender out of the shooting lane, and then fire one just inside the post to win game 1. That’s something that you don’t see all the time from guys. The patience level that is. He plays great defensivley and can lay people out as we saw this year (Viktor Arvidsson). Hopefully, Keith returns to his Norris play to carry a young defensive core (after Seabs and Franson that is).
Connor Murphy was the main piece coming back for Nick Hjalmarsson, and even thought he isn’t Hammer, he is still about as close to him as it gets. I didn’t see him play a lot in Arizona, but hopefully he can develope an offensive game playing with Keith on the first pairing.
2nd Pairing: Oesterle-Seabrook
This may come as a surprise to most people, but I think that Jordan Oesterle is a perfect fit for this final top 4 position. He showed the ability to be a rushing defenseman against Detroit and produced lots of scoring opportunities in a game where we had 49 shots on goal. Playing along side Seabrook, I can see him excelling as an offensive defenseman this year.
Brent Seabrook is a perfect example when you talk about a bad decision. Sure, he is still serviceable as a top 4 guy, but he has been slowing down and his play has been decreasing at a rapid rate. The reason I say he’s a bad decision is the contract he has. 6.8 million dollars. I’m fine paying him that for the next 2 years, but 7?!?!?! Not good. We think we are in cap hell now, wait until 4 years goes by and we need a top 4 d-man and he is making 7 million dollars as a bottom pairing or depth guy. Hopefully his play speeds up a bit this year, and he returns to a top 2 status on this team.
3rd pairing: Kempny-Franson
Michal Kempny is a solid bottom pairing guy, he isn’t amazing at either end of the ice, but he is great all around. He is definitely a guy I’d want playing along aside someone like Cody Franson, a more offensive guy.
Cody Franson might not even play I guess because he’s on a PTO, but I feel he played great in his first game against Columbus, and is giving Stan a reason to give him a contract. He’s a solid offensive defenseman, who will probably quarterback the 2nd power play unit.
Extras:
Gustav Forsling is someone I was ready to see play with him potentially Jan Rutta on the bottom pairing, but with the signings of Oesterle and Franson, they will both most likely be depth guys. Forsling is a great young defenseman, and will probably get the call to be a regular on the lineup after one more year in the AHL.
I was so excited when I found out that we signed Rutta to a deal. A young, very saught after defenseman who I feel adapted very quickly to American Hockey. Hopefully he gets rotated with Franson and Kempny multiple times throughout the season.
Luc Snuggerud emerged as a great defenseman in the short time he played against Detroit. Granted he did get injured, it is preseason, and he could’ve just had a good period or so he played, we don’t have a lot to judge him for. However, I have a really good feeling about this guy, and he could be picked to play before Forsling or Rutta in any sort of injury situation the hawks face this year.
Goaltending:
Crawford
Forsberg
Corey Crawford had a great year last season. If you take out his injuries, he would’ve been in talks for the Vezina, even though the other 3 goalies would obviously have made it over him still. It frustrated me that he didn’t make the top ten goalies right now list from NHL Network, but he is set to have a great year and he has to be since Scott Darling is no longer his backup.
Anton Forsberg is a complete wild card. He played incredible against his old team in Columbus, making I believe 38 saves? He played incredible for that game, but in ten games for the Jackets last year he struggled. Hopefully, he plays the way he did in his first game as a hawk.
Did I seriously just type all of this after 2 GAMES?!?!?! PRESEASON GAMES!?!?!?!
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
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