I love Kirby Dach. I wouldn't have taken him at 3 (Byram would've been my pick), but regardless, he should be a fantastic player down the road. When I watched him, I basically see a hybrid of Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Getzlaf. Elite playmaker, moves well for a guy his size, and he can really take over a game with puck possession. While it's not the dynamic skillset like a Mackinnon or a McDavid has, he has all the physical tools to be a solid #1 center. Center depth is clearly crucial to winning in this league, and I think Dach is going to be a great piece for you guys. I wouldn't think of it as his path being blocked by Toews and Strome, I'd think of it as it gives the Hawks a lot of lineup flexibility and allows either him, Strome or Toews to be a matchup nightmare for an opposition's third line.

Brannstrom is the best defensive prospect in the league. Dach isn’t enough and adding Seabrook just ruins the trade. No one wants Seabrook and his atrocious contract.

Don't worry HatterTParty, if these names are throwing around him, its a good pick.
Elite playmaker:if thats true, then = jackpot

Don't doubt your GM's draft picks until it's proven otherwise. Check Dach's progress in 3-4 years. Then you can see,if it was a huge hit or a bust.
Don't worry for now. Even if it doesn't work out the way you think it should: future #1 centre in NHL, it can still be a decent pick...
...and if its a huge bust, which i doubt: no big deal, your gm will pick countless other talented prospects in the upcoming years, and round 3 pick nr. 77 = huge success = superstar, it can happen...
Not all top5 has to be McKinnon,Matthews,Stamkos,McGod in every single year possible. Just be happy that you got a solid future #1-#2 center,(worst case really good #3 center, who is elite playmaker at #3 Center if u look up all NHL team's rosters?).
So for now it seems #2 Center Minimum with huge upside. I would be happy, If tampa got him, even though we have 5+ solid centers. You cant have enough centers in today's NHL...

BTW Toews drafted in 2006 - Dach in 2019 - i think this seems good! - dont be so sure Toews will be #1 center material in 3 years.... NHL players over 32 are usually regressing... it can happen any year over 30... you just never know... i think Toews for next 2 years is safe for good points totals, but you just never know, any injury also can happen.
Good pick for sure( i would have picked him at 5th-6th), just don't expect a 100 points guy in 2021 and then you won't be disappointed!

It sounds like this is more of a personal mindset to dislike Dach vs being open and review his body of work...to be honest. I'll admit I was a Bowen Byram guy at the draft because of how Byram elevated his game throughout the WHL playoffs. He has shown the ability to kick it into another gear that you just can't teach. That's a winner right there! I'm firm on best available and that's double for top 10 picks. I have followed a bunch of the top prospects including Dach, but no I don't watch every single game for any of them. Now for Dach. He has more speed that people give him credit. That was readily available at the prospect development camp if you watched it. On the Friday's scrimmage the opposing teams forward stole the puck from a defender...from Dach's team. Dach (clearly far behind) ran him down cold and stopped a breakaway. Speed isn't something you teach either. You have it or you don't. Another talent on display is his stick handling. I'm not just talking about stick handling...for such a big guy...which is true, but not the point. I'm talking about pure stick handling. He was literally stick handling through defenders legs....and pretty solid prospect defenders too. Not the 24 year old's last chance or 17 year old 7th rounder from the this past draft. Now, I'm also 100% aware that 1 prospect camp doesn't mean much at all. I get it, but it does show his talent level relative to other prospects. So as he reached his first hurdle as a Blackhawk...he cleared it. He actually sailed over it and has a lot of Hawks fans excited and expecting him to clear the next (only his 2nd) hurdle in Traverse City. Long way to go, but I'm giving Stan the benefit of the doubt for now.

As for the 2nd part about why Dach. I just disagree with not needing a big body or another center. Center depth is VITAL and Toews can be a VERY good (probably the best) #3C in 3-4 years...if he wants to be. Heck maybe Strome will be #3C, but more on that in a second. The Hawks desperately needed some size. Especially in that division. STL/WPG/NSH...all big body teams. Dallas is even a pretty big team. I also don't think Strome is Stan's favorite player...unless Strome gives a mega discount to Stan for reviving his career. Strome is a solid player, but needs to be with Debrincat. Strome doesn't drive that line. Debrincat does. If Strome doesn't give Stan a reasonable contract amount...maybe you trade Strome then? Sell high. Also, Rolling (3) lines is darn vital if you want to win a cup. Getting the Center piece is the hardest part when finding a 3rd line.

i personally think Cale Makar, Bowen Byram and Noah Dobson are all better than him. But thats jsut my opinion

Regardless, it would take more than Dach.

No it wouldn't, although throwing in Seabs ruins the trade.

First of all, thanks to everyone for their input, love the opinions. Secondly, that branstrom trade, just threw that in to be a smart ass. I wouldn’t dach straight up for branstrom if I were Ottawa.

That being said, a few things I want to comment on. First, the idea of comparisons to Malkin and Getzlaf. I’ve also heard johansen and scheifele. I don’t believe for one second in the malkin comparison, cuz that would infer he’s a hundred point scorer, even potential wise, and that’s never gonna happen. As for the other three, I would love it if he turned into scheifele, but I hope to to god the getzlaf and johansen ones are wrong, cuz I can’t stand either. If it were 2009, I’d love the getzlaf comparison.

Another thing I heard was the mention of beat player available and then the merits of dach. Firstly, I absolutely don’t care what a team needs, at number 3 your ass better pick the best available. Many people made mention of the hawks d logjam. You know how you get rid of a logjam? Trades. Stan didn’t even pick byram and he traded our beatnik nhl ready defenseman for a bust! More on that later. In this case, byram was easily the right pick. You can never have enough centers? I thought you couldn’t have enough dmen. Call me crazy, I’m still taking the latter, and as someone else in these comments, Stan can still make other great picks. Well Stan, you had a number one dman on the board, why couldn’t you a center in another draft? Can someone answer that.

Dach, on the other hand, I saw firsthand. I was present at prospect camp all week for the hawks. I’ll state the obvious: of course he stood out!!! He was number 3 overall! He better stand out! I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect anything less and kinda got annoyed when people were so impressed. Why? He’s playing lesser players than him supposedly. This, btw, isn’t a comment on our prospect pool, just on Dach’s supposed crazy talent. Adam boqvist easily was our best player in camp. Dach has a long way to being nhl ready though imo. When he didn’t have the puck in the scrimmage, he just seemed to disappear, not assert himself. As a center, that concerns me. Also, his inconsistency worries me a lot, and I don’t believe he be given a chance until he actually dominates the WHL. He can’t even outskate junior players or consistently out play them. Byram led the league in playoff scoring as a dman.........

Now, lastly, and this one I’m not in the mood to compromise on, is Stan bowman. I’ve heard trust your gm, or your gm will pick other great talent later. Let’s talk about Stan for a second. Stan’s best trade in three years? Dylan Strome. Any other good ones? Maybe de Haan, we will found out when he’s healthy. Beyond that? Nope. What have we lost thanks to bowman. We had to trade teraveinen just to get rid of bickell’s 4 mil a year deal. Seabrook “deserved” almost 7 mil a season at 32 years old. He traded panarin for saad (that alone should have got him fired). He traded hjalmarsson for Murphy. He traded kahun for maatta. He gave up 3 picks for Shaw. And finally, he traded joki for the wrong nylander. So, does it sound I like I wanna give bowman a break? This off-season alone, I’ve wanted to blow my head off cuz of his decisions. De haan notwithstanding, every other deal seems to be a loss or at least risk long term. Maatta can’t skate, Shaw was just too expensive, and nylander?! Freakin nylander!!!!!!!! For our beat nhl dman prospect?! Screw Stan bowman! I’ve given him every chance to fix his mistakes. But every decision made this year has been about saving his own ass, including dach. So no, I’m not trusting my gm, cuz he hasn’t earned it back yet. The hawks aren’t even gonna make the playoffs as it is with this team. Even if dach plays. So screw Stan, and dach better be a franchise changer for this pick to ever be accepted.

I'm with you in not believing in Stan Bowman. You nailed it with his awful trades of Teuvo, Hammer, Panarin, as well as the contracts he's handed out. I also totally would've taken Byram over Dach. A future defense featuring Byram, Boqvist, Jokiharju, Beaudin and maybe Gustafsson is something that execs can only dream of.

My comparison of Dach to Malkin wasn't me saying that he was going to become that caliber of a player. That's the skillset I see in him. I also see some Jack Eichel in his game too. I'm confident that he's going to be a fantastic NHL player. I'm a big believer in Dach's upside as a potential top line center, and I see him being their long term Toews replacement. Should be NHL ready by 2020-21.

I had Dach ranked as the sixth best player in the draft, behind Hughes, Kakko, Byram, Turcotte and Zegras. Again, not the player I would've taken at 3. But still going to be a fine player in this league for a long time.

I like the stance you had on ranking players. Also, I get what you mean about the malkin comparison. I think my general problem still stems from taking the best available player. We lucked into the 3rd pick and it just feels wasted. Put it this way, dach could be a number 1 center in 5 years time. Maybe he puts up good numbers. Here’s the rub: he alone isn’t a franchise player in my mind. He will not win the hawks a cup, even potential wise. We had a chance at byram, boqvist, Mitchell, joki, beaudin, and name a #6 dman. That’s sick! Instead, we have only boqvist, beaudin, and Mitchell, and I don’t exactly have faith in vlasic (he’s verrrryyyyy lazy). So bowman made the hawks slightly better, but he also made the Avs amazing! Joe Sakic is honestly writing thank you cards to bowman right now.

That’s what pisses me off. We didn’t need offense. We coulda gotten a center next year and taken the number 1 dman this year. Instead, we went with a supposed “need” and the Avs got insanely better. You know what would be amazing? If the hawks never win a cup with dach because they can’t get through byram and the Avs.

@HatterTParty . I like to conversation so appreciate the detailed response. Wanted to say that 1st and foremost. It's good to hear solid points and counterpoints.

I stated from the very beginning that I was a Bowen Byram guy and said the same exact reasons. When you elevator you game as the playoffs continue...you can't pass on a guy like that. To me...it's not giving a pass to Bowman. It's not Bowman making the decisions anymore. He even said as much. He heavily relies on his scouts for his drafts. It's been Mark Kelley and it's literally impossible to hate what he's done in the last 4 years since he's taken over as "The Draft Guy". Debrincat in the 2nd...Joki, Mitchell, Barrett...Boqvist Beaudin, Kurashev in the 4th, and Gravel in the 6th!. We'll see about Dach. You're also just focusing on the negative. AND I AGREE. There are a lot of negatives. Maatta for Kahun was subpar. I also HATE HATE HATE that Joki trade. I wouldn't have even done it for William Nylander. He should've received a better return and I actually think this trade will be his downfall if the Hawks don't make the playoffs THIS YEAR. Heck, send Joki to Florida. You know Q likes him! But back to the point...trading isn't his achillies heel. He's made just as many good trades. You said the Shaw trade was bad, but the Shaw trade for Debrincat was better than Schmaltz for Strome. Kubliak for a 5th?! DeHaan for (2) disgruntled employees that we far more likely to move overseas that play for Chicago?! You're also only focusing on the Panarin trade as bad. What about the credit for getting Panarin in the 1st place? Panarin had literally 30 teams after him. That's a trade for a 77 and 74 point player for literally nothing. Kempny was brought in for nothing and got a 3rd. Manning was shed for Drake. Gustaffsson can bring in a HAUL if traded. I'm not saying Bowman's a saint by any stretch of the imagination. He's made TON's of mistakes. He's still better than most of other GMs in the game. Who do you want as GM? Jim Rutherford?!?! People sing his praises all the time and claim him to be great. Honest question. here. Besides the Maatta/Kahun trade. When was his last good trade? February 2016 is the answer. That's what happens when you win cups. You lose assets and deplete your farm system.

Okay, now ya see, your doing a far better job at at least helping me handle bowman. Dach may have to be a few years of getting used to. I just don’t like big guys anymore. I just like speed and finesse, but that is my problem to be fair. As for bowman, I love your argument. You are right that he has had as many great trades and acquisitions as bad ones. I guess I’m just running out of patience with some of his choices. As a whole, I love him. In the last year and a half though, it’s getting tougher. If mark Kelley really is the one who’s been drafting the last 3-4 years, then I can buy into the process. But I don’t want Stan to continue trading away the future for nothing, like the joki trade. That’s assuming Stan is the one doing the trades. The moves he’s made this summer, they made us tougher, but definitely not faster or more skilled. The blues winning the cup was by far the worst thing that could happen to the nhl, cuz all it did was promote that boring, physical 90s style. I still believe speed and skill are the ways of the future. Having said that, if the team can grow to become a version of the 2010 team, god I’ll be happy. They were the perfect blend of speed, skill, and toughness. I just don’t wanna be pure physical like the blues.

I’ll say this to finish on Stan though, all the complaints are probably for not. Cuz as long as Scotty bowman is the advisor to rocky wirtz (our owner), Stan’s never getting fired. All I’m saying though, is trust your youth Stan instead of trading them, please don’t turn us into a team of unskilled goons, and speed is the way not big muscles.

As a quick side note. Again...1 game doesn't make or break a player, but Dach with 2 goals and 1 assist for a 4-1 win over Team USA in the 1st game of the 2019 summer showcase. Guys from last year's draft are in that tournament too. I'll be honest that I forgot that tournament was going on, but he's playing with confidence right now and producing.

Believe me, I saw that and got very encouraged. However, I’m more convinced that as long as I dislike him, he will continue to do good. Hmmmmm

HatterTParty, i have read this topic, and i feel you. I understand your frustration with your GM. (NBA:Miami Heat my fav team = middle of nowhere for years)
But your GM is trying his best. If it's not working, he will get fired. He made that Jokiharju trade, because he thought it helps your team to have more chance to make the playoffs or win cups.
Even though you think you liked a prospect. There is no guarantee that the other prospect won't be same quality, good player(or better). Do you think he wants Chicago to finish 30th in the NHL?(only Ottawa worse)

Anyways, i have a suggestion for you, then you probably won't be disappointed for a couple of years:

Just watch us play hockey all year(or years if you choose so), besides your team. All you will get in all of our next 82 games is: Speed + Skill + Finesse , nothing else.
With our offense, we crush all others teams dreams( in 70% of games), they are so mad that they can't even score after we lead with like 3-1. Winning 50+ games next season also guaranteed.
Just watch Tampa and you get what you dream of.
PURE SKILL - MAX SPEED - UNBELIEVABLE FINESSE SAVES FROM VASY - 0 DEFENSE - 0 GRIT - NEVER LOOK BACK - FULL ATTACK - NO BIG GUYS
Even when we lead 4-0, we still: ATTACK WITH FULL FORCE. If its 4-0 to 4-4, who cares, we score 2 more than 6-4 EZ win.

So if you choose not to watch us, and not to root for us in the upcoming years, i have some stats for you:

Last 10 years NHL:

Chicago Blackhawks: 3 Stanley Cup Wins
Tampa Bay Lightning: 0 Stanley Cup wins

So on average every team roughly wins a Stanley cup ~ 30 years, thats a fact. So next 50 years( lets just pretend 0 cups for Blackhawks) + 10 years = 60 years = 3 Cups = Still better than average
I dont want to crush your dreams, this is just the reality. You should respect your team's results in the last years, and not be mad at your GM, whatever he does.
I dont know which GM helped your team to won those cups, but in todays NHL those 3 cups in 10 years = Patriots in NFL, unrepeatable,amazing, no words for it.
So how can you be not happy right now? Just remember the past. Appreciate the results. Don't expect to be a contender every year. That's not gonna happen.

My expectations for next 10 years:
Chicago Blackhawks: 0 Stanley Cup Wins
Tampa Bay Lightning: 1 Stanley Cup wins

And that 1 win even questionable however good we are each year.So it can be next 10 years:
Chicago Blackhawks: 0 Stanley Cup Wins
Tampa Bay Lightning: 0 Stanley Cup wins


Maybe after these numbers, you think im crazy, you say go to hell to me... you want cups... i get it... but its just math... math works. Thats why its math...
After Seattle joins its even less btw... so every team chances each year drops ...
Anyways, do you think byram would make your team win 1 stanley cup instead of 0 in the next 10 years. Then why McDavid doesn't help for Edmonton to make the playoffs? You see where im going with this. It's a team sport. If Colorado wins with Byram the Stanley cup, same thing will happen as with other winning teams, they will win because the whole team is skilled, stacked, lucky, hard work, goaltending etc... not because of 1 player...
All im saying is, lower your expectations for a while... or chances are... you will be disappointed. Like me after losing to columbus 0-4 in playoffs, so bad, noone guessed it, yet it happend...


I'm trying also to show you why what you wish can't be true for your team(besides western conference in general = super big & tough & lots of grit & defense oriented teams).

I just show you some players and age:
Kane, Patrick-30
Toews, Jonathan-31
Smith, Zack-31
Seabrook, Brent-34
Keith, Duncan-36
Crawford, Corey-34

Until these contracts are done. Rebuild = not possible. Stanley cup winning chance = slim. These guys will be slower each year & they have too much cap hit. And as far i can see, your GM are not moving these contracts for now.

So thats why your GM or his advisor whatever picked Dach. If NHL puts Chicago on the Eastern conference they might have picked someone else.
Why do you think Montreal 1st round pick was a huge drop? Cole Caufield - 64 games - 72 goals last year. Answer: HEIGHT: 5'7 - i would have picked this guy top 7 max ever. Maybe even top 6.


So you want some max speed & skill, just watch us, problem solved!
If you only like 1 team and its your only team, then Good luck for the 2019/2020 season!

BTW i have only rooted for the Tampa for last 20 years.
BUT from 2019/2020 i have a now a 2nd team to watch and root as well, and its ironically part of your frustration: Bowen Byram
MacKinnon i just love watching him play, but now they have amazing prospect pool + super skilled guys with some thoughness as well... I always wanted to choose a secondary team, but i just couldn't.
Until now.
But Bowen was the catalyst, so you know... from now on:
DOUBLE CHANCE to win Stanley Cup each year - on average it's much better ~ every 15 years 1 cup
So from now on:

GO BOLTZ & AVS !

Wow, that was a lot to unpack, haha. First thing is first, I’m as angry as I am because I LOVE my team. The hawks are my only team. However, the passion I feel needs to be matched by the ones who run it. I’ll always cheer and support them like I did in the ten bad years of 1998-2008. I’ll be honest, one of my good buddies is a huge Avs fan, and I joke with him all the time to get me a customized hawks jersey with byram on it. Yes, a hawks jersey.

However, here’s were i hate to be as blunt as I can be. I never take my team’s success for granted. I’ve lived through the best era of hawks history and loved every second of it. However, i look at it this way: see Detroit did, sustaining playoff hockey for over 20 years in a row? Never mind that the salary cap didn’t exist for a good chunk of that, their scouting was otherworldly. They SUSTAINED their success. They were smart and always adapted, that is, until they didn’t. Then they collapsed. Even better example, as much as I can’t stand the penguins, they’ve done well too. Over ten years straight of playoffs. Again, they’ve SUSTAINED. Yes, they’ve had down years, but they’ve also earned 3 cups. Now they’re starting a slight decline with their decision making. My point is, adapt or die. I just see it as bowman never chose to adapt. That, and he doled out terrible contracts and certain bad trades.

Lastly, and don’t take this personal, but screw the lightning. Not the players, the organization. I love the style of hockey you guys play, very entertaining. I do believe that style can win a cup, as I still refuse to believe that physical hockey is the way of the future. Maybe fast and physical in a few years, but I still value skill and speed. However, I still can’t forgive Tampa for their ****ty stance on banning hawks fans from sections of your stadium during the cup final in 2015. Beyond that, I love the hockey played, just don’t want anything to do with the banning of any fans in general. That’s ridiculous and pathetic of any team to do, and I do know your not the only ones. Nashville, St. Louis, etc. all have as well.

But, to revert back to the original point, lots to unpack in that post. I liked it a lot, and appreciate the post, thank you!

Haha sorry for the long post, sometimes i do theeze things, and im glad you liked it



I never heard about this ban thing from stadium, but if it did happend, i guess it was because the owners decided to do so.
So don't be mad at the whole team, only the guy who made the rule at that time! If it means something: I apologize in my team's name. I guess NHL is dirty in general, so the people around it used to that lifestyle, so they are dirty in the management things as well

Anyways, at least you will watch the games where we play against each other, those games are always fun, beacause both teams have amazing high skill guys on the top-end My current favorite from your Blackhawks: The CAT
We have in my team a cat as well(our goalie), we are similar... he is BIG though haha

If u come back to read my post, i have a question to you, since it seems u know lots of things about your team:

So, whats your honest opinion on Boqvist?
He was my personal favorite in the 2018 draft, i would have chosen him Round 1, Pick 4th tops. I think u guys made a good pick
I honestly think he can be future Erik Karlsson, or Victor Hedman. Or silimar. You know what i mean, haha.
On the other hand guys from this year's draft, like Soderstrom or Broberg, i dont think they will be that good NHL players. So i think your team hit jackpot with that pick!
But we'll see ofc, u just never know.

So anyways, is he NHL ready yet?
As far as i can see, he had a strong season in the OHL. Or he needs 1 more full'ish year in AHL or smth? Maybe at trade deadline he gets a shot or like that?
Or do you expect him to even make the starting lineup for the 2019/2020 season?

If he is not ready, whats the biggest thing he needs to improve next year? Skating, shooting,defending well or what else?
If i were coach, I would start him next season and take a risk for couple of games, if it doesnt work out then send him down to AHL. Then next year try again same
But for me it seems NHL teams never rush prospects to play in NHL , they rather wait 3 years, before giving them more than 10-20 games in general.
So what you expect for next year from Boqvist? Does he even get 10 games, or Zero chance he gets a shot?

Thanks for your answer in forward!

My favorite is the cat too, and I definitely respect your players, so many great, entertaining players to choose from. Brayden point is my favorite for sure.

Love the question, and I have to split my assessment into two part: pre prospect camp and post prospect camp.

Now, pre prospect camp, I woulda said no chance of making the team and he should go back to the O. I loved him when we drafted cuz I actually followed his Swedish ascension for the year prior, and he has, to this point, lived up to his billing. Part of me wanted Quinn Hughes, but seeing boqvist so far, I’m absolutely loving this kid. I also love Swedish/Finnish players. All of em have great skill and game IQ. As for boqvist, his skating and offensive contribution are otherworldly. He’s so shifty and has such great hands that he can what he wants with the right space. This happened a lot this past year with London. His offensive was staggering. So that part of his game clearly hit the spot. However, and I’ll use Cale makar as a reference for this, boqvist is not all there defensively. He still needs to make better decisions in his own end and get some muscle to assert himself. That’s why I didn’t mind if he went back to the O, much like makar in college, for a second year. He could develop physically some more, and hopefully become the prospect in the nhl just like makar did this last year. Keep in mind this is my pre prospect camp analysis.

However, post prospect camp, my feeling changed drastically. Boqvist showed all week that he couldn’t be touched by anybody and that he was the best player on the ice day in and day out. Granted he playing other prospects, but I’ll be honest, Kirby Dach could not handle boqvist in my opinion. In the scrimmage, forget it, he was the best player full stop. Nobody could touch and his offensive skill was on full display. Not only that, but his defensive game actually showed signs of improvement. Some have said he could be Erik karlsson, but I like to think could be more of a right handed niklas lidstrom (I know that’s a big expectation). But the way he shut plays down in his own zone was very reminiscent of lidstrom. He used his intelligence and athleticism to shut down plays. Not all defensemen need to use their body, much like lidstrom. I can see him evolving into this type of player. That being said, I no longer think the O is best for his development. I do think he’ll get his 9 games in the nhl with de haan injured, but after that, I’d be okay with a season in the ahl. Him adapting to a small rink at pro level is best for him, and the ahl is good place to start. Plus, he’ll be next to chad krys and Nicolas beaudin so they can develop side by side. I would like to see him develop a slight physical presence for a playoff style, but I love the player he is already and what he is becoming.

Hope this answer your question. Also love the various opinions as well!