Imagine buying out your #1 defense and putting Maatta on the top pair. Your lack of knowledge on Chicago is pretty obvious.

Maatta not a top pairing guy but him & Niskanen were excellent during their time in Pittsburgh. No reason to think they can’t achieve the same success in Chicago especially since Maatta seems to have handled himself alright this season.

I was gonna say, is the idea that buying out Keith and seabrook retiring ALONE turns the tide? Seabrook hopefully can be bought out, but Keith should stay since he’s started to recover some form. Beyond these two, this team still has years to go till it can compete again. Suffice to say, I’m one of the hawks fans who firmly believes this team can’t win another cup in the Kane-Toews era. Management just isn’t adapting to the times and the coaching is embarrassing.

In all fairness though, maatta only really excelled when he was in a #5-6 spot. He really wasn’t a first line difference maker. Guy really can’t skate, and he gets burned anytime he faces first lines. A lot of “optimistic” fans say he did fine and was dependable, but being a realist he was just average.

That was SIX years ago! Neither of those players should be playing top pair minutes.

Yeah i agree his skating is horrible but most times he’s able to make up for it with his strong positioning & hockey sense.

Well Niskanen was playing top minutes with Provorov.

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1683949

I put together a Hawks team. What’d you think of it?

And Ron Hainsey was playing top pairing with Chabot. Niskanen is still a responsible 4-5, but he's not a top pairing guy in my opinion. At least not on a legitimate cup contender.

I thought he played pretty well to be honest.

Chabot is one of the best D men in the league in minutes, Provorov isn't

I don’t disagree with that observation. However, I think that more or less proves he’s better in the 5-6 role. He never influences play going forward but at least he can be a shutdown player.

Well, first off, I love it from the hawks’ perspective. That being said, the red wings and leafs trades do seem to be a bit lopsided. I’d love if they were that easy, don’t get me wrong. But I’d have to believe the leafs would hold out for more for marner, and Stevie Y must know he wants to build the franchise around either lafreniere or byfield, whoever they get.

As taboo or ridiculous as other hawks fans may believe me to be for saying this, If we traded Kane or toews, I wouldn’t hate it. I’m not married to the idea that they “should” retire here. If the team was still making the playoffs and in the hunt, sure, I’d love it. But I still view hockey as a business, and if it’s in the interest of the hawks to trade them for a better future, I’d do it. We’ve wasted three straight years as is, I’m fine losing a few more as long were losing “with a purpose.”

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah you’re right, most likely the trades are a little lopsided but it would be awesome to see Chicago with a team like that. Marner & Kane together would be unreal. You have a point, even though those guys are franchise players, if it means you get a big return like the best prospects in hockey & speeds up the rebuild, then that’s definitely something to consider.

Here’s a thread I made based on that idea of trading franchise cornerstones.

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/317709&post_id=1344878

I like the moves. I think you can get a bit more for Kane, maybe add Kravstov.

I thought that, but honestly, I wanted to at least make it marginally fair and even. Kane’s amazing, but he is 31-32. You’re trading a lot for basically 3-4 years of guaranteed good years before some possible decline.

That’s a fair point. Your team looks very promising for sure though.