Quoting: Poehling
Kirby Dach is their solid 2C
Quoting: exo2769
Ok...so imagine a team that was firmly in the hunt for 85% of last season. Now add Toews, Dach, Seth Jones, McCabe, and the reigning vezina winner in MAF...thats getting better in all 3 phases.
Quoting: Ledge_And_Dairy
lol what? Kirby Dach has elite 1C potential, who do you not trust to get injured? Fleury just won the vezina, even if he falls off Lankinen is good
Quoting: xercuses
McCabe and dehaan but they are amazing when not injured
Okay, just cuz I know the hawks fans on this site love it when I do this, time for me to play devils advocate.
I wanna point a few things that has correlates to last season. To get the easy point out of the way (and this is no shocker from me), Dach IS NOT a solid 2C. Period. End of story. Does he have the potential for it, maybe. To this point, he still only makes me think of a mark stone-light who doesn’t score goals. I’d be fine with him on the wing long term but I know others on this site will disown hawks management if such a choice was made. Suffice to say, centers make the players on their line better and Dach wouldn’t do that with Kane and cat.
To the point of strome being a 2C, same story as Dach, he doesn’t make others better, it’s vice versa. Plus, be honest, you all know the chances he’s here next year are slim to none.
To exo’s point, who’s point I truly respect, I have my concerns. Yes the hawks were in the playoff hunt last year. However, an almost paradoxical moment happened last year where the hawks finally fizzled out and went on a losing streak where they dropped out of the playoffs. Paradoxical how, you might ask? Well, said losing streak started immediately when Dach was rushed back from injury. The hawks lost twice as many games when Dach came back. As for the incoming signings and those returning from injury, I’ve already made clear my expectations for many of them. However, I fear that many are still coming in as losers (McCabe, Dach…..), in poor form (Jones), or question marks (MAF, Toews). Keep in mind this is a deeply cynical dive, but what ties it all together is the man behind the bench. No matter the team, remember that it’s JC that needs to pull them together. Does anyone truly feel comfortable with that?
Ledge and diary, as I already addressed the Dach question, which I’ll again rehash by saying at this moment it’s just potential (and that potential really need to get the **** moving), let me address MAF. MAF was done dirty by Vegas, pure and simple. I think it’s awful that he’s been forced out of there after an amazing season for them and now coming to a team in Chicago shrouded in controversy and a mortgaged future for the sake of one for title run. That all being said, yes, he seems motivated. If he stays healthy, there is nothing to suggest he’d play bad, but if it gets to lankinen, then I’m worried. I genuinely believe he took a turn last year not cuz he was cooked, but cuz he was figured out.