Up that pick in the leafs trade. We are retaining 1.7mil....Pokka is a good prospect but cap space is very very valuable to a team like Chicago. Up it to a 2nd or add another 3rd to it.

The Islanders trade seems VERY unrealistic. The Carolina trade could work from their salary cap perspective but that does not seem to be the trend (trading prospects/picks straightup for big salaries. The Toronta trade may work but I think their brass would want an NHL ready guy.

So many unanswered questions yet again this off season. Will the purge ever end?!

Not when you got 2 guys making 10.5mil!

Lee is the Isles second best forward. ZERO chance they move him. Especially in a package like that.

you're a wizard harry lol

God's honest truth there, bud!! Chicago is the example of how not to manage a team in this salary cap era! And what an utter shame! Too bad your team fell a little short this season but the Leaves certainly are "on the rise"!

If Chicago could have signed those two for even 9.5mil per I think Chicago would have been in a much better spot. But I can't argue with some Cup victories by the Hawks. Great team still!

I know I always talk down on Bowman (and justifiable so IMO), yet there have been several very questionable decisions that will keep Chicago from celebrating another Cup win in the Toews/Kane era. I agree those extra $2M would have been handy to have. The Seabrook deal was really bad any way one looks at. Other deals led up to that choice but SB never seemed to have a plan to sustain a great team for the future.

Sometimes I ask myself would I trust Stan Bowman with my personal budget and retirement needs. The answer is a resounding NO! I really question why the guy has his position with the Blackhawks. What he inherited and what he has done is shameful! Three Cups after 49 years of drought is good and great. Yet, how many more could there have been with better/proper management?! Maybe his hands have been tied all along? Maybe he really isn't a very good GM?

Let's be fair though. While he didn't help himself with the contracts of Bickell and Seabrook I can (at this point in time) forgive the Toews and Kane contracts. Look at PIT. People complained about them giving $9M (round) to both Crosby and Malkin, but they've made it back to win it all last year. Malkin was making $9M when Kane was still on an ELC and the team cap was $56.8M. That's a greater percentage than the Toews/Kane contracts.
On another note...He did get Panarin and traded Shaw for Debrincat and Chad Krys and trade nothing to get Panik. Overall, he's been put in tough decisions and come out on top, but has also had potential mistakes along the way. Even with Seabrook's contract, his options were lose him for nothing and try to find a replacement power Dman or overpay by about $1M per year. Honestly, I probably would have made the same move. It's just like people arguing that he should have bought out Hossa when he could. Tough Spot...what are your options?...Let's win now.

The example of how not to manage a team in the salary cap era you say has the most stanley cups in the salary cap era soooo...

You are right in that Stan Bowman has thrice had his name etched on the Cup. And yet how much of his work legitimately contributed to those wins? 2010, not really his team at all. 2015, only because of Kane's timely injury was Bowman able to acquire needed pieces to vault into the Finals and secure that win. SB did a nice job trading for Oduya and Hanzus, and I laud him for 2013. Fast forward 8 years into his tenure as GM. These Chicago Blackhawks are definitely Bowman's. Early exits will be/have become the norm, sadly. Because of his questionable managerial decisions, will HIS team ever right the ship again? That is all on him.

I truly respect your opinions and always appreciate your posts. You are very thoughtful. Pittsburgh is under new management since their top duo was extended. One could argue they underachieved from '09 til last year. They also changed coaches. I believe these factors have to be considered when it comes to reviving the Pens back to Champions. They have also overcome a ton of very significant injuries, both last year and into this year's current run.

Bowman has consistently speculated a higher rising cap and prepaid numerous contracts only to slowly dismantle what truly could have been a dynasty. Crawford, Toews and Kane, Anisimov, Seabrook and now Panarin. OTOH, an Yzerman patiently waited for his superstar to re-sign at a much more friendlier hit. (In the Stamkos situation, his health has become the concern, although there could be bargained remedies in TBs favor). Does this pattern by Bowman alarm anyone, here or within the organIZation? Sadly, no. Many times present deals directly affect future deals. That is why it is incumbent to make good choices, really the right choices, all along. I simply am not on board with Bowman being this great GM that many others believe he is. Sorry.

Hawksfan88, a general manager's first and foremost responsibility should be to manage the salary cap. None other than Neil Smith, former GM of the '94 Cup winning NYR, proclaims this as gospel truth. Bowman has done an incredibly poor job in that respect for the past several years. 2015-16 has to go down as an utter fail. It is as if he doesn't even recognize there is a salary cap, IMO. He did inherit a mess and the Toews/Kane bonuses for winning the Cup added to the resulting purge of '10. I give him a partial pass although he did screw up with Hjalmarsson that summer. Learning on the job. Still learning on the job apparently because he continues to make similar annual mistakes seven years later. No pass anymore. Unfortunately, the long term damage is nearly impossible to correct. I will say, he probably isn't as bad as I make him out to be but if the rose colored glasses are taken off, Stan Bowman truly is an example of how not to manage salaries -- hit, term and clause. Troy Murray might make a better GM but all of this will continue to cloud what could have otherwise been until about the middle of the next decade and he will be too old and worn out by then.

Again, his name is on the Cup three times despite his entire body of work. If he was a faster learner, the Blackhawks really would have been a dynasty.

First of all, Thanks! I appreciate your comments as well. It's good to see supporting information behind thoughts which isn't always a given on this site. I would agree that PIT being under new management was certainly a factor. Heck Sullivan's coaching last year produced an amazing change. Below is an interesting read. It's by no means gospel, but food for thought.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Ryan-Wilson/Can-the-Chicago-Blackhawks-learn-from-the-Pittsburgh-Penguins/177/84709

My biggest question at a 10,000 foot level is...when does loyalty pay off and when doesn't it? Do players really choose to come to Chicago at a discount because Bowman is a man of his word? I used to think so, but I'm not so sure anymore. Campbell came back because his wife made him. AT THE TIME people thought that was a steal of a contract, but that wasn't Bowman...that was Campbell's wife. So, How much credit will Bowman receive for letting Panarin play that 1 last game? Seriously, Panarin wouldn't have received his schedule B bonus without playing the very last game of the season. Why not sit him? He'd be mad, but you already signed him two more years @ a "Bridge" deal. There are other examples of this like Kruger's contract, etc... I think we'll see whether or not loyalty pays off with Panik's contract. Panik has zero business demanding money. With Panik, it's more like You're welcome for keeping your NHL career alive, now here's what's gonna happen! If he gets traded...damn the torpedoes, hard ball with everyone here on out.