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I listened to an interview that KFC did in Toronto about where he stands on Kane. He said that Kane is always welcome back; the door is open if that is what Kane decides. The inflection in his voice tells another story. It’s like, sure, we’ll take him back, but I don’t really want to. He couldn’t wait to get rid of Kane, and no matter what he says now, he doesn’t want him back. I don’t think he will come back; Buffalo is a playoff team. I would rather see another young guy get an opportunity. I hope they get rid of Mangiapani.
Well now Kane is a Hawk for 2 more years to likely close out his career. He will help the offense and give the fans the return to Chicago they wanted.
You know Wiz this is why i like KD, he’s willing to overpay to move up and get his guy, because once your guy is gone he’s gone.
I guess he did the same thing when it came to Byram, but I’m kind of seeing that move as a younger version of Brian Campbell.
This contract is definitely one paying for future performances, the first thing i said was this was an awful trade if they can’t extend him. Now this may be one of the worst contracts, we’ll see.
But I’m going to play a game of would i rather
Would i rather trade for Byram 25 and pay him 12.5 per, or trade for 30 year old Raddysh and pay him 8 yrs at 8.5 per.
Would i rather trade for Byram 25 and pay him 12.5 per, or trade for Nurse and sign Trouba.
Again didn’t like what we gave up and paid him but he’s a way better option than the other 2 moves.
I like the thought process behind the move. It’s true that Byram is a better long term move than Raddysh/Nurse/Trouba, who have all have their best hockey behind them already.
We might see 55+ point per year from Byram as the #1 guy getting prime PP minutes, likely to be playing ~double the time with the man advantage and with the top unit instead of being with unit 2. The Hawks used Levshunov, Rinzel, Grzelcyk on the powerplay but none of them were that effective, which is why they ended the year with a 5 forward PP unit for PP1. Love him or hate him, there has just been such a gap for an offensive minded D since they moved Jones. Of course moving Jones helped us get a young long term option in goal, which is outstanding, now we got a younger long term option for offensive minded D.
Buffalo wanted to keep Byram, but the realized he wants a bigger role/$$$ and that wasn’t going to happen for them just because of the depth they have. This to me, was like when the Hawks were cap crunched in that 10-13 time and we sent talent off to play bigger roles on other teams.
KD is starting to take more risks to move things along, and the Byram deal is definitely a risk. He might not live up to the contract, and maybe he is an 8-10 million dollar D in today’s cap, but they had to bring in something. The Hawks fans and beat writers beat the drum of bringing in a top flight winger, which sure, would be nice, but the hole on D was arguably bigger until some of the young guys actually take that step. The forward group will improve their offensive production when they have a D who can actually read the play offensively, join the rush effectively and make skilled plays to generate offense.
We have our goalie, we are closer on D and dare I say really starting to have depth at C. Frondell, Bedard, Nazar can all play in the top 6 at C. Moore has the ability to slot in kind of middle 6 C, but possibly stays winger. Greene can play 3C, We have a bunch of bottom 6C options, Boisvert, Donato, Greeenway can play 4C is needed, Toninato can be a depth/4C option. I think we have the easier spots to fill now, on the wing and there are some real interesting pieces either here or coming.
I think of it in terms of a golf swing. All the players can shoot the puck, but there are a lot of mechanics to how to do it well. I think it was a simple numbers game of helping him be more effective with his shot. You’ve got the top goal scoring D-men in the league scoring on 8-12% of their shots while Lev clocked in at 2.4% with a lot of missed chances and posts. So I think just a focus on helping him get the shot on net more (unblocked) without taking more time or losing velocity. I think they partially focused on his foot positioning. I know the other focus with him has been his puck management, keeping things a little more simple and less risky plays.
Regarding Byram, I get that he did well playing on his offside, but that was on a Buffalo roster where he was behind other guys in the pecking order. Chicago signed brought him in and signed him to be the guy on their blueline. It’s not that they think he is a complimentary piece to fit into a gap, he is the piece they want to build the blueline around. I’m not saying he can’t play his offside, but I think it will be more so where he is comfortable with the Hawks slotting guys around him.
Just to add, why would they send Levshunov down?
1) Roster Management – Give the non-exempt guys like Korchinski/Del Mastro a go before you trade or potentially give them away for nothing (waivers)
2) Development – Lev showed he wasn’t ready with arguably the worst defensive season we’ve seen from a high expectation rookie D on the Hawks in several years. He has the tools, but they got to straighten out the holes in his game a little more.
3) If the expectation is to win more games, that might be more attainable with Lev getting his reps in the AHL to start. He does some things well, but Byram gave the Hawks a guy for the PP1 unit. The reason to have Lev up and learning on the job got weaker and his defensively lapses (especially when playing in too many situations with Kaiser) doesn’t help the team win.I was watching a video about Bowen Byram and I’m guessing he’s going to be paired with Vlasic a lot. The worst statistic that Byram has is puck retrieval in his own zone, but guess who has one of the best in the league, yes that would be Vlasic.
One of the things that confuses me, i think i read in Ellis scouting report, Nick Lardis poor skating????, i think many of them are getting older and confused. Lardis is an exceptional skater and he’s strong for his size i remember him fore checking and he hammered someone and it was fricking impressive,
Nice thing about drafting kids with a good work ethic, the only thing that will keep them from being NHL players is their talent level. Boisvert putting on 15lbs of muscle. I remember Frondell being criticized for his endurance and he ended scoring the best on the endurance test at the combine.
So if you draft kids with a good work ethic that means to me as these kids gain more experience and feel like they belong like Greene and Moore the team defense will only get better and better because it will be like watching a team of Brandon Hagels.
I could be wrong but I don’t know if we will see Byram and Vlasic together much at all. I just don’t think they made Byram the highest paid D to play him on his off side. I see Byram playing LD paired with one of the RD or someone else they want to give offensive zone starts to primarily. The Hawks know Byram isn’t the strongest in his own end, so just can’t see them putting him out there with their shutdown guy when they want said shutdown guy taking the defensive load. To me, Ian Cole is more likely to be playing with Vlasic, essentially the Crevier replacement to take the Dzone starts.
I’m also going to throw it out there that I would not be shocked (barring any trades) if the Hawks leverage the waiver exempt status of Levshunov and start him in Rockford, until someone is traded or injured. Cole, Kaiser, Del Mastro can all play RD. Of course things can change if any of the young D take a big steps and show up in camp with huge improvement. All these guys aged 20-23 could at any time take another leap. Of course things could change with Del Mastro rumored to maybe be on the trade block.
I didn’t watch the game but judging by the box score Rinzel made it through the game unscathed and at least activated for 3 shots on goal and led in time on ice.
I think Rinzel plays into the structure better. Maybe less flashy but definitely more predictable and more likely to make the safe play. I hope #6 can stick from here because if he can play his minutes reasonably well, it’s a big improvement. I haven’t looked at the numbers, but I think they were a better team with him in the lineup.
Glad to see the bring up Rinzel again to shake things up. Right now, the 55/44 pair is an outright disaster in their own end. The development isn’t a straight line, but we need better. Levshunov was better playing with 48 and with less responsibility. Inexperience and the long grind of an NHL season seem to be wearing on him.
44 has had a decent year but he is not at the top of his game lately when it comes to play in his own end, I think he is trying to do too much. It would be great if the Hawks could just back him off the #5 whole where he should be slotted.
I haven’t been around as I was busy moving, but I wanted to say things are looking good. On pace for an 82 point season. Heck of a strong improvement for a young team. We need only 9 points to match the 52 point season two years ago and only 18 more to match last year. Been saying it since the end of last season, we likely get about 75 to 80 points and get out of the bottom 3 to 5 teams. Last season the offensive production improved, this year better D and goaltending. Soon it will be about building around the core by filling holes and maximizing depth to be a real contender.
Nice game on the road. Knight is difference maker in the standings, we probably have won 3 or 4 more games because of him than we would have if Mrazek was still here. That’s the difference between being in a wildcard spot vs battling Vancouver for last in the west. Have to give the team in front of him some credit too at they have been improving the shot differential, which has been almost even the last 4 wweks.
Some interesting stats. Only 2 teams in the west have more regulation wins that Chicago (Colorado/Dallas) and they are right now top 10 PP in the league and top 5 PK. The team is making progress!
Glad to see the team is playing well and having great periods against some solid teams. Seems like every game lately, we have at least one period where we dominate and overall we seem to be playing teams more even 5v5. The standings are so tight, the few blown calls by the refs and a minor mistakes have been the difference from this team being around the top 10 vs being 21st in the league.
I know the goaltending has been huge, but if they can just tighten the screws a little more defensively and find one more star forward, this team is going to start to be a problem.
I like Rinzel’s game, but man he has been getting caught a half step behind a bit too much lately and taking penalties or just barely getting away with infractions because he is trying to keep up. Last night vs Vegas he probably could have been called a couple more times for getting his stick in the hands because he was beat. I’m wondering if the NHL grind is wearing on him a bit.
Overall, really like the position we are in. Cap space is looking good. Young players growing into bigger roles. Prospects excelling in various leagues right now. 5 more draft picks this year in the first 2 rounds. We could be in for a really fun next 5-10+ years or more depending how they manage these assets.
