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Good trade to get Bowen Byrum being that it appeared that #4 wasn’t going to get them Stenberg. Now let’s see if KD cam lamd a forward. Petterson is someone that can be had since Vancouver is looling for futures which we have plenty of.
With the Sharkies trading Ekland and Kasper the friendly Finnish Ghost to Ottawa for the 9th overall pic, I don’t see Stenberg going past SJ. So, it might be Reid as you said. Two years in a row they snipe the player that fans wanted, but whatever. As long as you draft a good player, and develope them well; that’s all that counts.
That would be the pinnacle! From my wife’s prospective– no use buying Coach or Louis Vuitton bags, when your aim is CHANEL or Hermes. For us guys, it’s don’t spend your money on the vette or 911, if your goal is the Lamborghini. 😉
Four more days to go…. It’s getting crazy out there. Didn’t see Brady getting traded so soon, but Staios probably knew Brady wasn’t going to re-sign there just like brother Matthew in Calgary and Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. Makes the entire team uneasy when knowing that the teams’ star player wants out, so ripping off the bandage stings a little, but better off in the long run.
If KD comes through with a trade, he usually does it ahead of the pack; hopefully he’ll get something done in the next few days. Perhaps he can get Bedard’s bud McTavish from the Ducks? … Or Byram from the Sabres? Very important week ahead of us…
Interesting that the Hawks have not taken a prospect to dinner at the combine the last two years, but it was reported that the Hawks visited Chase Reid and had dinner with him in his hometown. Could this be a message to the Sharks that if you intend to pick Reid in the draft, you’d better do so with your #2 overall pick? Cause if you intend to deal with the Rangers at #5 or Calgary at #6 for that #2 pick, we’ll be more than happy enough to take Chase Reid before you get your chance. Just an interesting thought.
I don’t think Buffalo will let him go. He was very effective in the playoffs. He really got in the minds of the goalies and defenders. A true ‘rat’ if you will. Mangiapane is the closest that we have in that regard, with Savoie in the minors. But they all have a long way to go if they’re going to catch the King of the Rats—Brad Marchand. Funny that he plays for Florida with the rat thing and all.
I’d have to agree that the Hawks might have someone who can measure to be like Bourque. I wasn’t necessarily thinking that KD would make the offer sheet, but that some other GM, seeing the promise of Bourque and Dallas’ problem of trying to sign their leading scorer, would make this attempt to steal Bourque from the Stars. Low risk offer sheet attempts like this, and St. Louis’ takes from Edmonton and let’s not forget Doug Wilson’s attempt after the 2010 cup. This was more of a possible scenario that allows for KD to make that big splash in the off-season. Anyways I’m still enjoying what’s happening with Hawks.
Interesting if a team out there offer sheets Maverik Bourque. If Dallas matches, then it makes it that more difficult for then to sign Robertson. That would help the Hawks a lot in there efforts to make a trade with Dallas. If they don’t match, that other GM gets a quality player in Bourque, and Dallas still has to make maneuvers just to sign Robertson. Interesting summer ahead.
So far, I think the Hawks have made a fine choice with their head coach in Jeff Blashill. Some questioned his desire to keep Burakovski on the top line, and rightfully so, and leave an offensively talented Nick Lardis on the 4th line with Slaggert and Lafferty, who are not so offensively gifted.
With Burakovski, I think he was just a player that had speed, size and skill that could blend with Bedard to keep offensive zone possession. Both he and Greene seemed to be Blashill’s best options, though neither have been shown to have great finishing capabilities. Enter Frondell. Here he comes off the plane from Sweden and he’s put on the top line with Bedard, replacing Burakovsky. Blashill sees the above listed skills in Frondell, and can immediately try him on the first line. Here’s a quote from Blashill regarding Frondell:
“Sometimes when guys come from junior or college, they never have to defend because they have the puck the whole night. . . . For him, he’s had to defend. He’s had to be a fourth-liner. He’s had to do those kind of things. That helps him grow.”
Blashill recognizes that Frondell has developed some of the aspecs of the pro game in Sweden, and has no qualms about putting him with Bedard, which leads us to the Lardis discussion.
A few days ago Blashill was quote regarding Lardis as needing to play “10 minutes a game” style or something like that. I didn’t quite understand the meaning of it, but now that Lardis has been promoted to the second line, and reading into that above quote, it makes more sense to me.
Lardis, like prospects, Marek Vanacker and Jack Pridham seem to have had their way in junior. So the skill is there, but in the NHL they won’t have their way quite so easily, and therefore they need to defend and play the right way to further their developement towards being good NHL players. By putting Lardis with Lafferty and Slaggert, defensive structure was going to be in the forefront. Lardis’ efforts did not go unnoticed, and he’s looked good with Nazar and Bertuzzi.
The head coaching job has evolved from the hardnosed play my vets kinda bench boss, to the I have to get to know my players individually and manage from there kinda coach. So far, I’m happy with Blahill. He’s doing things right for his young players, and he’ll have even more next year, so hopefully the developemnt of youth continue.
Like you stated Coach, this is the exciting part of the rebuild. Now we’re getting to see the young draft picks that KD and company have selected, and so far, with Bedard(no brainer), Nazar, Moore, Rinzel, Greene and Levshunov, it seems that the scouting and developement of these young players have been very positive. Now adding Frondell and Boivert to the mix, interesting times ahead for the Hawks.
