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Grz is a lock to make the roster and eat 20:00 a night for this squad.
Blackhawks defense rostered players:
Murphy
Vlasic
Kaiser
Rinzel
Crevier (lost waivers exemption, he stays up unless the team trades or sends him down and risks losing him for nothingOut of those 5, only Murphy is a true veteran. Vlasic has 179 NHL games, Kaiser 98, Crevier 56 and Rinzel 9 games.
That would leave (2) roster spots that both get consistent TOI (if you think Crevier is mostly sitting).There are three good reasons to keep another veteran to stabilize the defense for now.
1) Spencer Knight 2) Connor Bedard 3) Frank NazarIs Knight best developed by having him face a shooting gallery and lots of breakaways every game? Low save %, damaged confidence, etc.
Or would it be better to let him get slightly more comfortable with a possibly “weak”, but not “learning on the job” defense in front of him?
Is it really a great idea to have Bedard and Nazar consistently play while down a goal or two?
Or would it be better to have them play more minutes in tied games or learning how to protect/increase a lead?
(don’t get me wrong, if it’s a disaster all 3 will tough it out like they should, I just don’t think it’s the best way for them to develop)you still can do something like:
Vlasic / Rinzel
Murphy / Kaiser
Gryz / rotating youngster (Crevier, Arty, EDM, etc) or flip Gryz and KaiserStill plenty of NHL experience to be had for defensive newbies (which includes Rinzel, Kaiser), while maybe upgrading the NHL game experience for your most important non-defense players.
I’m not 100% convinced Gryz gets kept, but this is my best argument in favor of it.…………
Really good post, MH. You lay it out as it is and what the options are. Depending on camp/preseason I could see KD deciding EDM, Artie and KK need more seasoning and instead of rotating 1 in at times thru the season he gets another vet Dman for the reasons you post. You don’t want Bedard wasting shifts hemmed in his zone, Knight facing idiotic total shots against or see Nazar go thru that kind of dysfunction, weak structure or semblance of stability. … I do think EDM has a decent chance to break camp with the squad but if not I wouldn’t rule out another vet Dman added.
Wiz, I’m here and so are a lotta fellas from HB. Both Chunk and I posted in this thread, both took at were posted and now both our posts are gone. Be careful of this software it’ll let you type out 3-4 paragraphs and then disappear the damn thing.
Go to the Hawk’s message board here and message board here and under the General Discussion topic you’ll find everyone here.
43 shots against a JV Wings team is not good especially since we were fielding 6 NHL-ready D men
Hello Pops.
I would make the argument that KK, Crevier, Arty and EDM are not NHL ready defensemen.
They all give reason for future optimism, but they are all still raw, especially at playing defense.I think you’re underestimating Crevier, MH. He checks a lotta boxes, passes the eye test, crazy good reach he uses, his fancies are solid as a Hawk (context is needed for any Hawk and their fancies), a balanced mobile Dman, his head is up often enough to chip in and he has some offensive zone IQ. Keeps shots low, takes half slappers so he can control it, gets pucks thru. …….. He’s gonna skate a lotta minutes IMO, MH.
Chunk
Well that kind of depends, doesn’t it? After a turnover in your own zone, what are his responsibilities? If I had to guess, he’s not allowed to just chase the puck all over the zone until he gets it back. It was bad, but it’s also preseason playing with a bunch of guys he hasn’t much in practice and who likely won’t be with the club to start the year.Point it out, learn, and move on…
I want to see how he does with Burakovsky and Donato. I’ll also hold any judgement on Nazar until I see him back with TT and Bertuzzi. They both looked very disjointed and unsure to me yesterday.[/quote]
……….
Chunk, I had a bad feed yesterday. Help me out…… At the sidewall bedard took a pass and it looked like he coughed not got stripped. Which was it….. Then he was so flat footed and unaware he didn’t even move his feet he pathetically reached as the Wing drove thru the circle. Wrong?
And I didn’t see Bedard below his endline much, if at all. Kid was above or at the top of the circles when the puck was below the dots in his zone. Looked to me he had winger responsibilities. Wrong? Anyone have a thought?………. So no Chunk, we don’t know what his resposibilities were on the cough/strip but regardless the attempt and awareness at recovery of the puck was feckless. As he’s been 80% of his time as a Hawk..
Good to see familiar faces here. Hopefully Paul, Mo, LA and Wiz will join. Hopefully Blaishill will get the D shored up as 43 shots against a JV Wings team is not good especially since we were fielding 6 NHL-ready D men. They need to keep the crease clear and forwards need to come back and get their man as it seems like a lot of secondary chances.
Yea, it is good to see familiar faces, you included, Pops……… Wiz and VA Bear are here too. Wizard and Chunk signed up yesterday. Totem, lotta guys and many I forgetting.
I just hope it ain’t too soon into the season where we start talking about who the Hawks are drafting with the #2 pick in the draft.
Scott Powers @ByScottPowers 2h
The Blackhawks have re-assigned Marek Vanacker, Jack Pridham, Nathan Behm and Parker Holmes back to their junior teams.There were a few shifts where Pridham was noticable and looked like he belonged. … Saw enough of his Kitchner games to say he’s a smooth athlete and has some skill in his hands, feet and head. Reminds me of Gavin Hayes. Greene too a bit. .. Smooth silky athletes.
Hey Dots, listened to the radio side and Wiedeman said Bedard shaved a couple inches off his stick to help with faceoffs. I think that’s a big reason he got good wood on his 1 timer goal. Generally speaking the shorter the stick the easier it is to make solid contact and you’re more accurate, AND get a shot of a tick quicker but you give up some whip. ….. Add in it’s helpful for faceoffs I’m all for The Phenom using a shorter stick.
EDM and Arty showed us why Gryz is here.
This was my immediate takeaway, MH. Grz is a lock to make the roster and eat 20:00 a night for this squad. And that’s ok. And it’s ok that 19 yr old Artie needs lotsa games and reps down at RKF. IMO EDM is the least of my worries. Dude is solid enough to be a useful NHLer. He’ll be asked to take shifts above his experience/skill and like most of the roster slotted up too high the lineup.
That last goal is completely on Bedard for a garbage turnover win his own zone.
With a devil may care attitude, Chunk. The turnover was weak the “attempt” to get the puck back was pathetic. … Bedard looked the same to me except he’s a tad thicker. .
Hey MH, best part of Bedard’s goal was it was a 1 timer. I was amazed at how often he’d outright whiff on the shot and he rarely got good wood on the thing last yr. With his skilled hands was really surprised at how often his 1 timer was poor……. Looked like he took a little off the shot to hit it solid.
The PK ain’t no passive box. Looks like Blashill wants an aggressive kill.. Best I could tell he had Kaiser out on the 1st PK unit every time short handed. …… Did I see Nazar centering Bedard and Moore late in the 2nd? Super duper happy Blashill is interested in getting looks at Bedard at wing. ….. Not sure on Bedard’s reported uptick in speed but he does look a tad thicker to me.
Yea Dots, looks like Artie belongs in the AHL to start and I’m fine with starting the 19 yr old in the AHL getting big minutes in all situations. ….. Ain’t getting a good feel for the forecheck under Blashill yet.
Lou, nothing at all with a wait and see approach for the organIzation. Nothing at all but I hate to think of any opportunities that aren’t explored and to me I just don’t see a McTavish at 22 yrs of age getting a rough ride from management that might lead to him being moved. ….. Not sure why but I’ve always thought, from his permanent hiring, KD looks every single day at a chance to move for a guy like McTavish.
I feel much better with Frondell’s size in the system but doesn’t mean I’m satisfied that the system has the size at center I’d love to have, or true centerman for that matter.
Plus asset allocation will rear its head eventually. If Artie, Rinzel reach their ceiling will it take giving each 20 mil per in their UFA yrs? Not to mention Vlasic will be looking at 10 mil plus per yr. I guess it can be argued two first rate centers will cost to but I’d like to think the organIzation has an eye to future payroll problems and are as proactive on that account as possible.
Let’s see about this Bedard improved giddyup tonight first. See what Blashil is thinking by usage of the roster tonight.
Been asking Dots where you were the last couple weeks, Chunk. You two chop it up pretty good and keep a message board from growing cobwebs. …. Glad you found your way over.
Cuz as far as I’m concerned, a Hawk’s fan has a solid spot here. Frenchy has shared some of his bio and going from memory know he’s a Canadian boy, lives in Montreal, is a Hawks fan, scouted the USHL and cut up film for an ECHL squad. My kinda blogger especially one rooted in jrs hockey and earned a paycheck scouting that level. …. It was BoilerMaker who found this place and posted the link and was a stroke of good luck for me.
The software has some bugs so you’ll get posts lost in space. I’ve found using the quote feature can lose my post so I’m careful as I can be as I’ve lost a few, which gets old man. … Trial and error is advised.
Hey everybody! Nice to see y’all are still getting along.
I know I’m jumping in a bit late here, but maybe we let some of the 5th graders KD’s drafted recently show what they can do before launching them for an 8th grader.
Chunk is in the house. Looky here, Dots………. Good to see you, Chunk.
Other than goaltending, the hardest position to find in the NHL is a right-shot defenseman. Just look around the league — teams are desperate for RHD. The price to acquire guys like Noah Dobson or what it might cost to get Rasmus Andersson in the coming months proves that point.
That’s why having Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel is so valuable for Chicago. You don’t give that up lightly, especially when your center depth is already in good shape with Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, plus Oliver Moore as an option down the middle.
Don’t get me wrong — Mason McTavish is a very solid young player. He’s smart, improving year after year, responsible defensively, and strong in the faceoff circle. But he’s not Sam Bennett. Bennett averages 154 hits per 82 games, compared to just 72 for McTavish. Bennett brings that edge, grit, and forechecking grind that McTavish doesn’t quite match.
The Blackhawks aren’t ready to make that kind of move yet. It’s a lot harder to find top RHD than it is to find a player like McTavish. The smart play is to keep developing Levshunov and Rinzel, learn their true ceiling, and be patient. In a couple of years — say by 2027–28 — Davidson will know more about his defensive core and can properly evaluate a big trade if the right opportunity comes along.
For now, it’s about patience. Davidson is finishing Phase I: accumulating assets. Next comes Phase II: building out the roster piece by piece. It’s not a sprint — it’s a marathon. And the Hawks are on the right path.
Gonna edit it a couple paragraphs but making sure this takes first. Tired of typing thoughts out and it doesn’t take when I use the quote.
Firstly Frenchy, where is your participation in podcasts? Link us up.
Really helpful to hear a guy that drew a paycheck from scouting the USHL post thoughts. … Really interesting there is not really a doubt that a 1D is more valuable than a 1C in the NHL. I think I honestly thought it would be 60/40 that those who draw a paycheck from the sport say 1C was more valuable in the NHL, all things being equal. Either way both slots are important and tough to fill.. Guess I’m old school in that I do believe there are 2 kinds of franchises, those who have centers and those looking for them. … But I was 99% sure KD would draft Artie over Demidov cuz it’s the right thing to do and Wizard makes a good point look at what Jones brought back from Florida. I’d caveat that though that many think Jones is a top pairing D and like he showed with FLA that dude has some rare skills that jump out when he’s engaged…… No, you don’t take that lightly when you have it but offering a hopeful RS 1D for a 22 yr old 220 lb centerman blueblood who’s profiling as a difference maker over his 230 NHL games is taking that lightly. In fact, I could see the guy arguing for the Ducks that they indeed are the ones taking a talent like McT lightly when offering him straight up for an unproven Artie or Rinzel and their 27 NHL game sample size between them.
Bedard, Nazar and maybe even Moore are the centers? … Do you really think a club can win a cup with Bedard as the 1C? I guess sure if you have a Bergeron Toews type as your 2C but I just don’t think it wise to bank on a grown man Bedard to run a 16 game gauntlet from hell as a 1C that winning a cup demands. … Same with Nazar skating 18 minutes a night as a top 6 centerman. Besides Frondell I like Boisvert as the 2nd best center in the system. I see the system as having a good number of young players who can play center but too few who are centerman.
At minimum they’re smallish and I’d love to see either without the shackles of centerman defensive responsibilities. A Nazar and Bedard on wing with McTavish-Frondell-Boisvert as your top 3 centerman is a damn near fever dream and hell to match up against.
Bennett. A rare bird man but my point wasn’t that McTavish is a Bennett only that you can’t have watched Florida the last few yrs and not been amazed by the effectiveness of Bennett who’s most pts in a season is 51. No, McT ain’t a rat bastard criminal like Bennett but he’s a 220lb load you must deal with who plays hungry and has proven as a teenager he can score at the NHL level. Point is difference making BIG, impactful, responsible centerman are incredible assets and rare when all is said and done…….. This is especially essential if you come from the school that players win cups not points.
KD is going to hang on to a lotta these guys to see how they develop, essentially what he has? …. Frenchy, is thinking an NHL organIzation should be able to identify which players in their system will be NHLers before the rest of the league and maximize return on those it sees won’t be an abstract thought? Is management of NHL franchises looking to identify NHLers in their system as much as prospects who won’t be? Especially higher rd picks and move them before there is no doubt they won’t be players of consequence? Kind of an aside cuz I’m not claiming Artie or Rinzel won’t be NHLers. I’d be willing to trade a legit 1D for a a legit 1C, and vice-versa especially if I’m dealing from strength.
Timeline and phases of the rebuild. You do agree that any 22 yr old impactful add is in their timeline today, right? You just don’t agree that a trade of significance sending a young player the other way who they need more data on before they move him?……. My hypothetical hope (or is this abstract thinking?). Enough in the organIzation while he’s youngish say Artie ain’t gonna be an NHL 1st pairing guy and his ceiling is 50 pts and a break even in the fancy stats guy. Lets move him for what a #1 RS Dman will bring back before the rest of the league knows what we know.
Listening to chgo Blackhawks podcast, sounds like Connor Bedard is indeed noticeably faster and much better on his edges, maybe he plays tomorrow?
Dots, Bedard has to add some explosion in his first step. The league has been on to him for awhile. They let him enter and just front him above the circles knowing he can’t beat an NHL Dman so he checks up and deals with back checkers and coughs……….. If he can add some explosion in his feet it’ll allow him to get a step on those Dmen and access the high danger area.
He’s gotta add some jump.
