Official Chicago Blackhawks Thread: Bedard Era

really like the picks

 

I didn't think they could get smaller...

 

Fla Panthers beat writer

 

Adrian Dater @adater
Hearing that Chicago considering an offer to Eric Staal

 

Should have expected another year of Rozy. Guess Campbell is going to Dallas.

 

That makes no sense.

 

Deals are fine. Cheaper than ELCs. The fact they will be played while more skilled young players sit in the stands isn't fine.

 

niceeeee

 

i am down with this

Brian Hedger‏@BrianHedger
Likely #Blackhawks 7 D:
Keith, Hjalmarsson
Seabrook, Campbell
van Riemsdyk, Kempny
Rozsival

No Gustafsson, Svedberg, Pokka, Forsling


~$2m left to sign on a Forward, unless Stan wants flexibility.

 

Curious if Pokka is dangled in a trade down the road... At some point it would be good to keep a young D man because the miles are piling high on Keith and Seabrook.

 

http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2016/07/07/sabres-meeting-vesey-today-blackhawks-stealth-contender/

 

final 3 for Vesey


Alan Strachan‏@winsford99
Alan Strachan Retweeted Joe Haggerty
It's Buffalo, Chicago and Toronto unless someone else steps up in a hurry.


been some positive reviews from prospect camp, as always.

 

Not holding my breath, but there's a chance lol

 

Is Stan about to pull Vesey and luck himself into Vermette? Seems semi-likely.

 

I think they do. Makes 1.25M off the yotes for the next two years. Basically a smaller version of the Richards situation in 2015. Take a sweetheart deal for a run and to extend his career.

Also, no way Q is dragging his ass out to watch Vesey unless Hawks are getting him.

 

had this conversation with some others figured I get opinions in this thread...

How good is Vesey?

Top 6 forward?

Some thought he was overhyped and not on the level of Penerin

 

less seasoned than Panarin so hard to compare on 2016 impact

but Nashville was offering him in 2015 a top 6 spot on their Playoff roster
Buffalo gave up a 3rd round pick just to negotiate with him
Hobey Baker winner, finalist
and just about every GM in the league is after the kid

he is either legit or every scout whiffed on his evaluation.

 

2nd line LW, somewhere between KHayes and Gaudreau. Probably a little better than Bozak. 35-40 pts first year (bumped to 45-50 with 1LW time). His NHLe says he's good but not great, the way GMs are playing this says he's great.

Definitely not another Panarin. Panarin might be a top 20 player in hockey if he keeps it up. Vesey could be a poor man's Saad in time.

 

could Vermette be squeezed in at like $700k?

His stats were meh last year, but feel like he'd be more offensively competent than Kruger. Gives Schmaltz time to learn before moving to C in 2017. Dont think Q was too enamored with his rental time tho.

 

Like I said, if Vermette wants to play anymore he needs a bounce back year. If he took 850 or something from the Hawks he's making 2M+ this season and then he can do the Richards to Detroit year thereafter. It's not a bad business decision to take a bit of a cut this year for him.

I didn't realize how his numbers dipped though. Meh, he's still better than Rasmussen at 3/4C.

 

https://theathletic.com/16563/2016/08/04/bonuses-blackhawks-jimmy-vesey/

 

jesus christ. There is no fanbase who knows more about the CBA at this point than Hawks fans. Every summer there are new dumbass rules we butt up against.

 

its amazing how well Stan manages the cap

 

Jay tweeted that it sounds like Vermette didn't like Q much. Add this dumb bonus thing and I'm pumping the brakes on that one.

 

Duncan Keith


He’s a feisty player. He’ll be in your face, cross-checking you as many times as he can get away with without taking a penalty. He plays as hard in front of the net as anybody in the league, despite not being the biggest guy. He finds the spots to hit you where you’re going to feel it.

Duncan is a great skater, which is what every guy on my list has in common. What’s different about Duncan is that his technique is a little unorthodox. His strides are short, choppy bursts. But he’s really, really fast, and he pivots quickly to escape pressure.

Big, bruising defensemen in the mold of Chris Pronger are kind of a dying breed because of how fast the game is now and how the rules have changed. Those guys just have a hard time keeping up. In today’s game, the best defensemen are smart and disciplined, and can skate stride-for-stride with the forwards. Keith checks all those boxes. He can contain you just by having quick feet and sticking right with you, freezing you out of the play.


I can’t talk about Keith without also mentioning Brent Seabrook. What makes Keith so good is how well he meshes with Seabrook. The Blackhawks run a “motion” offense that can really confuse your defensive coverages. They started doing it five or six years ago when they won their first Cup, and other teams have tried to copy it, but Keith and Seabrook are still the best at executing it.

Basically, their forwards are always in motion, which isn’t that uncommon. The difference is that their defensemen are always moving, too. The D-man will jump through to the slot and a forward will come over the top to cover for him. Since most teams play some form of man-to-man defense, the constant motion forces your wingers to move out of their set zones to follow guys all over the ice — which leads to breakdowns and confusion.


Keith is great at constantly moving around the zone — jumping in, then popping back out into space — and getting open for the one-timer. He scores a lot of goals that way. There is a relentlessness to his game that kind of wears you down, similar to his captain (who we’ll get to later).


Bonus: Anze Kopitar and Jonathan ToewsInstead of doing a fifth defenseman, I thought it would be more interesting to include a pair of great two-way forwards.

In the Western Conference, Kopitar and Toews are the two toughest centers to play against, in my mind. The reason is because they work so hard defensively — from their skill on the face-off dot, to their checking, to their discipline in every aspect of the game. They make you start working as soon as the puck is dropped, whereas a lot of other top-end skill guys don’t defend as hard.

The first thing you notice is that Kopitar and Toews are always on the right side of the puck. They’re never “above” their coverage — cheating to try to get a jump up the ice. You’ll always — always — see those guys between their man and the net. Both are physical enough to knock you off the puck, but Kopitar is especially dangerous if you try to get too cute and stickhandle around him, because his reach is extremely long.

When Kopitar gets the puck in your zone it’s a nightmare because he’s so big and he protects the puck so well. He’s not overly fast, but he’s so strong on his skates that it’s impossible to knock him off the puck.


Kopitar is a guy who I watch really often and try to replicate parts of his game. Him and Toews are both very good at finding “soft spots” on the ice to pop up out of nowhere and score goals.

With Toews specifically, he’s one of the most tenacious players I’ve ever seen. He’s just all over the puck, constantly. He’ll never give you much space. He’s always shadowing you very close, and he’s not afraid to be physical. He’ll also give you a shot when the ref’s not looking.

This goal against Philly combines everything he does so well.


He comes flying in with a pokecheck to keep the puck in the zone, then he drifts behind the net, grabs the puck, spins around and jams it in with a second effort. That’s a greasy, tenacious goal.

Toews is a guy who wants to play defense first and then let that lead to offensive chances. The big-game players find a way to make a difference even when they’re having an off night, and that’s what Toews always does. He’ll win some big face-offs down the stretch or block a shot or tip in a goal to help his team.

I have a lot of respect for his ability to make an impression on every single game, no matter what. Over 82 games, plus playoffs, year after year, that’s not easy.



http://www.theplayerstribune.com/logan-couture-nhl-elite-defensemen-top-5/

 

I'm so fucking jealous of your GM.

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/08/...esey-sweepstakes/?cid=twitter_985thesportshub

But with August 15 (the day Vesey becomes an unrestricted free agent) just a few days away, things aren’t looking as bright for the Bruins anymore. Haggerty reported on Wednesday that the Bs’ were no longer a favorite to land Vesey, with sources telling him the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are his the top three preferred landing spots.

Haggerty joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich on Thursday to explain what changed from a few weeks ago, and why it appears the Bruins have fallen back in the Vesey sweepstakes. While there are other factors at play, Vesey would have a better opportunity to win immediately and set up the rest of his future somewhere other than Boston.

“When a player has a decision he can make for himself, I think it’s about where he can succeed the most and where he is going to put up the best numbers. Where he can have the most success over the next few years to get the bigger contract, because he can only sign a two-year deal,” explained Haggs. “When the Blackhawks come to you and say you could potentially play on a line with Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews, win a Cup your first year and put up huge numbers with great players, that’s pretty hard to say no to. That’s going to trump pretty much anything he could get from the Boston Bruins right now.

“I don’t know if anyone can compete with that,” Haggs added. “There are a lot of places he can go and be on a competitive team that is better than the Bruins right away. There are other teams he can go and put up bigger numbers than with the Bruins right away.

“For Bruins fans, I would expect the worst and hope for the best. Who knows, maybe he has a change of heart on August 15,” he said.

 

Blackhawks, NHL preparing for Jimmy Vesey to become free agent

by Scott Powers, posted minutes ago
The rumors have been rampant the last month in the Jimmy Vesey watch. He’s been connected and disconnected to teams. Everyone seems to have an opinion about where he’s headed.

This week brings some reality to the situation. Monday marks the final day the Buffalo Sabres own his rights. If he doesn’t agree to a deal with them, he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. Then he’s fair game for everyone.

As one NHL executive said, “Every team will be calling. He may already have a list and may not even be interested in our team, but we still have to call.”

Vesey’s list is expected to include five to six teams. The Sabres are expected to be one of them. The Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs have also been mentioned as possibilities. Vesey’s agent Peter Donatelli recently told The Athletic that the Chicago Blackhawks would be a team they’d want to talk to this week. Vesey will be hosting teams in Boston and is expected to make a decision before week’s end.

Here’s what I’ve heard in recent days about Vesey, the Blackhawks’ interest in him and their possible recruiting pitch:

• “I’ve always thought he was Chicago’s to lose,” one NHL team executive recently said. This was followed by a number of reasons. For one, it’s about fit. The Blackhawks are desperate for a top-6 left winger. They lost both of theirs when they traded Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp last offseason. They replaced one with Artemi Panarin, but have yet to find a permanent replacement for the other spot. Marko Dano was thought to be that guy, but the Hawks moved on from him rather quickly. Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen were placed there at times last season, but now they’re both gone. Andrew Ladd was a temporary fix at the end of last season. That missing left winger held Jonathan Toews and that top line back last season. Vesey could be the answer there.

• “Stan Bowman is really honest. That’s one of the best things about him,” one agent recently said. Bowman isn’t likely to promise Vesey a top-6 spot or even an NHL roster spot. If Vesey or his agents have followed the Blackhawks long enough, they know Bowman doesn’t control what happens on the ice. That’s Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville’s business. The list of players of whom Bowman acquired and Quenneville didn’t play as originally planned is lengthy. There’s Dano, Brad Richards, Trevor Daley, Antoine Vermette and Tomas Fleischmann, to name a few. What Bowman will present Vesey is a very positive starting point, and it’ll be up to Vesey to run with it. That starting point will be a top-6 spot. Quenneville has seemed to be on board with giving acquisitions like Vesey a chance to prove themselves in key spots. Dano and Panarin were given auditions in top-6 spots in the preseason last season. Dano failed and Panarin succeeded.

• Panarin’s rookie season is something the Blackhawks can use to their advantage as well. Panarin stepped into a top spot and thrived as a rookie. Panarin earned accolades and a lot of bonus money. Like Panarin, Vesey will be given the maximum amount of performance bonuses on his entry-level contract. It’s a long shot for Vesey and for most rookies to attain the kind of individual success Panarin did last season, but it is something the Blackhawks can present as an example. As I wrote about recently, it’s possible the Blackhawks reunite Toews and Patrick Kane this season, and that could be an enticing proposition for Vesey.

• There’s no doubt Vesey and his representatives are already thinking about his second contract. Vesey’s first contract will be simple. It’ll be a two-year entry-level contract with a max base and max bonuses. The next contract will be more complicated. If he succeeds, as they’re banking on, he’ll get want to get paid. That could mean a bridge contract or something more long term. Either way, the Blackhawks don’t have the cap flexibility of some of the other teams Vesey will be considering. The Blackhawks barely have space to fit Vesey’s cap hit and potential bonuses this season. On the horizon is Panarin’s long-term deal. Panarin will likely get $6-7 million for seven or eight years. There’s the possibility of even more difficult decisions next offseason if the Blackhawks are hit with more cap overages. Looking even further ahead, the Blackhawks already have nearly $50 million committed to seven players in the 2019-20 season, and Nick Schmaltz, Marcus Kruger and Niklas Hjalmarsson will be up for new contracts prior to that season.

• Bowman will be the main presenter in the Blackhawks’ pitch, but expect them to include everyone they can to deliver a different message to Vesey. One agent who has had multiple college free agents pitched by the Blackhawks said, “More than any club, they get senior management involved. … They do a really nice job with it. Their track record of success with players of this type also goes a long way.” John McDonough has been known to get involved. Ron Anderson, who has a relationship with the Vesey family, will certainly be part of it. There have been reports that Toews could also be involved.

• “The Blackhawks like to tell their story,” one source said. The Blackhawks’ story, of course, is their rise in the last decade. It’s three Stanley Cups since 2010. It’s eight consecutive playoff appearances. It’s Kane and Toews. It’s all of the consecutive sellouts, the national anthem, the annual convention and the general fan base. Selling Chicago as a world-class city is something the Blackhawks also like to use in their presentations.

• Bowman was pretty aggressive in letting Vesey know the Blackhawks were interested. Bowman reportedly attended multiple summer league games Vesey played in Massachusetts. One NHL team executive said he thought the approach was excessive. Another source said it may have upset Vesey’s camp because it made the Sabres look bad. This likely won’t matter at the end of the day.

• Whether Vesey will be a star player in the NHL is up for debate. One NHL executive thought Vesey was a lock to be an offensive success with his frame and ability. “He’s a player possessing size, skill, hockey sense and can make plays offensively. His upside at the NHL level is a 200-foot game.” One NHL league source said, “Buyer beware. It’s split around the league [whether he’ll succeed.]” One scout said, “He has good size and is a skilled passer.”

 

figured it would be either Boston or Toronto for him

 

When does this drama end?

 

Mix GoodForAnother do we have a Blackhawks thread icon?