I'd be surprised if more than one of Entwistle, Katchouk, R. Johnson, Anderson, and Blackwell return. No idea on Raddysh or Beauvillier, but I'd guess only one of those two as well.
- Chunk

Realistically do any of the guys in that first group move the needle at all? Are any of them anything more than 4th line players? I guess Entwhistle is only 24 and has shown flashes where you say maybe he can be a 3rd liner, maybe the same with Gutman. In terms of R. Johnson, Katchouk, Seney, Anderson and Blackwell, they are just the dime a dozen hustle guys. None of them however are going to become a Hagel or even a Lafferty who can contribute up and down the lineup and actually put the puck in the net with regularity. We know what Hagel has become, and Lafferty has 9 goals and 17 points already this season, R. Johnson, et al. combined have about half of that. Raddysh and Beauvillier have shown they can play further up in the lineup. I can see both being back, but I don't think Beauviller commands a $4m+ contract like he currently has.

I'm guessing Foligno and D i c kinson will be resigned. Hall will be back as will Anathasiou. T. Johnson will be gone, maybe they find a taker for him and turn him in a mid/late round pick.

WIth all the injuries currently, looking at the roster and what they ice on a nightly basis.......woof.

Rinzel with the turnover leading to Finland goal. 1 zip early in the first.

Realistically do any of the guys in that first group move the needle at all? Are any of them anything more than 4th line players? I guess Entwhistle is only 24 and has shown flashes where you say maybe he can be a 3rd liner, maybe the same with Gutman. In terms of R. Johnson, Katchouk, Seney, Anderson and Blackwell, they are just the dime a dozen hustle guys. None of them however are going to become a Hagel or even a Lafferty who can contribute up and down the lineup and actually put the puck in the net with regularity. We know what Hagel has become, and Lafferty has 9 goals and 17 points already this season, R. Johnson, et al. combined have about half of that. Raddysh and Beauvillier have shown they can play further up in the lineup. I can see both being back, but I don't think Beauviller commands a $4m+ contract like he currently has.

I'm guessing Foligno and D i c kinson will be resigned. Hall will be back as will Anathasiou. T. Johnson will be gone, maybe they find a taker for him and turn him in a mid/late round pick.

WIth all the injuries currently, looking at the roster and what they ice on a nightly basis.......woof.
- TheTrob

No, which is why I'd be surprised if they were brought back.

Yup, they are bad right now. I accepted that would be the case at the beginning of the year (although I thought they would be slightly better than last year).

Rinzel with the turnover leading to Finland goal. 1 zip early in the first.
- boilermaker100

Was there much else he could do there? Puck got to him and he goes backhand to keep it away from the forward, forward makes a nice play to strip the puck almost immediately as the puck arrives to him.

Maybe he could have put himself more between the forward and the goalie, but it was a pretty quick play.

US poopting the bed 2-0

I wanted Halttunen..........

They are getting better potential. They aren't getting better unless/until said pick actually produces in the NHL.
- Chunk

That's kind of how it works Chunk and they are getting better. They're better off with Korchinski, better off with Bedard and they'll be better off with whoever they draft in the top 4.

So you are saying that any fringe playoff team (however you define that as) has/had zero high draft choices in the past couple of years too?

Detroit, Minnesota, New Jersey, Winnepeg are I guess fringe playoff teams. Each has a pipeline of prospects that are probably equal to the Hawks.
- LAHawk

Nope what I'm saying is the Blackhawks have a much better chance of drafting a difference maker than any of those teams. The odds say this, not only that they will most likely contribute sooner at the NHL level.

That's kind of how it works Chunk and they are getting better. They're better off with Korchinski, better off with Bedard and they'll be better off with whoever they draft in the top 4.
- BetweenTheDots

I guess it depends on what you meant when you said "aren't they getting better next year if they get a top 4 pick?"

I took that as meaning they would be better on the ice next year. We don't know what Korchinski is yet aside from learning. The offense that he's been known for has not yet translated to the NHL and he is at best a work in progress on D. I'm not writing him off by any means, but no one can say that the Hawks are "better off" with KK at this point. If he's Boqvist it's a loss. Bedard is the goods. We have no idea what the next pick will be able to bring. The best you can say is that the high pick should make them better. The Bears have decades worth of first round QB picks that should have made them better, but didn't.

I cringe every time KK makes a mistake but I know it is better to make the mistakes now instead of when we really need him to make a run. I am hoping after this year, that they get a little better year by year. We have promising prospects but we won't know until they put on the Indian head.

2 - 1

I guess it depends on what you meant when you said "aren't they getting better next year if they get a top 4 pick?"

I took that as meaning they would be better on the ice next year. We don't know what Korchinski is yet aside from learning. The offense that he's been known for has not yet translated to the NHL and he is at best a work in progress on D. I'm not writing him off by any means, but no one can say that the Hawks are "better off" with KK at this point. If he's Boqvist it's a loss. Bedard is the goods. We have no idea what the next pick will be able to bring. The best you can say is that the high pick should make them better. The Bears have decades worth of first round QB picks that should have made them better, but didn't.
- Chunk

I guess most here are really understanding what a rebuild looks like. Better on the ice do you mean record wise? Maybe, but they are better having Vlasic play, Korchinski play who's already better than Boqvist, Bedard play, Reichel play and Phillips, Crevier and whoever else they feel comfortable bringing up at this level. They will get better after this draft and who knows maybe we'll see a surprise or 2 drafted by KD make this roster and maybe just maybe our 1st pick will join Bedard next season as well. The fear of the rebuild going wrong is just a waste of time. Signing high priced FAs, well then KD shouldn't of tore it all down then

2 - 1
- glennjpawlak22

2 - 2

Rinzel with the turnover leading to Finland goal. 1 zip early in the first.
- boilermaker100

Some damn fine jr hockey. 1st period the Finns play a marvelous possession game to keep the puck away from the skilled US squad. Tons of pace, no penalties.

2nd period kudos to the US for not getting desperate and taking chances. Stay true to your style, keep at it, nose over the puck, play a bit more desperate and keep creating. ........ Just very good, exciting, spontaneous jr hockey.

Love seeing Rinzel play in this tournament. Kid has a calm low work rate style and the urgency of every shift i a tournament like this is good for his development. .... I see a jump in his game from USHL last yr to the U of MN and the WJC. Big step up in class and he's showing he can handle it. ........ But, of course you'll still have gaffes that come with the territory.

[quote=BetweenTheDots]I guess most here are really understanding what a rebuild looks like. Better on the ice do you mean record wise? Maybe, but they are better having Vlasic play, Korchinski play who's already better than Boqvist, Bedard play, Reichel play and Phillips, Crevier and whoever else they feel comfortable bringing up at this level. They will get better after this draft and who knows maybe we'll see a surprise or 2 drafted by KD make this roster and maybe just maybe our 1st pick will join Bedard next season as well. The fear of the rebuild going wrong is just a waste of time. Signing high priced FAs, well then KD shouldn't of tore it all down then

i don't understand what Davidson's rebuild looks like. I do understand the rebuilds or retools if you want to call it that Minnesota, Philadelphia, Nashville, and even Columbus looks like, among other teams.

Friedman writing Chicago (meaning Bedard) in line for next year's Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

I guess most here are really understanding what a rebuild looks like. Better on the ice do you mean record wise? Maybe, but they are better having Vlasic play, Korchinski play who's already better than Boqvist, Bedard play, Reichel play and Phillips, Crevier and whoever else they feel comfortable bringing up at this level. They will get better after this draft and who knows maybe we'll see a surprise or 2 drafted by KD make this roster and maybe just maybe our 1st pick will join Bedard next season as well. The fear of the rebuild going wrong is just a waste of time. Signing high priced FAs, well then KD shouldn't of tore it all down then
- BetweenTheDots

Better on the ice meaning not getting completely swamped every night by every single metric. By definition that would lead to a few more points in the standings, but I don't necessarily care about that. I want to see the GM put something around these kids so that they learn what actually competing in the NHL looks like.

By what metric is KK better than Boqvist? Even comparing just their first years? Again, I'm not discounting the kid at all and ultimately, I think he'll be a pretty good player, but what are you considering when you say he is better than Boqvist?

The coaching staff is so comfortable playing all these young defenders that they made a waiver claim on a discarded Xmas tree so that the kids can get more consistent minutes in the AHL.

You saying they are better having all of these kids play doesn't make it so. What do you actually mean when you say that. Getting them experience is great, but doesn't mean much if they can't do anything with it. They brought Reichel along very slowly and he can't get out of his own way right now. Doesn't mean he can't but until they show it it doesn't mean poop.

Why does it have to be either a load of rookies playing and hoping they figure it out, or signing a bunch of high priced FA's? Why can't KD go out and find 2-3 reasonably capable 1st/2nd line players so that they can have some semblance of offense and the kids have some sort of structure base to grow from? Instead of Nylander, go after someone like Stephenson, or Tarasenko, etc. to give the skilled guys something of substance to generate offense.

I understand what a rebuild is. I've resigned myself to the fact they won't be very good for a while. That does not completely preclude the GM providing some better players around the kids so that they can play better on the ice.

Glad to hear the Hawks are continuing to stick to their plan. It's a lot better than what Stan would have done and refreshing to see the GM actually follow through with what they said they'd do.

The progress of the team isn't points in the standings right now, but it's that more and more young players are taking the load, learning the ropes and getting their feet wet. They need to bring in draft picks and develop the core to build around before they go spending big money on FA.

[quote=LAHawk]i don't understand what Davidson's rebuild looks like. I do understand the rebuilds or retools if you want to call it that Minnesota, Philadelphia, Nashville, and even Columbus looks like, among other teams.


Why?

Would the best three or four FA's be willing to take short term deals? Don't they normally max out the term? Unless you are looking at more mid-30's type guys. I guess it depends on the type of players you are looking for.

I don't think Nylander will even get to FA.

Guentzel
Marchessault
Stephenson
Stamkos
Reinhart
Toffoli
Duchene
Tarasenko
JvR
Lindholm
Sprong
Teravianen
Domi
Monahan

Sprong is 27, everyone else is 29 and older. I guess there are a few on this list that could work, but you have to wonder if other teams will be willing to offer more years, especially with the cap going up.
- Chunk

Stephenson reinhardt lindholm maybe two out of those 3 Hawks need center depth desperately

- HawkintheD[quote=LAHawk]i don't understand what Davidson's rebuild looks like. I do understand the rebuilds or retools if you want to call it that Minnesota, Philadelphia, Nashville, and even Columbus looks like, among other teams.


Why?

Easy there Elmo.

Moore is a relentless penalty killer.

A guy like Stamkos, maybe since he's already got a couple cups. Luckily, he's been able to stay healthy the last two years.

KD certainly has to put together something better than this roster (even when fully healthy). I don't really think that the attendance will have much to do with it though. I still hold that the improvements need to be made to the roster in order to actually develop the younger players. getting blasted every night only teaches you so much.
- Chunk

LA mentioned this Stamkos 1 year deal 9 million to get to floor Stephenson 2 years 6million per fits time-line with Benard and kk.

[quote=HawkintheD]


Because to me it is based on hope. Hope that you can hit on all your draft picks. Hope that teams that only need to improve 5 or 10 points in the standings are going backward while the Hawks need 35-40 to get to the "fringe playoff team" level.

I also look at the top 10-15 teams in the league, and I see maybe 1 that was somewhat built the way Davidson is going about this.

Hope is not a plan.

Why should I believe in what KFC is doing? I don't see the evidence that I should.

US poopting the bed 2-0

I wanted Halttunen..........
- vabeachbear

Gesundheit.