They can hope all they want, i believe next 2 years they will be drafting between 3 and 7. Murphy, Hall and AA can't stay healthy. So he needs to sign 2 RD, bring in at least 3 quality forwards just to compete with the bottom 15 teams.

179 GF is not going to win you many games
- BetweenTheDots

It might be a bit too early in the offseason to proclaim a bottom 5 finish though. We might be near the bottom again, but very easily could be in that 75 to 80 point range too. When you are the bottom you pretty much only have one direction to go and the Hawks have a lot of areas that can be improved, so making improvements isn't really all that difficult.

We don't know what trades KD will make or what UFA additions he will bring in. I know he probably won't make a huge splash but also improvement should happen with continued development of the young players in the lineup Bedard, Reichel, KK, Vlasic, Slaggart, Nazar, etc and dropping a few pieces of dead weights like R Johnson, T Johnson, Entwistle, Megna, Tinordi, Zaitsev.

Last season was pretty rough, but the Hawks were also ravaged pretty hard with injuries. There should be no reason to expect Hall to miss significant time unless he gets unlucky with another injury, but he was seemingly pretty wel healed up towards the end of the regular season based on the training videos out there.

I'm not saying we will be a top offensive team, but the team could return to the 220-245 goal range pretty quickly with a few changes and a bit more synergy up and down the lineup. If we can transition to the attack better with improvement from our young D and maybe adding one more puck moving vet on the blueline. I also would like the Hawks chances to improve in the standings if we address a major need up front, which is another C to help support JD#16 in taking draws and winning the possession/matchup battle.

I am not in favor of trying to compare kids to esatblished players.

The main ide in selecting Levshunov is that he DOES aspire and eventually be a stalwart whose size will skate into a position to roadblock attackers with collisions and stand ups inside the size with his bulk.
Ther is no issue with waht eh does with the puck; he is good at that part and it is not easy to look at Michigan State's success and think it would have been close to thatwith him not there.

I am gonna take more unothodox way of "comparing" which doesn't use past stars as the baseline.
(I just think that the defnse position in general has morphed and the better young NHL players are one with so much stick and skating and they play more of a part in all phases especially the attack part, as they get comfortable.)

So I prefer using young established nhl pro as my way to compare...using Seider, Dobdson, Q Hughes, even Braden Schneider...

To me Mikhail Sergachev is a nice comparison. You got to see by Sergachev's injury absence just how well his part Lightning backline was im pacted.
Sergachev is a skater, smart in his end and can suddenly hurt the opposition with his offensiev skills.

He also was, at times, separated and anchoired his own pairing admirally as their less than stellar CAP backline replacements needed a strong anchor.

That is specifically how I see Levshunov, a kid who will cover for Korchinski, play minutes in any situations and surprise with the abilityb to bolster the entire line up by his addition.
- wiz1901

If he is the Blackhawks pick you think he'll be in a Blackhawks uniform this season?

I know i read up on him and he does have that work ethic that KD and crew love.

It might be a bit too early in the offseason to proclaim a bottom 5 finish though. We might be near the bottom again, but very easily could be in that 75 to 80 point range too. When you are the bottom you pretty much only have one direction to go and the Hawks have a lot of areas that can be improved, so making improvements isn't really all that difficult.

We don't know what trades KD will make or what UFA additions he will bring in. I know he probably won't make a huge splash but also improvement should happen with continued development of the young players in the lineup Bedard, Reichel, KK, Vlasic, Slaggart, Nazar, etc and dropping a few pieces of dead weights like R Johnson, T Johnson, Entwistle, Megna, Tinordi, Zaitsev.

Last season was pretty rough, but the Hawks were also ravaged pretty hard with injuries. There should be no reason to expect Hall to miss significant time unless he gets unlucky with another injury, but he was seemingly pretty wel healed up towards the end of the regular season based on the training videos out there.

I'm not saying we will be a top offensive team, but the team could return to the 220-245 goal range pretty quickly with a few changes and a bit more synergy up and down the lineup. If we can transition to the attack better with improvement from our young D and maybe adding one more puck moving vet on the blueline. I also would like the Hawks chances to improve in the standings if we address a major need up front, which is another C to help support JD#16 in taking draws and winning the possession/matchup battle.
- breadbag

All good points, and i really am not going to miss the likes of the Johnsons, Entwistle, Megna, Zaitsev or Tinordi.

I'll even add, if they get off to a good start than i can definitely see them closer to 10 than 3, but if not they'll be closer to 3.

Like tonight I'm guessing 1st goal wins. Florida has to play their best 200 foot game and be patient. Oilers got all the mojo right now.

We should start to hear more this week, as I think the QO need to be done by June 30.
- breadbag

I am not in favor of trying to compare kids to esatblished players.

The main ide in selecting Levshunov is that he DOES aspire and eventually be a stalwart whose size will skate into a position to roadblock attackers with collisions and stand ups inside the size with his bulk.
Ther is no issue with waht eh does with the puck; he is good at that part and it is not easy to look at Michigan State's success and think it would have been close to thatwith him not there.

I am gonna take more unothodox way of "comparing" which doesn't use past stars as the baseline.
(I just think that the defnse position in general has morphed and the better young NHL players are one with so much stick and skating and they play more of a part in all phases especially the attack part, as they get comfortable.)

So I prefer using young established nhl pro as my way to compare...using Seider, Dobdson, Q Hughes, even Braden Schneider...

To me Mikhail Sergachev is a nice comparison. You got to see by Sergachev's injury absence just how well his part Lightning backline was im pacted.
Sergachev is a skater, smart in his end and can suddenly hurt the opposition with his offensiev skills.

He also was, at times, separated and anchoired his own pairing admirally as their less than stellar CAP backline replacements needed a strong anchor.

That is specifically how I see Levshunov, a kid who will cover for Korchinski, play minutes in any situations and surprise with the abilityb to bolster the entire line up by his addition.
- wiz1901

wiz
I hope your comparison is accurate since I love Sergachevs game
Im taking the defenseman
The game is speed so if the forward has a skating flaw I cant see him being fast or correcting the flaw at this stage of his career

If he is the Blackhawks pick you think he'll be in a Blackhawks uniform this season?

I know i read up on him and he does have that work ethic that KD and crew love.
- BetweenTheDots

I don't think whoever the Hawks pick will start the season with them. Demidov obviously will play out his contract. If it's Levshunov, I think they encourage him to stay one more season at MSU.

Either one may make an appearance the last 8-10 games in 2025.

Jhawk, it's true it seems I'm higher on Phillips than most, I think the guy has an NHL career, but like anyone else in the organIzation not named Bedard (I think as next season goes along Nazar might be added to that/my list) he's an asset and will/should be used to make the squad better whether that's as a Hawk or used to acquire someone that will be a Hawk.

And, don't go to sleep on Allen. I saw him a lot more as a jrs player than at RKF so I'm not comfortable speaking to his progress but this kid is built for, has the game and mentality to be an NHL shutdown guy. ........ Like Rinzel I think Allen was overdrafted but I'm ok with a GM doing that. If you like a kid and he's not going to be around for your next pick overdraft him.
- Mr Ricochet

Count me in also as thinking Allan has some shutdown capabilities. Plays east-west and is pretty good at rubbing guys out along the boards. He does need at least another full year at ROC. He is going to take a little longer than some of the other guys, and will not provide much offense.

On a side note i wouldn't mind KD signing Pesce to a 4 to 5 year contract. He'd look good with Korchinski

S Jones
Murphy
Pesce

If we draft Levshunov the following year we can move Murphy and or work Levshunov in slowly.

I think our blue line would be looking really good especially when the kids get more experience on the left side.

I am not in favor of trying to compare kids to esatblished players.

The main ide in selecting Levshunov is that he DOES aspire and eventually be a stalwart whose size will skate into a position to roadblock attackers with collisions and stand ups inside the size with his bulk.
Ther is no issue with waht eh does with the puck; he is good at that part and it is not easy to look at Michigan State's success and think it would have been close to thatwith him not there.

I am gonna take more unothodox way of "comparing" which doesn't use past stars as the baseline.
(I just think that the defnse position in general has morphed and the better young NHL players are one with so much stick and skating and they play more of a part in all phases especially the attack part, as they get comfortable.)

So I prefer using young established nhl pro as my way to compare...using Seider, Dobdson, Q Hughes, even Braden Schneider...

To me Mikhail Sergachev is a nice comparison. You got to see by Sergachev's injury absence just how well his part Lightning backline was im pacted.
Sergachev is a skater, smart in his end and can suddenly hurt the opposition with his offensiev skills.

He also was, at times, separated and anchoired his own pairing admirally as their less than stellar CAP backline replacements needed a strong anchor.

That is specifically how I see Levshunov, a kid who will cover for Korchinski, play minutes in any situations and surprise with the abilityb to bolster the entire line up by his addition.
- wiz1901

I posted this in the last one but it kinda fits here too:

Should probably draft for ceiling not floor at 2.

Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray and Cam Barker were oopses where you could have emphasized "floor" and "tools" and all that.

Ekblad is the number 3 guy for the most part on a cup contending team. Not a "bust" but definitely not the go to guy or even Seabrook comparable in terms of role on the team. He's a 1st OA Hammer instead of 4th round find.

Anyway, that outcome would not be good for the Hawks at this stage. I'd rather see them swing on the Russian or Lindstrom and add a forward that does something either exciting skill wise or brings a different element physically.

I am not in favor of trying to compare kids to esatblished players.

The main ide in selecting Levshunov is that he DOES aspire and eventually be a stalwart whose size will skate into a position to roadblock attackers with collisions and stand ups inside the size with his bulk.
Ther is no issue with waht eh does with the puck; he is good at that part and it is not easy to look at Michigan State's success and think it would have been close to thatwith him not there.

I am gonna take more unothodox way of "comparing" which doesn't use past stars as the baseline.
(I just think that the defnse position in general has morphed and the better young NHL players are one with so much stick and skating and they play more of a part in all phases especially the attack part, as they get comfortable.)

So I prefer using young established nhl pro as my way to compare...using Seider, Dobdson, Q Hughes, even Braden Schneider...

To me Mikhail Sergachev is a nice comparison. You got to see by Sergachev's injury absence just how well his part Lightning backline was im pacted.
Sergachev is a skater, smart in his end and can suddenly hurt the opposition with his offensiev skills.

He also was, at times, separated and anchoired his own pairing admirally as their less than stellar CAP backline replacements needed a strong anchor.

That is specifically how I see Levshunov, a kid who will cover for Korchinski, play minutes in any situations and surprise with the abilityb to bolster the entire line up by his addition.
- wiz1901

I posted this in the last one but it kinda fits here too:

Should probably draft for ceiling not floor at 2.

Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray and Cam Barker were oopses where you could have emphasized "floor" and "tools" and all that.

Ekblad is the number 3 guy for the most part on a cup contending team. Not a "bust" but definitely not the go to guy or even Seabrook comparable in terms of role on the team. He's a 1st OA Hammer instead of 4th round find.

Anyway, that outcome would not be good for the Hawks at this stage. I'd rather see them swing on the Russian or Lindstrom and add a forward that does something either exciting skill wise or brings a different element physically.

On a side note i wouldn't mind KD signing Pesce to a 4 to 5 year contract. He'd look good with Korchinski

S Jones
Murphy
Pesce

If we draft Levshunov the following year we can move Murphy and or work Levshunov in slowly.

I think our blue line would be looking really good especially when the kids get more experience on the left side.
- BetweenTheDots

I don't know the medical details of it, but I honestly still wonder to myself if Murphy will be able to play out the rest of his contract or if he will just be on LTIR pretty much from now on. His problems last year seemed to be worrisome IMO. If things are the same this year, I wouldn't be shocked to see him become the next Hawk to retire due to injury.

I don't think whoever the Hawks pick will start the season with them. Demidov obviously will play out his contract. If it's Levshunov, I think they encourage him to stay one more season at MSU.

Either one may make an appearance the last 8-10 games in 2025.
- Rota's Rooter

Could be, but Michkov didn't.

On a side note i wouldn't mind KD signing Pesce to a 4 to 5 year contract. He'd look good with Korchinski

S Jones
Murphy
Pesce

If we draft Levshunov the following year we can move Murphy and or work Levshunov in slowly.

I think our blue line would be looking really good especially when the kids get more experience on the left side.
- BetweenTheDots

According to AFP analytics. Pesce is projected at 5 years $6.2 mil. i bet some team (Toronto for one) will overpay.

I don't know the medical details of it, but I honestly still wonder to myself if Murphy will be able to play out the rest of his contract or if he will just be on LTIR pretty much from now on. His problems last year seemed to be worrisome IMO. If things are the same this year, I wouldn't be shocked to see him become the next Hawk to retire due to injury.
- breadbag

he won't "retire" until his contract has run out, but he becomes a tradeable LTIR candidate for sure.

Could be, but Michkov didn't.
- mohel

Michkov got out of a 3 year deal. Demidov is only committed for one. I think everyone would like to see how he does against some more skilled opponents.

The two Levshunov comps I've read are Drew Doughty (Chris Peters at Flo Hockey whos says he doesn't normally do comps) and John Carlson (either Pronman or Wheeler from The Athletic, I think)
- Larmer

Seth Jones is the comp for Levshunov. Enjoy!

I have no clue about any of the draft prospects. One thing I do know is that a D man can be out on the ice every other shift for most of a game. So to me that means he has more of a chance to have an impact on the game than a forward. A D man can make a goalie's job as well as a forwards job easier. And these days a good RD is more uncommon so to me a high ceiling RD is more of a need if a club doesn't already have one than anything else. So I say RD first. Which one is up to the scouts and personnel directors. And I look forward to the draft. But if I were an owner it would be important to make up some kind of system to grade/judge the guys/gals in the scouting and personnel department to make changes as I felt necessary base on their input.

So game on tonight, draft on friday. Let's f'n go. (Don't really care about the awards so much)

Michkov got out of a 3 year deal. Demidov is only committed for one. I think everyone would like to see how he does against some more skilled opponents.
- Rota's Rooter

If the Hawks draft him, maybe that'll mean they passed several pallets of vodka to his Russian team and that he can start next year on The Rock.

If the Hawks draft him, maybe that'll mean they passed several pallets of vodka to his Russian team and that he can start next year on The Rock.
- mohel

Won't the Hawks have to sign Victor Tikonov to be a chaperone again?

I am not in favor of trying to compare kids to esatblished players.

The main ide in selecting Levshunov is that he DOES aspire and eventually be a stalwart whose size will skate into a position to roadblock attackers with collisions and stand ups inside the size with his bulk.
Ther is no issue with waht eh does with the puck; he is good at that part and it is not easy to look at Michigan State's success and think it would have been close to thatwith him not there.

I am gonna take more unothodox way of "comparing" which doesn't use past stars as the baseline.
(I just think that the defnse position in general has morphed and the better young NHL players are one with so much stick and skating and they play more of a part in all phases especially the attack part, as they get comfortable.)

So I prefer using young established nhl pro as my way to compare...using Seider, Dobdson, Q Hughes, even Braden Schneider...

To me Mikhail Sergachev is a nice comparison. You got to see by Sergachev's injury absence just how well his part Lightning backline was im pacted.
Sergachev is a skater, smart in his end and can suddenly hurt the opposition with his offensiev skills.

He also was, at times, separated and anchoired his own pairing admirally as their less than stellar CAP backline replacements needed a strong anchor.

That is specifically how I see Levshunov, a kid who will cover for Korchinski, play minutes in any situations and surprise with the abilityb to bolster the entire line up by his addition.
- wiz1901

Ok what’s going on today? Jhawk59 says he has something to say then says he’s not saying what he had to say, now you aren’t making player comparisons and you compare two players in the same post.

Could be, but Michkov didn't.
- mohel

I think Demidov’s contract is over after next season.

- Rota's Rooter

Hahahahah

I think Demidov’s contract is over after next season.
- paulr

We need him here now, for the integrity of the league....

We need him here now, for the integrity of the league....
- mohel

That’s integral to my way of thinking.

If he is the Blackhawks pick you think he'll be in a Blackhawks uniform this season?

I know i read up on him and he does have that work ethic that KD and crew love.
- BetweenTheDots

He doesn't like college, so i think he will want play in the system. No one can know at this point if he in a position where say, they use him to fill a opening on the parent club, but they took KK, who clearly was lacking tons of defensive understanding and kept him so that the coaching staff had the job to teach him directly. Not a badf approach if Lev can handle it.

I think he do as the team that drafts him wishes him to do....