I missed this, Fatty. Can you link me up?
- Mr Ricochet

https://www.dailyfaceoff....ardson-and-the-blackhawks

So, the Blackhawks do this behind the scenes – it’s called ‘Every Shift’, they’ve done it for three years in a row now. And, the debut episode of this season, at the end of the episode, the coaches and the Blackhawks’ management are sitting in a room, looking at a whiteboard at the opening night roster. They were projecting what the lines were going to be, and Blackhawks’ associate general manager Norm Maciver is looking at the whiteboard and says ‘where are the goals going to come from, because if we want to be better we need a significant increase in our goal output’.

You're right. The big misses were Skille and Barker.
I like following all of these young prospects,and reading Rico,Wiz,totem and anyone else that has some prospect news/viewing/comments.

One thing that sucks in a way but that I also enjoy is looking back and thinking: I remember when I thought so and so was going to be a solid NHLer ..like Mark McNeil?
- captainserious

Yeah but they got Danault that year too. And being fair to Stan - in terms of mid round first round picks and late round first round picks and seconds for forwards - he did a pretty good job.

Hayes didn't want to come here and has had a decent enough career. Schmaltz, Hartman and TT have had pretty good careers. Saad and Debrincat were really the only two forwards taken by him in the second and they turned into good NHL players.

Compared to the highly touted but substantially lacking Detroit system that hasn't produced a damn thing forward wise (outside Larkin and Raymond) even though a bunch of their guys over marinated and all that.

They were rubbish with defenders until they took Vlasic and Kaiser later down the road but obviously too late.

Sportnet December rankings of top 32 prospects. Hagens, Schaefer, Misa, Martone 1-4.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/...ankings-december-edition/

Rossi was available, Frost was and is available, I'm sure there were other FA's they could have over-paid as well.
- Chunk

Caught part of the Jackets Flyers game yesterday. Frost looked fine. I wouldn't over pay for him. Id do like Kurashev and a swap of mid round picks and that is purely a change of scenery trade.

It was a pretty entertaining game. Drysdale is a really fun player and Torts had some very non Torts like comments in terms of what he expects from him and how he wants to see him develop. Pretty much he wants to see him attack and is willing to live with defensive deficiencies because of how special he thinks he can be going the other way.


Rossi is fine but wouldn't over pay for him.

If the Hawks over pay for Brady TheChuck (who by all accounts isn't available but let's say he is) I can live with that. If they over pay for Marco Rossi you've got a desperate man with a lot of draft capital and assets and that would be more problematic than just waiting for these guys to come through the system.

Sportnet December rankings of top 32 prospects. Hagens, Schaefer, Misa, Martone 1-4.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/...ankings-december-edition/
- boilermaker100

I’ve read or seen video from a number of prognosticators and those four guys seem to be the consensus but not everyone has the same order.

Assuming the Hawks get the number one pick, who do you like? Unfortunately I’d give you a different answer every hour.

Nazar is coming, he’ll be up before year end. It’s very challenging to trade for a decent forward that fits their timeline, yes Frost does but does he move the needle? I don’t think that he does. There are rumors out there that Cozens could be available, that KD should look into. Buffalo has been looking for a right shot defenseman for a couple of years, maybe there’s a package that KD can put together to make a deal.
- Angotti

Not a fan of Cozens. I think he would drive everyone bananas here with how big, soft and lacking of a killer instinct he is. Especially at that money. If he was on a reasonable 3.5 million dollar bridge sure maybe you see if Anders and Co can fix him but at over 7 for several more years. Woof.

Lotta darts. And they missed on quite a few. That's just kind of the nature of the beast.

And for everyone who gets hard over Buffalo's prospect system their two best forwards were acquired in trades. Tuck, Thompson and Jason freakin Zucker lol.

But just be patient guys Kyle knows more than everyone else and we need to wait 5 years to figure out what is actually there and burn more Bedard years.
- fattybeef

When has the org or anyone here said or even implied this? I get it...ok not really. You're not happy they didn't go all in now or didn't get Stamkos, Marchessault or whoever for Bedard.

KFC has has said they want to build through the draft but has also said he views these future picks as assets they can possibly trade for players that can help now.

Some of you are so unhappy with what's going on and already know exactly what path KFC is going to take so why even follow the team?

That MacIver comment was on one of the Hawks "Every Shift" videos earlier this year. Found it, here's the link. Towards the end at the 21, 22 minute mark.

https://www.nhl.com/black...-role-s3-e1-6362802868112
- boilermaker100

BM, thank you for taking the time. Thank you kind sir! (fist bump emogi)

I think I watched this cuz I remember Donato but don't remember McIsaac's comment. How I could have missed that I don't know. That is something that it'd seem they don't want out for public consumption especially, and to me most importantly, nobody answered a huge huge question.

Hats off Fatty and to anyone else who caught this.

Caught part of the Jackets Flyers game yesterday. Frost looked fine. I wouldn't over pay for him. Id do like Kurashev and a swap of mid round picks and that is purely a change of scenery trade.

It was a pretty entertaining game. Drysdale is a really fun player and Torts had some very non Torts like comments in terms of what he expects from him and how he wants to see him develop. Pretty much he wants to see him attack and is willing to live with defensive deficiencies because of how special he thinks he can be going the other way.


Rossi is fine but wouldn't over pay for him.

If the Hawks over pay for Brady TheChuck (who by all accounts isn't available but let's say he is) I can live with that. If they over pay for Marco Rossi you've got a desperate man with a lot of draft capital and assets and that would be more problematic than just waiting for these guys to come through the system.
- fattybeef

I wouldn't overpay for Foligno, Brodie and Martinez, but here we are. If they are going to overpay someone, shouldn't it be someone worth overpaying and not 37 year olds to fill out a roster.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/where-did-everything-go-wrong-with-luke-richardson-and-the-blackhawks

So, the Blackhawks do this behind the scenes – it’s called ‘Every Shift’, they’ve done it for three years in a row now. And, the debut episode of this season, at the end of the episode, the coaches and the Blackhawks’ management are sitting in a room, looking at a whiteboard at the opening night roster. They were projecting what the lines were going to be, and Blackhawks’ associate general manager Norm Maciver is looking at the whiteboard and says ‘where are the goals going to come from, because if we want to be better we need a significant increase in our goal output’.
- fattybeef

Nice catch, Fatty. And you'd think that comment would have made it to the mainstream to the extent most Hawk's fans would be aware of it. Rebuild hater Laz you'd think would chirp it every other column. ........... I wish the question of where are the goals gonna come from, we only scored 170 last yr, was answered? How could they leave that in and not have it answered?

If they ain't gonna you'd think they'd edit the question out.

I should have addressed this when it first popped up, yo fatty, about this trap the Hawks are being said to play. This ain't close to a trap. A 1-2-2 can be played aggressively or passive but it's not a 1-3-1, which is a true NJ Devils trap.

In a 1-3-1 trap no forward gets past the tops of the circles. Hell, they'll just sit there if a Dman stands behind the net challenging them to come up and play for :30, 1:00, 2:00. Remember watching this? .......... LR's system always had a forward go deep, just think how many times you remember Bedard doing a stick wave fly by stick wave forecheck below the circles. Ain't a Hawk's fan with sight that doesn't remember this 100 times. Any time you saw that there was no trap and that goes for any other forward you saw down that low forechecking.

This probably doesn't include you, Chunk, but for sure it does to Fatty and anyone calling LR's system a trap.

Yes, KD said relentless and then went out and drafted Ludwinski, Moore, Nazar, Spellacy and on and on. Indeed, he wants to build a fast puck hungry squad. ..... Pure foot speed matters but a Hall, Smith, Mikheyev, Bertuzzi, Martinez, even if they might not skate fast, are professional hockey players who know positional hockey and can and do play fast.

I'm not disagreeing with you but we've seen slow pokes like Stone, Pavelski, Maroon types up there in league scoring leaders and win cups and cup team don't play slow.

If Sorensen can get even 1/2 of what he got outa the club v NYR this club will play fast and be fun to watch. Remember though, loosening things (2 man deep forecheck-Dmen pinching-the 3rd F in their Dzone high) lead to more chances against and a decent amount of those lead to odd mans against and HDCA.
- Mr Ricochet

1-2-2 is a neutral zone trap. The Hawks had their defenders retreating a little early rather than pressuring up on the blue line. Jones does not move well laterally so him being more aggressive is going to cause problems IMO. Martinez, Brodie and Murphy probably don't move well enough to be that aggressive unless they have someone very mobile playing safety - though Martinez and Murphy read the game fairly well.

Anyway they forced things outside, limited opportunities in the middle as well as chances off the rush but didn't really limit entries. They conceded the blue line which I've never cared for.

Moving forward, the fun party about Vlasic, Kaiser, Korch, Allen - is that those guys are all very mobile and good enough laterally to make a play at either blue line or cover for a slower veteran.

Add Levshunov and Rinzel to the mix and you've got 6 plus to tremendous skaters in all directions on the blue line and it can cause all kinds of hell for the other team.

When has the org or anyone here said or even implied this? I get it...ok not really. You're not happy they didn't go all in now or didn't get Stamkos, Marchessault or whoever for Bedard.

KFC has has said they want to build through the draft but has also said he views these future picks as assets they can possibly trade for players that can help now.

Some of you are so unhappy with what's going on and already know exactly what path KFC is going to take so why even follow the team?
- HawkintheD

Glutton for punishment

Nice catch, Fatty. And you'd think that comment would have made it to the mainstream to the extent most Hawk's fans would be aware of it. Rebuild hater Laz you'd think would chirp it every other column. ........... I wish the question of where are the goals gonna come from, we only scored 170 last yr, was answered? How could they leave that in and not have it answered?

If they ain't gonna you'd think they'd edit the question out.
- Mr Ricochet

The tanking like they did was pretty gross. I think it's fine if you want to clear the deck and spend assets in a meaningful way but to just sit on them is kind of annoying - at least to me.

The Cubs cleared the deck and then brought in a bunch of guys. They had like 3 players that were drafted I think that were actually drafted by them. Everyone else was a trade or free agent.

The bolded part I think is the issue with the LR firing. Ok fine he didn't play the way you wanted and Bedard hit a wall. Ope. It's not like they didn't know it was going to be a rough year. They did try to sign Guentzel so they did try to do a big thing and it didn't happen.

It's probably going to be more entertaining with Anders. I don't think the results will be much different but it should be less boring. Should see Nazar soon which will be fun. The aggressive forecheck will probably benefit him with how good of a skater he is.

And I'd assume the team will look different after the TDL. Either moving guys out for picks and bringing up Dach and Slaggert to finish out the season OR something more significant. If absolutely nothing happens I think that is more problematic.

Glutton for punishment
- fattybeef

You've indicated you're a Sox and Bears fan too so should've figured.

Of those three I still think the Hawks are possibly on the best path...mostly because I think as long as the McCaskey's are in charge they will keep getting it wrong.

The Blind Squirrel laughs at the McCaskey's,

BM, thank you for taking the time. Thank you kind sir! (fist bump emogi)

I think I watched this cuz I remember Donato but don't remember McIsaac's comment. How I could have missed that I don't know. That is something that it'd seem they don't want out for public consumption especially, and to me most importantly, nobody answered a huge huge question.

Hats off Fatty and to anyone else who caught this.
- Mr Ricochet

No problema.

Just my two cents, but that MacIver comment should be taken in context. When he said it the staff was trying to figure out the top line combination, so Mac could have been thinking who the top goal scorers on the team were and putting them together.

Now the narrative is that MacIver was Nostradamus and knew this team was offensively challenged from the get go. Which, BTW, is true at this point of the season. But I remember many of us here saying the new guys and continued development of the younger players would result in dozens of more goals than last season. And likely the staff thought that also.

The tax implication stuff is overblown. That's just me.

I gather this started based on the Buffalo comment about NY taxes being the big deterrent to free agents signing there. The problem with that is that the Rangers are a free agent destination, despite the well known tax burden. And Nashville, of zero state income tax fame, hasn't been much of a destination, aside from players with wives who are country singers. And I'm guessing if they continue to suck this year, a few players probably wouldn't mind the tax increase that comes with being traded to a contender.

Also, some of these higher tax places have more potential for outside income from endorsements and such. Plus they are often more interesting places, Buffalo aside.
- 333inthe3rd

If what LA has posted about take home pay in the north compared to take home pay for those playing in the confederacy are close to true, and he got it from PuckPedia, the league has to step in and regulate this. .......... Christ sakes anyone in Canada gets a brain tumor in their head or even a precautionary scan or a cold treated they are covered. Everyone, but of course that ain't free and that's paid for in taxes. In FloridaStan they laugh at you and call you a communist if you expect treatment, even if you have insurance as their schools rank 50th!!!!

Before the communist Osama Bama Care came into effect 50% of all bankruptcies were due to medical bills in the USA. Now, with much fanfare, and that's really unfortunate, insurance execs are getting gunned down in the street.

The league has to step in or Canada will never ever ever have a team win the cup. ....... But I'm with you, tree tree tree, somehow some fancy accountant minimizes that tax hit to where the stated take home pays aren't as great as PuckPedia posted.

And if so that needs to be fixed at the league level.

No problema.

Just my two cents, but that MacIver comment should be taken in context. When he said it the staff was trying to figure out the top line combination, so Mac could have been thinking who the top goal scorers on the team were and putting them together.

Now the narrative is that MacIver was Nostradamus and knew this team was offensively challenged from the get go. Which, BTW, is true at this point of the season. But I remember many of us here saying the new guys and continued development of the younger players would result in dozens of more goals than last season. And likely the staff thought that also.
- boilermaker100

That's exactly what I was thinking when I clicked to see the thing, the context of McI's statement. Ok BM, you see the context in that they were talking about line combos but McI does throw in we only scored 171 goals last yr.

That is bigger picture than line combos. So to me, I'm still not satisfied the question wasn't answered or exactly what the context exactly was.

You've indicated you're a Sox and Bears fan too so should've figured.

Of those three I still think the Hawks are possibly on the best path...mostly because I think as long as the McCaskey's are in charge they will keep getting it wrong.

The Blind Squirrel laughs at the McCaskey's,
- HawkintheD

Me and the rest of the hood could go play football at the park on Sundays when the Bears were home. Home games were blacked out if the stadium wasn't sold out. They stunk in 1971 when games were blacked out and they sucked all the way until today, 50 yrs later.

The common denominator in all that time of sucking? Halas/McKaskey ownership... 50 yrs is a large sample size so to expect anything but sucking when they own the club, with a couple seasons of .500+ football thrown in, is wishful thinking at best.

If what LA has posted about take home pay in the north compared to take home pay for those playing in the confederacy are close to true, and he got it from PuckPedia, the league has to step in and regulate this. .......... Christ sakes anyone in Canada gets a brain tumor in their head or even a precautionary scan or a cold treated they are covered. Everyone, but of course that ain't free and that's paid for in taxes. In FloridaStan they laugh at you and call you a communist if you expect treatment, even if you have insurance as their schools rank 50th!!!!

Before the communist Osama Bama Care came into effect 50% of all bankruptcies were due to medical bills in the USA. Now, with much fanfare, and that's really unfortunate, insurance execs are getting gunned down in the street.

The league has to step in or Canada will never ever ever have a team win the cup. ....... But I'm with you, tree tree tree, somehow some fancy accountant minimizes that tax hit to where the stated take home pays aren't as great as PuckPedia posted.

And if so that needs to be fixed at the league level.
- Mr Ricochet

How about a Canadian citizen on a Canadian team? All contracts are paid in US dollars. That means a 41% increase in purchasing power’ based on today’s exchange rate. That should cover any tax differential.

How about a Canadian citizen on a Canadian team? All contracts are paid in US dollars. That means a 41% increase in purchasing power’ based on today’s exchange rate. That should cover any tax differential.
- LAHawk

And that purchasing power in Canada is offset with prices being 30-40% higher than the US.

And that purchasing power in Canada is offset with prices being 30-40% higher than the US.
- paulr

Interesting, haven’t been in Canada in a few years, but always thought my USD went farther when purchasing than the states. Especially when I went back and got my VAT tax back.

I’ve read or seen video from a number of prognosticators and those four guys seem to be the consensus but not everyone has the same order.

Assuming the Hawks get the number one pick, who do you like? Unfortunately I’d give you a different answer every hour.
- paulr

I like Martone. Hawks have a need for a skilled power forward

I also like Misa. Looks like a true goal scorer.

I'm beginning to like Schaefer. I've read he is being compared to Makar. If he's the pick, someone has to go among the D corps, right?

Hagens is my last choice. He got the skill and is Jack Hughes like, but his size is a concern of mine.

If the Hawks pick top 4 they should get a very good player.

What's your choice Paul?

Lardis and Vanacker each with an assist in the 1st.

Interesting, haven’t been in Canada in a few years, but always thought my USD went farther when purchasing than the states. Especially when I went back and got my VAT tax back.
- LAHawk

Interesting indeed. I was in Banff in June. I also thought (while there was a bit of sticker shock in the stores and restaurants) that when I looked at what I spent in my account, that it was very reasonable and almost - dare I say it - cheap.

Lardis and Vanacker each with an assist in the 1st.
- rickboardman

No goals?!?!? Busts!!