I'm not sure anyone on here ever suggested Kurashev was a legit top 6 player on a decent team. I believe your assessment has always essentially been he's bad at hockey. The second part was the unpopular part.

Also, I think most here figured at some point he wasn't going to be part of the rebuild.

High opinion and so/so fancies or not, Reichel definitely looks like a better player than the one who provided absolutely nothing last season until he got called up again at the end. I'll take the improvement from a guy who does potentially factor into this rebuild.

WIth progress not being linear, letting him figure things out with the big club vs RFD should make you happy no?
- HawkintheD

Yes he is producing more than last year and some credit should go to the coach and certainly the player for taking advantage of opportunities.

Most of my point in criticizing his play has been to emphasize that his success in Rockford against inferior athletes didn't have a lot of value and no matter when he came to the NHL there would be a big adjustment.

Even if he wasn't mature enough to be in the NHL yet it's not like a player coming up from triple A being ready to step in. The AHL just isn't that good of a league. Which is why I think with a kid like Nazar, it's probably fine to bring him up now because buzzing around these inferior players isn't going to be beneficial for more than a confidence builder and he shown to have a lot of mental toughness especially with how he recovered from that injury and is walking the league now.

But the metrics say he's better this year than last year. And as fatty says while bum slaying, only issue is he's with 2 bums Isn't that growth.
- BetweenTheDots

Reichel's xGF and xGA are minute improvements over last year (his xGF% is currently 38.3, last year was 36.7, you obviously want this over 50%) and still way behind his numbers at the end of '23 when he got an extended look (xGF% of 45.6). And this is against inferior quality of competition.

I ask again. Where is the improvement?

Some fun trade talk for those that like this kind of stuff:

https://www.bleachernatio...he-blackhawks-to-be-bold/

I'd be all over the Sens if they are willing to move some of their guys. Norris for Murphy saves them about $3.5M and helps fix their backend issues a bit.

Some fun trade talk for those that like this kind of stuff:

https://www.bleachernatio...he-blackhawks-to-be-bold/

I'd be all over the Sens if they are willing to move some of their guys. Norris for Murphy saves them about $3.5M and helps fix their backend issues a bit.
- Chunk

Bamford has a good following over there and solid writing. If this site goes under as predicted by many, I'll happily jump there.

Reichel's xGF and xGA are minute improvements over last year (his xGF% is currently 38.3, last year was 36.7, you obviously want this over 50%) and still way behind his numbers at the end of '23 when he got an extended look (xGF% of 45.6). And this is against inferior quality of competition.

I ask again. Where is the improvement?
- Chunk

Hahaha

But the metrics say he's better this year than last year. And as fatty says while bum slaying, only issue is he's with 2 bums Isn't that growth.
- BetweenTheDots

Maroon is pretty useless at this stage. But Craig Smith is a solid hockey player. Has been his whole career.

And the metrics do not say he is better this year.

His On Ice stuff: Corsi, expected goals, high danger chances, scoring chances are all lower or about in line with his career. BUT shots for and goals for are higher. Like I said, theyre packing it in with that line, blocking more shots and finishing in transition especially against bad teams (thanks Craig Smith!).

His individual numbers are about on pace for his career so far.

https://www.naturalstattr...te=n&v=p&playerid=8482117

Maroon is pretty useless at this stage. But Craig Smith is a solid hockey player. Has been his whole career.

And the metrics do not say he is better this year.

His On Ice stuff: Corsi, expected goals, high danger chances, scoring chances are all lower or about in line with his career. BUT shots for and goals for are higher. Like I said, theyre packing it in with that line, blocking more shots and finishing in transition especially against bad teams (thanks Craig Smith!).

His individual numbers are about on pace for his career so far.

https://www.naturalstattr...te=n&v=p&playerid=8482117
- fattybeef

Isn't that what a good coach does put players in a position to succeed?

You guys female dog about us not scoring.

Then we female dog about who's scoring.

Then we minimize them by looking at their fancies

Then we got a kid who can break down a defense then we female dog about his lack of defense.

I also marvel at everyone praising Michcov and bashing Bedard

Taking a break have a great Thanksgiving

Gonna get off this female dogfest

Hahaha
- BetweenTheDots

Do you not understand the math, or did I miss the joke?

Some fun trade talk for those that like this kind of stuff:

https://www.bleachernatio...he-blackhawks-to-be-bold/

I'd be all over the Sens if they are willing to move some of their guys. Norris for Murphy saves them about $3.5M and helps fix their backend issues a bit.
- Chunk

I generally like what Banford writes, but to compare Kreider to Bertuzzi? Kreider is still one of the fastest skaters in the league at 33, and Bertuzzi, well. Plus the last 3 years, Kreider has 52,36,39 goals, 9 this year, Bertuzzi has hit 30 once.

2 more years after this on Kreider's contract, perfect replacement for Hall's salary, wonder what Drury would be looking for.

Isn't that what a good coach does put players in a position to succeed?

You guys female dog about us not scoring.

Then we female dog about who's scoring.

Then we minimize them by looking at their fancies

Then we got a kid who can break down a defense then we female dog about his lack of defense.

I also marvel at everyone praising Michcov and bashing Bedard

Taking a break have a great Thanksgiving

Gonna get off this female dogfest
- BetweenTheDots

Says the king of misconstruing other arguments...

No one is upset that Reichel is producing points, nor how he is producing points. It's good that he is since few others are.

You have mentioned in the past that Reichel may be a piece of the core going forward (if I am mistaken, please excuse). I think that's not a good idea since he's not shown any progression in the rest of his game since he arrived and he is still about the same at putting up points (again, you hope for some improvement there). He doesn't provide enough scoring to make up for the fact that he is a complete sieve in his own end.

You claimed that his fancies were better. I just pointed out that they weren't really.

We completely agree about those arguing for Michkov over Bedard. Michkov is on a nice run. He will inevitably run into a lull, just like Bedard is now. Bedard will also get going again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm gonna stick around for the female dogfest. Kinda fun and there isn't much else to do in Iowa.

I generally like what Banford writes, but to compare Kreider to Bertuzzi? Kreider is still one of the fastest skaters in the league at 33, and Bertuzzi, well. Plus the last 3 years, Kreider has 52,36,39 goals, 9 this year, Bertuzzi has hit 30 once.

2 more years after this on Kreider's contract, perfect replacement for Hall's salary, wonder what Drury would be looking for.
- LAHawk

Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that comparison too. In another article he said that Kurashev was responsible defensively. I'm still trying to find any evidence of such.

Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that comparison too. In another article he said that Kurashev was responsible defensively. I'm still trying to find any evidence of such.
- Chunk

I think I have seen Kurashev tap Mrazek's pad after bailing him out a few times. I guess encouragement counts ?


But I do agree with you, his defensive acumen reminds me of the former Blackhawk's legend Dominick Kubalik.

Isn't that what a good coach does put players in a position to succeed?

You guys female dog about us not scoring.

Then we female dog about who's scoring.

Then we minimize them by looking at their fancies

Then we got a kid who can break down a defense then we female dog about his lack of defense.

I also marvel at everyone praising Michcov and bashing Bedard

Taking a break have a great Thanksgiving

Gonna get off this female dogfest
- BetweenTheDots

No one is female doging about who is scoring. If anything, with the position he's in, Reichel should be scoring more and slotted up the line up to make a difference with better players. But he's not because other than going forward fast with time and space he isn't a very good hockey player.


The Russian also said the most Russian thing ever "you need to finish in cold blood" rather than the normal hockey platitudes or being sad.

Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that comparison too. In another article he said that Kurashev was responsible defensively. I'm still trying to find any evidence of such.
- Chunk

Because he skates around fast, looks productive on TV and makes an occasional steal in the neutral zone.

He's pretty bad at covering the back side and recognizing which guy to pick up.

He's not good off the puck in the ozone either.

Another very good skater who benefits from time and space in transition but doesn't do a whole lot else of value.

And I'd say that he's improved some in those areas where he was lacking. Where have we seen the improvements in Reichel and Kurashev?

I still have no idea where the idea came from that Kurashev was good defensively...
- Chunk

I've seen him a lot more engaged engaged and winning some board battles. I've seen him use his straight line speed, which according to Fatty is all he has, to drive the net and produce scoring chances.

Last year none of those were part of his game. I would count those as improvements.

I've seen him a lot more engaged engaged and winning some board battles. I've seen him use his straight line speed, which according to Fatty is all he has, to drive the net and produce scoring chances.

Last year none of those were part of his game. I would count those as improvements.
- HawkintheD

That's all well and good, and I'm not taking that away from him. He was a mid-first rounder who held his own against adults as a kid. That he is now getting back to what he was supposed to be as a rookie is kind of a red flag (even accepting that development is not linear).

A few weeks ago, I came up with "the Slaggert index". Does a player provide anything more than Landon Slaggert does. I'm using him as the bottom standard of what a hockey player should bring to the table if you want to have a competitive team. He works really hard, battles for pucks and wins a good share of them, and can/will occasionally chip in offense.

If a player is exceptional in one direction or the other above what Slaggert brings that's a benefit to the team. If he is equal or less than, I call that "trade asset". My reasoning is that they have tons and tons of prospects in the system as well as picks coming that they can't ice them all. You pick out the really good ones and use the others to acquire what you don't have.

I'm sure there are flaws in this concept, but it's the best way I can think of to sift through the mountain of players the Hawks have brought into the system recently. Obviously, you don't need to trade all the guys that don't distinguish themselves so you have some depth, but I'm not drawing a line in the sand saying that I'm not trading X because he's still young and I drafted him.

Yeah, two long flights to Frankfurt and back gave me some time to come up with some BS, but I think it has merit.

I didn't expect him to become a seasoned pro in his first year. However, I did expect to see progression. He played two years in the highest level German league and he's been in the US in either the AHL or NHL for three years. No one (not even Fatty) is saying he isn't dangerous with the puck on his blade. His problem is the rest of the time. Literally every metric says that he is pretty bad aside from when he has the puck.

You can get away with being below average without the puck if you are scoring a bunch. Reichel doesn't. He looks better right now because no one else on the team is scoring. That's good, I guess, but there hasn't been any growth to his game in three years. What does he do better now than he did when they gave him that first 11 games three years ago?
- Chunk

As we know Chunk, development isn't usually linear. Reichel took a huge step(s) back last yr but this yr, to answer your question, he looks more poised and confident and that has a lot to do with getting reps and fighting thru adversity. ......He's more poised and polished, with a ways to go in that area, than he was 3 yrs ago.

Reichel's xGF and xGA are minute improvements over last year (his xGF% is currently 38.3, last year was 36.7, you obviously want this over 50%) and still way behind his numbers at the end of '23 when he got an extended look (xGF% of 45.6). And this is against inferior quality of competition.

I ask again. Where is the improvement?
- Chunk

If your eye can't see a difference between this yr and last, and you're counting so heavily on the fancies, you won't see any improvement. ...... I admitted to Fatty of all players I can't remember such a disparity between like Reichel's fancies and the eye test. And, not being a slave to the fancies, there is still something to those fancy numbers for the 22 yr old. .. Twenty two yrs old coming off a horrendous yr on a horrid team, Chunk.

Fancies don't cover all variables, Chunk. ..... Of any player, including Bedard, Reichel is the guy fans get to the edge of their seat when he gets the puck and starts hitting gears in attack mode. Fancies won't tell you that but your eye will.

Some fun trade talk for those that like this kind of stuff:

https://www.bleachernatio...he-blackhawks-to-be-bold/

I'd be all over the Sens if they are willing to move some of their guys. Norris for Murphy saves them about $3.5M and helps fix their backend issues a bit.
- Chunk

I came to post the link to Bamford's pretty solid reasoned look at trade possibilities...... But Kreider was very instrumental to their playoff success last yr. One of the rare power players who can go into beast mode and carry a team thru a playoff gauntlet,

I seriously doubt they move him... But, if Brady Tkachuk is remotely available you gotta look at it and look for ways to make it happen.

No one is female doging about who is scoring. If anything, with the position he's in, Reichel should be scoring more and slotted up the line up to make a difference with better players. But he's not because other than going forward fast with time and space he isn't a very good hockey player.


The Russian also said the most Russian thing ever "you need to finish in cold blood" rather than the normal hockey platitudes or being sad.
- fattybeef

You're just flat out wrong, fatty. Reichel is not a bad player he's an incomplete 22 yr old player who's game was torn down to being an 8 yr old player who's told to see puck, get puck, take it to the other goalie. But Fatty, that won't stop you from posting the same thing over and over and over.

Same goofy, I have fancies, reasons Crevier and Phillips are dimwitted.

I came to post the link to Bamford's pretty solid reasoned look at trade possibilities...... But Kreider was very instrumental to their playoff success last yr. One of the rare power players who can go into beast mode and carry a team thru a playoff gauntlet,

I seriously doubt they move him... But, if Brady Tkachuk is remotely available you gotta look at it and look for ways to make it happen.
- Mr Ricochet

2 strikes against the Hawks in this one IMO, I don't think KD would offer what Ottawa would want to move him (unlike his brother, he is signed for 3 more years), and 2 if Brady agreed to a trade he would want to go play somewhere that is much closer to Cup contention than the Hawks are currently.

Yo LA, or anyone else, you see Askarov beat the Kings last night? I had it on my laptop while watching a movie with the wife so I didn't follow as closely than I would have liked.

Speaking of SJ, they've been a pretty damn good club the last 5ish games. And Blackwood is playing better than I even thought he had in him. ... The got a little something going in SJ.

The next coming of Duncan Keithish.....

JJ Moser in Tampa. He is about the same age, I think a year younger, then when Keith started with BH.

Very similar game, smallish, extremely quick, cerebral.

I am not saying Moser will have a Keith career, just similar games. Moser has more offensive upside

Glad we have him in Tampa.

2 strikes against the Hawks in this one IMO, I don't think KD would offer what Ottawa would want to move him (unlike his brother, he is signed for 3 more years), and 2 if Brady agreed to a trade he would want to go play somewhere that is much closer to Cup contention than the Hawks are currently.
- LAHawk

One of the really bad things about the league and Hawks seeing just how flawed Bedard is is that just the mention of his name would have most any hockey players want to play with him, especially elite players.

At the start of the season I thought Bedard's name would be an automatic draw for potential linemate, not so sure now. .... The way his game is right now can you imagine how invisible and a drag he'd be on his team in the playoffs?

But, your points are valid. A load of circumstances have to align to acquire a difference maker. Especially young, skilled, power players with a nasty disposition. But, as Bamford points out, the Hawks have loads of draft picks and prospects and that is almost essential to acquiring elite talent.

The next coming of Duncan Keithish.....

JJ Moser in Tampa. He is about the same age, I think a year younger, then when Keith started with BH.

Very similar game, smallish, extremely quick, cerebral.

I am not saying Moser will have a Keith career, just similar games. Moser has more offensive upside

Glad we have him in Tampa.
- TrueGrit

Moser is a gamer. Liked him a lot when he was with AZ.