Coming Soon: Teuvo Teräväinen in Chicago?
On Tuesday morning, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville appeared on the McNeil and Spiegel Show on 670 The Score and indicated that the team’s top prospect, Teuvo Teräväinen, would join the NHL club later this season.
GM Stan Bowman also spoke about Teräväinen joining the team before the Stadium Series game at Soldier Field.
Regular season for them ends this week. They’re in the playoffs. They’re in 7th so they would have to play in a wild card round as of today which would be at the end of the week. If they finish 6th they’ll start the 21st. Maybe here for the last 6-8 games if they have roster space and depending on how far Jokerit makes it.
Q’s comments are much different from Bowman’s though. Kind of weird that he made such a definitive statement.
Weird that Bowman wouldn’t commit to Teravainen as the 2C at the end of this season, thereby killing any trade value Pirri had BEFORE trading Pirri? That’s kind of weird? All Quenneville did was confirm the obvious and inevitable: the kid’s got the goods and he’ll be here soon. As we said in August – same timeline as Kruger in 2011.
I also feel like banking on someone with 0 games of NHL experience is a dangerous game. And I don’t think saying TT would be coming to Chicago would kill trade value. Does Johns lower the trade value of any of the blue liners? No.
TT appears to have the goods from what I have seen of his play. Has potential to be a pretty dynamic player and boost an already lethal offensive attack. What I have really been impressed with this kid is his total ice awareness and desire to play the 2 way game at such a young age. Wingers on his line are gonna get fed regularly. I am not usually so excited about young guys coming in, but this young Finn I believe can get it done. Saad, Hammer looked talented from the get go, and Kruger showed lots of determination. Leddy has natural talent, and we forget how young he was when he came into the NHL. Not to forget Shaw, but he gets where he is on having a huge heart, and drive to succeed.
I welcome the TT era, bring it on.
Coming in from another league after trade deadline, I wonder if he is eligible to play playoff games. They alluded to him playing in the post season so I guess so! I just recalled that Leblanc could not play playoffs last season…not that he WOULD have but…
JS- I think tabs point was that if bowman outright committed to TT, no other GMs would “overpay” for pirri cuz they would know Pirri wasn’t the plan (although they should have known that anyway)… If they had an intention to replace a current Dman with Johns, it would hurt the value of said Dman. (hypothetically- Why would a team offer a 4nd round pick for Oduya if they knew he was going to waived? but if we shop him and say we dont have a set plan to replace him, hence why we need a 4th round, maybe we get a 5th…) just the GM mind games…
On the TT note, I do agree with JS that banking on TT (with 0 NHL experience) can be dangerous and is a crapshoot at best… but that said, Pirri, Zus, Shaw, Regin, Kruger have all seen 2C time… TT has as good of a shot as any to succeed. Right now some analysts have Chicago as the 4th best team in the West (STL, ANA, and then i have seen some say SJ could be better). If TT makes us better, then i say just go for it… why not? what is there to lose?
You don’t trade for a guy based upon his value to his team. You give up what you can to make him valuable to your team. If Johns comes and makes Oduya expendable and the Hawks put Oduya on the block, you are now out bidding other teams for Oduya’s services. If that makes sense.
Pirri was also restricted and there were two other center positions he could play. It’s not like saying TT is coming suddenly makes Pirri less talented.
Espo- LeBlanc couldn’t play in playoff games because he didn’t have an ELC before the trade deadline (I think that’s the cut off). TT is already signed and can come over whenever.
Oh no sorry Tab, I meant when they interviewed Bowman after the presser last week for the TDL. He literally said kinda sorta maybe worlds or here I dunno. Definitely after Pirri moved and they have squat in the pipe.
Soooooo, yeah, weird that they would be that contradicting a week removed from each other for sure.
Anaheim has the exact same weaknesses as last year, especially on their blue line which is blah.
STL has noooooo special players. Zero. Theyre like the Bulls. Super good during the regular season because grit, grind or whatever redundant aphorism you want to throw out there but will not beat a more talented team over a 7 game playoff series. I really don’t understand how STL can go anywhere significant. Blows my mind.
And LA is solid but they have a bunch of head cases and they will either be unstoppable or to poopy all over the ice.
And SJ has similar issues to ANA and a more decrepit blue line but strength up top.
No other team in the west really matters and the Hawks still have the most complete roster top to bottom in the league sooooooooooo yeah. No worries.
Also, LeBlanc isn’t an NHL player – not close to one imo. Which complicates matters with him on a one-way deal next year.
to AJ’s comment about “after Pirri moved and they have squat in the pipe” – not sure I would say Nordstrom, Danault & McNeill are “squat,” but none of the three is ready for the NHL right now.
Stephen Johns has no bearing on the 2C conversation whatsoever.
met·a·phor/?m?t??f?r, -f?r/ Show Spelled [met-uh-fawr, -fer] noun
1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance
I suggested Bowman mentioning that TT was coming would do absolutely nothing to affect Pirri’s value to other teams. Then I explained why. As a metaphor, I said that Johns coming wouldn’t lower the value of any defenders being put on the block.
I think Bowman tried to give Pirri his best shot to stick, but he knew that TT could play this season if he had to…and once the games with Q started over Pirri and Morin, Bowman needed to keep quiet regarding their experiences and those of TT…and its played out pretty well…Bowman got a decent return on Pirri…he kept Morin, the best offensive prospect in the AHL, and TT took off half way through the season, thus keeping the spotlight off of him for a long time…
As for the risk of skating TT as the 2nd line centre for the last 3 weeks of the season, there is NONE…if he plays well and sticks, its a win…if he struggles, he will just get another chance next training camp, and Bowman has got 3 existing, veteran players who will attempt their best to fill the role…the only RISK that Bowman took has been the SAME RISK he has taken over the 4 years…NO 2nd line Centre…and we have 2 Cups to show for it…
But I will say this much…if the 2014 Chicago Blackhawks do not win the Cup this year, it will be because the 2nd line Centre gamble didn’t pay off…we are the best offence in the league…our PP has been decent all year…our PK has been the best in the league over the last 6 weeks…our goaltending and defence can tighten up anytime they really focus on it…and we have a roster loaded with playoff and championship experience…plus, Bowman went out and got Kris Versteeg way before the deadline to add ridiculous depth to an already deep team…
That’s why I know, if TT pans out, we win the Cup again this year…
There aren’t many NHL ready forwards except for Morin on that team. Maybe Nordstrom if he wasn’t such a lil guy. Certainly not anyone that is going to center Patrick Kane. And Definitely not anyone that is going to get minutes over Zeus.
McNeil has been playing RW so not sure how much of a center he is projecting at right now if we wanna get nit picky.
To me, you have to look at trade value as both “his worth to our team” and “what someone will pay”.
Think of it like this. I have a rare Babe Ruth autograph. Its real value is $500 dollars. To me its worth atleast $750 due to sentimental value. 2 bidders both need it to fill a collection. They keep over bidding each other until the offer is $900. Im going to sell to the highest bidder. I can sell it for more than its worth cuz they want it so bad. However… If there are no bidders and i need some extra money for an unexpected expense, im going to take it to a memorabilia shop and see what they offer me. they might offer me only half of what it is worth, but i take it, cuz it better than nothing.
Same concept… if we trade block a guy and people want him, then great…. we will get a good offer… but if we block him and we have to shop him, we might be stuck taking a lower offer. In the case of Pirri, if we played the “he’s our 2c right now … so we need atleast 3C trade value” card they will have to buy that. However, if they know we dont care about him in the long term they will play the “you have TT coming in 2 months, so here is litte to nothing for him” card.
re: JS – before taking something personally, consider the dozen other people that commented and who else a response might concern. What I said about Johns had nothing to do with your metaphor. But thank you for the condescending response & definition. That helped clear things up incredibly well.
Does no one remember how spectacular Sharp was playing center in 2010. In what world does that not qualify as a 2C. Especially since center was his position until Dave Bolland got popped to the big club.
2010 they most definitely had a 2C and a competent one that put up 22 points in 22 games during the Cup run. Which is why there was a massive backlash the two years after when Q refused to play him there ever again. I dunno maybe I’m misremembering.
Let’s not toss 2010 in w/ 2011-13…. Patrick Sharp won 120 of 241 faceoffs during the 2010 postseason. The Hawks had a damn fine 2C when they won the Cup 4 years ago.
Only one other person mentioned Johns and it was in direct response to what I said, but whatever, I’ll assume it was something else.
The problem with what you’re saying, Tim, is that the Hawks didn’t need to trade Pirri. He was still a RFA and they could have tried to trade him at the draft or give him a bridge deal and try to trade him during that.
I’m not going to give you a deal on my Corvette just because I have a Lambo in my garage as well. (I don’t have these cars… I would like to, though)
What you say is true JS, that’s why I contend that Bowman traded Pirri for 2 reasons…one, Bowman and the Hawks are SOLD on TT becoming their 2nd line centre…you could see it at training camp back in September…and two, Pirri is simply too good to waste in Rockford…and as Wall has pointed out time and time again, Pirri wasn’t going to become our 3rd line or 4th line centre, or convert to wing, so he had NOWHERE to go in the mind of Stan Bowman…trading Pirri when he did showed great respect to the young man’s game…
The Hawks are MORE than fine at the Centre position moving forward…Kevin Hayes will be arriving shortly with his growing spurt finally finished…Nordstrom’s game is largely there already, he just needs to put on weight to build his confidence…Danault is a +13 having scored only 4 goals and generating only 14 assists in his first pro season…that means that while going almost 30 games without a goal and only 2 games in 30 with a point, he didn’t let a single opposition player score while he was on the ice…that’s phenomenal, and tells you something about the mental makeup of this young man…he is very good at the dot, he can play the PP, he can PK, he skates VERY well, is a good passer, and actually has a nice shot if he would ever just use it!!!
Mark McNeil played Centre his whole life…playing predominately RW for 60 games does not cause him to forget how to play Centre…the Hawks just prefer to see him as the next homegrown, Bryan Bickell type, power forward…plus no one mentioned Hartman…that kid was smart enough and skilled enough to have played Centre for the Hawks this season…he’s still just a little undersized for all the large cheques he writes…but make NO MISTAKE, Hartman will be a Chicago Blackhawk Centre in the next few years…
Let’s just hope that TT comes in and adapts to the smaller ice fast. I worry that the closer confines negate some of his abilities. I also worry about the increase in contact he will experience in the NHL. Go TT…..go Hawks
HELL YES! Very excited to watch this kid play!
I Have been watching alot of Jokerit games since we drafted Teuvo. IMO him with Patrick Kane will be Sedin like. Just wait and see. They will have so much respect and confidence in eachothers abilities it’s going to be magic. If we keep this core… and add Teuvo, we are only going to get better… much better.
As many suspected, this confirms the lack of activity at the deadline. Regarding Pirri, we maximized our return by moving him at the deadline. With TT on the way his value at the draft would be lower and even though he is an RFA we certainly didn’t want to spend time resigning him before camp next fall. By the way he has been very quiet in his first 3 games with the Panthers. The interesting question for me with TT is whether we will burn one year of the ELC if he plays well.
Tim, I am not disagree with you, but whoever said that those were the 4th best team in conference must have only looked at the current reg. season standings.
What are the 4 teams combined records against each other only…
STL 3-6-0-6pts -3
ANA 5-3-1-11pts +2
CHI 3-1-5-11pts +2
SAN 7-2-0 14pts +5 (3 wins are from SO garbage)
All of the ties, were in SO. Take out the SO wins because For this purpose (since its not for reg. season standings for pts) These are the records against each other in the actual game of hockey…
STL 1-6-2 -5
ANA 4-3-2 +1
CHI 3-1-5 +2
SAN 4-2-3 +2
AJ your right, its about the roster depth in terms of quality, not the overall record against all 30 teams (who has the more blowout wins against shit teams).
Whoever said 4th best team in conference… That’s like saying Prefontaine was the 4th best runner in the world in the 1972 Olympics.
AJ/TAB, plus that summer in ’10 coach Q said publically it is good to have that quality depth down the center 19/10/36… not many teams have that.
Saying in a/his way to keep those 3 guys when we have to decide which guys we cant keep because of salary cap.
I think many of us are getting set up to be disappointed because our expectations are set too high. Very few rookies come in and do well right away – especially a 19 year old kid who weighs around 170 lbs who has never played against the best players in the world in strange surroundings on an ice surface that will make the speed of the game even a bigger adjustment than it would be on an Olympic size rink. I’m as optimistic as anyone that TT will do well in the NHL because I think he sees the ice well enough and is nimble enough to avoid most of the snot-knocker hits. But unless he is one of the very few exections – there will be an adjustment period.
I think it will be interesting to see where Q plays him those first few games. Having him play 2C would be asking a lot but playing him in the bottom-6 (like 3C or 3RW) would mean he wouldn’t have the same level players to play with. He might be one of those guys that plays better with elite player than with average players.
Course all of this is moot if Jokerit gets on a run in the playoffs and TT is playing over there until late April. It would be much more difficult for him to be thrown into the playoff pressure cooker without first having busted his cherry in some regular season games.
Were getting drunk fraternity style now, and then after the tailgate food playing Youngblood ’86 on the 120″ home theater screen tonight. Theres a reason why T wears 86 in Jokerit & that movie was released in ’86.
‘Where else could I get beaten up every day, treated like shit by prima donna Canadians, get my nuts shaved?’
‘All right, one period left. One period away from winning it all or losing to these miserable hackers with their shit-eating grins and their Saturday night wrestling tactics. One period away from remembering something for the rest of your life or something you wanna forget.’
‘Don’t take any shit from them Canucks. To them, you’re just another wetback, crossing the border to play their game.’
‘The only thing better than a glass of beer, is tea with Miss McGill!’
I see that Raanta will get the start tomorrow night. Can someone shed some light as to why he starts this key game after not playing for so long? I sure thought Friday night at home vs. the Preds made a whole lot more sense.
ER – agree with you regarding the unrealistic expectations but it will be fun to watch and it’s not like the bar had been set very high at the 2C spot.
When is a realistic expectation for TT to be in a Hawks uniform? Any ideas on which game?
ER, JS… agree there could/will be a learning curve for TT…
Mike- I think TT will actually play better on the smaller ice… His IQ, Vision, Anticipation, (hands) are is strengths… the smaller ice will just make the reads/anticipation faster… which is where he excels…
the learning curve might be like Saad’s (my biggest Saad complaint last year was lack of patience- didn’t realize how good/quick he was… and played faster than he had to- panicky a little)… this year Saad has slowed down, held the puck a little longer, and IS so much better/patient- imo…
Watching TT in Camp- I saw the same great talent… but rushed a little, and missed plays that in time he will make- when he learns the true speed of others- and that he has more time than he thinks- cuz he is that good!!!
I actually hope he doesn’t use his ELC this year- cuz Hawks will be better next year…
But it could/should be interesting!
Another thing to look for when TT plays for the Hawks is whether Q plays him on the power play. Quite a few of TT’s points have come with the man advantage this season where he either plays the right half boards (like Kane) or the right point. He has the vision and hands to pin point passes and I could see him being the QB on the 2nd unit, or even together with Kane on the 1st unit. Although his goal total (9) doesn’t reflect it – he’s got a pretty decent wrist so he wouldn’t be a pass only guy.
It’s movie time.
‘Zoom in on this.’ Doug Mckenzie. Look how huge it is, eh.
A few comments from the postings: Entertaining as always-
1. Hartman is playing RW this year. He occasionally takes the face-off when killing penalties.
2. Tab you give it pretty good sometimes so I was surprised JS got under the skin that easily
3. Morrison-can I have some of what you were on between 6 and 8?
I read somewhere that Teuvo means “king of the road” so I’m thinking I would like to see a 3rd line of:
Manchild-King of the Road-I love Shinpads
Yeah … yeah … I’d like that :)
I’ve never seen TT play. I know he’s got the hands/vision, and that he’s quite small, but does anybody know his skating/defensive abilities?
TRA, he has a very fast first step, that he can go in opposite direction as guy coming at him, at the right moment. He is a good skater & is responsible D wise. From where he is D wise to start, it seems he focuses on that a lot from when I have seem him play. I have been in LP every summer since we drafted him. I am Stoaked about all the future years, regardless of the ‘first opinion’s of people thoughts on him’ because I have seen all I need to against same peer level. He is like a skull, above any other.
ER, there is a song that is named that. Not shabby, once you get used to it. Good for road crousein.
Morrison- pretty good/accurate report on TT… I will add his anticipation is kind of like Hossa’s… always seems to know where the puck/play are headed before everyone else… His “learning curve” will be estimating the quickness/speed of others- like I suggested in earlier post- Saad last year- imo- over estimated the opponent and didn’t realize how good he was… so he passed/shot a little too early at times…
If TT plays well, will Bowman burn his first year on the ELC? I would think he would, if he was gelling and could help for another Cup run.
Part of the adjustment period will be for TT to feel comfortable playing with the Hawks star players – to not defer to them so that he passes when he should shoot and then over-compensates by shooting when he should pass. It’s finding that comfort zone when his instincts take over and he’s not over-thinking. He’s coming in with very high expectations right in the middle of the playoff push – a pretty heavy load for a skinny kid to carry. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Good question Peter. The default answer is probably “no”. He would have to be a difference maker for Stan to burn that 1st year of ELC – but how is “difference maker” defined? That’s the question.
Well it seems like Q really wants to give him a shot, otherwise he wouldn’t have told everyone that he is coming for sure. That decision could have already been made. However if they were still thinking about it, then they now have no other option than to bring him over.
Also, Q does what he wants with available players. So if T2 is on the roster than Q will play or not play him as he sees fit. There are rookies he finds distasteful (Pirri, Morin, Leddy) and others he rides (Saad, Shaw, Kooga) so this could go a lot of different directions.
Best case, he contributes, worst case, they have someone with a high skill level they can toss out there if someone gets injured or they need a change of pace.
Either way it seems a stretch to go nuts over a kid who hasn’t played extensively at all on the ice in North America.
Ok… so im kinda stirring the pot here…. But i was over on capgeek, and i was looking at our roster… there is a small part of me that thinks both rosy and oduya get dealt. I know we have discussed here that oduya is probably gone after the season, but with the rundblad addition, i could see rosy gone too… Keith/Seabs, Hammer/Clenny, Leddy/Rundblad. Rosy is only 2.2M, but they could bring up a guy like Dahlbeck or Theo Peckham to be the 7th man, or sign a BB type for less what Rosy makes…
Raanta will need to be resigned and will probably get a little raise from the 900k hes making now…
Just thinking out loud.
@ Tim G – while I agree Oduya & Rozsival could be gone, not sure I see Dahlbeck or Peckham getting the call. I could see Keith-Seabrook, Hjalmarsson-Clendening, Leddy-Johns w/ Rundblad as the 7th defenseman… I like Dahlbeck’s game but I don’t think he gets anything out of being on the bench every night while the organization likes Johns’ size and wants to see him at the NHL level sooner than later. Also have to keep in mind that LeBlanc has a one-way deal next year…
re: Burning the first year of TT’s ELC – not likely. He can play up to 9 regular season games w/out using a year. Don’t see a likely scenario w/ him making it over and playing in 10 at this point. Pretty easy to avoid that issue.
But playoff games count too, Tab. So if he plays well enough in the handful of regular season games that they think the best chance at a Cup is burning that year, I can see them doing it.
It’s also worth noting that both Oduya and Rozsival have Limited NMC next year, so they might be difficult to move depending on the language of the contract.
Also, unless Leddy takes a major step up, I can’t see him playing with Runblad. They are too similar of defensemen who need more work in the defensive zone.
The pairings Tab put up are definitely how I see things shaking out next season.
JS, are you suggesting that Runblad is going to replace Leddy so that Leddy can be dealt?
Mike- Certainly a possibility. Not something I would like to see happen, but he would more than likely return the most value and he’s the only guy without a Limited NMC.
Oduya and Hammer also face the toughest competition. does Bowman want to break up his top defensive pairing when he can still have them next year for cheap? If he doesn’t think Leddy can play with Hammer, I can see him getting moved rather than Oduya. I think the playoffs this year will tell a lot. Is Leddy going to ride the bench like he did a lot last year?
JS- I don’t know the 27,32 Contracts… but a lot of time the last year of the contract – they become trade- able… good for both player (can earn his next contract on audition) and team (can move $$$ to work for “missing” piece)…
Wall- My guess would be they picked X amount of teams they don’t want to be traded to and Bowman has to go from there, unless they are willing to waive that.
Oduya has always had the limited NMC, Rozsvial has a full NMC this year and limited next year. Again, really just depends on the language they negotiated.
Tab, I am with JS and think the playoff games count towards burning the year of the ELC. I have to imagine that would be a difficult decision if, and this is a big IF, TT lights the world on fire or…more likely triggers Kane and line mate to be better, wouldn’t the Hawks have to consider riding him. If (again, IF) he gets you through 2 playoff series the decision is probably worth it.
The LeBlanc one way deal is surprising and I wonder about it. The one game I saw in person, saw the Broadhurst brothers and Ross as much more active. Additionally, I thought Danault and McNeil were okay too.
I stand corrected on playoff games counting. And JS makes the key point – give him a handful (read: < 9) games during the regular season. If he fits/it's working, roll the dice and proceed w/ him active. If it isn't improving the top 6, sit him down and roll w/ what you've got. re: the no-trade clause(s) on the roster - it's usually the player provides a list of teams he will or won't accept a trade to. ex: Kesler reportedly gave Vancouver a list of the only 6 teams he would waive his NTC for. Rozsival turns 36 in September, so he may weigh his future on the ice if asked to waive his and consider walking away over finding another NHL home. Finally, to Peter's point - I have seen nothing from LeBlanc that leads me to believe he's more than a 5th line fwd at the NHL level.
What happens with the Salary Cap will have an impact on what moves the Hawks will make. If the reports are true that the 2014/15 Salary Cap will be closer to $68M than the previously announced projection of $71M, that will have a huge impact on what the Hawks can do this offseason – not only for next season but more importantly for the re-signing of Toews, Kane, Saad and others going into the 2015/15 season. Whereas it may have been only one of Leddy/Oduya that had to be traded, it may be that two of Leddy/Oduya/Rozsival will need to be traded. And that’s just to have basically the same team next season and be set up to handle the new T&K contracts in 2015/16. If other moves are made (like acquiring Kesler or some other big$ ticket), then other moves will probably need to be made. The objective is to have the core intact and fit under the cap in 2015/16 – 2014/15 moves are a precursor to that.
The LeBlanc contract is weird. They must have expected a lot more from him. However, they can buy him out over the summer and it would only cost 100k on the cap next year, and 75k the year after. Maybe someone will take a flyer on him for cash.
Maybe you can clarify this, Tab. If Rozsival decides to walk away next year instead of being traded, his money still goes against the cap unless he goes with the “LTIR retirement,” right?
ER- Hawks don’t have to worry about Kane/Toews/Saad money until 2015-2016. They can sign them to whatever extensions during the off season, but they don’t start until the following year. So if Toews and Kane want 10M each this summer, it doesn’t go against the cap until the following year.
Serious question, though off topic:
How are faceoff stats determined? Does every faceoff have a winner and a loser, or are some not won by either centerman? I read earlier in this thread that Sharp won 120 of 241 faceoffs in 2010. The wording of the mention was that this was somehow a good thing. But that reads as the height of mediocre to me, exactly 50%. From the way I read that 50% is good, I think maybe there are faceoffs that are not awarded as won by either. In that case, 50% might be good…say 50% won, 30% lost, 20% no winner.
also, I see many faceoffs “won” by our center…puck pulled back (slowly) by our guy toward our point. But an opposing winger jumps in and takes the puck. Certainly our guy controlled the puck at the dot, but the opponent ended up w the puck. Who’s the “winner” of that faceoff?
Thx for the answers.
Faceoffs are arbitrary and scored by the home team I believe. Like hits.
If Q likes T2 he will play T2 unless he is removed from the roster so that he may not select him. I subscribe to the gossipy narrative that the two don’t get along and Q does what he wants.
There were some rumblings about Johns being NHL ready last year. I think he probably gets a spot.
Really don’t think they unload any other roster players (Leddy, Oduya, whomever) unless there is some neat deal they come across that they can’t refuse. I think it makes more sense for them to let those deals run out and address filling them then.
No need to rush anyone up from Rockford. Especially being the last ELC year for Clendening and Dahlbeck. Why let them give a reason for an inflated NHL salary prematurely? You know hard cap and such.
AJ- If you think you can replace a player with someone you have in your system, it’s better to get return value for that player than to just let them walk at the end of their deal. Especially if it gives you flexibility to add a piece during the season.
JS – I know that T&K are signed through 2014/15 and their new deals won’t affect the 2014/15 salary cap, but the timing is such that Stan will want to re-sign them this summer when the salary cap for 2015/16 is not yet known. Therefore, the moves he makes on or before draft day this year will have an effect on how much cap space is left for T&K and others going into the 2015/16 season.
When Bettman came out and stated the 2014/15 Cap projection was $71M, then by calculated extrapolation it could be assumed the 2015/16 cap would be in the $75M+ range. But if the 2014/15 cap ends up being closer to $68M, then the same calculated extrapolation would put the 2015/16 cap at around $72M. Stan has to make decisions based on what he thinks the 2015/16 cap will be so that he can (1) re-sign T&K, and then (2) figure out hos to get the rest of the team under the calculated 2015/16 cap. Therefore, moves this offseason will be made under those conditions.
A plausible factor in all of that is whether Toews (most likely) and Kane (hopefully likely) want to re-sign. So Stan has to guess how much to offer and then get an understanding of whether or not they plan to re-sign with the Hawks. If he knows that Kane will not re-sign (for whatever reason), then he has to decide whether to trade him and get something in return for one of his best assets, or hold on to him for the last year to increase the chances at winning another Cup and then watch him walk away after next season and get nothing for him.
JS – Not if they are better equipped to help the club than the guys in the pipe. They don’t need to force anything or chuck guys for value just to do it, especially with the amount of returning players they will have yet again.
All they have to do is qualify Leddy to get compensation. There isn’t much incentive to move Oduya unless someone wants first dibs on his rights after next year or something big and silly happens where they need more cap space. Oduya is only 32 so I doubt he will regress significantly during this year though I suppose that is possible.
Moving someone just to get something instead of nothing doesn’t seem prudent unless a big move happens OR they completely crap the bed in the playoffs. Otherwise take your losses. They have enough quality assets that wont get a shot here to move for futures if that is the end game you’re concerned about.
Does anyone know if a floating salary based on the cap is legal? Can Toews or any other player sign as a percentage of the cap? Simply put. If Toews agrees to sign for $8mm OR 12% of the cap whichever is HIGHER, is that legal? Say the cap in 15/16 is $70mm, Toews gets $8.4mm. In 16/17 cap goes to $75mm, Toews gets $9mm etc.
Mike, interesting idea but I don’t know the answer. I think it can’t work that way, but I’m not sure.
Another bouquet thown TT’s way (actually young Finnish players in general):
http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/why-finland-is-producing-more-elite-prospects-than-ever/
AJ- You must have missed where I said “if you think you can replace a player with someone you have in your system”. Obviously this was just about Oduya since Leddy is restricted.
The Hawks didn’t HAVE to trade Frolik, but they did because they had a person to replace him and it gave them extra flexibility.
ER- Thank you so much for putting the hyphen in re-sign. You don’t even know how much resign bothers me. I certainly understand what you are saying… but if you look at what the Hawks have under contract in 2015-2016… it’s not much. I think 41M on the books, so the guy is ready to throw whatever at Toews and Kane to keep them around.
Does anyone else find it strange that Raanta gets the start tonight? Hope I’m wrong but it is a head scratcher to me that he will start such an important game against a potential first round playoff opponent.
MS, I think its a Q mind strategy thing. Plus 31 got to play at some point, this way it has him play one game each wk with the back/back on those wks after this…
JS – the Hawks have $42M on the books for 2015/16 – but that for only 10 players (Hossa, Sharp, Bickell, Versteeg, Shaw, Bollig, Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson and Crawford). The priority is to re-sign Toews, Kane and Saad so if even if we lowball our guestimates and figure $8.5M for T&K and $4M for Saad – that’s and $21M for the three of them and the new subtotal is $63M for 13 players. If the 2015/16 cap is only $72M that would leave only $9M for four d-men, four forwards and a backup goalie.
Can someone please take the Bickell and Crow handcuffs off???
JS – The Hawks did have to trade Frolik because the salary cap…
Hawks definitely didn’t have to trade Frolik because of the cap. They signed Khabi, traded for Versteeg, Regin, PMB, LaBarbera, and Runblad. Had nothing to do with the cap.
It absolutely had something to do with the cap and flexibility. The only reason they were able to add those players was because space.
Did you hit your head this morning?
Me: “AJ- If you think you can replace a player with someone you have in your system, it’s better to get return value for that player than to just let them walk at the end of their deal. Especially if it gives you flexibility to add a piece during the season.”
“The Hawks didn’t HAVE to trade Frolik, but they did because they had a person to replace him and it gave them extra flexibility.”
You: “It absolutely had something to do with the cap and flexibility. The only reason they were able to add those players was because space.”