Would it be a waste of Shaw's talents to have him on the 4th line? He is a center and a 4th line of Carcillo-Shaw-Bollig/Hayes could be a heckuva 4th line. He seems to fit very well on the 3rd line with Bolland so leaving him there is probably the best option - just pondering.
Chicago Blackhawks @NHLBlackhawks
Q with an update on Montador: Progressing, skating soon, but tough to say at this point whether he would be back for any potential rounds.
Good sign. He won't play in the playoffs, but at least we know he's not trapped in a dark room anymore.
Mayers won't retire but at the same time, he wore down a lot in the 2nd half. I'd bring him back as the 13th forward, not a guy who plays every night.
This is what people were saying about him after we signed him last year. Yet, he played in 81 of 82 games and was our best role player over the course of the season. The drop-off from the 1st half to the 2nd half wasn't huge.. if he doesn't retire and resigns in Chicago, he'll be an everday player for Q again.
Stalberg has turned himself into a player to be reckoned with. With Saad being defensively responsible, I think he might find himself on a line with Bolland and Bickell.
I'd like to see the Hawks involved in the bidding war for Jordan Staal after next season. Obviously this would be a long shot but I wouldn't think he's due for a massive raise, maybe 5.5m/year. Add to the fact that Pittsburgh is going to have a tough time retaining him because Crosby also becomes a UFA that summer, and Malkin and Letang the summer after that. They've barely got any cap space to work with as is, so I can see them parting ways with Staal. Our only real important roster player to re-sign that year is Leddy, and he shouldn't be making anything over $3m/per after that.
Staal would slot in perfectly as our #2 center. By then, McNeill should be ready for the big league. This makes Bolland the odd man out, unless McNeill underdevelops and slots in at #4C.
Toews - Staal - Bolland - McNeill would be deadly down the middle. At that point, it almost doesn't matter who your wingers are, but we would still (presumably) have Kane, Sharp and Hossa along with guys like Morin and Saad on their ELC's still. As long as we have decent D and a goaltender, if this scenario plays out the Hawks are instant cup favorites in 2014. Probably gives us another summer of trading away our cup winning roster, but that's just the price you have to pay I suppose.
I know this is far out there, but I like to entertain the idea.
They'll trade Staal before letting him walk. Hjalmarsson for Staal is our best bet and I think that deal has legs if Bowman offers it.
I think they would be able to get a much better return than Hjalmarsson. Staal isn't an assist-first center, but he's big, good defensively, decent at faceoffs, and decent at goal scoring. It would take a lot more than Hjalmarsson to get him.
In the thread speculating about Staal getting traded, it was stated Pittsburgh is almost entirely left-handed so they yould be looking for a right-handed sniper. The Hawks just happen to have a right-handed sniper, who is, in fact, one of the best right-handed snipers - Sharp. Contract considerations aside - would you want the Hawks to make a trade with Pittsburgh where to two main pieces were Sharp and Staal?
No way, but if they want D, and they should, find me a better player they could trade for than Hjalmarsson, who will be under contract for at least 2 more years.
