hooon

Niemi is not signed, thus they cannot trade him. Sharp is already signed and under contract. The talk about him leaving is in regards to trading him away in order free up more cap space.

Two seasons ago, before their slogan was One Goal.... I kid you not, their slogan was "Red Rising". Can ANYONE explain this one? How does that make any sense whatsoever... Red Rising? Their name is the BLACKhawks... they literally have a COLOR in their own name... and they choose a completely DIFFERENT color, the color of their biggest opponents no less, to put directly into their slogan. That was the year we won the cup btw, so I guess Red Rising worked.

I could see that being possible. However, as they keep signing people... pretty soon, something's gotta give. Theyre well over the cap and still have a bunch of empty roster spots. Who else is on the way out? Sharp? Niemi? I don't that letting just one of these guys go is going to alleviate enough of their cap concerns to make them compliant. As for the playoffs next year, in all likelihood, they will make it (and still be well head of lots of the teams who make it in the east), but if they don't make it, I won't be that surprised. There are plenty of teams in the league with insane amounts of talent on the roster, but no depth and poor management who perennially miss the playoffs.

No arbitration. Offers have been sent out, theres no rush. We aren't losing Helm, no need to worry.

Hank has been such a huge part of this team ever since he broke the roster. Seriously, what would we have done if he hadn't turned into a marquee player? Z will make a great captain, though he has some giant shoes to fill.

Hudler with Helm would do wonders for Helm's production... but what would it do to Hudler's? He certainly wouldn't hit that 50-60 point mark that he's expected to. Modano is a better center and is much better offensively than Helm is right now. If its a 2 year deal I could almost realistically see Modano being the 3rd line center this next season, and then Helm taking over the season with Mikey down to the 4th. And about us having too many forwards. For the nineteenth kabajilionth time.... people will be traded before the season starts. Its that simple. Holland signed them to create competition and retain assets for trades should we have any major holes that need be filled. I'm pretty sure Holland has been watching plenty of games, thanks.

I could be wrong, but I don't think location is as big a factor as people are making it out to be. We're talking about a 1 year contract before certain retirement, after which he and his wife can go and live anywhere they want. Its not like this would be the first of a 6 year contract where he is completely committing himself to the location long term. I agree with a lot of others. All the factors seem to fit for him coming here. Hope it happens soon, and for no more than 1.2

Everyone keeps saying what a beast he is in the playoffs. In the 2008 playoffs didn't Cleary only have 3 points in 22 games?

Indeed, a supposedly more "serious" flick compared to his other stuff. Starring Sean William Scott, aka Stiffler. That musical looks... embarrassing. Myself and some friends of mine are trying to produce a low budget biopic on either Sawchuk or the old Production Line. If you are a producer with lots of money, please PM me!

how are people still not getting this? Stevekrause and others have explained it crystal clearly in multiple threads. People will be traded. There will be lots of competition for those last few spots. We will get assets in return for those who do not make the team. Holland is a genius.

"You'll never guess what's in my hands..."

Lol. Perfect.

I'll agree with you about his playoff vanishing act, but he was a beast last year in the regular season, especially considering he came off of surgery. However, his production for the Hawks was all just icing on the cake. They really did not NEED him per se, but he was a major contributor. He is also one of their best defensive forwards. It'll be interesting to see how he does next year on a team that is severely less stacked than his previous squads.

Lol. Love it. I might switch Abby and Eaves, hoping that Abby finally gets his offense going. Its a fun thought, but won't happen. I also don't like the idea of helping out/getting helped out by our biggest rivals.

My argument is based on potential because you asserted that Carcillo has more scoring potential than Helm, which I simply find ridiculous. No coach would ever sit down with him and say that, because that is not why he is hired to play for a team. His role is very clearly defined, why would ANY team want to do a complete 180 with a player who already has established attributes in the hope that he would possibly be a 20 goal scorer instead of 6-12? We're both leading this argument well into irrelevancy at this point, but I don't understand all these what-if assumptions and over-evaluating of a career 4th liner. I'll take Helm and Cleary over Carcillo any day, you can have him.

, Indeed. The Sharks with Jammer would be quite a threat. In the regular season, that is.

Lol if you are at all serious. Yes the team would feel pressure to give him 3rd line minutes, because that is exactly what he deserves. In what perverse world is Maltby better than Modano. Guys this isn't the end of the world, relax, everything will be alright. Looks to me like just another depth signing, one to make competition, just like with Eaves, Miller and Meech. I don't see anywhere where it says he will be on the roster next season. And besides, its just an offer. Maybe its too low for his interests?

Ok... and I was never trying to argue otherwise. The Hawks are going to need his production badly next year. That's all I meant.

Isn't our team's roster pretty much set? Offers have already been sent out to our other FAs. Other than frustrating suspense during an abnormally boring off-season, there's really no detriment in him taking his time. The Favre comparisons arent fair (yet). As Favre had ALREADY retired, then went months before letting teams know what he was doing. And he did this for two consecutive seasons. (Three if you count this upcoming one, has he decided yet?) Its been less than two weeks for Mike, patience.

You can't blame Philly for his lack of production in one post, and then in another say "As for the whole Philly thing, they just almost won the cup and did much better then a healthy playoff, Detroit team did so I wouldn't be knocking them too much." The key word I was pointing out in your other post was the word POTENTIAL. Helm's potential for scoring is way higher, as he has only had one season in the NHL (if you recall it was a season where every single player's production was waay down on the Wings) and I would expect Helm to be up around 20 goals sometime in the next several years, if not next year. As for Carcillo, I don't believe he will ever break 20. You are blaming his low production on the fact that he has been in enforcer roles... but... that's what he is. You're playing the 'what-if' game, which doesn't seem relevant. Any team that signs Carcillo signs him for the same exact reasons Philly did. And Carcillo over Cleary? I'm by no means a huge Cleary guy... but come on. I understand you are talking about a severely injured/rusty Cleary, but even still. Edit: spelling

Wasn't he an RFA anyway? That being said, Miller for Boll? I woulda done it.

How on earth do you figure Carcillo has more scoring potential than Helm? Carcillo has never scored more than 24 points in a season, the same amount that was matched last season by Helm who was a rookie. Helm will continue to grow as he develops his hands, and his offensive potential FAR outweighs Carcillo's. If, as you say, Carcillo was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd liner last year, surely he could have outscored a rookie Darren Helm if he had more scoring potential? Looking at our current roster, assuming Modano is out of the picture, and one of Eaves/Miller, give me a lineup that features Carcillo on the third line, because I just can't picture it.

How can you say Byfuglien isn't a very good player and then mention Bolland and Brouwer as elite top 6 players? Byfuglien is as good or better than both of them, Versteeg as well. They aren't going to be able to stack all of those guys on the top 2 lines either, as they will need to spread as much talent out as they can to make up for the fact that they'll have 5 or 6 scrubs filling out the bottom two lines. No doubt Hossa is an elite player, and those who are saying otherwise are crazy. Its true he didn't do much last year in the playoffs (he didn't really need to) and did pretty darn well coming off surgery in the regular season. The Hawks will desperately need his scoring next year, so I can understand why they don't deal him. That said, someone else is gonna have to be gone, as it stands now. I don't believe in any assumption that they will "somehow get rid of Campbell". I think Sharp is gone, which will be a major bite to them. There are many teams in the league that have amazing high end talent in their top 6, and don't make the playoffs or deep runs.

There is NO way he would ever be on our third line. MAYBE last year during december when our team was ravaged by injury would a guy like him be on the third line. Its true he's not a plug... but 3rd line in Detroit? Please.

hmm and another one.