Ummm....he's been in the league for four years and is only 23.   When you add in that trophy he won last year for being kinda awesome in the playoffs with the rest of his complete and flawless game, I'd say he's elite.

How's the new digs?

New digs = awesome. Thanks for asking.

Hawks got montador last night. Eklund and jaekkel both saying they have a big move in store. Big.

ek has a bad rep... and probably earned.... but like puckdaddy said he does have some good sources - and he does break some big ones. He just jumps the gun to often.

look at jagr. Ek was one of the first to claim jagr to the pens was a done deal yesterday morning --- then by the evening he was kinda relenting on that one and thinking Montreal could be back in the game ---- and now it sounds like it truly is a done deal, in Pittsburgh. that makes it pretty evident imo that he throws a lot of unverified (unvalidated) rumors out there. but i still like the guy. He's a flyers fan ;)

btw - the reason I mention the rumor is from Eklund is for that very reason you just posted - take it with a grain of salt.

The more time goes by, the more I'm starting to think that maybe Campoli is asking too much money. Perhaps the acquisition of Steve Montador's rights was a move to try and move Campoli...or perhaps a way of telling his camp "if you won't play ball, we'll look elsewhere". It seems to be that, unlike the Hawks of the past, there is a real salary structure to their team now, much like the Wings have done for years (thank you Scotty). Nik Hjalmarsson is the team's #3, so no dman playing  in the 4 slot or lower should get near 3.5 per.

Also kind of getting nervous on the Frolik front. I could see the same thing happening with him that happened with Hjalmarsson last season. I wonder if any team would give a 3-3.5 million dollar offer sheet, hoping the Hawks would match.

Can't wait til tomorrow!!!

As tweeted by Chris Kuc...

GM Stan Bowman says signing of restricted free agents "could stretch" out a bit.
GM Stan Bowman: "We're not going to be going after players who get huge, long-term, big-dollar contracts."

Do we believe Stan, or is it a smokescreen?

I saw enough of Campoli in Ottawa, can't believe you Chicago guys find him useful.

Posted by andru2797 on 6/30/2011 10:48:00 AM (view original):
As tweeted by Chris Kuc...

GM Stan Bowman says signing of restricted free agents "could stretch" out a bit.
GM Stan Bowman: "We're not going to be going after players who get huge, long-term, big-dollar contracts."

Do we believe Stan, or is it a smokescreen?

Hawks don't go after a big time contract imo.

Here's why -

If you look at nearly all good teams in the NHL none of them have a ton of LTCs with NTCs. The hawks have 6 - Seabs, Kane, Toews, Hossa, Keith, and soon Sharp (also just had Campbell) locked in at $5+ mil contracts over the next 4 seasons. Thats over $30 mil of the $64 mil cap space locked up in 6 players w/ NTC/NMCs. That leaves about $2mil per player to fill out the remaining 17 roster spots over the next 4 seasons. Adding another $5-7 mil LTC would mean they have even less to fill out the roster over the next 4 years.... and many of these prospects will be looking for raises over that time span. Sure they could trade these NMC players down the line but we all saw what campbell got you in return, not much.

JMO. but I don't think they go BIG. juss sayin ;)

Also, they are much more than 1 player away from being competitive again. We all saw a team that BARELY made the playoffs last season - and as is the team has less now without Brouwer, Kopecky, and Campbell. They need to fill a lot of holes. More Team Physicality, a 4th D-Man, a 2nd Center, and a 3rd Scoring Line.

Posted by moy23 on 6/30/2011 11:50:00 AM (view original):
Also, they are much more than 1 player away from being competitive again. We all saw a team that BARELY made the playoffs last season - and as is the team has less now without Brouwer, Kopecky, and Campbell. They need to fill a lot of holes. More Team Physicality, a 4th D-Man, a 2nd Center, and a 3rd Scoring Line.

Although I agree they're more than 1 player away from being a bona fide Stanley Cup contender, I think they are more than competitive. If you consider injuries to Hossa, Campbell, Kane, Toews and Bolland, and the instability in goal last season, those are far bigger reasons why the team finished where they did.

I think if they get a minimum of 70 games from Bolland and Hossa this season and if Keith and Kane have bounce-back seasons, there's no reason this team shouldn't challenge for a top 4 spot in the West. By Keith's own admission the team just wasn't as hungry until Seabrook got knocked out of the Vancouver series.

As things stand now, I'd put Vancouver, San Jose and LA in a class by themselves. Then I'd have Detroit, Chicago and Nashville in the second tier fighting for the division title. I think Phoenix will take a major step back this season as will Dallas. Anaheim with Selanne joins the 2nd tier, without him falls to the 3rd with the likes of Columbus, Calgary and Edmonton, followed by Colorado and St.Louis with the rest (Dallas, Phoenix, Minnesota) fighting for the basement.

I don't think Chicago is a top team in the West, but I think they'll be better than they were last season. Everything that could have gone wrong for them did and the odds of that happening two years in a row are slim to none.

They are a 6-10 team still... just like last season. They still have no depth and no physicality. Other teams will take human target practice on them until they do something about it. Until then, big injuries will continue to happen. A lot of pressure is being put on a 2nd year netminder. We will see.....

Imo Anaheim = a second tier team w/ or w/o selanne. The Hawks = a 3rd tier team w/o a big time Campbell replacement.

Agree to disagree then...

I don't think the Ducks have much after their top line, Fowler, Visnovsky and Hiller (if healthy).

I don't think the Hawks need a big time replacement for Campbell because of the emergence of Campoli and Leddy as viable 4-5th defensemen. If the sign Steve Montador, I think that makes them better. They are already top-heavy on offensive talent and have an excellent PP, but were only average in both shots against and goals against 5-on-5 last season. Montador is a shot-blocking and PK upgrade over Campbell, two areas they sorely lacked in. I don't think offensively they'll miss him as much because the PP minutes can be handled by the likes of Campoli and Leddy.

The biggest need on this team is still a second line center so that Patrick Sharp can play where he's more comfortable.

I'm not disputing that they could finish out of the top 4. As I said, I think they'll battle Detroit and Nashville which means I think they could finish 4th, 5th or 6th. I just disagree with the statement that, as they are right now, they are not competitive. Dallas will not be competitive. Minnesota will not be competitive. Same with Phoenix. Chicago is not that far gone.

I think just the simple fact that the team's top players are rested and motivated once more is enough of a difference maker on it's own. Add to that the new faces coming in and progression of certain players and development of some chemistry with the new personnel brought in last season, and I don't think it's crazy to expect more this year.

All that being said, no one really knows with how close the teams are these days. Any team can finish anywhere. Heck, two years ago I picked the Flyers to finish near the top of the league, then they finished nearly out of the playoffs, then they made it to the finals, then they blew it all up. I just don't know anymore! lol

On paper maybe the Blackhawks look like a 6-10 team that barely made the playoffs but they are still a dangerous team to meet in the playoffs, remember they were an errant pass away from eliminating the mighty Canucks.

Posted by jiml60 on 6/30/2011 1:35:00 PM (view original):
On paper maybe the Blackhawks look like a 6-10 team that barely made the playoffs but they are still a dangerous team to meet in the playoffs, remember they were an errant pass away from eliminating the mighty Canucks.

I still believe if Bickell, Kopecky, Seabrook, Bolland and Sharp are all healthy and played all series, the Hawks would have won that series.