Catching Up and Catching Our Breath

I thought it might be a therapeutic exercise to summarize the changes that The Hawks have undergone in the last two months and to try to look ahead to what still needs to be done.

OUT
Brandon Saad
Patrick Sharp
Brad Richards
Johnny Oduya
Antoine Vermette
and
Stephen Johns
Kimmo Timonen
and almost certainly
Michal Rozsival
Daniel Carcillo
Kyle Cumiskey
and possibly 
Joakim Nordstrom

The first five players in this list represent significant contributors, and I guess we can can include Rozsival in that group, as well, simply down to the amount he played.
Despite not having cracked The Hawks' lineup it was expected that Johns would nail down a spot this season, so we'll count him as a lost asset.
The other four did not play significant roles, really.  I suspect that The Hawks would like to re-sign free agent Nordstrom, as he appears to be liked and trusted by Coach Quenneville, but unless a current roster player is dealt or waived successfully there is simply no cap space to accommodate him.

IN
Marko Dano: Everyone wants to believe that this young fella will ably fill the gap vacated by Saad and, while I expect he will get the opportunity to assume Saad's place in the roster (i.e. first or second line duty) he is not likely at Saad's level just yet.  As Saad continues to develop and slides into even more of a go-to role in Columbus, Dano may disappoint in the short term.  A lot will depend on how Dano starts the season; if he clicks early, earns the coach's trust and gets a shot at quality minutes with quality linemates, Dano may well offset the loss of Saad quite nicely.  If he starts slowly and/or fails to enter Quenneville's Circle of Trust he'll end up mired on the third or fourth line and traded to Dallas in a year or two.  Dano put up decent numbers on a weak Blue Jackets squad, but their late-season re-ignition coincided with the young Slovak's insertion in their top-six, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
Artem Anisimov: I'm less sure about this one.  His stat line suggests he's about on par with the departed Vermette; quite a bit bigger, maybe with more offensive skill, but not as quick or as good on faceoffs.  Still, Anisimov was used on the penalty kill in Columbus and his offensive numbers were a bit lower than usual due to missing some time with an injury.  Historically, he's been a 40-point guy pretty much his whole career.  Is that enough for a projected second line center?  He's also filled a similar role to that of Vermette, and that guy topped out at third line in Chicago.  Again, if he gets good minutes with good players he'll probably be fine, but a slow start could well see him drop in the lineup.
Ryan Garbutt: Not sure what to think about him.  It would appear that his best days, which were not scintillating in the first place, are behind him.  Where do you put him?  I would like to see the Kruger - Shaw - Desjardins trio start the season together, but I guess that will depend on whether Kruger returns or not.  (Now I'm obsessing about Shaw having to play center.)  I think he'll be a useful spare part and little else.
Trevor Daly: This has been done to death but I'll reiterate it here: he's slow, he's defensively ambivalent, he's getting on in years but he's capable of pushing the play out of the defensive zone.  He'll get a crack at power play minutes but let's look at who he's replacing - Johnny Oduya, who played hard minutes against the opposition's top lines and was a mainstay on the penalty kill.  Daly cannot do those things.
Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp: Unlikely to make The Hawks out of the gate, so let's just move on, shall we?
Artemi Panarin: Is he ready?  Is he remotely as good as some say he is?  I firmly believe he'll get every opportunity to show what he's got, particularly if Kane is "unavailable".  I still see Panarin as an unknown quantity of the highest order but I also find it intriguing that he may well be the Hawks prospect most like Kane.  Still, I recall reading stuff like this about that Makarov kid a couple of years ago, and where is he now?  Seriously...where is he?
Viktor Tikhonov: Another question mark.  I half expect he won't make The Hawks to begin the season but wouldn't shocked, either, to see him on the third or fourth line in a banger role.  He actually put up okay numbers on a decent SKA St. Petersburg squad the last few seasons but he's not going to be used as a top-six guy as he was in the KHL, so we'll have to wait and see if he can bring another dimension to his game.

Stepping Up?
Teuvo Teravainen: As with Panarin, he may find himself in a position to assume Kane's role and, as an incumbent on the roster, he'll get first crack at it.  I wonder if, given the opportunity that Kane was afforded when he first arrived in Chicago, Teuvo would already be a top six forward with 50 or 60 points under his belt.  His playmaking skills are likely as good as Kane's were back in 07-08 but I worry that he will never be the finisher that Kane evolved into.  He displayed a greater nose for the net during the playoffs so perhaps with more icetime and consistent linemates we'll see his scoring touch continue to develop.
Trevor Van Riemsdyk and David Rundblad: Here's the 5D and 6D to start the season, I believe.  I don't want to write these guys off before the puck even drops but they have a tough, tough row to hoe.  Let's remember that Daley is not going to play the minutes that Oduya did and will be of no use on the PK or in a shut-down role, so one or both of TVR and Rundblad are going to have to pull slack, bigtime.  I love Rundblad's shot and I think that, if he improved his skating and reaction skills (gotta be more decisive with that first jump) he could be a real asset and could see power play time. Is what we see, now, what we're going to get, though?  As for TVR, he came out of nowhere, basically, to make The Hawks last year and how that occurred has never been clear to me, as he has never appeared especially strong in any facet of the game, but competently average in most regards. The fact that he only managed 18 games last year because he was hurt so badly, so often, is also a concern.

Lurking in the Weeds
Ville Pokka, Viktor Svedberg and Erik Gustafsson: Just as TVR did last season any of these guys could spring a surprise and actually make the roster in the coming weeks.  Pokka had a decent first season in the AHL last season, seeing his level of responsibility increase steadily as the year progressed.  The Hawks appear determined to give Svedberg a shot, despite his slow progress over two seasons in Rockford.  Well, he's 6'8", which is pretty tantalizing.  Gustafsson is virtually unknown to me.  And there's Robin Norrell, as well, but would be an extreme long shot simply due to his small stature in relation to the third pairing role he would be competing for.
(Watch The Hawks go ahead and re-sign Kyle Cumiskey, though, making it possible to trade any and all of these youngsters next winter...ha ha...)

Stepping Out?
Kris Versteeg and Bryan Bickell: We're probably stuck with them so let's just get used to that idea. Still, in the unlikely event that one or both of these guys are successfully moved along, that would open up many, many roster possibilities.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

In Limbo
Marcus Kruger: What a tough spot for Kruger and The Hawks.  The team want very much to re-sign him and Kruger has stated that he is equally interested in remaining in Chicago, but the money just isn't there.  The saving grace is that Kruger may be willing to do a lower-cost deal, presumably with the promise of a far better deal next season, when at least Versteeg will be off the books.
Joakim Nordstrom: As mentioned, I suspect The Hawks would like to keep him but will be unlikely to be able to offer any more than an AHL deal.
Patrick Kane: Well, the less said about that the better.

So, with training camp just around the corner, many questions persist.  Will Kane be on the ice (or simply "on ice"...groan...) and, if not, will The Hawks receive any cap relief?  Will Kruger be in the fold and, if not, who's going to play center?  Can GM Stan Bowman do anything about Bickell & Versteeg?  Will Panarin or Tikhonov be of any use?  I won't even begin to talk about line combos until some of these questions are answered.