Post-Expansion Draft Catch Up, Hoss, Lineup Building

We've got three things to cover, today.  First, Marian Hossa, unbeknownst to the general public, has been suffering with a painful skin disorder for who knows how long and has decided to not play hockey this season.  Evidently, Hoss has had a poor reaction to the treatment he's been receiving for this condition and it's been determined that it's actually risky to continue.  I had been joking around recently that I wouldn't be surprised if Hoss developed some pesky injury that kept him out of action until mid-winter, next season, just long enough to get some salary cap relief with the big man on LTIR.  Well, this doesn't sound or feel like The Hawks being gamey, at all, and it's quite likely that Hoss' pro hockey days are over.  
Hossa has played eighteen seasons in The NHL and was paid well enough that one has to believe that he's continued this long because he wanted to and not because he had to, so a sudden retirement announcement would certainly seem against his character.  That said, having hit a pair of impressive career milestones this season and the fact that he'll be earning only a token percentage of his heavily front-loaded contract, the timing is probably right to call it a day, even if Hoss isn't ready to admit it.  
More about the implications of Hoss' setback a little ways down the page.

I stayed up last night only until I was assured that Trevor van Riemsdyk was no longer a Blackhawk AND I SLEPT WELL.  For all his good points Coach Joel Quenneville has always had a frustrating penchant for keeping one or two guys around that Just Don't Make Sense, and TVR is the most irritating example of Q's bizarre devotion to substandard hockey players.  Say what you will about those who came before, like Burish, Scott, Bollig or even Jordin "Two great games does not a career make" Tootoo, but those guys and their five-to-seven minutes per night never had the profound impact that TVR has had.  The man is a pylon, who cannot skate, cannot make a decision at NHL-speed, appears to have little idea how to play his position and has never laid a bodycheck on anything that wasn't stationary.  Yet, he got his 20-ish minutes per game, which is infinitely more than a borderline AHL-quality player should ever receive.  It's not as if he accomplished this on a weak team with few options, either.  The Hawks just became a better team simply by not having this goof around.  The morning rumour mill has Las Vegas dispatching TVR to Carolina in short order.  I couldn't care less, as long as he doesn't end up back in Chicago.
Anyway, so long, jackass.  It's not your fault you're bad at hockey.

Here's where I start to feel a little dirty, like a guy who just found out some rich aunt died & left him a load of money and doesn't know whether to be happy or sad and that it's hard to be both those things at the same time.
With TVR gone and Hoss about to be LTIR'd off the books, The Hawks have gone from being $2+ million OVER the salary cap to roughly $4mil UNDER.  I see two paths, here.

PATH ONE: Marcus Kruger remains in Chicago?
The alleged deal done between Chicago & LV to make TVR available in exchange for taking Kruger in a subsequent trade *might* not be as necessary now as it was a couple of days ago.  Can The Hawks now afford the luxury of a $3 mil center who rarely scores?  Perhaps not, as keeping Kruger gives The Hawks only about $1 mil remaining with which to make any significant changes to a team that underachieved mightily this season, which would kinda fly in the face of the press conference promises made by GM Stan Bowman after The Hawks ouster from the playoffs.  Stranger things have happened, though.
PATH TWO: Kruger leaves and The Hawks have approx. $7 mil with which to retool.  
The first task is to identify what The Hawks require in order to change their fortunes.  
Some will say that they need a puck-moving defenceman, as the reunion with Brian Campbell was underwhelming and he will not likely be invited back.  I'm just not sure if there's much out there to be had that The Hawks can afford.   Marc Streit, maybe, as he is firmly into the hired gun phase of his career and could likely be had for an affordable price.The Islanders have an embarrassment of riches on D but are said to be on the hunt for a top-six forward, which The Hawks are not in a position to provide.  Staffing from within is a possibility if Q is prepared to give Goose Forsling an actual chance to succeed, but I think Stan knows better than to count on that happening. 
Besides that, The Hawks need at least one or two quality forwards, not just to fill the gap left by Hossa, but also to fill a hole that existed all of last season.
Again, filling these spots from within is possible but is not likely to alter The Hawks' fortunes a great deal.  One expects Hartman, Schmaltz and possibly even Hayden to step up their contributions but, if they don't, The Hawks risk standing in place, at best, but more likely backsliding.  I don't hold out any expectation that the remaining peripheral players will be anything more than that, not this season and probably not ever.
And Kruger would still need to replaced.  Anyone pressed into this duty has big shoes to fill as, even with Kruger's anemic offense, he remains one of only a handful of players who are able to move the puck north on a consistent basis, as well as having been The Hawks' go-to PK guy.  Nearby, weaker options are available in Dennis Rasmussen and/or Tanner Kero, both okay foot soldiers but almost certainly not up to the level of responsibility that Kruger shouldered.

The possibilities are nearly endless, but let me toss a few names out there, bearing in mind that Silly Season will begin in earnest this afternoon.
Justin Williams - oldish, arrogant & unlikable, but he remains a steady performer, a playoff beast and would earn ~$3 mil or less.  Stick him with Toews & Panik for something resembling a second scoring line.
Joe Thornton - not as out there as it seems.  Jumbo Joe earned ~$7 mil in recent years but I cannot see him commanding that kind of coin at age 37 and coming off any number of surgeries. Thornton could slot in as 1C, 2C or 3C but I would love to see him between Kane & Panarin.  Maybe Thornton assumes Toews' spot and The Captain takes over 3C in Kruger's role.  We could do a lot worse than that, although then there will be louts jawing about The Hawks' $10 mil checking center...
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - not gonna fully replace Kruger but the guy is a checking machine, good on the PK and "okay" at the dot.  A straight-up trade for Kruger saves $1.5 mil with a serviceable replacement.
Patrick Sharp - It's a risk with his dizzies and all, and who knows how much to believe about rumours of conflict between him and Keith or others.  If all parties are comfortable with a reunion, though, I bet he'd sign for $2mil or less.  Stan may be leery of signing old favourites on a victory lap contract after Campbell, though.

Aw, who knows?  Let's see what happens this week.