This Just In: Shaw to MTL for Picks

From blackhawks.nhl.com:
The Chicago Blackhawks tonight acquired two second-round picks (39th and 45th overall) in the 2016 National Hockey League Draft from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Andrew Shaw.

Oh boy, this comes out of left field, from my Perspective of Complete Ignorance™, anyway.  I kinda believed the plan was to use the dosh freed up by banishing Bickell & Teravainen to get Shaw re-upped but, that said, Stan never tells me anything. I do imagine that an effort was made to renew vows with Shaw, but either the price was too high and/or Stan has something else cooking.  If that something involves a legitimate top-four defenseman I'm quite okay with that, in theory anyway.  Who can say on Draft Weekend, right?  It had just better not be Dan Hamhuis.

Often effective, sometimes ridiculously miscast and occasionally embarrassing, Shaw was a fan favourite, and I guess I'll miss his ability to tip in goals while in the goalie's kitchen but, any sentimentality aside, what's he worth in dollars per year?  Three mil?  Probably not four, but I'll bet the asking price was north of that.  The Hawks have a couple of options for filling the gap in Ryan Hartman or even Dale Weise if his price is agreeable. Plus it's Draft Weekend.

Bickell, Teravainen Cast Off: Hawks Receive Nothing in Return

From blackhawks.nhl.com:
The Chicago Blackhawks today acquired a second-round pick (50th overall) in the 2016 National Hockey League Draft and a third-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forwards Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen.

So the good news here is that The Hawks just saved themselves $4 Mil cap space that had been soaked up by a fella who would never again set foot (skate?) on United Center ice.
The obviously disappointing news is that the associated cost of ditching that salary was Teuvo being packaged into the deal.
But, maybe it's not the worst idea, dealing Teravainen, although this is perhaps indicative of who's really in charge of the organization.  Coach Quenneville has rarely deployed Teravainen "properly", as in "the way any sane person would" and, when he does appear to get it right, it's only because he's out of other options.  Teuvo still has another year on a mighty cap-friendly deal but, after that, he'll be expensive whether Q chooses to utilize him efficiently or not.  It's likely that GM Stan Bowman saw this as perhaps the only real chance to get Bickell's salary off the books and that it might be best to not break his neck protecting Teravainen if Q only inserts him into the top six when Hossa's injured.  It's also possible that it was Teuvo's preference to leave.  Also, we're one year away from Panarin becoming extremely expensive and possibly requiring another veteran to be dispatched, so it's probably okay to let Rasmussen / Hinostroza / Motte / whoever get a full season in before having to fill a more important gap.

Teravainen found himself in a weird spot with The Hawks, some of which is down to him not having been granted admission into Q's Circle of Trust and some of which may well be his own fault.  Ostensibly a center, Teravainen failed to click with any combination of wingers he was matched with.  Granted, one of the wingers he was often saddled with was Brandon Mashinter, but there no chemistry with Fleischmann and Weise, either, which would have been a kickass third line if it had worked out.  His brief spells on the top two lines were, as mentioned, due to injury or suspension to others and, while he had some good moments during those auditions, it clearly wasn't enough to entice Q to extend the engagement.  I think we'll miss Teuvo on the power play - I thought he was a quite capable point-man - but, looking at the remaining centers I don't think we'll miss him too much in that capacity.  Dennis Rasmussen can endure Mashinter, or whatever lout inevitably fills that role, as well as Teuvo can.

Looking ahead, I guess we can expect Stan to try for a UFA or two because, at it stands right now, we have only seven forwards ready to go and I do not anticipate The Hawks planning to make do with four or more Icehogs in the lineup.  I hope Stan re-ups Richard Panik and wouldn't mind Rasmussen returning.  There may be a chance that Shaw remains but I don't see Fleischmann, Ladd or Weise being invited back.

That is all, until the next shoe drops.

Too Nice Out to Spend All Day on This: Hawks 5, Red Wings 2 and Last Night's Big Boy

Like it says, I have other things I wanna do, so just some quick points.
- Shots were even and chances seemed close, but The Hawks were simply finishing better, thanks to Petr Mrazek being less-than-average in The Wing's net and The Wing's D-corps leaving The Hawks unchecked far too often.  I wonder if Ladd's shot had not gone in how many more whacks they would have let him take.
- When Goose makes passes like the one he sent to Seabrook on the game's first goal it's hard to believe he's ever a healthy scratch.
- Christian Ehrhoff made his Hawks debut and I like what I saw.  No red flags thus far.
- Looking ahead, Dale Weise is expected to play in Boston tonight and I assume Scott Darling will start.  

Oh, those feckless Red Wings made several Hawks look positively heroic in this one, but the tie breaker gives Seabrook the nod due to last night at least being something other than him standing around looking bewildered.  Oh, and he had three points, both assists being actually very fine plays. Also, I stole this image ages ago and have been dying to use it.

              They do?  I think he looks like a homeless Eddie Munster, but I'm no lady...

HA! (or "Even A Broken Clock is Correct Twice Each Day")

From TSN.ca

The Montreal Canadiens have traded forwards Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Phillip Danault and a second-round pick in 2018.  According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the Canadiens retained 30 per cent of Weise and Fleischmann's salaries.

My Master Plan is coming together.  Already talked about Weise yesterday or the day before. Fleischmann is a competent, unspectacular winger, likely destined for third or fourth line duty, or possibly Rockford if the room gets any more crowded.

I was a little surprised to see Danault sent off.  Sure, he hasn't had quite the dash that he displayed in his first couple of weeks since his last recall, but I certainly felt as if The Hawks were prepared to exercise some patience with Danault.  I guess Stan Bowman will uphold his promise to Marcus Kruger.

Please, No

From TSN.ca:

According to TSN's Farhan Lalji, the Chicago Blackhawks have serious interest in Vancouver Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis and forward Radim Vrbata.

You shut your stupid mouth, Farhan Lalji.  The only Canuck I could tolerate The Hawks obtaining would be Domhnall Gleeson look-alike Jannik Hansen and, even then, I would require that he dress and shower separately from the rest of the team.

                                                    Not blood, just sweet & sour sauce. 

I was thinking about Dale Weise who, it would seem, does a lot of the things Andrew Shaw does. These players sport similar offensive stats and get the job done in a similar fashion - straight ahead to the net and a lot of greasy goals.  Shaw possesses greater hand-eye skills for tip-ins and such, while Weise shows more well-rounded offensive skills and is the better skater of the two.  Each guy typically plays higher up in the lineup than they should be, so their stats are a bit flattering due to being alongside guys more talented than themselves but, that said, Shaw's linemates are consistently better than Weise's, for what that's worth.

Weise currently earns about half of what Shaw earns and both players are going to get raises this summer. The thing is, Shaw will likely command $4mil+, even though $2.5mil is probably more reasonable.  Can Weise expect the same?  I don't think so - I see Weise slotting in right around the $2.5mil range.  I dunno, just spitballin'...seems like a not-too-bad contingency for if/when Shaw sets sail.

                          I guess I should have worked harder, not skipped practice, etc...