Older, Slower, Cheaper

From blackhawks.nhl.com:

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today they have acquired defenseman Rob Scuderi from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Trevor Daley.

Scuderi, 36, has registered four assists, a +4 plus/minus rating and 32 blocked shots in 25 games with Pittsburgh this season. The two-time Stanley Cup champion (2009 and 2012) shares fourth on the Penguins with 2:40 of average shorthanded ice time per game. The Syosset, N.Y., native has recorded 104 points (8G, 96A) in 745 regular-season games across 12 seasons with Pittsburgh (2003-09, 2013-15) and Los Angeles (2009-13). He has tallied 14 points (1G, 13A) in 117 career postseason contests. Scuderi was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round (134th overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft.

Oh, goody.

On the plus side:

- Pittsburgh is eating some of Scuderi's salary, freeing up ~$1mil of cap space

- That is all

On the down side:

- The Hawks just got older and, we thought it couldn't happen but it has, slower

How do you form pairings now?  This leaves The Hawks with three d-men whose two speeds are "dead slow" and "stopped".  Anybody think The Oilers aren't salivating a little at the prospect of spending 10 full minutes behind Scuderi and Rozsival/Rundblad?

Best possible case: Scuderi's heart explodes after a week of being back in The Western Conference.  He dies a heroic death ("with his skates on") and frees up another $2mil on the cap.  Dead guys don't count against the cap, do they?

Two is Better Than One: Hawks 3, Jets 1 and Sunday's Big Boy

Well, that wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad, either.
Here's what I saw or possibly hallucinated.
- It was a decent enough first game back for Bryan Bickell, in which he played the way Bryan Bickell is "supposed" to play, with 7 hits in 7 minutes of work,  I've always found his rep for being a hard-hitting player a bit odd 'cos there have been long stretches throughout his career in which he didn't, wouldn't or couldn't play all that fiercely.  If that's what it takes for him to stay in the lineup I hope he remembers what seems to be expected of him.
- How nice to resolve a game, with a win no less, in regulation and equally encouraging that The Hawks saved their best for the final period.  The Jets looked a little dangerous on their third period PP (but I'm not sure they actually hit the net) and had a pair of good looks before that, but they didn't really trouble The Hawks that much in the final frame.  I was surprised to learn that The Jets put up 31 shots, too, as it sure didn't feel that way to me.
- It was doubly nice that Coach Q saw fit to keep Toews-Hossa-Teravainen together, 'cos I half expected he would stick Bickell in TT's spot, and they ended up generating the most chances of The Hawks' forward lines and scored both of the goals that mattered.  See what happens when you ice two skilled lines?  
- After the game Patrick Kane admitted that he was probably thinking about his points streak a little too much.  He and his linemates weren't bad, exactly - his second period pass through Anisimov's feet and onto his stick was pretty cool - but Kane wasn't as consistently commanding as he's been the last several weeks.  Ah, but we have two scoring lines, right?
- Ryan Garbutt had a good game going until he took that idiotic penalty in the third.
- Had a brief moment of terror and disbelief when I realized it was TVR and Rozsie working the points on The Hawks' last PP.  Get well soon, Trevor Daley.
- Speaking of Rozsie, it almost looked like he was going to join a rush there midway through the third period, but I guess he would have had to leave yesterday to get that done.
- Crawford, as it turns out, had a good crack at a shutout until Kero lost interest in Chris Thorburn.  Yeah, it was kind of a goofy goal, but if Kero kept the check on it never happens.

Hossa looked a little tight early on, I thought, failing on a stuff attempt and losing the handle on the puck a couple of time.  He got better as the game wore on, exercising great patience on his goal and keeping the puck moving on the last Hawks PP as well as during many of his even strength shifts in the third.  I'm encouraged.

                                                        Unbeliebabal perogies.

File Under "Good Enough": Hawks 3, Ducks 2 and Friday's Big Boy

Despite only one line working well and general confusion, lack of cohesion and a pair of idiotic penalties, The Hawks took the two points when raw talent prevailed over lunkheadedness.  Also, The Ducks.  Here's what I thought I saw.

- Andrew Shaw does a few things very well but it's starting to look like the stupid things he does outweigh the couple of pluses he brings.  His two penalties were just plain dumb and not borne out of desperation or even anger.  This is of zero consequence, though, as he'll never miss a shift, will he? Luckily, Ryan Getzlaf is apparently just as stupid as Shaw.
- Trevor Daley hit the goalie twice today, which is progress.
- I understand that when things aren't working, for whatever reason, it's incumbent on Quenneville to jostle things up a bit, but Toews skating with Shaw & Garbutt is just bad human resources. They will undoubtedly find some small successes here and there but this cannot be a long term solution. Hossa with Dano and Kruger is less bad, but what does Kruger offer offensively apart from a handful of opportunistic goals each year?  The scorers need to be with scorers; let them ride out this rough patch, get used to each other again, and let comes naturally to these guys happen.  Dano and Hossa showed a little chemistry today, I thought, so it's a shame Toews wasn't able to join in.  Even Teravainen would be a better choice centering The Slovaks, but of course he was playing wing with Desjardins and Mashinter.  What the hell?
- I guess those nice things I said about Tanner Kero were all crap since he was scratched while the barely ambulatory Mashinter remained in the lineup.  Whatever success and fine reputation Quenneville has earned loses it's authenticity when galoots like Mashinter, Bollig, Burish and Eager remain on the lineup card.
- The Ducks suck. They have a few fine players and their goaltender played well enough today, but any team that leans on Shawn Horcoff for 18 minutes and carries another four guys that are basically dead weight are going to underwhelm more often than not.
- Once again, the "second" line carried the mail today, with many even strength shifts looking like The Hawks had a man advantage.  The other lines weren't awful, but none of them got much going for more than an isolated few moments or a shift here and there.  I don't know how long they'll be able to get by with only one line clicking.  
- Crawford was better than the boxscore suggests, as he was left swinging on the Cogliano breakaway and Stewart's goal was a fluke on a pass that Stewart screwed up.  These things happen and it's nice that he won't have to take the fall for a game he was actually decent enough in.

Tough one, today.  Anisimov was dangerous all day, Kane had entire shifts where he just did whatever he felt like doing and Seabrook notched three helpies, but I liked the complete game that Keith played today. As well as from scoring the tying goal he was moving the puck exceptionally well and making good passes in all zones.

                                             Lovin' those orange sweaters, though.

The One-line Ripoff: Hawks 4, Oiler 2 and Sunday's Big Boys

As usual, I'm exhausted so it will be points again so as to maintain some degree of coherence.

- While I wouldn't go so far as to describe the first and third periods tonight as "textbook", they were very good, at least.  That second period, though...woof.  To say that hot mess was all down to The Hawks is disrespectful to The Oilers, as they're only a couple of forwards and...well, a bunch of defensemen away from being a huge nuisance for a long time, but The Hawks just seemed confounded for all but a few minutes of that period.
- It appears that Corey Crawford's couple of recent sub-par outings were just a blip, thank goodness.
- Unfortunately, I noticed Trevor Daley tonight. He did skate his way out of trouble there, once, but he couldn't seem to get rid of the puck fast enough in this game, whether it was "passing" it to no one in particular or turning a scoring chance into a shot that missed by 10 feet.
- Erik Gustafsson, though...I don't mind this guy,  He shows remarkable poise for a lad who has played only a dozen or so games in N. America and I've yet to see him make a truly poor play.  He's not the quickest guy and he's rather small (6', 176#) for an NHL d-man, but he's shifty and times his actions well enough that he doesn't need to be faster or larger than his opponent.  It's a shame that he's buddied up with Daley, because...
- ...Viktor Svedberg doesn't really belong in this lineup.  Perhaps he's a slightly better option than Rundblad but it pains me to consider that replacing Mr. 6'8" with Rozsival will be an upgrade.  Svedberg has done nothing to merit playing 20+ minutes per game, apart from being partnered with Seabrook.  Ideally, Gustafsson should be alongside Seabrook, but then you have Daley and Svedberg which would be enough to cause spontaneous diverticulitis to anyone unlucky enough to behold such a horror.
- Hossa sure fought the puck tonight, but it always seems to take him a few games to get his mojo working after missing some time.  His line had only a handful of okay shifts, I thought, which sucks because that probably means Teravainen gets scratched in favour of Garbutt on Thursday.
- That said, maybe the third line could use Teravainen to inject some skill/sense/patience into that group.  The Shaw-Kero-Dano combo were not terrible but never appeared to have a plan tonight, with Kero and Dano often just lurking around while Shaw did Shaw things.  They had a few good looks but the ratio of effort to scoring chances was not positive.
- I just wish to point out that tonight's fourth line have zero points and are a combined -18 in 40-man games, so far. 
- Eddie Olcyck cracks me up.  When he droned on about Taylor Hall not keeping his feet moving on a backcheck it made me wonder who told Edzo about backchecking?  He certainly didn't bother with it when he was a player.

The Hawk's second line continues to be among the top combos in the league.  It's hard to believe that Artemi Panarin has adjusted  so quickly to "the N. American game" as well as the smaller rinks.  That kid is so fun to watch and it's amazing to see he and Kane work their magic together.  Anisimov has been spot-on, as well; he's not nearly as scorey as 72 and 88 but he's deceptively effective, as he's quicker than he looks, has incredible reach and threads a nice pass, as well.  Oddly, some of his best moments have come at times when he was separated from Anisimov and Kane, but nevermind.  If Quenneville tinkers with this line I will hire Steven Seagal to punch Q in the groin.

      The two little guys once again combine for a big game and share the belt tonight.

First Test: Hawks 3, Panthers 2 and Thursday's Big Boy

Missed the game due to my own hockey activities, but here's what looks to be true.
- There were fewer scary moments than I expected in this, the first game that The Hawks will play for a month+ without Duncan Keith.  The most obvious example of what can and will go wrong was the ridiculous "effort" of Daley and Rundblad leading up to The Panther's first goal, with Daley deflecting the puck into harm's way and Rundy standing still and just flailing away until the puck was behind Crawford.  The other worrisome event was Daley being deployed during The Panther's 5-on-3 in the third period, which is less about Daley and more about the decision to place him in that situation.  Still, the bits I did view suggested that Daley is showing signs of actually doing what he was brought in to do - push the play out of The Hawks' zone.  I'm not sure what's taking so long with that.
- The result may certainly flatter to deceive; The Panthers are no longer the whipping boys they've been the last several seasons but, any team that manages only 18 shots against a depleted defense like The Hawks' AND chooses to trot Willie Mitchell out for 22 minutes is not setting themselves up for success.
- Clearly, The Hawks' top line right now is the "second line" of Panarin, Anisimov and Kane, and it's their efforts that are keeping The Hawks somewhat competitive, so far.  There's no doubt that Toews' line will get on track at some point but, while they figure that out (including who to stick on the left side) it's a good thing that the "Art Line" is among the best in the league, right now.  The only negative with that line is Anisimov's dreadful faceoff percentage.
- And then...

In the absence of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook responded exactly as I'd hoped, logging a team-high 26 minutes, pushing the play carefully and decisively, making smart, accurate outlet passes.  Much of this was achieved while playing alongside a less-than-fleet and sometimes indecisive partner in Viktor Svedberg.  Seab's pass to Kane for the eventual game-winner almost makes me think we'll get out of this month okay.

Don't Keep 'em Waiting, It Just Makes Them Mad: Rangers 3, Hawks 2

I don't usually type anything when The Hawks lose but, it's the first game and there was plenty to see.

- Standing around at an over-long banner raising ceremony that has nothing to do with you, I am sure, is among the most irritating things an athlete might endure.  You can bet The Rangers wanted to piss off the crowd at The United Center as much as they wanted two points.
- Not a good night at all for Trevor Daley, eh?  On The Rangers' first goal Daley committed the cardinal sin of having two options but choosing neither, and he was a perfect storm of bad decisions and clumsiness on the eventual game winner.  So, they really couldn't sign Oduya for the $3.3 mil that Daley will "earn"?
- When David Rundblad plays 18 minutes it either means Rundblad is playing well or The Hawks cannot do any better, and one of these options seems far more likely than the other, I'm afraid.
- Don't get me wrong, 'cos I'm a big fan of Marcus Kruger, but anyone who thinks he has more offensive upside than he's able to show off as The Hawks' safety valve needs to see the open nets he gacked tonight.
- Did Kyle Baun play in the third period?  Ah, well, I predicted 8 minutes ice time so he...uh...overachieved by my reckoning.

But it wan't all bad.
- The top two lines were pretty much everything I had hoped for.  More, please.  Teravainen's goal was exactly what I was picturing in my mind's eye the other day whilst droning on about Toews and Hossa doing the digging and allowing TT to be more shooty.  And Panarin...how many guys score their first NHL goal on their first shot against one of the most dominant goaltenders in the game today?  Probably just one.  

Despite the loss, I find it uplifting that The Hawks got goals from the two guys who need to chip in offensively.  If Teravainen and Panarin want to shut up those who say they won't measure up to Sharp and Saad (whose former spots they skated in tonight, BTW) that's the way you do it, son.

Brooklyn next.  I expect to see Tikhonov in for Baun and half-expect Pokka to come in for Van Riemsdyk, which isn't entirely fair, 'cos TVR was competently average, just as he's always been.  I also have a funny feeling that they'll stick with Crawford on Friday and come back with Darling, at home, on Saturday.  But I'm wrong a lot, so...

                   All this not falling over or knocking goaltenders down was misleading!

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.