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Here’s where things get fun. As stated in Part 1, the key thing to remember in reading my roster projection is that I hold the belief that the Hawks need to get more sandpaper in their lineup. Also keep in mind that money is going to be a factor in these decisions. The Hawks were a flawed team in 2010-11, and it is not an option to bring back the same team if the Hawks want to get better. Some players will not be back.
With Ben Smith on the squad, that’s 7 forwards. Much of what has been written already and what is about to be written has been discussed in great detail at the 300 Level. Basically, the conclusion that the posters there have come to is that one (max) of each of the following players will be in Chicago next year. We’re most likely looking at a decision between Micheal Frolik and Viktor Stalberg. And a second decision between Tomas Kopecky and Troy Brouwer or neither of them.
Why are those players paired like this? A couple of reasons. I’ll start with Frolik and Stalberg. Both players are RFAs, can be maddening with their inconsistencies, and for the most part play a bit of a perimeter game (although both have shown flashes of not being afraid of the dirty areas). There’s room for one of these perimeter types on the team, but if the Hawks are going to improve their team from a sandpaper level, you can’t bring back every perimeter guy from last year’s team. Of course, contract demands will play a factor on who stays and who goes, but I would pick Frolik over Stalberg. He seemed to show chemistry with Bolland as the playoffs wore on, and has a much higher offensive upside.
This brings us Brouwer and Kopecky. Both are free agents, although Kopecky is a UFA and Brouwer is a RFA. Both are going to be looking for money in the $1.5M and up range. With it being a weaker UFA year, Kopecky has an opportunity to cash in on his career year this year. Again, money will be a factor in this decision. There’s a chance neither of them are back if they both want too much money. Bowman has to be smart here. All things being equal, I’d keep Kopecky over Brouwer. For what the Hawks need (bottom 6 players), Kopecky’s game is better suited there. Brouwer only seems to be productive when playing with Toews and Kane. When put in a bottom 6 role, he seemed to struggle. Kopecky was miscast at times by Quenneville in the top 6 this last year, but can be a very effective 3rd/4th liner. Plus he’s BFF with Hossa and may take a little less to stay in Chicago. It should be noted that if Kopecky wants $2M and Brouwer would take $1.2M, then I can live with keeping Brouwer to save $800K to use elsewhere. This decision will ultimately come down to money.
I’ll assume that Frolik and Kopecky are reasonable in their demands, and each take good raises over their last contracts, bringing Frolik in at $1.5M and Kopecky in at $1.6M. Stalberg and Brouwer could become trade bait if qualified as RFAs. That brings us to 16 players with $6.6M remaining.
Chris Campoli is an RFA, was decent for the Hawks in his short time in Chicago, and I can see the Hawks re-signing him. However, it is my opinion that the only way Campoli should be back is if a) the Hawks found a way to trade Campbell or b) the Hawks have decided to start Leddy in the minors. The reason for this is Campoli currently slots in as the Hawks 6th defenseman. His game is very similar to most of the Hawks current defensemen. The Hawks 6th defenseman should be a veteran shutdown defenseman who is tough play against and can kill penalties. The Hawks already have too many defensemen with Campoli’s skill-set (and who are better). I would try to trade him in the off-season.
That all said, with 5-6 more players to sign and $6.6M remaining in cap space we get to this point up front.
Sharp-Toews-Kane
Frolik-Bolland-Hossa
Bickell-3C-Kopecky
4L-4C-Smith
One could say that $6.6M for 6 spots isn’t a lot, but let’s keep in mind what the Hawks have to add at this point. They need depth/role players for their 3rd and 4th lines, and a stay at home 6th defenseman. Not exactly the most expensive positions on the roster to fill.
Could the Hawks look to spend a lot of dollars on another top 6 forward? They could. I will not deny that the Hawks could use a second line center or a top 6 power forward. Adding one is not impossible. But I would argue this is a luxury with this lineup. If I had $4M to spend on 3 forward slots, one way I could do this is spending $3M on a top 6 forward and then $500K on 2 fourth liners. The other way to look at it is spending $2M on a third line center, and then having extra money to make sure I’m not getting minimum wage 4th liners, but actual NHLers for $1M each.
Going after a top 6 forward could work if Morin or Kruger is ready as that could give you a bit of extra money to spend on a better forward as one of the kids could replace Kopecky or Frolik’s roster spot, saving the Hawks another $600-700K in cap space. Another way the Hawks could look to add a top-6 player is if the cap is closer to $63M in the NHL. However, if the cap is $62M I’d rather the Hawks focus on improving the bottom 6 with their remaining cap space, bank some cap space for the trade deadline and look to make an addition at the deadline.
How do the Hawks fill out the bottom 6 forward slots? They need certain types of players. Players that are physical and play with an edge. Preferably veteran players who are hungry to win a Stanley Cup and play with a lot of energy. Players that can kill penalties .The Hawks need centers, probably 2 of them. Centers who can win a faceoff and kill penalties should be a priority.
Some players who fit this bill and are UFA are Curtis Glencross, Joel Ward, Marty Reasoner, Zenon Konopka, Mike Rupp, Aaron Asham, Chris Clark, Jeff Halpern and John Madden. Glencross and Ward will be in high demand and that might drive the Hawks out of the bidding. Of this group, I’ll select Marty Reasoner, Zenon Konopka and Aaron Asham. Reasoner and Konopka are both centers and both very good faceoff men, which would address an area of weakness for the Hawks. Reasoner is a very good penalty killer as well which would help address another Hawks weakness. Some Hawks fans will remember Asham from the 2010 Stanley Cup Final when he played for Philadelphia, and he’s an effective fourth line player who plays with grit and toughness. Konopka is also tough as nails and would help the Hawks in that area.
For the purposes of this exercise, I’ll assume $1,500,000 for Reasoner, $1,000,000 for Asham and $950,000 for Konopka. That brings the Hawks to 19 players and $3.15M in cap space. I’ll add Scott as a 7th Dman which leaves the Hawks with $2.6M to find a 6th defenseman and a 13th forward. The Hawks could look to the free agent market to address the need for a 6th defenseman, or they could look to trade any of the RFAs that are not back (Brouwer, Stalberg or Campoli) for one.
This final projected roster would look like this:
1. Brian Campbell $7,142,875
2. Patrick Kane $6,300,000
3. Jonathan Toews $6,300,000
4. Brent Seabrook $5,800,000
5. Duncan Keith $5,538,462
6. Marian Hossa $5,275,000
7. Patrick Sharp $3,900,000
8. Niklas Hjalmarsson $3,500,000
9. Dave Bolland $3,375,000
10. Brian Bickell $541,666
11. Ben Smith $812,500
12. Nick Leddy $1,116,666
13. Corey Crawford $2,000,000
14. Backup Goalie $700,000
15. Micheal Frolik $1,500,000
16. Tomas Kopecky $1,600,000
17. Marty Reasoner $1,500,000
18. Aaron Asham $1,000,000
19. Zenon Konopka $950,000
20. John Scott $512,500
21. 6th Defenseman $1,400,000
22. 13th Forward $500,000
Total: $61,264,670
Cap: $62,000,000
Space: $735,330
The lineup would look like:
Sharp-Toews-Kane
Frolik-Bolland-Hossa
Bickell-Reasoner-Smith
Kopecky-Konopka-Asham
13F
Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-Hjalmarsson
Leddy – 6D
Scott
Crawford
Backup Goalie
This lineup addresses a number of the Hawks needs from last season. The lineup is much deeper up front for starters. No more Pisani or Stalberg playing valuable minutes. The additions of Reasoner and Konopka help the Hawks in the faceoff circle which is important for the Hawks because having the puck helps when you’re a puck possession team. With the additions of Konopka and Asham, this team becomes a lot tougher to play against from a physical perspective. Assuming you find a solid 6th defenseman to help kill penalties, this combined with Reasoner makes the Hawks penalty kill better (assuming Mike Kitchen doesn’t F things up).
Of course, there are many different directions that Bowman can take this offseason. What is refreshing is that this offseason will not be like last offseason where the only goal was to get under the salary cap. At least this season, Bowman can look to add to the team. Hopefully he makes the right decisions.
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