Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I've seen worse

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Toews and Kane are going to cost the GDP of Europe

Honestly I wish the Bruins could've signed Tuukka for something more like that. Not a fan of 8 year contracts on goalies but I also think when all is said and done Rask will be better than Crawford. Only time will tell though

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Fucking. Awful.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

blackhawks fans always gonna blackhawk.

Guy gets you a cup, cry a river over a contract extension.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

See: Marc-André Fleury

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Except Crawford is better than Marc Andre Fleury.

Crawford is going to end up taking Canada to the gold medal game where they will promptly lose to America.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

America, fuck yeah.

Caps pre-season tickets went up on our company ticket lottery. it's almost time!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah hate it.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Nobody really knows this, though.

To me it looks like an overpayment for a guy a year away from UFA, whose numbers can only get worse. But I'm kind of torn, because if you look at the UFA class at goalie next year.....it's pretty mediocre. Crawford would only have to play decently behind a really good team and he'd be by far the best goalie on the market. And the Hawks would have been priced out.

Personally, I would have preferred they extend Hjalmarsson because he was their most important defenseman last season IMO. I think this says the Hawks do not have any confidence that Raanta or any of their other AHL goalies could replace Crawford. I don't love it but when you look at the deals these players are getting I think it's clear the cap is going to rise quickly over the next few years.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I've been missing in action lately. Busy at work and in life. When Crawford signed thought immdiately of Chris. Thought goalies shouldn't sign long deals and the Hawks do it. Although I don't know what else they were going to do. When you are a team at the top it's hard to say "oh we'll just get some average guy to fill in." Remember when they said no to Niemi and his what $2.75mil?

Now reading Hjalmarsson signs a 5 year deal. Interested to see what that price will be.

I remember when they said no to Niemi. I think it worked out in our favor.

All I care about is Kane and Toews

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Where is all of this money coming from? Hawks better not be fucking themselves when they will need to re-sign Toews and Kane next offseason....

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

yeah it worked out. I'm not arguing that. My point is they said no to 2.75mil and now yes to 6mil.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Resigning Hjalmarsson is the first move they've made this offseason that I love. Fucking YES. Dude is as underrated as it gets in the NHL.

To quote the wise Teddy KGB..."Pay him...pay that man his money."

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

What do you think he's getting? $4.5m - 5m/yr?

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Entirely different situations.

Hawks had serious cap issues and had to choose between Hammer and Niemi. Crawford will be the premier UFA goalie next year and would have gotten more on the open market if he puts in another solid year.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

5 sounds about right, maybe a little under. $24 mil/5 years. Something like that.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

It wasn't that simple though, Tim.

Saying "yes" to that 2.75 million means they were going to lose the defenseman they just signed to a 5 year deal. Hammer signed an offer sheet with San Jose which forced the Hawks hand. It was Hjalmar or Niemi. Hawks picked Hammer.

Remember, the Hawks were literally counting their pennies to stay under the cap for the 2010-2011 season. They were sending guys back and forth to Rockford on a daily basis to save $$$. They'd call up someone for game day, then send him back the next day just to save money against the cap.

Niemi wanted a short-term deal too. If I remember correctly, it was only 3 years he wanted, and ended up having to take just a 1 year deal with the Sharks after the Hawks said "thanks for everything, but it's time to move on". The Hawks had more faith in Crawford than any fans really understood. It was the right move.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

$4.1 million per for Hjalmarsson.

FUUUUCK yes. Awesome. Could have easily commanded $5+ million on the open market.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah that's a great deal. Defensemen who don't score much just don't get paid. Good for the Hawks though....Hammer was their best d-man last year in my opinion.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

In two off-seasons, which means the cap will go up substantially by then to get deals done.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

yessssss this signing rocks

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

And yeah, Tim, not a huge fan of the Craw deal just because of the number of years. I would have loved a 4 year deal at that price, but 6 years just puts them on the hook with him for longer than I like. The only goalies that should be 5+ years are your Quick/Miller/Lundqvist/etc. type guys. Crawford is not on their level.

Also, the cap is going to be ridiculous for the 2015-2016 season, so Hawk fans worried about Kane and Toews need to take a deep breath and just relax. If numbers keep increasing like they have been for revenue, don't be surprised to see the cap at $75 million-ish. Right now they have about $33 million to spend that season AFTER Hjalmarsson's deal. So even if it's around $70 million, they'll have almost $40 million in cap space. Kane and Toews will be fine. There's no way in fuck Stan Bowman is just signing deals all willy nilly while ignoring 19 and 88's upcoming free agency. They're still on the hook for 2 seasons. Keep in mind, Datsyuk just resigned for a $7.5 million cap hit. That's the best contract to think of for these two. They'll take a discount just like Pavel did, and I would guess it will be in the $8-$9 range. So figure $8.5 million for each, and the Hawks are at a hypothetical $22.5 million of free cap space for that season with both those guys locked up for (what is sure to be) 8 year deals.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Chris, that's $22.5m of free space, but they will only have 9 guys signed. That $22.5m of space doesn't look quite as nice when you realize they need to sign 13 more players. Saad/Leddy/Pirri/Morin/Shaw/Kruger will need raises between now and then as well.

I figure they may try to trade Seabrook or Sharp if possible to free up a bit more space...

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Highly unlikely. Bowman has made his mission clear. Keep those types of guys around, build around them with entry level guys.

Teravainen and McNeill will almost certainly be in the lineup at that time, so mark that down to $20.5 million and 11 more skaters. Danault will probably have a roster spot as well, Pirri will likely get an extension for a cheap price and a couple years this offseason depending on how he plays (if he has a decent season, I could see 3 years, $5.5 million or so), Clendening and Stephen Johns (Johns will still be on his entry level deal since he's playing at ND again this year) will most likely be on the back end, leaving 7 roster spots. Those guys will likely all be around $1 million ($2 million at the most). Who knows who the Hawks draft between now and then that make noise as well.

Saad is the biggest wildcard as to what kind of contract he's going to command based on his play. Shaw as well. Shaw is a lot more disposable though after drafting Hartman, who might be in the 3C role by then (hopefully). Hartman will also be on his entry level deal then, along with Dahlstrom on the backend or Hayden at another center position. Lots of options.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

That is a fantastic deal. I've loved Hammer the past couple years. He's a such a valuable and underrated d'man in the NHL.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

BTW, not to overload everyone with Blackhawk news, but I'm reading reports that Brandon Saad is a sleeper pick to make the USA squad in Sochi.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Love seeing my beloved stay-at-home d-men getting paid.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Here's my current USA roster that I shared after the camp rosters were announced:

David Backes
Dustin Brown
Ryan Callahan
Alex Galchenyuk
Patrick Kane
Ryan Kesler
Phil Kessel
TJ Oshie
Zach Parise
Bobby Ryan
Paul Stastny
James van Riemsdyk
Justin Abdelkader (replacing Legwand, the only guy on my initial roster who wasn't invited to camp)

Zach Bogosian
Erik Johnson
Jack Johnson
Ryan McDonagh
Kevin Shattenkirk
Ryan Suter
Keith Yandle

Craig Anderson
Ryan Miller
Jonathan Quick

As we talked about before, Chris, I can totally see Saad cracking this lineup. if he does, I'm guessing it will be at the expense of Galchenyuk or JVR. Probably more like Galchenyuk.