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The 2014-2015 Chicago Blackhawks

Between the Kings, Bruins, and Blackhawks there is little that separates their abilities to both manage the cap, make smart moves (both small and big), train their players, or adjust their coaching strategies to out play their opponents. These are the 3 best run organizations in the NHL and the recent cup history more than supports this.

It is imperative that our Hawks have depth not only at the highest level, but at Rockford, in college, and overseas as well.

Here is my organizational prospect breakdown. All opinions are my own based on decades following my favorite professional sports team.

Current top 6 / bottom 6 / blue line / goalie rotations:

** Note: We recently traded enforcer Bollig and have agreed to part ways with veteran Handzus

LW Sharp (32) - Saad (21) - Bickell (28) - Versteeg (28)
C Toews (26) - Shaw (22) - Kruger (24) - Regin (28)
RW Kane (25) - Hossa (35) - Smith (25) - Morin (23)
D Keith (30) - Hjalmarson (27) - Leddy (23) - Brookbank (33)
D Seabrook (29) - Oduya (32) - Rozsival (35) - Rundblad (23)
G Crawford (29) - Raanta (25)

** FA updates (as of 7/4/14): 1 year deal for C Brad Richards (34), will be an excellent 2nd line center for this season. Resigned C Regin, will compete for 3rd / 4th line center ice time with Kruger and Shaw. Kruger likely on trade block now.

** Note: This is as deep, talented, and balanced of a roster you will find in any sport. We have young hungry players, superstars in their prime, and crafty veterans... All this paired with an elite coaching staff puts us on the short list every season for the Cup. Of these 22 only Brookbank and Regin are UFA. Obviously Toews and Kane can sign a max 8 year extensions July 1st. I expect it to be matching 8/80 contracts making them the highest paid players in the NHL. (Update... Officially 8/84 million so I was close) If you look at Bickell's regular season production you would think he would be a trade candidate but his high cap number will likely keep him a Hawk. A guy like Kruger has really become valuable as our best PK center man as well as a very good defensive skater / improved face off man. Still this is likely a make or break year for him as we have a ton of good prospects waiting for his spot. I expect to trade him early in the season as I think Shaw will clearly win the #2 job. If we resign Regin I think he is a legit #3 and is also good in the circle. The other player that is up for a trade is Leddy. He is one of the best skaters in the league... The problem is he knows it and sometimes gets too deep with his runs and gets caught up into trouble. He will likely never break top 6 on this team and we will trade him high and should get excellent return given his talent / age.

*** Update. Signed LW Daniel Carcillo. He was well liked, played a team game, and adds toughness to our deflated enforcer crop. Solid locker room addition, but little else.

*** (Update 10-4-14... Well I guessed right as Nick Leddy and Kent Simpson were traded to NYI for D-men Ville Pokka and TJ Brennan as well as goalie Anders Nilsson (whom is likely on short stay I'd guess given his RFA status). Both Brennan and Pokka are tremendous prospects that project to the big league. Very good value for a guy we were likely to lose via RFA after this season.

Prospects: (in order of position and birthday)

Center / Forward Positions

LW Frederick Olofsson (18) - Vision / passing from left are plus skills / young - 2019
LW Garrett Ross (22) - Moves well, good all around player / positional need - 2016
LW Matt Carey (22) - Signed with lack of good left handed shooters / spot plyr - NA
LW Brandon Mashinter (25) - Big bodied / NHL experience / position of need - 2015

C Nick Schmaltz (18) - Superb vision / quick stick / strong base / intangibles - 2018
C Beau Starrett (18) - Very quick wrister / needs to add muscle & experience - 2019
C Dylan Sikura (19) - Rail thin, but has great vision and talent, long road ahead - NA
C Tyler Motte (19) - Small framed goal scorer, must play more scheme game - NA
C John Hayden (19) - Should covert to wing, big frame but just decent talent - NA
C Anthony Louis (19) - Extremely small but has a good team game and spacing -NA
C Luke Johnson (19) - Undisciplined early, but good right handed shot / motor - NA
C Teuvo Teravainen (19) - Traffic wizard, but still lower frame strength needed - 2016
C Vincent Hinostroza (20) - Chicago native, small / quick passer and has desire - NA
C Alex Broadhurst (21) - Excellent passer / slow league progression due to size - NA
C Phillip Danault (21) - A setup man prospect, good teammate, lacks instinct - 2018
C Kevin Hayes (22) - May not sign / superb pedigree / compensation in 2nd Rd.
C Joakim Nordstrom (22) - Got his feet wet (23gms) but needs to play w/in scheme
C Dennis Rasmussen (23) - PK specialist, big bodied / great around the net - 2015
C Drew LeBlanc (25) - May be done with hockey? Average skill and speed - NA
C Cody Bass (27) - Veteran tough guy / between NHL / AHL for straight 5 yrs - NA

Update: Hayes did not sign as expected. Comp. in 2nd which is great.

RW Jack Ramsey (18) - Good passer from the right side, skates too tall - NA
RW Ryan Hartman (19) - Opportunist with low good handle, bright future - 2017
RW Matt Iacopelli (20) - Left handed on right side / good size, no defense - 2018
RW Chris Calnan (20) - Good-sized goal scorer with desire / leadership - 2015
RW Mark McNeill (21) - Scrappy player with size, needs defensive refinement - 2018


Blue Liners

D Andreas Soderberg (18) - Lengthy Swede skates high, has 4-6 yrs to learn - NA
D Luc Snuggerud (18) - Great skater and mans the pt. on the PP, good early - 2019
D Robin Norell (19) - Young, finding that more mature skaters are beating him - NA
D Carl Dahlstrom (19) - Physical, but slow on pivot / COD - needs refinement - NA
D Robin Press (19) - Good already, hard shot, quick to engage, nice prospect - 2017
D Dillon Fournier (20) - Invited to camp / scoring Blue-liner / looks the part - 2016
D Sam Jardine (20) - Great size, takes to physical play well, avg. skater - NA
D Ville Pokka (20) - Finish Dman makes quick passes, skates with eyes up - 2017
D Michael Paliotta (21) - Back to winger where is tearing up younger comp. - NA
D Adam Clendening (21) - High level two-way prospect - should get ice time - 2015
D Stephen Johns (22) - Good college Defenseman / good not great in all areas - ???
D Mathieu Brisebois (22) - Two-way blue liner with strong base / make or break year
D Justin Holl (22) - 4 year collegiate - smart, good spacing - avg size / skill - NA
D Nick Mattson (22) - Solid player, left shooting and good passing instincts - NA
D Trevor van Riemsdyk (23) - Good both ways, solid size and skill / glue 4th - 2015
D Klas Dahlbeck (23) - Efficient 1 way defenseman / good standup & skating - 2015
D Kirill Gotovets (23) - A better skater than hockey player / very intelligent kid - NA
D Viktor Svedberg (23) - Huge at 6'8/234 - niche traits - no plus skills on move - NA
D TJ Brennan (25) - 40 NHL games / Offensive minded defenseman, quick shot - ?
D Kyle Cumiskey (27) - 138 NHL gms / 4th line insurance / avg. skill-low floor - NA


Goalies

G Matt Tomkins (20) - Long term project but desire / skill not apparent - NA
G Brandon Whitney (20) - Recovering from serious injury, Career in question?
G Ivan Nalimov (20) - Low on starts but shows real promise / left glove, quick snap
G Kent Simpson (22) - Traded to NYI in Leddy deal - NA
G Mac Carruth (22) - League transition / team defense hurting progression - NA
G Scott Darling (25) - Chicago-native, big goalie / good AHL season / insurance -NA
G Michael Leighton (33) - Long time backup goalie coming off amazing KHL year

Notes: The depth and talent of our prospect core is obvious... That being said our main Blackhawks roster is already set in terms of the top 2-3 lines. This makes some of our more veteran prospects both very desirable (more ready to step in) to other teams while netting us fair market or (likely) over compensation for their services. Marcus Kruger, Nick Leddy, Joakim Nordstrom, and Jeremy Morin are all good players with NHL experience that may get traded this season due to position / contract / compensation.... But don't be surprised to see Broadhurst, Danault, Johns, Holl, or Carruth get traded as well. Kruger has tremendous value on a non-playoff contending team btw, I fully expect a 2nd round offer for him on Bowman's table somewhere in the first 25-35 games of the season. Rasmussen, Calnan, and Clendening are all NHL ready plays and can step in immediately if a trade happens. Again, that's my opinion on how I view their work ethics / team concept / talent / physical readiness etc...

Final update before season notes; I do admit there are a few short term Icehogs I have not included as they are almost certain to not venture further, but you never know. Our entire prospects list is impressive but I think most would be surprised on whom I highest on; Chris Calnan. In 2-3 years he could be a superb 2nd line RW with size / strength and elite intangibles. It may not be for us, but I just see him as an ultimate team first player that actually has skill. Clendening is an obvious one and should get his chances this season when we need call ups. A guy like Rasmussen would make 20-25 rosters as a PK guy but here he is 6th after a veteran like Regin. Teuvo is simply not ready physically or mentally in terms of spacing yet. Mashinter looks like a really smart pick up and can fill the Bollig role. Our goalie stable continues to under-welm and only Nalimov shows any sort of promise.

Final opening day depth-chart prediction and record...

LW Sharp (32) - Saad (21) - Bickell (28) - Versteeg (28)
C Toews (26) - Richards (34) - Shaw (22) - Kruger (24)
RW Kane (25) - Hossa (35) - Smith (25) - Morin (23)
D Keith (30) - Hjalmarson (27) - Cumiskey (27) - van Riemsdyk (23)
D Seabrook (29) - Oduya (32) - Rozsival (35) - Rundblad (23)
G Crawford (29) - Raanta (25)

Bench: LW Mashinter / LW Carcillo (2 tough guys)

Points - 107 (3rd in conference)

I took my time on this and really studied the prospects. Should be another good year!


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I'd like to throw this out there... 2 young blue liners Press and Snuggerud look really good early at 18/19 and I believe would also pair well... Could be our future #1 pairing in 4-5 years.


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Nick Leddy just traded to the Islanders

He wasn't traded today it was on Saturday and I also included in my thread as well as I did the new prospect reviews for Brennan, Pokka, and G Nielsson. It is in the updates section under the original beginning of the off season depth chart as well as the comments section... While I understand the post is long, it is ALL in there I promise.


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So I started writing and researching this in June (beginning roster at top) and just posted this nearly 5 months later... It's always so interesting to see sooooo many moves and little adjustments only to end up with only 2-3 changes to my final roster. That's the work of a superb GM in the salary cap era!


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Great insight into the Blackhawks organization from top to bottom. Really looking forward to this season.

Anyone think the Blues cost themselves major contention over the next few years by giving up a young stud goalie in Halak a 1st/3rd and 2 players.... They got back a career underachiever and They even didn't sign Miller in the off season... They are putting all of their chips into Elliott whom was average backup then almost out of the league to elite backup in small start stretches..... It is hands down one of the weirdest deals I've seen. Yes Ott I knw, but he is a jerk.... Not worth the extras IMO


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At NHL/com they just came out with their predictions article....

Out of 12 writers / analysts..... Only Boston / la / chi get cup votes lol... That's how I started my post..... Funny

7/12 hawks
4/12 kings
1/12 bruins

Only 1/12 for Keith on Norris and 1/12 for Toews on Hart... No other nominations

Honestly it's a dead heat but I still think the bruins of those 3 have the best goalie in Rask so I'd guess them over us to be honest... I love CC and his hard work but he needs some rest this year so I want to see Raanta get 15-18 starts at least... It will be in our best interest now and later even if we go say 8-5-5 in his starts with a .910 and 2.45... I'd be thrilled with those numbers from him as it would show a nice progression... Crawford at his best is a top tier goalie, but he needs rest this regular season to make that happen.


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Also for true hockey nuts... This may be a true TANK year for teams as a once a 10-12 year prospect will go #1 in the 2015 draft... Connor McDavid. It's ridiculous how beyond he is from his peers at 17... We are talking super Mario, jagr, the great one type of numbers..... 2 seasons ago he posted 209 points in a season... I don't care what level and age... It's Freakn 209 points!


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Thanks for putting so much work into that. I just read through it briefly, but there's some young talent coming through that I'm really excited about. I don't know that any will become Toews/Kane level or anything, but definitely a lot of quality in the system.


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Yea I'm with u there... As u and I know this isn't baseball, if u r that good at 18-19 then u are in the NHL day 1. A lot of the hawks prospect talk centers on Tuevo and I know that he is like 5-7 down on that list. Calnan, Clendining, Rasmussen seem really close to me to being good. NHL'ers. I'm really excited about Press, Snuggerud, and Hartman. Those 3 are going to take 2-3 years but u can already see that they have NHL traits. All of the NA time table guys I grouped... I think they won't make it to the NHL within OUR organization, doesn't mean they can't on say the panthers, isles, or Canucks lol.




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Hahaha poor Canucks... although I do love seeing them fall.

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U knw it's funny bc Kesler was pissed when VAN traded him... It's going to make him really stand out this season bc Ana had both koivu and Teemu retired while still leaving a good team in tact... He should score 70-80 pts this year u watch.

La, Ana, sj, chi, minn, St. Louis.... It's ridiculous out there... Not to mention sneaky good avs and preds... That's already 8 teams that could be in that 95-105 pt range with no mention of 3-4 others


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Who u think is coming from the east? It's obviously Boston's to lose... IMO


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Awesome thread. You really nailed some of the predictions you had earlier.

I honestly think Kaner might be the guy with the best shot at some individual hardware this season. I would love if the second line settled into being Shaw, Kane, Saad, because I could see Kane putting up some big point numbers with that group. I mean, those 3 together were absolutely working over their matchups. And no offense to Handzuz, but you might as well have tied an anchor to Kane last season. Hopefully Shaw is ready for being the full-time number 2 center (worst case scenario though is you move Richards up).

I am also a huuuuuuuge Saad guy. I think he take another big step forward this year.

Bank on the two vets splitting up the young core on the top 6... Hossa with Toews and Richards with Kane... Directv has 2 weeks free center ice btw... (For those like me not in Chicago anymore)


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D pairings to start the season?

Keith-Seabrook
Hjalmarson - Oduya
Rozsival - TvR
Cumiskey - Runblad

That would be my best guess for game 1


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I'd like to point something out that most don't know...

Maxim shalunov.... Was on the NHL/hawks site as a prospect until 4-5 months ago....

He passed away in a tragic plane crash.... 3 years ago

Did they forget or honoring his memory?

Pretty strange right? If I were running their site, I'd miss NOTHING


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Seems Wikipedia didn't hear about it either... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Shalunov

According to them, he just signed a new contract this year.