during the regular season the ability to roll four lines is great, but the 4th line come playoff time sees what...5 mins of ice on average? and thats all in the first period

I would move Barker, I think he's overrated but probably has a lot of value. I would try to keep Sharp is I could, because of how good he is, and Byfuglien because of what a unique package he is. Versteeg would net something nice too, I think he's a pretty nice player to have. Sopel will be buried in the minors. They'll move Campbell/Huet if they can, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

With the way rookie bonuses work, will that even save a whole lot of money?

It's more about having depth that anything. Like if someone gets banged up in the playoffs, which happens all the time, you have someone else who can step up. If your 3rd and 4th lines are total plugs, there is no margin for error/injury. This is a big reason why I think Chicago is better than San Jose this year, and even more so if the Hawks pick up another D-man at the deadline.

Haven't read the latest posts itt, so this might be old news.

Bob McKenzie talking about the possible Blackhawks deals...

Kane and Toews - 5 year deals, around $6m cap hit.

Keith - 12 or 13 year deal, think he said around $5m cap hit.

Insanity.

please be a level

ya i agree w/ you completely. im actually happy this year that the sharks arent the "most talented" team. **** didnt work in the past, time to win on GRIT!

That's all I wanted to convey, glad we agree.

I remember watching Riesen play with the Hamilton Bulldogs before he went back to Switzerland...God, he was so soft. His talent wasn't the issue but he certainly didn't like getting bumped.

Kopitar moved to Sweden at the age of 16 to progress through the Sodertalje SK system, starting with their U-18 team. He also played an entire season in the SEL as an 18-year old. Unlike Riesen, who never left Switzerland, Kopitar's level of competition during his development probably wasn't - or at least shouldn't have been - a huge detriment to his draft value.

Yes Chicago would probably be a slight favorite over San Jose in a seven game playoff series unless San Jose had home ice advantage, then it would be even. But the playoffs are a long way off and if those two teams did meet it probably wouldn't be until the conf. finals anyway.

Regardless of what happens I'm happy that they got this done now before anybody could put in an offer sheet.

It'll certainly be interesting to see if anybody gets moved @ the deadline or if the front office decides to wait until the summer to make their moves.

Any idea what level of a player a package of Barker/Versteeg/prospect can land?

Who knows, maybe Anaheim moves Niedermeyer at the deadline if they continue to suck.

i've made the argument both ways on 4th lines, so i feel dishonest jumping in. during the season, they don't mean very much. during the playoffs, they mean depth, and that can be especially helpful when everyone is worn the [censored] out from playing 100+ games, 20 minutes a night. it is nice to have a guy on the 4th line who can play on higher lines if the need arises.

I wonder which team will be stupid and pay a 1st round pick + good prospect for Kariya at the deadline.

no one will do that, he's 35 and so far he is having a terrible season. it's not 2003 anymore, almost no one made an awful deadline deal last season, and i don't expect anyone to be stupid this season.

now if you want to talk about kariya netting a 1st and a prospect, he has value as an expiring contract if for some reason the blues want to take on someone's rotten contract, but i don't see why the blues would do that

During this season, of in the off-season? Chicago can't take on more salary, so it'd have to be for an expiring contract. Teams with big names UFA's that are leaving would have to consider that package (e.g. Kovalchuk). But the Hawks don't really seem to need a deal like this, imo.

barker/versteeg/prospect could probably land the 1st overall pick, if carolina gets it they may very well be interested - carolina didn't hesitate to trade jack johnson, and they consistently lack good young players (mostly because they are terrible at drafting). they could even work out a deadline deal like barker/versteeg/aliu/1st for whitney/corvo/1st.

if campbell is open to a trade, campbell/1st for whitney/corvo would work well

72off,

Either or. Obviously Chicago isn't going to do a straight salary dump during the year, so at the very least the hypothetical player they'd receive would have to be a solid contributor.

By this logic maybe they'd be more prone to trade for picks/prospects in the offseason if they can't find the right deal in the year.

Idk, kind of rambling here. Either way it's going to be quite interesting.

Obv this is pure speculation, but does the idea of trading Barker/Versteeg/pick or prospect to Anaheim for Niedermeyer make a lick of sense?

Salaries are close, Nieds expires at the end of the year, Anaheim gets two young and good pieces, Chicago gets an elite D-man.

suck staubitz wont be in the lineup tonight, wanted to see this happen again

if the ducks are in contention for the playoffs, which id assume they would be i dont see how they could trade niedermeyer

obviously

the point is assuming they continue to suck which may or may not be the case but will likely be known by the deadline.

Yeah, I think it's much more likely they make a major move in the off-season, the draft is usually good for that. I could see something like what Triumph said, although I don't think anyone is trading the Taylor Hall pick. A bad team who wants to get better fast could easily trade a top-10 pick though, for the kind of players that Chicago will be shopping.

I could definitely see Anaheim being interested in that.

you're giving them too much. i don't see how barker alone doesn't land niedermayer. there's no one who can give up a player of that stature at the deadline who is both young and signed to a reasonable contract.

72: meh, carolina wants to jump right back into the playoffs probably. maybe beach would have to be in the deal. the point is that if it happens at the deadline, carolina is gambling that they don't get the #1 overall pick (and with barker and versteeg now on their team, perhaps they won't). and if they don't get #1 overall, while obviously they get an excellent player still, it likely will take several years for him to become good.

it's the sort of gamble you never would've seen in years past, but i suspect the kunitz and tangradi for whitney deal opened a lot of eyes

who let micheletti onto versus? FIRINGS MUST BE MADE

ah, totally forgot Rags v. Caps is on Versus

this'll give me a much needed break from studying for my political socialization exam

Triumph, I don't either team makes that kind of deal in the season. Chicago needs those players for this season, and I don't think Carolina is going to go all out just to sneak into the playoffs. The season is almost over for them already, especially with their Penguins-esque injury list.