Everything Else

We’ve Got A Gorilla Salad For Sale, Won’t You Buy Him? Take Him Home And Try Him?

By Sam Fels 1345 0

Well, Twitter started percolating a few hours ago, and now it’s official. Dan Carcillo — “Car Bomb” to some and “Gorilla Salad” to increasingly more — has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional pick in 2015. I’m kind of  amazed that you can get a draft pick for Carcillo that comes before the Earth is hit by an asteroid, but here we are.

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Wrap It Up, We'll Take It

By 1195 0

Over the weekend, the Hawks pretty much wrapped up their offseason activities by re-signing Marcus Kruger for two years at $1.3m per. It’s another bridge contract, just like Nick Leddy received, however neither one takes Leddy or Kruger to unrestricted free agency. They’ll both be restricted in the summer of 2015, which is shaping up to be quite the eventful summer (though expect Toews and Kane to be locked up way before then anyway).

About the only thing left on Stan’s to-do list is perhaps a two-way deal for Drew LeBlahBlah, but that’s not a guarantee either. Seeing as how the Hawks chased Bob Loblaw for a couple seasons, I’d fully expect them to bring him back and stick him in Rockford as Pirri insurance.

So how did Stan do and where do the Hawks stand?

Everything Else

Wrap It Up, We’ll Take It

By Sam Fels 1291 0

Over the weekend, the Hawks pretty much wrapped up their offseason activities by re-signing Marcus Kruger for two years at $1.3m per. It’s another bridge contract, just like Nick Leddy received, however neither one takes Leddy or Kruger to unrestricted free agency. They’ll both be restricted in the summer of 2015, which is shaping up to be quite the eventful summer (though expect Toews and Kane to be locked up way before then anyway).

About the only thing left on Stan’s to-do list is perhaps a two-way deal for Drew LeBlahBlah, but that’s not a guarantee either. Seeing as how the Hawks chased Bob Loblaw for a couple seasons, I’d fully expect them to bring him back and stick him in Rockford as Pirri insurance.

So how did Stan do and where do the Hawks stand?

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Fleeing The Herd and Other Thursday Notes

By Sam Fels 1297 0

Well, that turned into a bit of a crazy day from nowhere, huh? As you probably know by now, Ilya Kovalchuk has “retired” from the NHL to go back to Russia, where no one really doubts he’ll sign with St. Petersburg again and for more salary than he was getting from New Jersey. That’s why all this “Oh what a man he walked away from $77 million for his family and I think I’m getting moist…” hokum is just deliriously funny. And yes, that is the first time I have ever used the word “hokum.”

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Hello Again, Our Twitchy Friend – Hawks Sign Nikolai Khabibulin to 1-Year Deal

By Matt McClure 1431 0

With Ray Emery’s understandable departure for a shot at the starting gig in Philadelphia and Carter Hutton signing with the Preds, that left a void that Stan Bowman would have to fill outside the organization in the form of a backup goalie. Antii Raanta and Mac Carruth both appear to have bright futures ahead of them, but need work in the North American-slash-Pro game respectively. Simply put, the Hawks needed a backup for Corey Crawford, who himself is entering a contract year.

I don’t think anyone thought it was going to mean the return of Nikolai Khabibulin.

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Michal Michal Motorcycle: Hawks Re-sign Handzus And Rozsival

By Sam Fels 1065 0

So far the Hawks offseason, when not soaked in booze, has been about not losing too much ground. And today they’d done that.

The Hawks re-signed their two Michals, Handzus and Rozsival. Both are on one year deals, which will be part of the continued plan next year as the Hawks will want to open up spots for kids (Danault at center? Clendening or Olsen on the blue line?).

The money for Zus is $1 million, or basically nothing. Handzus, if properly slotted and used, can be still be a pretty good support player. He can’t play 82 games and nor should the Hawks make him, and he really would have no business on the 2nd line other than spot duty. But he might allow Shaw to move to wing where he can make up some of the Frolik-Stalberg gap, can win some draws, and at least be Pirri-pissing-himself insurance.

As for Rozsival, he turned out to be the sneaky-effective signing we thought he might be, and as volatile as the #6 spot on your blue line can be, it’s probably safest to go with what worked before but not go over the top. If Rozie indeed only got another one year deal to stay, that’s fine. He’ll take some games off and will platoon with Brookbank again (or any Hog that pops up big time), and that’s exactly how it should be. We have seen for two consecutive seasons now with two different teams that in the crucible of the playoffs, Rozsival brings his best.

Only Kruger to bring back and to find another backup goalie, which might end up being Antti Raanta anyway.

Update: Rozsival got two years, but not really a huge deal unless the money is just ungodly stupid.

 

Everything Else

All Lost In The Free Agency Market: Defensemen

By Sam Fels 1556 0

Gonna jump around here a bit, as we’ll get to wingers either later today or on the holiday. But the other pretty obvious gap for the Hawks other than center is a #6-7 defenseman, or at least someone to make sure Sheldon Brookbank has a platoon partner. This could easily be solved by simply re-signing Michal Rozsival, but that comes with a couple risks. One, he may have priced himself right out of it with a superb playoff performance. Two, counting on year-to-year consistency from your bottom pairing d-men usually ends up biting you in the ass. Remember how Brent Sopel went from hero in 2008 to hated in 2009 to loved again in 2010? Essentially, your third pairing is your middle relief, and by its very nature can swing wildly from useful to a giant sucking sound one season to the next. We present Shawn Camp as Exhibit A, your honor.