22/23 Chicago Blackhawks - Offseason Recap / Predictions
Sept 9, 2022 0:15:56 GMT -5
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Post by Chicago Blackhawks on Sept 9, 2022 0:15:56 GMT -5
Good Morning fellow GM's, Lundek....& Wolf, with the off-season winding down the Blackhawks figured it's the perfect time for a recap/prediction article. This summer has been a generally quiet one for the Chicago organization, however a few big moves were made, and we are here to discuss and recap those moves.
With GM Sullivan out of the country and on holidays in Ecuador for 3 weeks, where he eventually got engaged, this limited his availability in perhaps the most crucial time of the year for the franchise. Just days before his departure, he made a massive trade with the Nashville Predators, getting two guys he was very high on at the draft last year, as well as smaller magnitude trades, with Florida, Buffalo and Montreal.
TRADES
To Nashville
3rd overall pick
33rd overal pick
Matty Beniers
To Chicago:
Dylan Guenther
Sebastian Cossa
20th overall pick
BUF 2023 2nd
Chicago picked up highly touted prospects Dylan Guenther and Sebastian Cossa as well as the 20th overall pick in 2022 Entry Draft and BUF 2nd in 2023 in exchange for Matty Beniers and the CHI 1st in 2022 (3rd Overall) and CHI 2nd in 2022 (33rd Overall).
While many believe that the Blackhawks heavily overpaid to get their guys. They are pretty happy with the return. Last year at the draft they debated trading up with Nashville to select Guenther ahead of Beniers. While the 3rd overall pick did end up being Slafkovsky, the Blackhawks were delighted when Connor Geekie fell all the way to them at 18 (when Chicago traded up to get to 18 with the idea of selecting Owen Pickering).
To Carolina:
Dillon Dube
Ozzy Wiesblatt(p)
Simon Holmstrom
Adam Beckman
Brett Seney
*Carolina holds $4mil in salary on Erik Karlsson
To Chicago:
Jeremie Poirier(p)
Sebastien Repo
*Chicago holds $2mil in salary on Erik Karlsson
To Florida:
Erik Karlsson @ $2mil
ANA 3rd 2024
This move was simply adding a B rated prospect for holding 2 million for one year of Erik Karlssons contract. While Poirier doesnt have the pedigree of many other prospects, he still had a very solid year on a very good Saint John team in the QMJHL. Chicago are excited for his upside and see him as a long term project player.
To Chicago:
PK Subban and Jonathan Drouin
To Montreal:
David Savard and Cody Eakin
(CHI retains 50% of Eakin)
GM Sullivan bites the bullet of one year at nearly 11 million dollars for Subban and Drouin, but walks away from David Savard who is signed at 3 more years at 5.1 million. This is a trade that works out greatly for both teams.
To Waivers:
Mike Hoffman - Claimed by Buffalo
The next move by Chicago GM Sullivan was to waives Mike Hoffman, putting up a Hail Mary that somebody would grab him from the waiver wire after a very disappointing season in Montreal, and thankfully Buffalo's GM answered that Hail Mary.
To Chicago
Tuukka Rask
Wsh 1st 2023
To Buffalo
Buf 2nd 2023
Later in the off-season GM Sullivan and GM Scott Davidson, of Buffalo, would hit up again, this time shipping Tuuka Rask and a 1st to Chicago for a projected mid-late 2nd round pick. While many suggest that Chicago let Buffalo off to-easy, GM Sullivan was adamant about getting another 1st round pick for the "stacked" 2023 draft. It is also suspected that with a pile of cap space coming to Chicago next season, that they will likely buy Rask out of the final two years of his contract at a much lower price.
Free Agency Signings
GM Sullivan was very active in looking to spend some of his $12,000,000 in cap space. He did achieve this as he is now close to the cap, but with the flexibility that this time next year he will have another $20,000,000 to work with, or more.
Milan Lucic - 3 years @ $1,500,00 per
Milan is going to play top 6 minutes in Chicago, that much is nearly a guarantee with Chicago's roster, and that must of be enticing to the power forward. The present is very bleak in Chicago, but Milan may very well finish his career here.
Jake Allen - 2 years @ $1,000,000 per
Jake Allen will share the crease this year with Tuuka Rask. Allen comes in and will be the starter, but its a great value contract and could be a very nice trade piece later in this year, or next.
Nick Paul - 4 years @ $4,750,000 per
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Nick Paul isnt a 1st line center. That much most people will agree on. But unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, he is slated to be this season. This is a very risky deal, but he showed great promise in an increased role in Tampa Bay last season, after being acquired from Ottawa. This is a huge gamble, but if it pays off, Paul could be a very nice trade piece in the future.
Ross Johnston - 2 years @ $975,000 per
Ross Johnston will be a 4th line player adding more toughness to the roster. Not much more to say then Sullivan has a clear plan for this weak roster, and his answer is TOUGHNESS.
Mark Jankowski - 2 years @ $950,000 per
In a minor league deal the Blackhawks added some depth with Mark Jankowski. It likely wont be much, but it gives the Blackhawks an extra roster player if they decide to move some players out for prospect/picks later in the season.
Predictions
Much like the 2022/23 NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, the VHL's version of the team will compete for the Conor Bedard sweepstakes. It will likely be a very long year in Chicago, and a bottom 5 finish is almost guaranteed. How does management plan to put asses in seats then? Given the construction of this team, I think that is obvious, and the answer is simple, WAR. This is a team that will struggle mightily, but may just be one of the toughest teams constructed since the Broad Street Bullies. With fighting making somewhat of a comeback, the main attraction in Chicago may just be the names of Liam O'Brien, Ross Johnston, Johan Gadjovich, Milan Lucic, Ryan Lomberg and possibly the VHL's toughest guy Ryan Reaves. In the present intimation doesn't have the same affect on the game that it used to, but going forward, it just may.
With GM Sullivan out of the country and on holidays in Ecuador for 3 weeks, where he eventually got engaged, this limited his availability in perhaps the most crucial time of the year for the franchise. Just days before his departure, he made a massive trade with the Nashville Predators, getting two guys he was very high on at the draft last year, as well as smaller magnitude trades, with Florida, Buffalo and Montreal.
TRADES
To Nashville
3rd overall pick
33rd overal pick
Matty Beniers
To Chicago:
Dylan Guenther
Sebastian Cossa
20th overall pick
BUF 2023 2nd
Chicago picked up highly touted prospects Dylan Guenther and Sebastian Cossa as well as the 20th overall pick in 2022 Entry Draft and BUF 2nd in 2023 in exchange for Matty Beniers and the CHI 1st in 2022 (3rd Overall) and CHI 2nd in 2022 (33rd Overall).
While many believe that the Blackhawks heavily overpaid to get their guys. They are pretty happy with the return. Last year at the draft they debated trading up with Nashville to select Guenther ahead of Beniers. While the 3rd overall pick did end up being Slafkovsky, the Blackhawks were delighted when Connor Geekie fell all the way to them at 18 (when Chicago traded up to get to 18 with the idea of selecting Owen Pickering).
To Carolina:
Dillon Dube
Ozzy Wiesblatt(p)
Simon Holmstrom
Adam Beckman
Brett Seney
*Carolina holds $4mil in salary on Erik Karlsson
To Chicago:
Jeremie Poirier(p)
Sebastien Repo
*Chicago holds $2mil in salary on Erik Karlsson
To Florida:
Erik Karlsson @ $2mil
ANA 3rd 2024
This move was simply adding a B rated prospect for holding 2 million for one year of Erik Karlssons contract. While Poirier doesnt have the pedigree of many other prospects, he still had a very solid year on a very good Saint John team in the QMJHL. Chicago are excited for his upside and see him as a long term project player.
To Chicago:
PK Subban and Jonathan Drouin
To Montreal:
David Savard and Cody Eakin
(CHI retains 50% of Eakin)
GM Sullivan bites the bullet of one year at nearly 11 million dollars for Subban and Drouin, but walks away from David Savard who is signed at 3 more years at 5.1 million. This is a trade that works out greatly for both teams.
To Waivers:
Mike Hoffman - Claimed by Buffalo
The next move by Chicago GM Sullivan was to waives Mike Hoffman, putting up a Hail Mary that somebody would grab him from the waiver wire after a very disappointing season in Montreal, and thankfully Buffalo's GM answered that Hail Mary.
To Chicago
Tuukka Rask
Wsh 1st 2023
To Buffalo
Buf 2nd 2023
Later in the off-season GM Sullivan and GM Scott Davidson, of Buffalo, would hit up again, this time shipping Tuuka Rask and a 1st to Chicago for a projected mid-late 2nd round pick. While many suggest that Chicago let Buffalo off to-easy, GM Sullivan was adamant about getting another 1st round pick for the "stacked" 2023 draft. It is also suspected that with a pile of cap space coming to Chicago next season, that they will likely buy Rask out of the final two years of his contract at a much lower price.
Free Agency Signings
GM Sullivan was very active in looking to spend some of his $12,000,000 in cap space. He did achieve this as he is now close to the cap, but with the flexibility that this time next year he will have another $20,000,000 to work with, or more.
Milan Lucic - 3 years @ $1,500,00 per
Milan is going to play top 6 minutes in Chicago, that much is nearly a guarantee with Chicago's roster, and that must of be enticing to the power forward. The present is very bleak in Chicago, but Milan may very well finish his career here.
Jake Allen - 2 years @ $1,000,000 per
Jake Allen will share the crease this year with Tuuka Rask. Allen comes in and will be the starter, but its a great value contract and could be a very nice trade piece later in this year, or next.
Nick Paul - 4 years @ $4,750,000 per
Nick Paul isnt a 1st line center. That much most people will agree on. But unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, he is slated to be this season. This is a very risky deal, but he showed great promise in an increased role in Tampa Bay last season, after being acquired from Ottawa. This is a huge gamble, but if it pays off, Paul could be a very nice trade piece in the future.
Ross Johnston - 2 years @ $975,000 per
Ross Johnston will be a 4th line player adding more toughness to the roster. Not much more to say then Sullivan has a clear plan for this weak roster, and his answer is TOUGHNESS.
Mark Jankowski - 2 years @ $950,000 per
In a minor league deal the Blackhawks added some depth with Mark Jankowski. It likely wont be much, but it gives the Blackhawks an extra roster player if they decide to move some players out for prospect/picks later in the season.
Predictions
Much like the 2022/23 NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, the VHL's version of the team will compete for the Conor Bedard sweepstakes. It will likely be a very long year in Chicago, and a bottom 5 finish is almost guaranteed. How does management plan to put asses in seats then? Given the construction of this team, I think that is obvious, and the answer is simple, WAR. This is a team that will struggle mightily, but may just be one of the toughest teams constructed since the Broad Street Bullies. With fighting making somewhat of a comeback, the main attraction in Chicago may just be the names of Liam O'Brien, Ross Johnston, Johan Gadjovich, Milan Lucic, Ryan Lomberg and possibly the VHL's toughest guy Ryan Reaves. In the present intimation doesn't have the same affect on the game that it used to, but going forward, it just may.
