Typically, at this point of the NHL season, Hawk blogs and message boards are rife with trade rumors and speculation. But this season has been anything but “typical” for Blackhawk fans—at least within the context of the last decade or so.
My inbox usually has daily updates at this time of year with tips on Hawk trade targets, discussions on deals, who or what could be going the other way, etc. This year, quite honestly, (and I say this knowing a huge deal could plausibly go down tomorrow, or at any time in the next couple of weeks), it’s been very quiet. And by all the usual signs, it appears the Hawks are not going to be buyers for the first time in several seasons—and they may not even do much selling either.
All I have heard is this: a few rumors here and there of the Hawks shopping Michal Kempny and/or Erik Gustafsson—and some interest that actually has gone back to the summer in Vancouver defenseman Michael Del Zotto. Some defensive depth tweaks, nothing more. And all this was related to me when the Hawks were still eyeing the playoffs and not early tee times at Medinah.
Since then, we’ve heard GM Stan Bowman make the oddly defiant (yet classically Bowman) statement that he expects next year’s team to look a lot like this year’s—which will remind some pre-2007 fans of Mike Smith’s equally frustrating “I like our team” assessments about 15 years ago. That’s what GMs do. It’s a poker game. Even if the opponents are laughing at your poker face.
Then there was (is) the ongoing, bizarre injury/recovery/interpretations etc., surrounding Corey Crawford.
And the nonsensical handling of the backup goalies in Crawford’s absence—which now has Jeff Glass back in the minors, where he’s always really belonged, Anton Forsberg’s head probably completely messed up, and fun-sized journeyman JF Berube as the latest savior coming over the ridge.
What all this suggests is, right now, the Hawks are in organizational gridlock. They don’t know what to do. About anything.
Joel Quenneville has tried literally every line combination possible—and it is Q who has at least been penciling n the goalie’s names night after night in that particular debacle.
Young, recent first round picks like Brandon Saad, Ryan Hartman, and even Nick Schmaltz of late, underperform and look like zombies most nights.
Kempny, Gustafsson, and now Carl (or Calle, we can’t decide) Dahlstrom shuffle in and out of the lineup, while Gustav Forsling plies his trade in Rockford for the time being.
Meh, OK.
But what, if anything, is the plan? If Bowman is to be believed. We’re going to stay this course. The apologist narrative has become, predictably, this is a playoff team with Crawford in net. Yet the Hawks were actually not in playoff position when Crawford “went down” on 12/23.
And even if you do adhere to that belief/rationale, perhaps you might consider that the guy who is therefore the critical lynch pin to your team’s success next season has missed half a season now with what have been reported to be concussion symptoms.
Hello?
So as the trade deadline approaches, where sellers typically load up for the future and buyers overpay, as those who still lament the Dale Weise/Tomas Fleischmann deal of two seasons ago know all too well, do the Hawks have a plan?
My guess, today, this morning—although i have been told there is more information “to come”—is that the hawks will try to sell off depth guys like Lance Bouma or Kempny for draft picks, and that’s it. And really, when you consider that right now, Marian Hossa’s contract is nearly untradeable, as is Brent Seabrook’s, maybe that’s all you can realistically expect.
Fine.
But going back to the bizarre, almost circus sideshow handling of the Crawford injury, then the backup goalies, Bowman’s statements (and non-statements), there’s some evidence that suggests the Hawks as an organization are not sure what to do right now. And perhaps, in light of how quickly and utterly the wheels have fallen off the One Goal Express this season, they are as shocked and overwhelmed as anyone by it.
The bottom line, however, is, well the bottom line.
There’s way too much money at stake in the operation of one of professional sports most successful franchises, located in a large media market, for the team to go without a plan for long. And Rockwell Wirtz is no dummy.
Again, much can happen in the next couple of weeks. But my strong hunch is “the plan” may be conceived above Bowman’s head, will emerge more toward mid-April (at the earliest)—and quite a bit could happen then, in the dressing room, behind the bench, and possibly in the front office.
All for now, I will report rumors as I hear them (even if that bothers some!), please comment below.
Follow: @jaeckel