Analyzing the cap dump two months in
Fan Commentary, by bmark26
December 1, 2010
News that Byfuglien gets named the NHL's third star of the month (6 G, 11 A and a plus 9 rating in 14 games) made me stop and take stock of the whole reshaping of the Hawks roster after 2 months of play. Buf is obviously playing his best regular season hockey ever. Ladd's lighting it up, too along with being his usual tough, dependable self. Eager and Sopel are doing OK, nothing surprising. Niemi has mostly been dog food in SJ (other than the game vs. the Hawks, of course) and Versteeg is a flop so far in Toronto. You don't hear a thing about Burish in Dallas. Or Colin Fraser. Huet is in Europe, 'nuff said.
Now let's consider the guys the Hawks chose to keep, obtained, promoted or signed instead of retaining the aforementioned...
Sharp is carrying the team offensively, 5th in the league in goals. Hjalmarsson had a crap start but has played 6-7 strong games in a row and seems to be back to form now the he's reunited with Campbell. Bolland has had a poor start and hasn't really shaken it. Turco has been decent but not great, hasn't gotten good support but hasn't been stealing games, either. Pisani kills penalties and isn't as bad as everyone thinks, but he's not very good, either. Cullimore is a minus. Skille, Bickell and Dowell have been underwhelming as replacements on the lower lines, though Dowell has been solid and Skille at least skates and bangs. Viktor Stalberg doesn't use his size very effectively but his speed has been an asset. Corey Crawford has stepped up nicely. And let's not forget Jeremy Morin, who's filling in for Hossa and looking good so far.
On balance - it stings to see Buf take the step up and blossom as an every day NHL star in the making instead of a floater who turns it up in the playoffs. And Ladd, to no one's surprise, is sorely missed. But none of the other subtractions should be causing any agita. With Hjalmarsson rebounding, I still think it was right to spend bucks on him instead of Niemi, especially with Turco and Crawford doing just fine at a fraction of the cost. Stalberg for Versteeg seems actually to be tilting in the Hawks' favor. Factoring in the dollars, it's a wash at worst.
So, the real big question is, should the Hawks have moved Bolland instead of Buf, or perhaps instead of Ladd with the added bonus that they probably could have kept Niemi if Ladd was the keep. By the numbers, the answer is yes. Bolland is struggling, not scoring, taking dumb penalties while Buf and Ladd are thriving in Atlanta. Having either Buf or Ladd instead of Bolland would seem to be better for the Hawks in terms of grit, character and production at this point. The extenuating factor however, is that Bolland is a center, and the Hawks are thin there, throughout the whole organization. It would be Toews, Sharp, and then probably Dowell as your top three pivots, with lord knows who centering the 4th line. And it shouldn't be forgotten how well Bolland performed in the playoffs last year, shutting down Joe Thornton in particular while scoring timely goals himself. And the final factor is Jeremy Morin, who came over from Atlanta and I think is going to be a solid contributor and maybe a star.
All in all, I'm still going to say that Stan Bowman did a good job under tough circumstances, at least by the data we have so far. You could certainly argue that Bolland was the wrong keep over Buf/Ladd, but if Morin hits it big, that will be a harder case to make. What say you, gents?
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