Kyle Davidson Treatise, A Cubs Path
Sector 1901 - What I Think I Know About Kyle Davidson
This is the title of the Hawks segment I'll be producing most if not every day. It'll usually lead off this whole thing. The sector thing, not the Kyle thing.
As the boys hit the ice today for the first time, I thought I'd make my position clear on the where the Hawks' rebuild is, and what I truly think of its architect, Kyle Davidson. I would also like to preface it by saying, for the most part, I've liked what Davidson has done. Let's remove Connor Bedard from the evaluation, because as my father often used to say to me at the OTB/Track, "Any idiot looking at the toteboard could have figured that out." But other picks, like Frankie "I Wanna Take You To A" Nazar and Kevin Korchinski, I really like (and Korch is going to get his own treatise tomorrow). I like the amount of players that could be bubbling under the surface, though that narrative could use some work, too. Which we'll get to (making a lot of promises, Fels).
However, my issues with Davidson don't really have much to do with Davidson himself. To wit: Four and a half years ago now, when John McDonough was shit-canned by Rocky Wirtz, the Hawks had a chance to bring in a fresh pair of eyes from the outside to try and change and improve how the Hawks were run. "Blackhawks Exceptionalism," which had run rampant throughout the organization for a decade, had caused the whole thing to rot. There's a longer talk about how that exceptionalism bled into some really serious issues, but let's save that for another time. It's still warm out, for fuck's sake. Anyway, this was a chance to do some cleansing.
Instead, the Hawks hired a guy just standing there already, which was Stan Bowman. Still, an opportunity to bring in someone from the outside was available, the GM post under Bowman. A new way of doing and seeing things could have been imported. Instead, Bowman decided to have three underlings reenact the "tryouts" scene from The Dark Knight with the Joker and Andre 3000. Davidson was one of those handed a broken pool cue.
When Bowman had to vacate his job just a few months later, this was yet another chance for the Hawks to air themselves out, at least on the hockey side and try something new. It's what some fans were screaming for, in fact, given all that had gone on. Instead, Danny Wirtz just took the job because he was already standing there.
When he began a GM search, this was a fourth opportunity to bring in someone who saw things differently than the Hawks had. A new system and vision beckoned. And once again, they opted to just hire a guy already standing there, which was Davidson. That was after bringing in Eric Tulsky from Carolina or Tampa's Mathieu Darche, candidates from two organizations that have done everything the Hawks haven't been able to do in eight years--develop prospects consistently, play an up-tempo game successfully, and win. And again, the Hawks thought they knew better by sticking to whatever was within the walls.
Now, Davidson might have his own vision. Maybe he knows all the problems that Bowman had in the job before he took over. Maybe this all works out. But his NHL upbringing is still with an organization that refused to believe anyone could do it better than them, which has landed them ass-deep in the muck for the majority of a decade now. Much like we have to assume anyone hired by the McCaskeys, or hired by someone hired by the McCaskeys, is a moron until proven otherwise, there's no reason to give this Hawks organization any more benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
In addition to that, the narratives that Davidson wants pushed out there are misguided. Davidson's front office has gone to great lengths to make sure that fans are requisitely terrified of some salary cap doomsday on the horizon when Bedard, Korchinski, Levshunov now, maybe Nazar and one or two others get new contracts. They've been quick to point out the previous regime's downfall with their struggles with the salary cap, and making sure everyone and their mother knows they won't make the same mistake. Given all that has gone on with the Hawks, blaming everything on what came before with the previous regime is an endless well and will never truly be the wrong choice.
However, there's one part that Davidson's shitting on previous front offices misses out on...THEY WON THREE CUPS. Perhaps it is fresher in the mind how it all ended, but the last memory for everyone is still the three parades. Maybe there was a high level of luck involved (there was), but the Hawks still had a bevy of players that were worth paying a lot. There's nothing wrong with betting on talent.
The end result is that Davidson and the Hawks brass seem determined to make fans terrified of talent that comes from outside the organization, with only the ones come up through the Hawks system the "true" talent. Because they know better. Because they're the Hawks. But that's how they got here in the first fucking place. And no other organization works like that.
That doesn't mean I have a huge issue with what Davidson did this offseason. Flexibility when it's really go-time isn't a bad thing, though he probably went overboard by a veteran or two to justify a completely needless apprentice plan for some in Rockford that don't need it (again, more tomorrow on that). The problem is he may have to completely do over the roster again when it is time to win, because none of the vets brought in are going to be around when things matter again.
In addition, Davidson may have already missed the window, or most of it, to move some of these ballyhooed prospects for something tangible. They don't all fit on any future roster, and after full seasons in the AHL most everyone else around the l eague is going to know what they are. What can he make of the ones who aren't ever going to be in Chicago long-term?
Much like Jed Hoyer on the Northside, the real judgements on Davidson can't be made until he really antes up, and we have no idea if he can do that.
The 606 - Where Do The Cubs Go?
This will be where I talk about Chicago sports in general. That header sucks and I'll come up with something better. Like I told you, this is going to be a living thing for a while, and barely one at that. Like, just above iron-lung living.
The Cubs rarely if ever make it off my second television these days. Yes, I have two TVs in the living room, and before you start I also have a live-in girlfriend. How long these two things exist in harmony we'll just have to find out. Anyway, that's where the Cubs were yesterday as their season died yet another death, losing two of three to the Whereve They're Gonna Be A's. With the expanded playoffs it's always hard to pinpoint when exactly a season finally gets flatlined, but losing four of six to the A's and Rockies definitely signals an unserious team and organization. In case you're wondering, the main screen was documenting more Champions League wagers going into the shitter (why did I think Brugge would score?)
The Cubs will require a deeper dive soon, and as their corpse is dragged through the last week of the season is probably not the time to do it. But it is important to realize that this Cubs team, which told its fans that it was trying this season (at least trying to barely win 87 games), is open lengths behind a Mets team that loudly proclaimed 2025 would the be season they would try again. It's open lengths behind Atlanta, which had every important player shipped off to the land of wind and ghosts for huge chunks, if not all, of the season. These are the obstacles Jed Hoyer could not overcome.
It is miles behind a Brewers team that consistently produces talent, especially on the mound, that the Cubs cannot replicate. They'll lose a wildcard spot to the Padres who took the kind of swing that make Hoyer piss himself while curled in the corner by getting Dylan Cease. Also they just punted Jackson Merrill to center two days before the season and ended up with something better than PCA. Cute, no?
Love is a long, long road, is what I'm saying.
Foofaraw
Well, this is self-explanatory.
Can't say I expected to see a David Rose sweater at Celtic Park yesterday, but the world, she changes fast.
One more quick note: I'm obviously not giving fucking Elon a red cent, so the best way for me to get the word out is through you guys. So please, tell your friends, share stuff, and don't tell the people looking for me where I am. Thanks.
