The Keylog, Tis But A Glimpse

Kyle From Chicago makes an actual good trade, though maybe not a hockey trade, and Frank Nazar continues to impress in Anaheim. We got it all on UHF!

Sector 1901 - The Keylog

The big news for the Hawks this weekend came off the ice, so that's where we'll start. Kyle From Chicago provided Seth Jones his wish, and quickly, moving him along to Florida If you know more than you should, you'll know Jones will be extremely happy to go there. In return, the Hawks get Spencer Knight and a future first-round pick. They also get some $7 million in cap space for the next five years they wouldn't have had otherwise.

We'll take it in stages, and start with the actual piece the Hawks get in return, which is Knight. He has been a pretty ballyhooed goalie prospect for a while now, perma-blocked by Sergei Bobrovsky in South Florida. The Cats have been contenders for a a few years, and were obviously pretty gun-shy turning things over to a kid in net, so he never really got a chance after they shelled out for Bob.

Seeing as how no team really has a solid idea on how to regularly develop goalies (the Hawks are among the best at it, actually), having multiple spins at the wheel with Knight, Arvid Soderblom, and Drew Commesso isn't really a problem. These days, unless a team has a Hellebuyck or an Oettinger or someone of that ilk, they more and more are going with two guys. Having Soderblom and Knight evenly split starts next year is a fine idea for everyone involved. Knight has never played more than 30 games in a season, so getting a look at 40-45 is still a bigger opportunity for him. If all three prove to be NHL-worthy, it's just more ammo to use in a trade. Teams are always looking for goalies, after all.

The cap room shouldn't be underplayed, because if Kyle From Chicago is going to make a splash next summer, he's going to have to seriously overpay to do it. Rumor has it that the Canes were offering Mikko Rantanen $12M-$13M per year on a deal he hasn't signed. For the Hawks, with the recent record of piss-pooredness, to turn the head of a Rantanen or Marner, they might just have to toss $14M or $15M per year at them. Or they're going to have to package up some prospects and maybe one of the goalies to trade for one, and still toss a lot of money at whatever they get because whoever they get won't be all that far away from free agency, likely.

Now to Jones, and make no mistake, the Hawks are worse without him and will be next year, unless Levshunov and Korchinski aren't just ready to for the NHL but ready for big time minutes in the NHL. Jones being gone probably removes the idea of Alex Vlasic being the Hawks biggest trade chip. Vlasic and Murphy are now the veteran leaders on the '25-'26 Hawks blue line. That should be all they need. The risk is that if Murphy has more injury problems next year, the blue line will get awfully young and awfully inexperienced in a hurry. But that isn't a huge problem for a team that will still be aiming to go nowhere. This is still a "sell" trade rather than a straight hockey one.

It feels like the Seth Jones era in Chicago was just a big waste. It probably was. He showed up and the Hawks immediately changed directions to something he was not ever supposed to be a part of. He was an odd pickup at the time. That '21-'22 Hawks team was still suffering through Jonathan Toews's decline and trying to fake Kirby Dach as anything that mattered. It's defense was kind of rancid, and Jones wasn't ever going to be enough to save it. We'll never know what the plan was beyond acquiring Jones, and it doesn't matter now.

The Hawks also didn't know what Jones was. He would have been a far better free safety for someone like Korchinksi than a top-pairing puck-mover. He was Zack Werenski's partner in Columbus, after all. To be fair, he certainly had a hand in the breakout year Vlasic had last season, and could have been used to help Korchinski for the second part of last season and this one. The Hawks never figured that out.

Despite a couple dips last season and this season, Jones did his job. His job didn't live up to the money Bowman gave him, but that's not Jones's fault. Certainly the Hawks are going to have to figure out who takes top pairing minutes next year. Vlasic is one half of that answer, and they'll probably do everything in their power to keep Levshunov from being the other half until they have to. Problem is, they'll pretty much have to from opening night next October on. Murphy just isn't physically up to it anymore, and even at his peak he was a second-pairing guy. Perhaps there's a world where to start next season, Murphy and Vlasic are used to shelter the rest, but that will last as long as Murphy can stay healthy. How long is that?

The fear is that Kyle From Chicago will make another dumb signing like Martinez and Brodie to try and keep the kids he drafted from having to prove why they were drafted just a little longer. Whether he likes it or not, next season is sink-or-swim time for his defensive hopefuls.

But let's give Davidson his credit. He was able to move along Jones, which was always going to be necessary at some point, while only having to hold onto an amount of salary that really shouldn't matter with the exploding cap, and get something of use in return. If Levshunov is all that, and as the #2 pick he'd better fucking be, then Levshunov, Vlasic, Korch, and Murphy is a pretty decent top four, made all the better with solid goaltending behind it every night. Given what we know of Soderblom and Knight, they should get that.

It's easy (and fun!) to compare the Hawks forever rebuild to the Sabres, Senators, and Wings. But a lot of those teams' work was undone by having just terrible goaltending. The Wings are only in playoff contention now because Cam Talbot is playing out of his mind. Having representative goaltending every game can really push a team forward. Petr Mrazek has taken the Hawks out of games before they could blink more than enough this season. Again, with that top four and average-to-above goaltending, the Hawks won't push for a playoff spot but they should be miles more watchable.

The Hawks would have been better with Jones on the team next year, but they couldn't let him sit that long and stew. He would have provided a bigger buffer zone for Korchinski and Levshunov, but it's hardly something that can't be overcome. The deal can't be fully judged until we see what comes of the Knight-Soderblom-Commesson axis, both on the ice and whatever kind of trade they make with the odd man out.

It was a shit situation, and this is about as good as could be done. We'll worry about losing a voice that could call Foligno on his shit and had spent years doing it, or the precedent of quickly moving out a guy who did that publicly. That should be Bedard's job soon, anyway.

It's a really good start, but with the cap space and the three goalies, nothing's final until all the cards are played. That needs to start in June and July.

This Is Just A Glimpse

On to Saturday night's win in Orange County. It's heartening to see that with so many teams changing since we were kids or even from 10 years ago as players move on and fortunes fade, a team like the Ducks is still dedicated to carrying on the tradition of being a collection of shitbags like they've always been. As Radko Gudas's hockey use wanes, and he's still useful though not as much as used to be, the amount of rancid shit that costs his team fills in the gap. There have to be things you can set your watch to, y'know?

-The thing that matters most right now is that Frank Nazar continues to assert himself and be noticeable. He drew two penalties on one shift, which led to the goal that basically put the game away. His metrics were glittering. He's figuring out how to use his speed not just to get open but to cause turnovers and mistakes from those across from him. He didn't get an assist on Maroon's goal, but took a hit to get the puck to Martinez to set it up. This is what matters.

It is curious though that Nazar started 2/3rds of his shifts in the offensive zone while Bedard only started 1/3rd. As I've repeatedly said, it's tricky when Jason Dickinson is out of the lineup, doubly so when Foligno isn't around either I guess, so someone is going to have to take those defensive draws. The Hawks seem intent on proving that Bedard will be a 200-foot force. I'd wager Nazar has a better chance of being that player.

There was a play with 13 minutes left in the 2nd where Nazar took a puck off the right boards facing the corner with a pinching LaCombe on his back, outskated him in a stride, and spun to the middle to make one pass out of the zone. Good anticipation, good instincts, and the feet and hands to make it work. Not a play we've seen from Bedard that often.

But let's just take the good, which is Nazar clearly taking a step forward.

-It's amazing how far Sorensen will go to keep Teravianen from playing with either of the top two centers, to the point that Andreas Athanasiou went from Rockford to the top line in one easy step. The argument will be the points Teravainen is putting up in his role, which, great. Where's it getting anyone? I guess I should just give up.

-Wyatt Kaiser never belonged in Rockford, and among the collection of #5-6 d-men the Hawks have, he's still the best. He's certainly the only one who can walk the line as he did to lead to his goal. I still have no idea why the Hawks and Sorensen cooled on Kaiser, as he's the best skater among that group and the best with the puck, and thus has the best chance of being the mover and shaker on the third pairing next year. Yeah, he's small, and maybe the Hawks wanted to give Crevier or Del Mastro all the rope to prove they could do what Kaiser can with just more size. Don't think they have.

With Jones gone, and the deadline next week, there really isn't much reason not to tell Martinez and Brodie to hit the beach for the rest of the season and give the likes of Kaiser and whoever else all the rope for the rest of the season. Brodie has to be a candidate for a buyout after the season anyway.

Fuck, get Levshunov and Korch up here. The Hogs are under .500 so it's not like there's the vaunted "playoff push" in the AHL that we hear about every goddamn spring that has never actually happens. The 20 games they'd get here would be of more benefit than the 20 games in the AHL.

Somehow, I doubt that'll happen.

-It was at least as interesting a weekend as the Hawks have had in some time, and it came with a decent win after the pants-shitting in Vegas. Did you notice it came without Foligno? Not the kind of thing I'd notice, that's for sure.