Edited Jun. 27 at 1:21 p.m.
Quoting: EmailTruck
My only concern here is that we're getting close to blocking out prospects. For this season we're probably fine taking Pageau, but if we sign Lafferty to a multi-year extension as well then we've got Bedard, Nazar, Dickinson, Reichel, Mikheyev, Foligno, Pageau, and Lafferty all under contract already next season. That's eight forward spots taken, not counting Kurashev and Slaggert (either of whom could still be long-term pieces), Oliver Moore (who is likely ready for the NHL next year), any Dach/Ludwinski/Lardis/Hayes/Greene who aren't too far away, Demidov (if we pick him at #2), or any free agent signings next offseason. We've still got $36 million in space for next summer, but that's four guys who really should be bottom six forwards making $4 million or more next year and could be preventing prospects from developing. Separately, I'm okay with that Campbell trade, but it too comes with risk of blocking Stauber/Comesso/Gajan in Rockford.
This is a really good conversation to have. I have a small issue with current management. I say small because I don't see what I'm about to talk about frequently, BUT Lukas Reichel is my example of my issue with management. I'd like more purposeful development of our prospects. Again, Vlasic was done very well. I feel like EDM is going swimmingly. Kurashev too. I'm not a fan of how Management has handled Reichel and I want to avoid this going forward. What do I mean by that? I do like that Reichel spent time in Rockford. I don't want to send many (if any) prospects directly to the NHL...Of course Bedard is the exception. YES, every spot is earned AND if they do earn that spot I'm not standing in the way of that. HOWEVER, it needs to be a high bar. Oliver Moore should not be in the NHL next year imo. Just like Nazar IMO should be in Rockford this year...Barring some amazing training camp where he can prove
without a doubt he's a better option than Mikheyev/Kurashev/Hall/AA/Riechel. Nazar CANNOT be on the bottom 6. He's not that type of player and even if he becomes a 3rd pair winger in 10 years...he's not that grinder today. Even if the Hawks believe him to be the 5th best forward on the team...He should go to Rockford and be their #1 RW or #1C or wherever the Invision him. That's my beef with Reichel. They played him mostly at center in Rockford and then when they brought him up they put him at wing...mostly. It's a hard enough transition from the AHL to NHL. Changing their position on top of the better opponents isn't setting up our prospects for success. YES, I agree with KD that it's good to have "swing" positions for forwards, BUT let's take that 1 step at a time. Wherever we see Nazar as an NHLer...play him there in Rockford. Get him to the NHL and then work on swing positions. Besides, Nazar is a very inconsistent player right now AND I want him to be amazing! But he needs more consistency before I put him on the NHL roster.
To the Dach/Lud...etc... We don't know if those guys are going to pan out or not. Certainly 1 extra year on JGP/Laff shouldn't hurt their development. Lardis/Hayes/Lud should probably play mutiple years in Rockford. They're going to have a lot of turnover this summer anyway.
The Campbell trade also helps with injuries. Mrazek was fine last year, BUT unfortunately that rarely happens for Mrazek. If Campbell sits for most the year...it's for the picks anyway.