Lol Avalanche would’ve signed Rantanen already if that was his price

Man has no idea how Jacob Trouba’s NTC is working, huh?

If CHI isn't on Trouba's 'no trade list', then I think CHI should figure out how to make this work. But I would bet that CHI is on there.

Pass, I would rather the Hawks go after Rantanen themselves so I wouldn’t want to help the Rangers create cap flexibility to go after him.

That is a fair point. I guess it depends if Kyle even considers Rantanen a long term target, or if he wants to continue collecting younger players and/or draft capital. In a vacuum, I think Othmann and the high end pedigree reclamation project of Kakko should be enough to take on Trouba's 2 years. But yeah, Rantanen would definitely be my target, if KD wants to go that direction.

It has always been my belief that next offseason is when the Hawks go big game hunting, especially with some of the players that could be available. IF Rantanen, Marner and DraisaitL hit the market, Davidson has to shoot his shot, they could be this generation’s Hossa.

Now, if those players don’t make it to FA or it becomes very apparent that the Hawks are going to miss out on the top dogs then yes I think the package offered above is definitely intriguing… especially Othmann.

Gonna need to add about $3M per to that contract if you want Rants

0% chance Igor signs for 8mil. Rantanen also lowballed. Drysaddle is fair. Chytil magically isn't going on LTIR for your team to only slightly work under the guise Igor signs that.

I would be on board to take 1 year of Trouba to get Othmann. Not interested in wasting a roster spot on Kakko though, Hawks have plenty of bottom 6 guys already & more in the pipeline. Trouba & Othman for FC.

On second thought, make it Perreault & Trouba

Yeah. They are definitely interesting targets, but I'm not so sure KD is concerned with "big game hunting" and "getting his Hossa". It might be longer than we think before a move like that happens, and it might not be a UFA, either, maybe even not at all. Judging from his attempt at acquiring the 4th overall pick, it sounds like he isn't afraid to spend. He could prefer his "big fish" to be much younger, in which case, they will be RFA status and it is going to cost valuable assets in trade to get that player. I think our Hossa could be a guy like Jarvis, if KD is willing to throw Carolina a strong offer. But also, our Hossa could come from within, and we don't have to spend anything but scouting time and a draft pick on them.

I think the reason that a lot of people are concerned about his draft picks being "reaches", is because he is willing to do that to get the guys who fit his vision more closely and who he sees a lot of upside in and have some defensive responsibility and skill to their game, instead of taking guys who are all upside. Which is unprecedented and goes against everything people say about "not drafting for need" and "draft the BPA". But in this age of analytics, I think those old "rules" can be disregarded a bit, because we have more information available to help make those kinds of "reaches" far less risky.

Essentially, he is breaking a lot of rules, and that is a risk in itself, but, if he is right, then he will be setting the new standard and will truly be revolutionizing what it means to be a GM in the NHL. OR we could look back in hindsight and say that KD took too many risks trying to break the rules, and didn't take enough risk by passing on certain players in the draft, and that he was just a m0ron all along.

Very well thought out points as usual.
I’m going to admit I have trouble digesting hearing a player taken at 18 OA is likely to slot in as a 3rd line center but at the end of the day I have no say & I only want the Hawks to succeed at the end of the day. So I can only hope for the best.
As far as next years FA group, smart $ says most get extended before becoming available & the rest get multiple suitors as a result. I’m going to continue to look to the pipeline for the next “insert players name here” .

I think a lot of people view the 1st round incorrectly. It is a place where you find players who have the highest chance to become NHLer's, not just top of the lineup players. Generally, you only find those "superstar" and/or "top of the lineup" players in the top 5 to 10, and even that can be a crap shoot most of the time. I don't know who is saying Boisvert projects as a 3rd line center, but he definitely has a ceiling much higher than that.

My advice, take public scouts, and scouts in general, with a grain of salt. Everyone is just watching like the rest of us and guessing as best as they can. They can be as educated or experienced as they want to be and make all the comparisons they want to make, but in the end, most of them are wrong and/or have no clue how a player will ACTUALLY develop. Listen to what Kyle Davidson says about his vision, then watch all CHI's prospects, and try to picture where they fit within that vision and how their skillsets might coalesce to form something more powerful than the sum of it's parts.

A lot of people don't realize how big of a role chemistry and time play, not only in winning games, but in the trajectory of a given players career. Does Guentzel become the big ticket free agent and get the 8 year $9M AAV deal without starting his career next to Crosby? Probably not. Does Kurashev put up 54 points last year without Bedard? Almost certainly not. Does Forsling suddenly become one of the best dmen in the league in his late 20's without struggling for years and being given chance after chance when he could have just as easily gone back to europe and never looked back? Probably not.

Tomlin ab