The Vacation is Over

With the close of the 2010-11 season last week, the business end (and I don't mean the bunghole) of the NHL swings into action. As Hawks fans, we all took some time to decompress after last year's magical mystery tour. The highs and lows made for a very emotional year, and we all needed some time to recharge and refresh, just as the players do. That is why it's so hard to repeat as champs, because not only do you have the physical grind of a season, but you have the emotional drain. Nevertheless, It's time for me, and the million other reporters and bloggers, to get back to BLACKHAWKS business.

For this year's draft, the Hawks pick 18th (round 1), 36th (round 2 via the Ladd trade), 43rd (round 2 via trade), 48th (round 2), 70th (round 3 via trade), 79th (round 3), 109th (round 4), 139th (round 5), 169th (round 6), 199th (round 7), and Mr. Irrelevant at the 211th pick (round 7 via trade). That's a grand total of 11 pick, and even though one of their second round picks will go to the Sens to complete the Stromboli trade, 10 picks isn't too shabby. Especially when you factor in that they have 3 picks in, possibly, the first 43 choices. At this point we really won't know what kind of lightning or static electricity they've captured in their bottle. To give you an idea of the past picks at 18, these are the last few, going back to 2000:

Austin Watson, Louis Leblanc, Chet Pickard, Ian Cole, Chris Stewart, Ryan Parent, Kyle Chipchura, Eric Fehr, Denis Grebeshkov, Jens Karlsson, and Brooks Orpik.

Not really the list of All Stars you'd hope for, and the last time the Hawks chose 18th overall, they ended up with the legendary Bruce Cassidy in 1983. Let's just say that if someone is going to break out from this draft, on the the Blackhawks, it won't be for a few years, and it will probably be unexpected.

With the current state of the team, you might even see them trade out of the first round, so don't be surprised, unless you were all hoping for the next Jens Karlsson.

-I was corrected earlier by Cam (thanks for pointing out the error), as the salary cap COULD go up to as much as $62.2 million, for the next season. At this point it's all speculation, but the Hawks have the 4th highest payroll in the NHL, as the roster stands.

-With 16 rostered NHL players, they would have $7.9 Million to spend on the 7 possible remaining spots. To break it down a little more, that's 8 Forwards (Ben Smith and Marcus Kruger included), 6 Defensemen (John Scott included, although I hesitate even labeling him as an NHL player, much less a defenseman), and 2 goalies. That is ROUGHLY $1.128 million per open roster slot. Not the conundrum they were in last year, but still slightly tight. Also, keep in mind that this does NOT include Frolik, Kopecky, Brouwer, Stalberg, Dowell, Pisani, Johnson, Campoli, Hendry, or any of the Rockford crew.

-The TYPICAL roster will have 23 players, which would consist of 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goalies, and could have as many as 3 floating/open healthy slots. Slow down to let your brain catch up to the rest of this, because it'll get more complicated.

Exhale...you're doing great

-We're going to ASSUME that Marcus Kruger ends up in Rockford, Ben Smith plays with the big boys, and John Scott will continue to hold his "floating" status.

-This adjusts the matrix to 5 open forward slots 1 defensive slot, and few open slots. Raise the Cap Space to $8.8 million

-Assume Frolik and Campoli are re-signed at an average of $1.5 million a piece, which is a slight raise for both. Down to 4 forwards and $5.8 million remaining.

-Assume Jeremy Morin, $866K cap hit, is an NHLer for 2011, which leaves $5 Million for 3 forwards.

-Assume they humor us with Ryan Johnson or someone in the same general price bracket, as our 4th line center/penalty killing and faceoff guru, for a generous $600k. $4.4 Million for 2 forwards, with 2 roster spots to play with.

on to our next subject...

Before we dip into this pond, we need to establish what positions the Hawks are set at. The would have three solid centers, seven solid wings, six defensemen and a John Scott in a pear tree. The Hawks needs would seem to be a second or maybe a forth line center, and a wing or two. Where do they go with this, because there are are no affordable 2nd line centers. Try to force Dave Bolland into that slot and look for a solid 3rd line center, or continue force the proverbial square peg (Patrick Sharp) into the round hole and stock up on wings?

The name at wing I really like on the market is Eric Cole of the Hurricanes. He has a little of that grit and grind to him, that made Andrew Ladd such an effective player here. For forth line center I will still always love John Madden over Ryan Johnson, and anything can happen. Who knows what direction they are going in, but this will be interesting to watch. More to follow as I hear it...