Everyones 2nd Favorite Meatball Joint - NHL Trade Deadline -

With the Olympics winding down and the NHL firing back up, the Blackhawks and the rest of the league gear up for the second silliest time of the year for league transactions, the trade deadline. This year is unlike most years past and, most likely, the years to come because the salary cap was dropped to a very restrictive level which will handcuff several of the leagues top teams. The Chicago Blackhawks are one of those extremely restricted clubs.

Every GM would love to improve his team with a blockbuster deadline deal, but the fact of the matter is that most teams that would be buying, simply don't have the room to add a significant player without moving a large salary out. Any GM would be lying, if they attempt tell you that they wouldn't love to add a big name player to their lineup. Every team has needs.

The world of the internet is both a wonderful tool, and a devious curse. Every person with an internet connection wants to speculate their team's potential targets, and most people have no understanding of a salary cap. The salary cap is the equivalent of quantum physics to the average meatball fan, which makes for some hilarious questions and speculation.

The first problem for the Blackhawks is that teams will want something of substance in return. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman already unloaded a fourth round draft pick to the Islanders, on February 5th, for Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Peter Regin, while also trading a second round pick this June for David Rundblad and Mathieu Brisebois today. Based on past experience, it has become evident that Bowman loves to horde all the draft picks he can and built the franchise from within, which would lead one to believe that there are not be many draft picks that Bowman be willing to part with, especially ones that are actually worth some merit. Prying something like a 1st or 2nd round pick from Bowman will be like prying one of his children out from his arms.

Consequently, the players that the Blackhawks might offer in return, would not necessarily be enough to acquire such names. Nick Leddy, Johnny Oduya, or Jeremy Morin might not be enough to pry a high profile player from these teams.

I have seen fans float names like Blackhawks 2012 1st round draft pick Teuvo Tervainen as trade bait which is, honestly, laughable. Teravainen is probably the top prospect in the Blackhawks system, so to send him away for a rental or aging player would be counterproductive to Bowman's style. The Blackhawks are not a team that feels that they are desperate so giving away a prized prospect will not happen, especially for any player the Blackhawks could afford, which brings me to the Hawks second problem: the Salary Cap.

According to CapGeek.com, after today's deal, the Blackhawks will have roughly $52,000 to play with at the deadline, which is peanuts. For salary to come in, salary needs to head out, and the Blackhawks are in no position to be able to unload any significant salary.

The Blackhawks, today, traded one of their precious draft picks for a guy that is basically a much cheaper Nick Leddy. I may be reading too much into this but there is no need for 3 powerplay quarterbacks (Keith, Leddy, Rundblad) on the roster with another one sitting in the AHL (Clendening). This could be posturing for another deal at the deadline, or this summer. I see Leddy, or Oduya or both expendable with this deal. Both is a little extreme, but The Hawks have mammoth Notre Dame D man Stephen Johns on the horizon, and Adam Clendening rapping at the doorstep as well. We will see how this plays out.

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Coming Down - Trade Deadline and Other Developments

Well, that certainly was fun, wasn't it? Like a prostate exam while getting a root canal. The 2013 NHL trade deadline barely made a sprinkle in Chicago, and the Meatball Nation immediately called for Stan Bowman's head on a stake. I have certainly had my doubts about the ability of Stan Bowman to built the Hawks into another Stanley Cup champ, they weren't sitting atop the NHL standings when I was flipping my lid. At times they were fighting for their playoff lives (Hello 2011). What all the extremist Meatball-a-go-gos seem to overlook is that, while the Hawks have holes, so do all other 29 NHL team. Even those teams that went on mad cash grabs, the last week. Despite their holes, the Blackhawks had a nationally recognized point streak. As the Penguins can attest, adjusting to life without one of your top players is not easy, yet the Hawks have done pretty well without TWO of them, on and off, for the last month.

Bowman made a couple of system depth moves this week, but he seems set to go to war, in a few weeks, with the team he started with in January. If you told me this in January, I might have blown my stack too, but 35 games later, the Hawks are closing in on clinching the first playoff spot and have only 5 regulation losses. Yeah, yeah, "bla, bla the playoffs this" and "the playoffs that", but you don't go 35 games with a record like they have because you're a marginal team with only luck on your side. I'm a realist, which is the whole reason I started this crappy little rag, but they aren't as bad as some people make them out to be.

If Stan Bowman was to be fired TODAY, as some people are stupid enough to ask for, he would have a job by the time he hit the pillow tonight. This guy isn't Jay Feaster, or Scott Howson. Whether or not he built the 2010 team from the beginning, he has a Stanley Cup on his resume, and the team he HAS built is currently first overall in the entire league. This all while having to dismantle his Cup team to dig out of salary cap hell. The core of that Cup team still remain, THREE YEARS LATER. I certainly have my questions about some of his decisions, but the fact of the matter is that he has been able to reload this team without a complete tear down and rebuild.

Everyone is aware that the Hawks have a gapping hole at the #2 pivot. They have had this hole since before the Stanley Cup made it's way down Washington and Michigan from the United Center. Patrick Sharp filled that hole then, and could do it now. He could team with Marcus Kruger to play a hybrid center, where Sharpie takes the faceoffs, but Kruger still lines up there. They could also probably use another depth defender, with the latest slide of Johnny Oduya's success, but the recent defensive shakeup could have knocked them back on track.

Where I disagree with the masses is their begging for "more grit". It's yodeled from the UC rafters that they need more of that cliche "sandpaper". This is about as annoying as that idiot in the 300 sections screaming "SHOOOOOT" or "Hit Someone!" all game long. Those players don't work with this team. They have Carcillo and Mayers who just can't find a place to fit, and as insignificant as he is, Brandon Bollig was one of those beloved sandpaper guys, too. None of them fit. This team is built on speed and skill, not some shaved down neanderthal trying to put people through the glass or engage in "punch me in the face" contests. Any and all of those activities just drag the Hawks down. Why would you want to slow this team down? Saad, Toews, Bickell, and Seabrook have grit. They just don't engage in the dances of the cementheads. I don't want to watch Blackhawks kill 1/3rd more penalties because some dim bulb is running around making borderline hits just to appease the simple minded meatballs. Isn't it fun to watch these guys skate around the opponents like they are standing still? I think so.

The biggest problems this team has are that A) Unless you're wearing #19 (and his red cape with the big "S"), you can't win a faceoff and B) The Powerplay has gone flat. These are the two issues that the Hawks need to fix first and foremost, before the playoffs.

The Hawks are a puck possession team, and that starts with grabbing possession from the faceoff and keeping it. Losing late game faceoffs in their own zone has been a contributing factor to quite a few of their breakdowns. Michal Handzus can't really do much on the ice anymore, but he CAN win a faceoff. This is something similar to what John Madden did in 2010. He is NOT the solution to their woes, but he can help.

The powerplay should be able to fix itself, without bringing in firepower. The Hawks have plenty of firepower, so much so that the rest of the league would gladly take their residuals. They just need to move and cycle more. The easiest way to confuse a teams's penalty kill is to make them move. This opens up lanes and, sooner or later, the opposing penalty kill breaks down. I'm not speaking of "rocket surgery" or quantum physics. If you stand still and allow defenders to also stand still, it's much easier for them to close down the passing and shooting lanes. An aside to not getting the PK moving, is that they don't get as tired, and we all know people make mistakes when they are tired. They were moving much more as the season opened, but have fallen back into old habits, and the stats support that.

The moral of the story is that if they can improve the powerplay, and win some faceoffs, along with getting their injured players back, they should make a very strong run in the playoffs. As strong as they did in the spring of 2010. This could be a special spring, so let's cheer them on. We're all on the same side.

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Puckin Blackhawks Trade Tracker

Feel free to bookmark this page, I will outline any moves the Blackhawks make today.

New Blackhawks Players

Michal Handzus

HEIGHT: 6' 5"
WEIGHT: 215
SHOOTS: LEFT
BORN: MAR 11, 1977 (AGE 36)
BIRTHPLACE: BANSKA BYSTRICA, SLOVAKIA

Details - San Jose acquires a 2013 4th round draft pick.
Assets - Big body that can win faceoffs and plays the penalty kill.
Flaws - Older. Not as fleet of foot as the first time around in Chicago.
Career Potential - Role Player.

Stats
Games 28 Goals 1 Assists 1 Points 2 PIM 12

Salary
$2.5million

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Kirill Gotovets

HEIGHT: 5' 11"
WEIGHT: 175
SHOOTS: LEFT
BORN: JUN 25, 1991 (AGE 21)
BIRTHPLACE: MINSK, BELARUS

Details - Tampa Bay Lightning acquires Philippe Paradis.
Assets - A skilled player who skates well. An offensive defenseman with good puck control and a fast shot.
Flaws - Needs to improve his physique.
Career Potential - Puck moving defenseman.

Stats
With Cornell University
Games 22 Goals 0 Assists 0 Points 0 PIM 19

Salary
Unsigned

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Maxime Sauvé

HEIGHT: 6' 0"
WEIGHT: 185
SHOOTS: LEFT
BORN: JAN 30, 1990 (AGE 23)
BIRTHPLACE: TOURS, FRANCE
HOMETOWN: BOISBRIAND, QUEBEC

Details - Boston Bruins acquire Rob Flick.
Assets - Sauve is a speedster with good hands, strong puck-handling skills and a surprising amount of grit and determination for this type of player. He sees the ice well and can set-up scoring chances for his linemates just as well as he can create them for himself through speed and clever one-on-one moves. Is an aggressive forechecker exploiting his speed advantage and getting to pucks. Willing to work the walls and play a cycle game. Gets back defensively and has a good sense of the game and his positioning.
Flaws - Health has been the biggest hurdle in his young career, having missed 60 games over the last two seasons.
Career Potential - NHL defensive Center with some offensive upside.

Stats
With Cornell University
Games 52 Goals 10 Assists 13 Points 23 PIM 24

Salary
$845,833

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Countdown to Insanity - Trade Deadline Edition

Just when most of us sane individuals thought that the Hawks winning streak and great record would keep the trolls from spewing forth ridiculous trade rumors, I am proven wrong. Thankfully, the Brendan Morrow derby, if there was such a thing, ended this weekend with Pittsburgh acquiring him for a prospect and draft pick. That said, there will be some movement on and around deadline day. This is a brief list of some forwards that could move in the next 10 days, based on their UFA status come July 5th, and their team's current lack of playoff position:

Mike Ribeiro
Alex Semin
Brad Boyes
Jerome Iginla
Matt Cullen
Vinny Prospal
Derek Roy
Mark Letestu
Nik Antropov
Eric Fehr
Steve Sullivan
Milan Hejduk
Kyle Chipchura
Ryane Clowe
Wojtek Wolski
Chuck Kobasew
Kyle Wellwood
Jochen Hecht
Ruslan Fedotenko

The list is, of course, much longer, but this is my truncated list. Names that grabbed my attention. The biggest name now linked with the Blackhawks, thanks to Darren Dreger, is Iginla. Apparently reports say that he is willing to waive his no trade clause to go to Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston or Chicago. The intarwebz almost spontaneously combusted when he released that little niblet. Meatballs from Bourbonnais to Kenosha pulled their Kyle Beach jerseys out and simultaneously ripped the name plates off.

For the record, I'm an Iginla fan, but I say hold your horses, Cowboys. Don't fire up this rodeo just yet.

First of all, I ask just where he plays on this Blackhawks team. Top line is Saad, Toews, and Hossa; second line is Kane, Bolland, and Sharp; third line is Bickell, Shaw, and Stalberg. Do they demote Saad to 3rd or 4th line? That's the only logical move. Are Sharp and Hossa more hurt than the team is letting on to? If so, this move is a reasonable one but if Sharp and Hossa are expected back, this is a huge salary and name to take on with no place to put said name.

Secondly, Who do the Hawks have to give up, to get a name like Iginla? Word on the street has been everything from a first round draft pick/roster player, to a first rounder/defensive prospect/roster player. Not that the Hawks first rounds have been anything special since Kane was drafted, but do you part with your pick for a 2 month rental? The Hawks have some players that they would easily give away, but do the Flames really want Shawn Lalonde, or Kyle Beach? Jay Feaster IS their GM, so that answer isn't as easy as you night think, and they DID pick up Blackhawks cast-a-way Akim Aliu, but I digress.

Third, you have to throw in the Bowman Factor. Stan worships at the altar of Poppa Scotty, who built his teams from within, and used trades to fill in holes with budget players. There aren't many times when you can find Pops making a blockbuster trade for a big name. The Blackhawks were in much more dire need of help the past two seasons, and really did nothing. This year the Hawks have one of the best records in the league, and have shown very few weaknesses. I would expect Bowman to make a safe depth move, and Iginla ends up somewhere else, unless they can get a helluva deal. Don't say I didn't tell you.

None of the other players really give me the warm and fuzzies. Clowe's size and aggressiveness might gather some interest but, again, where does he go? He replaces Bickell, who then moves to the 4th line. What is the price, and would Wilson even deal with the Blackhawks?

Otherwise, Roy, Cullen, or Letestu might help up the middle, but are they an upgrade over Bolland? They all can win a faceoff, which is what the Hawks really need. This is all purely speculation, and only Bowman knows what is on his plate, but don't fore up the Jerome Iginla welcome wagon, just yet.

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