Five Things: Not trading Fleury would be a setback for Hawks
Once the Blackhawks began to fade from playoff contention this season - which didn't take long - it was assumed they would trade Marc-Andre Fleury to the highest bidder.
After all, who wouldn't want the reigning Vezina Trophy winner manning the pipes during the Stanley Cup playoffs?
But it's not that simple.
Not only must the Hawks find a team that's weak or average in net, that team also must have the salary cap space to acquire Fleury.
Then the GMs must agree on what the Hawks deserve in return AND Fleury must agree to go. (While Fleury's contract has a 10-team no-trade clause, GM Kyle Davidson will not ship the veteran to an undesired destination).
Davidson's had "a couple conversations" with agent Allan Walsh. They boiled down to the fact that if Fleury's traded he obviously wants to go to a contender.
It's a complicated puzzle and while I swore Fleury would be traded by the March 21 deadline, now I'm not so sure. Nor is Davidson.
"We have a lot of players who are learning a heck of a lot from someone that's one of the best people in the game and one of the best professionals in the game," Davidson said. "That has its own value and so if he sticks here, I'm fine with it."
A good point, but the talent-strapped Hawks desperately need draft picks and/or prospects. Not being able to move their No. 1 trade chip would be a considerable setback.
End near for Toews?
After missing 11 games while in concussion protocol, Jonathan Toews returned for the Hawks' 4-3 OT victory over Edmonton at the United Center on Thursday. On a night in which he saw 34-year-old Niklas Hjalmarsson honored and the 38-year-old Duncan Keith playing for the Oilers, the Hawks' captain was asked if he's begun thinking about his last chapter.
"In my heart, I feel like I haven't played my best hockey in my career (yet)," said Toews, who missed all of last season.
Toews believes that longtime veterans approach the game and play it at a higher level because of the knowledge they've acquired. While true to a point, Father Time is undefeated (as Barry Rozner loves to say) and eventually the body won't listen to the mind.
"(I'm) just fighting for my health and to find a way to get my body to cooperate and get back to that level I know I can play at," said Toews, who has 4 goals and 16 assists in 45 games. "Trying to push that sort of thing off a bit longer and try to keep enjoying the game."
Toews has nothing left to prove. He's won three Stanley Cups, is considered one of the best captains in the history of pro sports and is a surefire Hall of Famer.
Considering what he dealt with last season - the extent of which we don't really know - and how many concussions he's dealt with, it would not surprise me to see Toews hang up the skates after his contract expires next season.
Was price too steep?
When the Hawks acquired Seth Jones from Columbus last off-season, they gave up Adam Boqvist, first- and second-round picks in 2021 and their first-round pick in 2022 (unless it's No. 1 or 2). They then signed Jones to an eight-year extension that carries a $9.5 million cap hit.
At the time, Stan Bowman said this was the unavoidable price to acquire a true No. 1 defenseman. But was it too much? Would Kyle Davidson, who was named GM last week, have made the same decision?
Tough to say, Davidson told us during a roundtable discussion with beat reporters Wednesday.
"From where I was sitting before (as assistant GM), I didn't necessarily have the full view of what (Bowman's) philosophy would have been (and) what direction he was going to take the team in," Davidson said. "I don't know if I would have done it based on the knowledge and the stance he had on what he believed he had with his current roster.
"All I can say is once you get into this position, as the GM, it's so different and you can't really make that judgment call sitting off to the side, knowing what I know now. It's such a bigger picture than I had ever really comprehended at the time."
Davidson did say he's happy Jones is the anchor of the Hawks' defense. He also won't be afraid to dole out long, lucrative contracts in the future.
"A player of that caliber and of that level requires a major commitment and I think he deserves what he gets," Davidson said.
Goal oriented:
These last 26 games are big ones for guys like Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Strome, Sam Lafferty and MacKenzie Entwistle.
They're even bigger for players like forwards Henrik Borgstrom and Philipp Kurashev and defensemen Riley Stillman, Caleb Jones. Stillman and Jones have impressed at times but remain inconsistent; Kurashev (4G in 49 games) has only shows flashes; and Borgstrom (4G in 39 games) is like a ghost on the ice - he's there but you never notice him.
New GM Kyle Davidson wants everyone to show "a little bit of progression" down the stretch. He may work in some players from Rockford as well, but don't expect a bevy of call-ups after the March 21 trade deadline.
"I don't want to call guys up just to say we called them up and 'Hey, we recalled 15 guys from Rockford this year,'" Davidson said. "But I also don't think giving players a chance that have earned it and that we feel are ready to step in (is) a bad thing at all. At the very least - if it's one game, if it's two games - they see what the level is (and) they see what they have to aspire to and what they have to work on."
Playoff push:
Derek King has emphasized the importance of prospects like Lukas Reichel facing postseason pressure should the Rockford IceHogs qualify for the playoffs. That's far from a sure thing, however, as Rockford has dropped into a tie for fifth place in the Central Division after dropping six of the last seven.
The top five teams qualify for the postseason.
The IceHogs, who are led by Reichel's 16 goals and 20 assists, play their next four games on the road.