Hawks sign Hossa, Kopecky
For the second year in a row, the Hawks have made headlines on the first day of free agency by signing Marian Hossa away from the Detroit Red Wings.
According to TSN Canada, Hossa has agreed to a 12-year deal with the Hawks with an average cap hit of $5.2 million.
By signing Hossa, the Hawks have parted ways with Martin Havlat after three seasons. Havlat had 29 goals last season, but Hossa scored 40.
Finding the money to sign Hossa could mean Hawks GM Dale Tallon believes he can trade goalie Cristobal Huet. The Colorado Avalanche was one team that the Hawks thought might be interested in Huet, but the Avs signed free agent goalie Craig Anderson on Wednesday morning.
The Hawks have also signed another Red Wings in center Tomas Kopecky to a two-year contract worth $1.2 million a year. Kopecky's signing likely means the Hawks won't be re-signing Sammy Pahlsson.
The Hawks lost defenseman Matt Walker, who has signed a four-year, $6.8 million contract with Tampa Bay.
Sopel does everything a little bit better than walker except fight. If he is healthy this year I'd like to think he wouldn't embarrass himself. While he hasn't played in quite a while, he is a veteran player so we'll have to wait & see.
There is now less than 5.1 mil available to try an re-sign Versteeg, Eager, Brouwer, and Barker. I think we have to assume after arbitration they will trade the contracts that the arbitrator make too hig as losses, right?
The Hawks have wanted Madden from before his last contract.
It just makes you wonder if you would have moved Huet and had that difference in salary that things might even be a a bit brighter, not that we already will need sunglasses to view the Hawk forward position.
I hope they don't fog up when and if the goal psoition falters...
Well maybe there is lots of firepower to off set the open top half of the goal net.
I think your gonna see the same situation as last year only with one of the kids (Crawford) If Huet cant cut it than we have 2 youngsters who want his job...as you know we cant afford another pricey goalie so were stuck with what we got
John Madden might be the best signing this team has made in the last 2-3 years. a REAL hockey player. I can see him lifting a cup with an Indian head jersey on.
Hockeypuck are you actually attempting to state that McDonough has anything to do with the current Cubs roster? Weak statement. LOVE what the Hawks are doing. You have to be somewhat concerned about losing certain players and the ability to be flexible/maintain your core but HOLY &^%T Great Day!! Go for it while you can!
Didn't he go on tv and take all kids of credit for being Big Ballsy Bob who signed Fonzie the Cuban Strikeout Machine for $110 million?
Or was that someone else?
Go Hawks. Go Sox!!!!!!
Steve Rain, holy cow. Not being a big hoops fan, I like Chicago gaining two from the Red Wings and loosing one from Bulls to Pistons.
The Hawks have just signed John Madden to a one year, $2.75 million deal. Seems like a lot of money for a guy with a -7 rating last year. Adds lots of character. So much for the youth movement, the Hawks' management is going for it now!
John McDonough has spoken.
His old team, the Cubs, are a mess right now
What will his new team, Blackhawks, look like after next year. Lots of creative player movement then.
Go get Derek Morris to play with Campbell.
Anyone who thinks signing Hossa was a bad idea. He's one of the best defensive forwards in the league and a 40 goal scorer. Yeah, horrible idea. And I don't even want to hear this crap about how he was on losing Finals teams. The Wings were better in '08 and the Pens were this year. And Hossa is/was and will be a great player. Period.
Unreal. If I'm a Canadiens fan, I am cursing the Cammerili deal. 5 years, 30 million for a midgit? That has bust written all over it. Especially when they were geared up for Vinny, Heatley, Gaborik, or Marty.
Hossa is amazing. Watch the clip on the Hawks site, and refresh the short handed goal in game 4 vs the Hawks. We didn't sign an unproven player. This guy is legit.
I'm also not going to sit here and debate cap space. JJ is the 3rd guy I have heard saying the cap is going UP next year, so lets relax. Tallon wouldn't be spending money if he didn't have the cap space for the big 3 next year. I assume the Hawks have a capologist smarter then all of us, so lets relax a bit.
A steal for Madden. Hawks PK will be very good next year. If they get a big physical defenseman, Tallon and company deserve major credit.
Steve...that would be Stan Bowman counting the left over money, of course if there was no cap, the Hawks would be fine..notice how Judge and Dolph no longer exsists in name, it's now Wirtz beverage distributors..there is plenty of booze money to sign players, if only that cap didnt ex.....it was funny the Bowmans where nowhere to be found today..maybe Scotty was out with Chef Hans sponging another free meal at Trader Vics...it's what he does best.
He is just helping his son along till he is a GM whether that is here or somewhere else...but his finger prints are all over the Madden/Kropecky signings....draper/Maltby combo that resides in chi town
If they get a big physical defenseman (like Morris), you or me (or Wiz!) could play goalie next year and it wouldn't matter.
After tonight, the Hawks are MUCH better defensively just by adding three forwards.
Just saw a tirade via his twitter. Not too happy about some things.
Hossa! Say it isn't so. Add to the nightmare and sign overated Beauchemin now. Was surprised Komisarek got 4.5. I thought he'd get more than that.
he has identified the core and he can sign them..lets take a look
Fowards: Toews 6 mil (est) Hossa 5.23 Kane 5.5(est) Sharp 4.1 Bolland 3.4 Buff 3, Ladd 2.2 (est) Versteeg 2.4(est) Brouwer 1.1 (est)
Defence: Campbell 7.14 Seabrook 3.5 Keith 6 (est) Sopel 2, Hjalmarsson 2 (est) Barker 1.8 (est)
Goal: Huet 5.6, Crawford 1.5 (est)
assumes Burish eager skille fraser are not signed
total is 59.4 for 9 fwds, 6 def and 2 goal
this assumes a lot and is a guess but i`d say Mr Tallon has his work cut out
On Hammer, Barker, Crawford (who will be in Rockford), Keith. Maybe low on Versteeg. I don't think all these guys will be here next year either.
I compared these all to recent signings taking age and skill into account....and you? You maybe wrong on our new starting goalie (maybe by mid season)
ps if you recall i said i was being conservative just to show you what it might look like..compare them with todays signings
I purposely left some salaries low to prove a point..we could trade Barker sopel sharp or versteeg but they are realtively (except for sharp) modest salaries, now what if Keith/Toews ask for significantly more than 6 mill? I hate to say it but when i suggested we let our team grow and let havlat walk this was why cuz it cant be a big core
Hossa Toews kane Bolland Ladd Versteeg Sharp
Campbell keith seabrook Hjarl
Huet Crawford
just those above is 53 mill or so for 13 players...im worried are you?
3 years at 2.65 per - - - too pricey.
Hoping the Hawks sign Havlat - they can only do it for one year or break up the core in the future.
It does look like Hossa is part of the core now.
Thats what I think of when I look at Havlat and Habby.
Both were overpaid by huge amounts and didn't play anywhere near what they were expected to play or near what they were getting paid until the last year of their deals.
Habby gets paid 3 mil less than what he did from the Hawks...which is closer to what he is worth.
Wish they would have been better with the Hawks, but they weren't.
Good luck to both of them, but I am not crying about them leaving.
The Sun-Times reports that Belfour wants back in the NHL and his agent has confirmed that he is shopping him around to teams. Bring him to the Hawks as a backup. If he wants to be back in the big show, he wont be demanding huge money. He's a fan favorite and it may take some of the pressure off of Huet.
Tallon just said at the press conference to announce the Hossa signing that Eager, Versteeg, Barker, Brouwer, and Crawford had a ll been tendered offers. So if we lose any of them we will get picks back as compensation.
It might just be me but he didn't look very excited when talking about Hossa. Maybe he's tired from working the phones.
from having to repeat himself multiple times to scotty...scotty is a control freak..to say the very least
Habby-la-Vista
Havvy-been-good-to-know-ya
We don't need a stinking Walker (yet)
Now comes the hard part:
1. Doing better than last year - especially in net.
2. Re-signing Kane and Toews et al with long-term commitments limiting their options
This is still a very talented team but does anyone actually think a Huet/Crawford combo wins you more games than Bulin/Huet?
Those games last year when Bulin got hurt or needed a night off were still played by a pretty decent goalie. If a Cory Crawford is thown into those games the Hawks likely don't win 5 of those games and may not have made it out of the first round without home ice.
Tallon had no choice but don't schedule that Stanely Cup rally in Grant Park yet.
Guy was signed to eventually take over and was paid a $1M+ to be at Rockford for the same reason.
It's Niemi
The defense needs another solid hitter and defender. Francois Beauchemin of Anaheim should be Tallon's next target, no questions asked. Also a legit heavy like Boogards wouldn't hurt if he's affordable. I've red somewhere today that the Hawks are about $10M under the cap. If so, signing an UFA like Beauchemin is doable. You have to like the moves Tallon has made so far. Hossa is an upgrade in most areas (defensively, goal scoring, plays with an edge, ability to stay healthy) over Havlet while Tomas Kopecky playing in Detroits system for the time he has, is a huge plus. He's a better then average skater, physical and might thrive playing more minutes then in Detroit.
There's nothing better then strengthening yourself while weakening your opponent. Here's hoping that Havlet stays out of Detroit and goes to Montreal or LA. So next peice of good news is for the blueline. Keep it going Dale................
yes but all these moves will hurt us next year, as we have our kids to sign (toews kane keith etc) plus we have RFA`s still to sign this year, Versteeg and Barker. I think were planning on contending for the cup this year ...(sarcasism applied)
You're right about the big 3 next year (Keith, Kane and Toews) but don't be surprised if Patrick Sharp is moved after this coming season for cap reasons. He'll be close to 30 and will be a $5M cap savings and while bringing a solid return in young talent. Being $10M under the cap presently with some wiggle room is nice for a change. Beauchemin shouldn't cost more then $3.5M and the improvement in our defense should be a positive one.
but next year will be difficult to sign everyone , sharp is a 4.1 hit...we will need to shed more still
TSN is reporting Khabby is signing with Edmonton.
its been 2 hours since our last signing...think we have any more cash available? LOL
This line is gonna rock next year Kopecky Buff and maybe Versteeg , the 4th with eager burish and Brouwer wont be bad either assuming beach and/or Skille dont win spots. Our top 6 Toews kane sharp bolland hossa and Ladd is not too bad!
i learning to like this day..a little
Jay McKee is still out there and he might be more affordable. Campbell's albatross of a contract makes Komisarek impossible.
But I never thought they'd sign Hoss either. LOL
but you never know, right Dale T, scotty?
4 yrs for a 36 yr old goalie? Wow!
Well.....it's Huet's time now. He better man up.
I think Huet will be ok. After not playing down the stretch he played a hell of a game in game 5 of the Conference Finals. They just need to keep his confidence up.
Edmonton signs him for 4yrs/$15mil. I think they are really going to regret that, possibly starting this year. Tallon has been smart enough to pass on that and Havlat's request for multi-year deal. I think Hossa is a improvement over Havlat and while the 12 year thing at his age is questionable, Tallon thought this one through.
So this should pretty much tell you Tallon was unsuccessful in his attempt!
Otherwise, the next three years with Huet as the starting net minder might be a tough thing to watch.
I don't care what they "owe" him. He stinks. Coach Q knows it. He is definitely not an answer. I'd rather see Hendry. Sopel is horrible. Tallon needs to buy him out and get rid of him.
Sopel's only "injury" last hear was that he sucked. He takes a regular shift for us and any gains you get from signing Hossa are reduced.
Just got in from visiting a friend in hospita and heard the chuckling idiots on the score manage to sandwich the news around the basketball chubbies, making fun of the two new Hawks names, and hometowns. The perfect reaon to turn Brunstein and Boring off.
When I got to to computer, I saw that Anderson signing in Colorado and instantly thought the same...if Colorado got Anderson, where the Huet fit?
Then I thought wait! "...finding the money to sign Hossa", does that mean Knabby comes back with less pay?
Or does that mean Niemi is the goalie and Crawford the backup.
After an entire year of blog posts ripping him, Matt Walker did quite nicely for himself to the new Tampa Bay dee of Ohlund, Hedman, Meszaros, Krajicek, Walker and Ranger.
and he is already missed. Yeah Sopel gets the job by default I guess....
Berstein is such a friggin tool. Does he have photos of the owner of the Score that keeps forcing the station to keep him on the air? The only thing he can claim when on the air is that he is smarter than the average Joe from Berwyn who calls in to ask questions. The all time low was when he made fun of Tony Dungy's kid after he died.
What is Kopecky's offensive upside? I know in Detroit that he didn't have much of a chance to play big minutes or with top-6 type players. Can he be a legit #3 center and add in 40 points? Or is he just a #4 guy that can skate, hit, and create energy?
He'll be the third line center. Detroit has a stcked team and he only got about 10 minutes of ice time a game. With more ice time I think he gets about 40. He has more offensive upside than Pahlsson.
Hossa for Havlat... I like that. Hossa is a sniper and also plays a bit more physical than Havlat. Hossa doesn't seem to mind going into those higher traffic areas.
Walker leaving does open up a void from a physical standpoint. Sure, he wasn't the greatest defensively and isn't the fastest d-man but his ability to play mean and protect his teammates is huge. They simply cannot leave all of the "enforcing"duties to Eager and Burish. Burish has a TON of heart and I love his grit but no one fears him. Eager is laughed at by all of the tough guys in the Eastern conference.
Sopel filling in? Yikes... Not sure I like that option either. Especially at 3m per year. He's as slow as Walker and plays with NO edge.
Maybe we could get a Boogaard or Neil type to step up the physical aspect. I would definitely like to see that toughness come from the blue line though.