Chicago Blackhawks Overview and Overhaul, Part 5: The View from the Top

There were a lot of tough decisions facing the front office of the Chicago Blackhawks in the aftermath of winning the 2010 Stanley Cup.  The die was cast for a season of defending the Cup based upon the moves of GM Stan Bowman.

In Part 5 of this look at the Blackhawks, I will now turn my thoughts upstairs and offer my two cents on some of the moves that were made in the last 11 months. 

June

Bowman signed C Mathis Olimb and C Marcus Kruger to entry-level contracts.

Olimb is an RFA. He played in Rockford and had a decent season (10 G, 22 A, plus-8 in 60 games), though an altercation with Kyle Beach in camp left him injured and out for the first two months.

Kruger spent his first season under contract in the Swedish Elite League.

Bowman trades F Dustin Byfuglien, D Brent Sopel, D Ben Eager and F Akim Aliu to Atlanta for C Marty Reasoner, F Joey Crabb, F Jeremy Morin and first and second-round picks in 2010.

No point bemoaning the deal, as cap space had to be cleared and Buff was hot.  Morin and the picks (RW Kevin Hayes, D Justin Holl) are what the 'Hawks have left in this deal.  Good return considering the salary dump was not optional.

Bowman trades a 2010 second-round pick to Toronto for LW Jimmy Hayes.

Vancouver has the Sedins.  Someday the 'Hawks may be able to roll out the Hayes brothers, thanks to Bowman swinging this draft-day deal.  Hayes signed an entry contract this spring and will likely be in Rockford to start the 2011-12 season.

Bowman trades F Kris Versteeg and F Bill Sweatt to Toronto for F Victor Stalberg, C Chris DeDomenico and C Phillipe Paradis.

Stalberg spent the year with the Blackhawks (see Part 1 of my review for a few more words on him), DiDonemico struggled in Rockford and was sent down to Toledo.  Paradis finished his last season of juniors and will get a run in Rockford this fall.

At the time, we thought that might be the extent of the bloodletting. Not quite.

July

Bowman trades F Andrew Ladd to Atlanta for D Ivan Vishnevsky and a 2011 second-rond pick.

Bowman signs D John Scott to a two-year contract.

Ladd's departure July 1st hurt the most because it looked like we may have survived the purge without parting with him.  Apparently Bowman thought the Scott signing would placate the fanbase.

Bowman was not worried about offer sheets on his RFAs.  He should have been.

The Sharks signed D Niklas Hjalmarsson to a four-year, $14 million offer sheet July 9th.  The other big RFA, G Antti Niemi, had already filed for arbitration, so not addressing him in a timely manner hurt the 'Hawks big time.

Bowman matches the offer sheet on D Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Hjalmarsson could have been had for two million less a season than Chicago was forced to sign him for when they matched the offer sheet.  It may or may not have allowed them to hang on to Niemi, but either way, it was a pricey move that may not have been necessary.

Bowman trades Reasoner to Florida for F Jeff Taffe.

If Reasoner was in the 'Hawks' plans at all, the extra dough lost in matching Hjalmarsson put the kibosh on the veteran center.  Taffe was cheaper and was the MVP down in Rockford, but had no bearing on Chicago's fortunes.  Reasoner could have helped the 'Hawks, but Bowman wasn't worried about offer sheets.

Bowman re-signs G Hannu Toivonen, D Jassen Cullimore, RW Jack Skille, C Nathan Davis and C Evan Brohpy to one-year contracts.  He signs UFA Hugh Jessiman to a one-year contract.  He signs W Igor Makarov and D Nick Leddy to entry level-deals.  He signs W Brian Bickell to a three-year, $1.625 million deal.

Cullimore, Skille, and Leddy all factored into the 'Hawks' season.  He also got Bryan Bickell to sign a three-year deal for just over the league minimum.  I give him props for this move, as Bickell was certainly worth the money and should be a bargain if he approaches his 2010-11 numbers in the last two years of the deal.

August

Bowman rejects the arbitration contract awarded to Niemi.  Bowman signs G Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

Bowman pulls the plug on the Antti Niemi Victory Tour and hands the starting job to Turco, prompting a firestorm of criticism.  Corey Crawford quelled the griping to an extent, bailing Bowman out with a great rookie campaign.

Bowman may have believed he had a stud in Crawford, but this whole goalie saga was bungled nearly every step of the way.  If this was the plan, it was executed in the poorest fashion possible.

Bowman signs D/W Jordan Hendry, D Nick Boynton and F Fernando Pisani to one-year contracts.  He signs C Brandon Pirri to an entry-level contract.

Key stretch, because here Bowman ultimately fails to replace Brent Sopel's minutes.  Boynton looked like a safe bet but was terrible.  I allow that mistake because these things happen when you have to sign minimum-salary guys to fill out a team.  Throw Pisani in there under "you get what you pay for."

I have issue with the re-signing of Hendry, who was a scratch through most of the Cup season and turned out to be a scratch through most of this season.  Why was he signed if he wasn't going to play?

If he had played as the sixth defenseman all year, that's one thing.   Obviously he didn't have the confidence of the coaching staff.  That's fine, too.  I understand if they didn't think he could do the job. The question is why sign a guy to help fill a need and then not play him?

September

Bowman signed C/F Ryan Potulny to a one-year contract.

Potulny came in handy later in the season.  Just not by his play for the Blackhawks.

Bowman signed head coach Joel Quenneville to an extension through the 2013-14 season.

Kind of a no-brainer, but let's address the coaching this season.

I thought Quenneville played the hand he was dealt pretty well.  He was stuck by Bowman with a incomplete defensive corps and was nowhere as deep up front as the season before.  Fans took umbrage to his lineup shuffling, but that's been his M.O. for much of his tenure here.

Quenneville had some health problems back in February and missed four games.  Mike Haviland filled in and won three of four of those contests.

I didn't understand Quenneville's infatuation with John Scott in the playoffs and don't know why Hendry wasn't employed on defense earlier in the season.  He chose to pile on the minutes of his top defensemen, but if Bowman had provided adequate options he may not have felt he had to.

Bowman assigns G Cristobal Huet to the Swiss National League A.

I credit the organization for being willing to eat what is going to be $10 million of Huet's deal.

Next, we move on to moves Bowman made over the course of the 2010-11 season.

November 29, 2010: Bowman signs D Garnet Exelby to a one-year contract.

The first attempt in an in-season move to fix a situation he failed to properly address over the summer?  Bowman signed the veteran Atlanta and Toronto defenseman after Exelby was given a tryout contract the month before.  He wound up being the captain in Rockford, but didn't play for the 'Hawks.

December 17, 2010: Bowman signs C Ryan Johnson to a one-year contract.

One of Bowman's nice pickups during the regular season.  The 'Hawks risked the minimum that Johnson could stay healthy and contribute on the lower lines.  It worked out for both parties.

Chicago got solid contributions down the stretch from Johnson, which was needed, especially once Dave Bolland went down in early March.  Johnson survived the season without a broken foot.  Everyone wins. 

January 1, 2011: Bowman signs D Dylan Olsen to an entry-level contract.

As I mentioned in Part 4 of this series, there wasn't much choice.  Olsen would have been better served finishing the year at Minnesota-Duluth, but he couldn't make grades and he needed a place to play and develop.  The clock starts on Olsen's career in the organization this summer. 

February 9, 2011: Bowman trades F Jack Skille, C David Pacan and W High Jessiman to Florida for F Michael Frolik and G Alexander Salak

Nice midseason score for Bowman.  Skille was replaced by a skater who better fit the 'Hawks' needs at the time.  Frolik wasn't the scorer he was in the past two seasons, but his all-around game was definitely an upgrade.

He played important minutes late in the season at center (despite insisting that he was a wing and not the center Bowman tried to sell to us) and worked well with Bickell and Bolland on the third line. 

If Bowman can get Frolik signed for similar money and convince Salak to come to America and back up Crawford, this deal keeps getting better. 

February 25, 2011:  Bowman puts Boynton on waivers.

The Flyers claim him.  The next day, Hendry, who finally has gotten a chance to skate, blows out his knee and is done for the season. 

February 27, 2011: Bowman signs Brent Seabrook to a five-year, $29 million extension.

This whole extension was negotiated with little distraction throughout the season, and the 'Hawks have their top pairing locked up for the foreseeable future.

February 28, 2011: Bowman trades Potulny and a conditional 2011 second-round pick to Ottawa for D Chris Campoli and a 2011 seventh-round pick.

 Bowman finally brings in a defenseman and in the nick of time.  Campoli is probable plan C or D after Bowman failed to bring in some of the names he wanted, but he proved valuable in the last two months.  Potulny was a more than expendable piece, having played in just one game with the Blackhawks.

March 22, 2011: Bowman recalls Kruger from the Swedish Elite League.

To hear Bowman tell it, this was the move that was to put the 'Hawks over the top.  Here was the answer to the second-line center problem.  He's a Bolland-type, and he would be here regardless of whether Bolland or Patrick Sharp was hurt or not.

Not the case.  Ben Smith, who had been in Rockford all season, was the late-season addition that had the greater impact.  Kruger sat once Sharp returned.  He played adequately in the playoffs once Tomas Kopecky was injured.

Kruger showed some of the promise the hype suggested he possessed, but he looked to have a ways to go before he was handed the second, or even the third line.  I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the club next season, but it could be a while for him to become an impact center in a top-six role.

Bowman, in my opinion, never sufficiently addressed the two biggest deficiencies of the club in 2010-11.  We needed a second-line type center and a physical defenseman.  We got Johnson and Campoli.  They played well, but talent-wise they were not adequate fits for what was needed.

In his first full season as the Blackhawks GM, Bowman had his ups and downs.  He had the unenviable task of shedding salary and I thought he did a credible job, all things considered.  I would hope his targeted RFAs are quickly brought back into the fold and that he is able to add the pieces required to compete for another Stanley Cup.

Can he address the team needs this summer in a way he did not accomplish a year ago?  We'll find out in the coming months.