[Trade] Hawks trade Panarin,T. Motte,+6th to CBJ for Saad, A. Forsberg, + 5th

[Weitz]

You completely overlook the effect on Kane, their best player.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

The puck may be on the offensive zone with Panarin because that's where he usually starts.

I've watched Panarin play quite a lot, and he's a very poor defensive player. Come playoff time, I'm not sure what you'll get from him.

And FWIW, Saad actually has more shoots on goal than Panarin this year. And that's with very little PP time.

I get that the gap this year between the two players is pretty great, but I think a lot of it is attributable to their team support this year and bad luck on his shooting percentage. I'd like to say he'd be a great fit on our first line, but that unlucky SH% seems right in line with what Calgary is going through this year.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Saad. I already said that Saad is a good player, and yes, the Blackhawks as a whole seem to have had terrible luck this season both in terms of on ice results and injuries.

Panarin is certainly more one dimensional than Saad, but why does that mean he's less important to a contender? Why is that one dimensional players in this league are okay, so long as that one dimension is on the defensive side of things?

Panarin's offensive zone starts are 64.4% this season. Saad is at 60.2%. It's not a massive difference.

[Flaming Choy]

I have nothing to add aside from this cute clip of Panarin practicing stick-handling with his dog.

https://streamable.com/49ro1

[transplant99]

You can clamor that this deal was the one that set the Hawks back all you like, and maybe it had some effect on the offense of the club. At the end of the year they will be down about 20 goals from last season...not enough to go from the penthouse to dead last in the division. (Hossa being in the lineup makes that up alone IMO)

Crawford getting injured is, by far, a much bigger contributor to their downfall though.

Even bigger than either of those IMO?

Trading Hjarmalsson.

It made the back end completely unbalanced and slotted guys in the wrong spots. It put a bigger load on Keith and exposed Seabrook as a guy who couldn't handle the minutes he once could. Not a coach in the world that could make that defense an effective one.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

The puck may be on the offensive zone with Panarin because that's where he usually starts.

I've watched Panarin play quite a lot, and he's a very poor defensive player. Come playoff time, I'm not sure what you'll get from him.

And FWIW, Saad actually has more shoots on goal than Panarin this year. And that's with very little PP time.

I get that the gap this year between the two players is pretty great, but I think a lot of it is attributable to their team support this year and bad luck on his shooting percentage. I'd like to say he'd be a great fit on our first line, but that unlucky SH% seems right in line with what Calgary is going through this year.

He'd fit in well here...

[Matt Reeeeead]

Panarin's even strength scoring rates are comparable to what Saad has done going into thi year.

I think that was the real logic here. Saad generally scores as much ES, while also being a bigger factor on puck possession and getting the puck moved the right way. The Hawks were brutal the year before in this year regard, and I do think the logic was sound.

To be fair here, Saad, has been historically unlucky this year. His ES scoring attempts and high danger chances are still top 10 in the NHL for forwards (right around Hall and McDavid). No question that Saad doesn't have the level of skill or finish of those guys, and that plays a big factor as to why he doesn't score as often. But Saad is not a true talent 35 point player. He's been the same player as he has been in the past, and I think the Hawks can bank on a bounceback next season, where they can expect Saad to be mid 50's ES scorer.

Where the Hawks missed IMO, was the underrated the effect of Panarin on their PP. Him and Kane were lethal together, causing an elite PP for Chicago. Panarin left, and the PP went down the tubes. I believe they thought through some combo of DeBrincat/Schmaltz/Saad, that the PP wouldn't be tarnished as much, but it hasnt worked out, which has been devastating for the Blackhawks.

Overall, if Saad bounces back to past year levels (which I like the odds of), they figure out the right personnel on the PP, this transaction is not going to kill them long term. And getting back to the playoffs where penalties aren't distributed as much, and less space on the ice for creativity, I do think Saad very well could be as impactful (potentially more?) than Panarin in that scenario.

Year 1 goes to CBus on this one, but year 2 will look different IMO.

Let's hope the Hawks overreact and trade Saad for a Larsson type... now that would be an overreaction and something that could really turn this into an Oilers level disaster.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Marian Hossa contracted some sort of mysterious skin disease. Duncan Keith has one goal this season. Brent Seabrook was a healthy scratch and is one of the worst contracts in the league. Niklas Hjalmarsson is playing for someone else. Corey Crawford has started 28 total games.

But yeah, sure, Saad for Panarin is the reason the Hawks aren't as good as they once were.

[shadowlord]

The GM should have lottery protected the pick. /s

[Matata]

I wonder if Keith is bitter he took a paycut just to watch Seabrook gobble it all up.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

But yeah, sure, Saad for Panarin is the reason the Hawks aren't as good as they once were.

Great generalization regarding something that hasn't been said.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Matata

I wonder if Keith is bitter he took a paycut just to watch Seabrook gobble it all up.

With all the popcorn he gets to gobble up while eating a bunch of cap.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Forsberg has been terrible this year in replacing Crawford.

Chicago was in a playoff spot when Crawford went down.

They have been below .500 with Forsberg leading the way, but the Crawford start has kept Chicago from the very bottom of the league.

If Forsberg had been their goalie all year, they might well have finished last.

He played so well that he lost the job to Jeff Glass.

[Sylvanfan]

I do think Panarin should get a bit of credit for being a pretty good scorer. Even without Patrick Kane he's putting up as good or better numbers with Columbus. To me it looks like Kane was benefitting as much or more playing with Panarin as opposed to the other way around.

I expect a big reason why Chicago moved him was that they were not happy with his playoff performances the past two years. Although I think back to Datsyuk with the Red wings. His first two seasons in the playoffs he did next to nothing and there was a lot of talk about the Red Wings moving him due to that. But they extended him before the 06/07 playoffs, and he figured it out in a big way after that.

[thefoss1957]

No...I am sure that the Blackhawks weren't unhappy with Panarin, but, were looking at the affordability of his next contract. Saad had an extra year at his current rate. Moreover, the return of Saad was thought of as a way of "fixing" Toews, who has struggled without a decent LW to play with.

Hossa, Crawford, and Hjarlmasson were all, certainly, factors in the poor standings. But, also, at times, 2/3 of the 'Hawk roster weren't with this team even two seasons ago, and, even, had less than 2 full years of NHL experience. With Crawford, some of the defensive deficiencies could be covered up ('Hawks were in a WC spot when he went down), but Glass/Forsberg/Berube were all well under NHL average save pct., that can and did kill a season.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Matata

I wonder if Keith is bitter he took a paycut just to watch Seabrook gobble it all up.

It wasn't a paycut. It was cap circumvention with a 13 year contract that goes until he's 40. It was also signed in 2009, before he had won his first Stanley Cup or first Norris, and really took center stage as the best defender (for example his career high prior to his contract was 44 points, he would get 69 points the year he signed it).

At the time of the contract only Ovechkin and Lecavalier had received a bigger contract.

Most of the narrative at the time of the trade was "good cap, too long."