Blackhawks or Bears: Which Future would you want? | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

Blackhawks or Bears: Which Future would you want? | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

It’s mailbag Tuesday on CHGO Blackhawks. Who has a brighter future, the Hawks or the Bears? Do we have any other options in that question? Uh, wow. All right. What does Connor Badard’s next contract look like? And how were the ’90s Hawks able to be competitive despite a owner unwilling to spend? We’ll get to all of it next on CHGO Blackhawks. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Happy Tuesday. Welcome in to the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. I’m Jay Zawoski. That’s Mario Terraasi. Hello. Steven’s here. Devin’s here. Everybody’s working really hard to make this show happen and we appreciate it. It’s a big Tuesday. It is a big Tuesday. It’s Mailbag Tuesday because Mailbag Monday was not a long enough show. So, you’ve got a lot of stuff to get to. Before we do, do us a favor and just get in this habit. When you join us on YouTube, the next thing you should do is hit that like button, assuming you’re already subscribed. If not, subscribe. And then, if you’re listening to us on the podcast, make sure you’re following or subscribed on your favorite app and take a few seconds to leave us a fivestar review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. And if you think we’re unworthy of a fivestar review, which probably legitimate I have some criticisms myself. My legs are showing. No one wants that. Too bad it’s hot. You can say what you want in a review. Just make it five stars. Cool. Good. Good deal. All right. Before we get to the mailbag portion of the show, there’s a little bit of news and notes around the NHL. The collective bargaining agreement has been ratified. It’s all good. It’s ready to go. uh a year before it expired, which is a really good thing. How about that? I mean, the game seems to be in a pretty healthy spot. Yeah, I I would say so. I know viewership numbers weren’t like staggering for like the cup final and stuff, but like the the game and the visibility and the salary caps going up, like it’s all pointed in the right direction for the NHL better than it has in a long time. Well, I think you know the ESPN contract helps, the Turner contract helps. Like for instance, Gavin McKenna’s going to be at Sports Center tonight, you know, announcing his decision to play for Penn State. That’s a huge thing. And it’s more, it’s a long game. Like I it’s hard to kind of look at like, well, the Stanley Cup final ratings weren’t that good. There’s a lot of people in sports, myself included, like once my team is eliminated, I’m not really super invested in the playoffs. Now, NHL I am, but am I going to really sit down and watch the World Series if the Cubs aren’t in it? No. Right. I might catch a game or two. So, I don’t I wouldn’t read too much into the TV ratings, especially considering hockey is at best the fourth most popular sport in the country. So, but I just think you’re seeing growth. You’re seeing more attention. Players names are becoming more wellknown. The Four Nations was a huge success. People are already very excited about the Olympics. So, there’s a lot to be encouraged about. Um, so a couple of the highlights, uh, 84 game season next year. uh not this coming the following 2026 27 a shorter exhibition season which is good a shorter maximum contract length so I think it goes from 8 to 7 if I’m not mistaken yeah there will be a playoff salary cap and there’s no mandatory dress code for players and of course now they’ve created a full-time traveling goalender position to eliminate the practice of ebugs emergency backup goalies from entering games I know people love the ebug After about 25 minutes, I never wanted to hear about Scott Foster again. Like, great. And seven years later, you’re right. Yes. I do not care. I know I’m weird in that regard, but uh it is cool when it happens. It’s a cool story, but I think it’s it’s a professional sports league. We shouldn’t be having Yeah. the team plumber getting into an NHL game. Yeah. Or the team Zamboni driver if you’re Toronto. Yeah. Um Yeah. I I think now it’s still like an ebug situation, but every team is going to know who who it is. Yeah. It’s like putting a bullpen catcher in. Yeah. It’s not going to be the, you know, the local D3 college guy that’s just happens to be available on a Tuesday night or something like that. Um, so you take that kind of lore out of it, but I think this is this is good. It’s better than doing it’s kind of like the taxi squad but you’re not just keeping an NHL player on the bench, right? So, um yeah, the 84 games who I wonder why they did that. Who’s that for? It’s it’s I mean I know it’s a rhetorical question who that’s for, but like and I get like it’s like oh it’s less games or it evens out cuz you’re taking away exhibition games, but the guys that play all 84 games don’t always play all the exhibition games. Yeah, I’m not sure. Yeah, whatever. It’s more hockey. More hockey that matters here. Um and I do like the salary cap in the playoffs. We’ll get a little more detail on this as the days come out and the details are shared more publicly. But I think that’s an important one. I think you’re going to you won’t be seeing the Golden Knights, you know, add the Conor McDavid right before the uh trade deadline cuz oop, suddenly someone’s hurt. Yeah, someone’s hurt. Um I think there’ll be a little flexibility there, but we’ll get to full details as the days come. The other thing is uh Chicago Blackhawks legend Tyler Johnson has called it a career. Officially retired. Yeah. And he did uh he did mention the Blackhawks in his uh Instagram post, his goodbye post, basically saying that I wish I was very proud to play for an original six uh franchise and I wish we had one more uh in Chicago. The fans deserve it. So, uh that was nice of him to say. Little Yeah, a little a little nod to the to the fans. Yep. I mean, it’s he’s had a incredibly successful career. Uh but yeah, once once his time was up in Chicago, it didn’t really seem like he was at the point where, you know, he’s going to be a difference maker. And, you know, you get a little bit up there in age, quote unquote, for you know, professional hockey terms. Um, as we’ve seen, like it’s, you know, the the age limit for like who still hasn’t, who doesn’t is is getting uh, you know, it’s not as high as it used to be. and it’s just the nature of the game. So, he won a Memorial Cup. I believe he won a Calder Cup, two Stanley Cups. I think he was also a World Junior Champion. Like, it’s a lot of hardware. A lot of accomplishments. That’s a lot of hardware. Yep. That’s impressive. Um, as we’re always looking for Frank Nazar comparisons, I think he’s going to be better than Tyer Johnson. I hope so. Tyler Johnson’s best season was his uh second full year 2014-15. 72 points in 77 games with Tampa. Had some injuries the next two years. So 38 and 69, 45 and 66, but then 50 and 81, 47 and 80. Yeah, I think Frank Nazar is going to be a more offensively uh accomplished player than Tyler Johnson. Yeah. And and I think I think Johnson’s career arc I think parallels with just the talent that Tampa brought in and he just kind of got shuffled down the lineup as more of those high-end players establish themselves as part of that like dynasty and he just he got knocked down to third, you know, bottom six and third and fourth line responsibilities. And look, he wasn’t a a star for their um Stanley Cup teams, but he, you know, played a key role and got two cups out of it. It’s definitely not anything to, you know, turn your nose up at, but yeah, I I I think Frank Nazar could be on track for something a little bit more meaningful than that in the long run. All right. Uh before we open the mailbag, do us a favor, hit that like button. We’ve got a lot of people watching. Not enough likes. We have 42 likes. We need more than that. So, please, please, please hit that for us. And we’ll get to the first question of the mailbag before we hit the break zone. Stephen, do the honors. This is from Secret Azen Man. I hope I said that right. Mailbag would you rather Wednesday question right now versus long-term would you rather have the Bears or the Blackhawks rebuild. It’s it’s interesting because the let’s let’s sorry to interrupt you. Let’s define this. Which team So I think the question is of these two rebuilds that are happening which is more likely to win a championship? Would you say that or have more I guess success? I think it’s it’s just what what do you feel like is going to be more successful? It doesn’t have to be a championship. I I think a championship obviously denotes success. Um but what what’s going to be more successful? What’s set up I I would say what’s set up better for long-term success and what has the more likelihood of having success? um whether that’s you know long Stanley Cup playoff runs or you know Super Bowl appearances or wins in the super whatever it is winning seasons win the division all that all that stuff um that’s what I would say would be it doesn’t have to be championship or bust not neither one of these teams could win a championship in the next 10 15 years you know who knows but um for the right now I’d rather be the Bears yeah the Bears will have a better year this year than the Hoff yeah the the immediate immediiacy. Uh, I’d rather be the Bears for sure. I I think you saw what the team is capable of under bad coaching. And I think Well, they I think last year, Stephen would know this probably best. You could probably count you would say four losses probably directly attributed to coaching for the Bears last year. Like flat out that was a coaching loss. Four times. Not calling timeouts. I mean, there was the Hail Mary. That wasn’t That was partially a coaching mistake, too, actually, cuz they they gave up 13 yards. I mean, there was so many games that the coaching staff just blew it. And when I say coaching staff, I mean, Matt Eberlu blew it. Yes. Right. Right. Yeah. So, I think, you know, you you see what the Bears could do. You see the talent there in in Caleb Williams. You see the talent around him. They added to it uh this off seasonason through the draft, through free agents. Like, they’re set up for success. Now, are they more set up for the future than the Blackhawks? I think it’s different how teams build NH NHL vers NFL, but I’d say as far as like a a path to a more longstanding like successful run, I might go Hawks. But that’s I think still even just wishful thinking. I think it all depends on what you think of Caleb Williams because as you know NFL franchises are typically as good as your quarterback. Yes. Like if you’ve got a good quarterback, you are considered a really good franchise and then when your quarterback sucks, suddenly your franchise kind of sucks. And like so if you believe Caleb Williams is a star quarterback, is a top 10 quarterback, then I think you could probably say that the Bears are going to have some sustained success. Now, the only thing I would say beyond that is, and again, I haven’t been in full Bears mode, so forgive me, but aside from Williams, is there a franchise player that’s going to be here for the next five, six, seven years? Odun, maybe. That was what the point I was going to make. I think the Hawks have more young talent that they could build around, whereas it is just those two players you mentioned. It’s Caleb and it’s Rome, and then it’s like, well, hopefully some of these players pan out type of situation. DJ Moore is really good, but does he have a long like when I think of the last time the Bears were good, I think of the Briggs Erlacer Forte era. Yeah. Which is like what, seven or eight years of of really good competitive winning the division, being in the race for the division, playoff appearances, a Super Bowl appearance because you had that core. I don’t know who the core of the Bears is beyond Kale Williams. Well, DJ Moore, he’s 28. That’s not ancient for NFL, but it’s definitely if you think like is he a key piece for the next five, six years, might not be that long. Yeah, typically you’ll see the receiver hit that age cliff right around the 30 to 32 year. So, I mean, they’re kind of running low on time. The other thing that’s working against the Bears and why I’m picking the Blackhawks is simply because the strength of the division for the Bears, you’re not making you’re you need 10 wins, you know, and that’s a tough division to get 10 wins in. So, I think the Hawks have the brighter future just because of the competition they have. Yeah. I mean, I’m going to go with the Hawks, too, because I don’t think you need I I think to be a successful NFL franchise, you have to have a a great quarterback. And I I am a Caleb Williams believer, don’t get me wrong, but I think you are you can have a lot of really good players on a hockey team without having that Conor McDavid, uh, Nathan McKinnon level of player. You can still win that way. Mhm. I don’t know if you can do it in the NFL without a great quarterback anymore. I think Kale will be great, but we’ll see. So, right now, if I’m if I’m putting money down, I’m going to take the Hawks simply because of how far they are under the rebuild, how young the core is, and how long they’ll be part of things here. Also, hockey in general has the advantage of being able to lock in guys longer term, and they can’t really get out from under those contracts. So, when a guy signs an 8-year contract to be in Chicago or a seven-year contract, chances are they’re going to be there for the vast majority of that contract, whereas in the NFL, everything is so fluid in how as contracts go. But, I I think it’s a good conversation. Uh, keep it going in the chat. Let us know what you think. But, I think it’s we’re in a pretty good spot where you feel good about the futures of both teams. Um, but we’re going to know a lot about the Chicago Bears in what is it 62 days when they have their first game. Mhm. Like if Kale Williams looks like the dude they thought they were drafting and that we saw glimpses of last year, the Bears could be a legit uh NFC North competitor. So, it’s going to be fun. Should be a fun fall. I just want to make this point. Looking at Super Bowl champions of the last 20 or so years, I’d say that’s the last 25 years, there have been three that I would say weren’t conser considered elite level quarterbacks. Trent Der in 2000, Brad Johnson in 2002. Yeah. With the Buccaneers. Yep. And but he was he had a great year though. Yeah. He had a really and and he’s a really all of very good brands. Yeah. Right. Yes. Uh and Nick Fos in 2017. Bears legend Nick Fos. Uh other than that, you talking about Jaylen Herz, Momes, Stafford Brady, Pton Manning, Russell Wilson, Flaco, Eli Manning, Aaron Rogers, J Brees, Ben Rothllessberger. Yeah. And lots of Tom Brady. Lots of Tom Brady. But Joe Flaco was MVP of that Super Bowl. And he was also like I’ I’d put him a step ahead of where a Brad Johnson was. Oh yeah. Was he like elite of the leap? No. No. He got the job done his time, but like he was still like that second tier really good quarterback. He is in the Hall of Fame of game management quarterbacks. Yeah. He’s the he’s the statue outside that building. The Bears the Bears would love to have a quarterback like Joe Flacco. Just a guy you can count on for 10 years to not screw it up. That sounds great. All right, we got to hit the brakes. We’re a little bit late. Do us a favor. Hit that like button. We are close to 100 likes. Let’s get over that hump and we’ll talk to you in 2 minutes on CHGO Blackhawks. What is Sunnyside? Well, Sunnyside Cannabis Dispensary is your home for judgmentfree cannabis shopping. 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We’re just so blessed to have two elite franchises like the Chicago Bears and Chicago Blackhawks in the same city. That’s just not mention galore. Yeah. I don’t know. Throw that one in there, too. Cubs. Are the Cubs built for the future? If they’re willing to spend money, that’s my question. They’re a trade away right now. Yeah. One one good trade. Who are they trading? Trading for. They need another pitcher. Are they trading Pete Crow Armstrong? He’s never His stock has never been higher. No, do not do that. Please do not do that. It’s so fun to have a dude like that. Um that people always ask me like who’s your favorite Cub and I say Javier Bayas and they’re like why? Like think of the stuff he was fun to watch. That one dude did in that short time he was a Cub. He like in one season he has a lifetime full of amazing highlights. Uh yeah, just who do I enjoy watching? Who makes the game fun? That’s why Jeremy Ronic was my favorite hockey player forever cuz every game he’d do something to bring you out of your seat. That’s great. You could look at all the counting stats you want, but give me those moments. That’s what I’m here for. All right. And I’m also here for mailbag Tuesday. And so is Mario and Stephen and Devin. We’re all here. All right. Alberto says, “When Bard signs a big extension, can the Hawks afford to keep him as your top paid player long term, or with the cap rising, will they need to break that to stay competitive?” I that’s a very interesting s scenario to be in because we haven’t really been in a scenario like that where the NHL has an increasingly rising uh salary cap to the effect of more than one to two million per year. Um not too long ago we had flat caps in in consecutive years. So, you know, the idea of like, oh, okay, well, who’s your highest paid player? Are you going to have an internal cap? We’ve seen other teams do that. Like, no one can be paid higher than, you know, uh, McDavid. Like, right now, like McDavid will set the set the the market for. Yeah. So, he’s got 12 a.5 left next year and then Dry Settle’s extension starts at 14 million, right? But McDavid will short go jump over 14, be above 14 deservedly. So, um, but I mean with the cap going up so much, it’s just like you can’t even look at the, you know, the conversations of like, oh, who’s percentage of the cap is it’s going to be completely different. So, I thought it was interesting in the Athletic Today, uh, friend of the show, Shaina Goldman, uh, she went through next year’s RFA class. So currently Connor Bdard along with Frank Nazar and others on the Blackhawks are eligible for extensions uh going into uh going into next summer. They’re already eligible now. This time next year they will be RFAS expiring. So they so Shaina looked at some of the RFAS and she brought up Connor Bernard’s contract. So this is from uh Shaina also evolving hockey uh and the athletic Stephen. This is where the graphic comes in handy. Uh she writes, “The Blackhawks haven’t done the best job of supporting Baddard in Chicago, which was amplified some of his shortcomings. Uh that would explain why his or his defense is a bit of a weakness. That would explain why his offensive impact got a little stagnant this past season. Evolving hockey points to a $10.6 million AAV over the next eight years, which is true superstar money for someone his age. It’s above what Bard is projected to be worth over that span, but that could easily change if he starts hitting his stride more consistently. So, I think you you look at this projection, it says his market value over time is going to be 10.9 million, if he’s at 10.6 for the maximum that he’d be able to to sign for eight years or maybe seven years it would be. Yeah. at at going into next season. It sounds like a lot of money, but I think I’m making that bet on. Yeah. What you’re doing is you’re betting on Baddard’s upside. But I my So my question is, is is he willing? And I think he will. I think that for all the, you know, discourse about, oh, he doesn’t want to sign a contract here, and he has said repeatedly he wants to be here, he is happy here, he enjoys it here, etc. Um, I just wonder though if he’s going to wait and say, “I’m going to bet on myself. Give me a two or threeear bridge deal. It’ll be less money for you, but I want to be a UFA at the end of that and really cash out and bet on myself that I’m going to put together, you know, over the next three seasons, maybe 280 points or something like that.” You know, he’s I think he’s going to try to bet on himself that he’s going to become the player everyone thought he was going to be. So, if it’s 8 years, 10.6, done. Sign it today. And the fact that we’re both saying that makes me wonder if Conor Bernard is going to be like, “Well, that’s a lot of money, more than I’ve ever had.” But yeah, I mean, it’s there’s no incentive for him as a player, and I’m sure his agent would say the same thing, uh, to sign right now. Now, there’s incentive for the team to get it done now because while it’s been quote unquote underwhelming his first two years in the NHL, he still led the team in scoring as a teenager in both in two seasons, was rookie of the year, and as has been pointed out by many people, didn’t do it with a lot of help around him. So, I I think it would benefit him to try and, you know, have a season where, again, like you’re talking about like the next wave of the Blackhawks is going to be here, you know, in large part the most young players that we’ve seen in in in one go of it. There’s a chance, you know, he’ll he’ll increase his numbers by by having some of those guys kind of like grow along with him and Frank Nazar having a full season. That could be beneficial. Does Ryan Donado get anywhere near what he did last season? That would also be beneficial because it’s likely Donado and Baddard starting the season together at least. Um, so maybe he does have a season where he cracks 70 80 points, whatever it is, and then ups his value it that that would be beneficial to him. I think to the question though, like if he if he does sign a contract like that, let’s say it is that the projected 8-year 10.6 6 million. I don’t think as the Blackhawks you can operate with a $10.6 million internal cap with the salary cap going up and knowing and knowing that you know you have a lot of you know investment in these young players developing. But at a certain time, whether it’s next off seasonason or the season after that, whatever it is, um there there is a likelihood that there’s going to be a big fish difference maker on the market. Capri off McDavid, you know, all these guys that you know, you speculate about actually hitting free agency, you’d have to crack open the checkbook and and you know, potentially make that player the highest paid player on the team because they might be that kind of impactful player. Uh I think it was uh Josh in the chat asked would would uh Bedar take a hometown discount. It was Joshua Sherman. Um I think a eight-year $10.6 million deal would be a team friendly contract when you look at the way the cap’s going as Mario just pointed out like chances are if he wants help that help will cost more than that salary. And I think he to me it feels like Conor Badard is the kind of person that’s gonna say cool as long as we’re winning. I don’t need to be the highest paid player on this team. It’s not important to me. I honestly don’t think that that was incredibly important to Jonathan Taves or Patrick Kane either. They signed identical deals. Cool. But with the way the cap is going up, you c you almost can’t do that. you you’re not going to be able to have someone who signed an eight-year deal be the highest paid player for eight years or you’re going to be stuck in the middle or bottom of the league because you’re not going to be able to compete to sign free agents. So, I’m not so worried about that. If they can lock him up for eight years right now, absolutely do it. But, uh it would surprise me if he would be willing to accept a deal. Who knows? Maybe he just wants the commitment. Maybe he just wants to, hey, look, I know I got 10.6 million for the next eight years and that’s plenty. Let’s go. let’s try to win. That’d be great. And I think if you see him sign that deal, any question about him not wanting to be here is completely thrown out the window. Whether he signs it this summer or next, if he signs an 8-year deal, that conversation should end. So, um, and by the way, I saw somebody mention like that’s an overpayment for Bard. You are betting on a future that pretty much everybody believes is going to be there. I don’t think anyone has lost aside from Disc Reynold fans, no one’s really lost faith in the fact that Conor Bard is going to be the player that he was projected to be entering a draft two years ago. Yeah. And and I think you talk about, you know, players that are at that 10 million threshold now in a year from now that that 10 million threshold is going to be surpassed by a lot more guys. And it’s going to make that it’s going to make that threshold not feel as like oo like daunting because more guys are going to going to get there as the salary cap goes up. So I mean even um what were we talking about? Oh uh Matthew Nis’s uh yeah contract extension with with with Toronto, you know, everyone was like he’s going to make $10 million and ended up being 7.75 or something like that. Uh by next season, the equivalency of signing that contract now will be like a $6.8 million contract. Yeah. So it’s as the cap goes up, the the relativity of what the dollars actually mean is changing. So right now, yeah, 10.6 sounds like, wow, he better be Mitch Marner or better. But it’s just like in a season or two, 10.6 is going to you’re going to say most topline players make $10 million, right? Not just like the superstars. Another example of this uh top paid player thing, Nathan McKinnon is the highest paid player in the Avalanche. Obviously 12.6 million. He’s got six years left on that deal. But in two years, Kale Mar who makes nine is going to be a free agent. And I guarantee you if Kale Mar is staying in Colorado, he’s at least matching McKinnon. But if it’s in two years, it’s going to be more than that. I would think so. So you just I you know I don’t I think we maybe make more. We being the media make more of this than the players actually do. Um I think they just want to win. Most hockey players just want to win and Nathan McKinnon understands that having Kale Mar on his team will help him win in the future. So one more thing I want to want to add to that note. Um it was very interesting today on The Athletic. Again, I was reading The Athletic on my train ride in here. Uh Sean Macko had a five things I miss about the old NHL summers and his top one was I miss not carrying what people made like salary and I was just like absolutely like obviously before the you know the the lockout in 0405 that ended up making the next CBA you know play you brought in the hard cap um in the ‘9s that’s when they made like player uh salaries like more public information, but people still really didn’t care about it because it was there was no salary cap. It’s not your money. What you know, good player, as Sean makes the point in the athletic, good players were just good players, right? And it wasn’t based off of how much money they made. If they made too much money, you go, “Well, that’s a lot of money.” Then you just go back to watching the game. You wouldn’t care. Think of how different Seth Jones would have been felt about in this town if it wasn’t for his salary and his captain. If you didn’t if if the if the knowledge about salaries and and how you have to manipulate the cap and everything like that if that wasn’t so intertwined with how the modern game is um it would just feel different. So I this we wouldn’t even be having this convers it’d be like yeah they’ll just get a deal done. Yeah. Right. Keep coming hard. Yeah that’s a good idea. Whatever. Um, so I just thought that was interesting. All right, got to hit the break zone one final time. Hit the like button for us. We are close. We’re close to 100. Let’s do it. Let’s make that the goal every day. And once the games start, we’re going to Our goal is going to be way more than 100. We’ll tell you that. Talk to you in 2 minutes here on CHTO Blackhawks. Just like your favorite team needs a home ice advantage, your home needs a home floor advantage. And with Empire Today, they can help you get it. Empire today has flooring experts. These are people that live and breathe flooring. 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A $350 discount with code chgo. Restrictions apply. Visit empire today.com/chgo for full details. It’s summer in Chicago, which means many things, but one of them is the Windy City Smokeout happening July 10th through the 13th. Four full days of country music, ice cold drinks, and all the award-winning barbecue your stomach can handle. Does it get any more summer than that? I say no. If you haven’t grabbed tickets yet, don’t worry. Thursday and Friday tickets are still available. Country’s biggest stars are like Bailey Zimmerman, Old Dominion, Cole Wetzel, and Dylan Gosset are going to be lighting up the stage. Don’t miss out on the best weekend of the summer. You can grab your Thursday and Friday tickets right now at windycitymokeout.com. And be on the lookout for us at cho uh while you’re there because we’re going to have a booth, spin to win wheel, and more. It’s going to be a good time. All right, back to the mailbag we go. Hit that like button. Let’s go. Let’s hit it. Let’s hit it. Let’s hit it. Please, Stephen. Uh, Rooney again. Wow. Really with the graphical upgrades to the Perfect. Appreciate that. Everyone knows why I’m doing the voice. Uh, you’re going to have to zoom in on that. So, this was a two-parter. Yesterday, we did part one of the top five and top uh bottom five teams. He also asked, uh, who could the Hawks realistically leaprog to get back into the playoffs over the next three years? Now, this is a would take a much bigger deep dive into what teams are doing. Um, but you know, looking at the teams that were kind of on that bubble of the playoffs and the teams that were in the playoffs, who is one that was in the playoffs this past year that you think bubble could be bursting soon? Blues. See, I hesitate on that one because I feel like they they’ve kind of pieced things together to kind of Are they trading Kyu, though? Like that it’s not going away, right? No, I ag I that would be an interesting move. Also, if they are, pick up the phone, Kyle. Sure, I wouldn’t mind Jordan Kyu. Um, but I don’t I don’t see them blowing things up to where that they would they would fall out of the middle. They kind of have to do what they have to kind of do the peace meal. They because I think if they get awful again, it could be like a Fran and St. Louis is not a a city that tolerates mediocrity. Just look at like Cardinals games. They’re in what? They’re in second place and half of Bush Stadium is empty. How many teams have left St. Louis cuz they haven’t succeeded there uh football or otherwise. So, uh they need to kind of at least stay in the in sniffing distance of a playoff spot. I think in the next three years, how about LA? LA. Drew Dowy has got to retire. And Kopitar’s got to retire at some point. Like they’ve got good young players. You’re betting on Biffield big time for sure. But you just you just traded Gav or uh didn’t trade but you lost Gabriov like got Brent Clark like that’s a pretty good player too but yeah I mean I don’t I don’t know if they’re like Philip Deno is 32. That’s crazy to me. Um yeah I don’t I I I think the teams on on the ascension would be like Utah. Minnesota I they they Minnesota hinges on Capriov his decision. It really feels like Minnesota is going to bring him back. It does. They’ve got tons of cap space with the uh suitor and a priest deals uh coming off the books. Even like today they have 14 million in cap space. I mean that’s that’s not bad. And they got a looking like longterm. Terasenko and Zukarella are free agents after next year. They’re not worried about either of those guys coming back. Yeah. Marcus Johansson’s 34. Nicholas Abbe Kubo is a guy. Uh, Zack Paggoian is 34. He’s going to be UFA. So, there’s not a ton of like work to do for the Wild in terms of big contracts. Yeah, Baldi is locked up long term. Ericson is locked up long term. Faber is locked up long term. Broaddine, Middleton, like they’re in pretty good shape. Goending they got to figure out cuz Gustoson’s a free agent after this year. Um, but Capri off is going to make 13 million easy. Yeah. Yeah. He’ll be up. He’ll be up there for sure. Oh, yeah. They got Walston. That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. I think Vancouver’s bubble might burst. I mean, if you’re already having your Is it even inflated at the moment? I mean, you’re already having uh what was it? Was it Jim Ruther? Not Jim Rutherford. Alvine was uh talking about well, we’d like to keep Quinn Hughes around, but you know, he kind of wants to play with his brothers. Oh my god. Why are you saying that, dude? your captain and the arguably the best defenseman or second best defenseman in the league and you’re talking about well in two years he might just be gone like crazy. Anaheim I think is on the ascension. Seattle I think is stuck in neutral so Hawks could leap frog them. Um in the east I don’t know if the Islanders the Penguins are trying to tank. I think the Flyers who Flyers I kind of think they’re pointed in the right direction. Yeah, they’re on the way up. Uh Islanders, I don’t know if they’re going to be in the in in a playoff picture over the next three years. Rangers bubble could burst. If if last season wasn’t an anomaly and they stink again this year, um that might be a kind of a blowup situation. What about the Jets? Giggities mentions the Jets. He says Winnipeg will be good this year, but I think the next year or two they will fall off hard. Kyle Kyle Connor may very well leave. They obviously lost Nikolai. Um but look look at the free agents they have coming up after next season. Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti, Adam Lowry, Gustav Nyquist, Jonathan Taves, Cole Kepka, Tanner Pearson, David Gustoson, like uh Luke Shen, Ken Miller, Logan Stanley. I I think there’s a lot of free agents coming up for them. Yeah. I think over the next three years, you still bank that Connor Hellbuck is going to be a top tier goalie in the NHL. Yeah. What does he do in the playoffs is is a whole different question. You still bet on Shifley. Um but yeah, I mean I that’s that’s fair. They they have some business to do and I wouldn’t say their prospect system is robust as far as they got a decent amount of draft picks. Like they’re in good draft shape. Yeah. Next year they have a first, third, fifth, sixth, seventh. Uh, same deal. If you’re a team contending and you are able to hold your firsts, like that’s not bad. Yeah. Like they might be late first, but like I think some teams, unless you’re using those to get topend players in trades and stuff, like it’s not bad business to also use your own first round picks to keep talent in your prospect pool. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know if the Jets fall off. I do wonder a little bit about Colorado, but I still think that in three years you’re still talking about a team that’s in the playoff picture. Yeah, I mean that’s that’s the that’s going to be the tough thing. Even if the Hawks improve, where’s the drop off coming? But I think there’s opportunity there. Like it can happen quickly, you know? So, and I’m throwing Eastern Conference teams in there just for the sake of who they could be ahead of the in the league. I know. Yeah, it doesn’t matter. That doesn’t matter for playoffs. But as far as like not being at the bottom of the league completely, I think there are some teams that their arrow is pointed down while the Hawks seem like they’re pointed up. Yeah, I would add probably on a Winnipeg thing to the fact that they let Eers walk probably indicates that they’re saving money for Calcon Connor and they’re going to get that deal done cuz if they want to stay competitive, they have to have Calcon Connor as part of things. 28 years old, makes 7.1 and a half basically. Um, that’s a guy you need around for relevance. Goal scorer. Shley’s 32 and he’s got six years left on that deal. Jet for life. Yeah, the last three of those are going to be rough. So, we’ll see. Things teams drop off fast, man. Everyone had the Nashville Predators pencled in on a long cup run this year and all of a sudden like things just can fall apart. Injuries can happen. No one believed the Hawks are going to fall off as fast as they did. No, absolutely not. All right, Stephen, who we got next? Yoy. Uh, this is from the Hawk Hog Train. Choo Choo. Uh, the Hawks didn’t extend uh qualifying offers to Gutman, Kurishv, Leipen, Retay, Serella. Hawks lost the rights to Alex Heran, Marcel, Marcel, Shernburgg, and Milton Oscerson. Uh, what are those players’ choices? the non-qualifying offers, which means they become free agents and like CG can sign Cole Gutman sign with another team. Marcel signed a one-year contract with the Icehogs. Can any team come calling or is he protected by signing with the Hogs? The prospects who were not reuped and had not signed an ELC, can they declare for the draft again? What about Ty Henry deciding to look elsewhere? What are his possibilities? So, there’s a lot in there about a lot of prospects. Um, so yes, Marcel Marcel signed a a one-year contract with the Ice Hogs in the AHL. Um, so he’s still within the organization. If he if he were to play in the NHL, he would need to sign an NHL contract. Obviously, uh, signing AHL contract caps you at playing in the AHL and the ECHL. Um, for the draft picks that didn’t sign their entry- level contracts, um, their rights expire, so they’re now free agents. They can go anywhere they want. Talking about Farand and, uh, Shernborg and and, um, Oscerson. Uh, Ty Henry is was drafted by the Blackhawks, sixth round pick last year, I believe he was. Um, he’s so he’s in their system. they hold his draft rights until uh for for three years and then and then those expire. Uh so I mean if he doesn’t sign his entry level contract, he’ll be just like those guys that didn’t get contracts now. They’ll become free agents. Um yeah, so I mean that’s those players that don’t get those those offers, they just go to the open market and they can sign uh anywhere they want. Um, I think, and this is just off the top of my head, but I think if a player is on an AHL contract and an NHL team comes to them with an NHL contract, I think they can take the NHL contract. I’m not certain on that, but I think that is possible. Makes sense. I don’t think it happens very often, but I think does the like would the if someone came to Marel Marcel with an NHL deal, would the Hawks have the ability to match? The Hawks have no interest in Marcel Marcel playing in the NHL. He’s a fifth round pick. That’s why he’s on an AHL contract. Yeah. So, I mean, this is something that I know the show is relatively new, few years old. Um, and we get so ind depth on draft picks and prospects, especially during a rebuild. It is very rare that a fifth round pick or a sixth round pick starts to makes an impact in the NHL at all. And I know Marcel Marcel was very entertaining when they drafted him and he’s a big kid and it was very enticing, but it’s a fifth round pick for a reason. His lore is built off of his prospect camp interview. Like that’s really it. Other than that, he’s a big guy that was a project and at best he’s an AHL guy, I think. And and he’s not a bad not a bad kid. No, it’s fine. You need guys like that. Yeah, you you need players like that that can play in your minor league system and eventually they become good minor league vets that help young players. And there’s also the possibility he goes and plays overseas. sure that that that could be the brighter future for him. Who knows? Um but they still value him to keep him around the organization. So that’s why he’ll be, you know, he’ll be on the uh uh the Icehogs books, uh able to play in Rockford and in uh Indie. And as best as I can see here, a player on an AHL only contract can sign with an NHL team, although they would need to uh potentially be subject to waiverss after signing that deal. Okay. Again, rarely I think rarely ever happens, but it looks like there is a possibility for that to happen. Uh good catch here from Carter G when it comes to the 84 game schedule. 84 games in a new CBA is because it evens out games played. Four against division teams, three in other division, same conference, and two for each team in the other conference. Yeah. And also an extra home game gate for the owners. Yeah. Yes. Sure. But that does even things out. So it’s that’s good. I like that. Uh by the way, Milton Oscerson, who they also didn’t tender round, seventh pick more than enough to figure out who’s a playoff team and not. I would think so, too. Anyway, but I I I get the argument for wanting it to be even. They played 84 games before, right, in a season, like in the 80s. Yeah, I was I was a young lad then, so I don’t recall, but I know they played less than 82 before. Well, right. Yeah, like 80. They had an 80 game season, but I’m not sure when it switched to if it switched 84. All right, Stephen, let’s go. We got to rifle through these. Come on. You’re slowing us down. Let’s get to uh Should we get to our video question? Yeah, let’s do that. and then we’ll get to I like that question Ne’s question. Speaking of being young. Okay, the other one first. All right. Okay. Uh, what cost and term do you see our RFAS getting? Are you surprised Solder Bloom filed for arbitration? Uh, no, I’m not surprised that he that he did. I think I think he came off of uh a season that was a very big bounceback season. Um, and why not? Why not try and and get as much money as possible? Um, yeah, I I think probably like two years for Solder Bloom, 1 something million, like somewhere between. He’s not going to break the bank. Like he’s a he’s a backup goalie that is still young, but he’s like he’s fine. I don’t It’s not like you’re not talking about three, four million or anything like that. I think we know what Arvid Solder Bloom is at this point. Yeah, he is a middle tier backup. Mhm. And I maybe that sounds harsh. I don’t mean it in a harsh way, but he’s a backup you can count on, but he’s not a guy who I think is someday going to uh supplant an NHL starter as a starter. I think he will always be a quality backup, and that’s kind of his ceiling. So yeah, I think two years, two million or less. What do you think for Kaiser? That’s an interesting That is interesting because I still don’t know what to make of him. So the uh cap wages AFP analytics estimate has two options for Kaiser. They say 6* 5.5 or 3 * 3.2. That one feels more likely. I am. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m and again kept going up yada yada all the qualifiers. I don’t know if I’m ready. I don’t know I’ve seen enough from Wyatt Kaiser yet to commit $5.5 million to his game six years. I mean, Alex Flaskic makes 4.6, right? And again, does can he make more? Of course he can. But I have not seen enough from Wyatt Kaiser to justify a five and a half million dollar contract for six years. Yeah, I think I’ll take that bet. three by three and then maybe it’s a little more than five on the back end of that. But sure, maybe it’s six, maybe it’s seven. Okay, I can live with that. I’m just not making that commitment just yet to Wyatt Kaiser. Yeah, I think the three by three, three and a half. I think that that’s fine because you got I think you want to figure out where he fits into the into the prospects uh pool with all these defenseman here cuz you know, you got to have a spot for Renzel. You know, you got to have a spot for Levinov. You’re pretty you’re still pretty sure you’re going to need a spot for Kevin Kchinsky. Yeah, I think you’re still pretty sure you need a spot for Ethan Del Mastro. And then you then you start to get into that that you know mix of Nolan Allen, Louis Krevier, Kaiser’s in that mix. Like who are the established guys? Who do you think has like that for sure NHL future? I think Kaiser is like on that cusp, but I I wouldn’t put him in the like Renzel Levino. No, no, no, no. So, yeah, I think I think three by 3.5, whatever it is, I think that that’s fair because it’s not a ton of money. Cap’s going up, of course. Um, and like three years, like that’s a that’s a that I think for a player like that, that’s an investment in show us what you got. And that kind of get puts that window of like are you going to be here when when we want to contend and what are you going to you know what are you going to show us in that time frame. Spencer Knight the AFP analytics estimate on cap wages says 4 by 5.758 or 1 by 3.972. Knight I’m betting on. I want to give him term. I want to get him locked up. I’m comfortable with that number. 5.7 for Spencer Knight. maybe go up to six for him to solidify things. Um, he is unproven. I think we very much liked what we saw from him last season. He’s unproven as a starter. Unproven as a starter. Correct. Can Can he shoulder 50 plus 60 games a season and be, you know, that that def definitive starter level guy? Um, yeah, I’ I’d be fine doing investing in him for sure. Now, that’s that’s one that they’ll have time to figure out going into, you know, into next summer likely. Um, but he’s in that Baddard Nazar uh spot where he could sign an extension now if he wanted to, but I think like with Bard and Nazar, um it’s probably best for him and his pocketbook that he plays out the season and sees what what he does as a full-time starter for the first time in his career. Uh the other one that is up is Krevier. Again, not going to break the bank. I’d even go one year on him. like yeah, he’s he’s very likely your 67 defenseman being a 68 defenseman cuz he’s tall. Um I don’t know 1 million like it’s it’s going to be it’s going to be a really low contract. They’re projecting uh 8 813,750. Yeah. Fine. Uh I wouldn’t I wouldn’t I wouldn’t do 813. I’d do like 810 would be my max. Yeah. That three grand is going to come in handy. Yeah, you really need every penny. All right, we ready for our video? All right, let’s video question. All right, here’s my entry for mailbag Monday. Uh, it pertains to the ‘9s Blackhawks. Uh, mainly the early ‘9s Blackhawks. So, being somebody who was born in 1990 and was alive for that era, but not quite aware enough to know what was going on, can you fill me in on why how were the Blackhawks as good as they were in the early ‘9s with Bill Warts as the owner? I don’t like I can’t make the connection because by all accounts he you know didn’t want to put money into the team but you we had a team that was like ready to win in like 1992 and trading somebody like Dennis Sevard for Chris Chilio is like a win now move. Acquiring somebody like Gary Sudter seems like a win now move. Adding Bernie Nichols for the 95 and the 96 season season seasons seems like a win now move. So, what am I like missing? Can you fill in like the blank? Like, was he will was Bill Warts willing to sign on for some type of players? Was he just not willing to sign long-term contracts? Like, why? Why? What happens in 9697 that everything just gets like they just gets blown up. Also, uh you may notice that I am in my gym clothes. It’s cuz I’m at the gym. But fear not, because I have my Mando deodorant wipes. So, thanks to Mando, my balls smell just as fresh as Jay Zawasi’s balls. I I love it. A a a mailbag question and an ad read in one in one uh one video. Stephen invoice them immediately for that. By the way, that’s from uh our our user uh on our Die Hard Discord uh from Dying Breed Collector. So, thank you for the question, Jay. All right, old man Corner. So, the ’90s Hawks were good cuz they drafted well like Ronic. Seard was a draft pick. I know that was a long time ago. That was I think 81 was the uh Seavard draft. Eddie Ol was a good draft pick. You traded for Chris Chelios. You traded Savard for Chelios and Yeah. Like you just had good You had good drafting, good development of really good players. You signed out at Belffor. Yes. What the Hawks were unwilling, what Bill Wartz was unwilling to do was to pay his star players what they were worth. And that’s what happened when Blefor and Chelios and Ronic were all let go when they were because they all want they all had earned new and bigger contracts. Al let’s leave Chelios aside. I think Chelios is a bit of a unicorn here. So, Ronic, face of the franchise, electrifying player, playoff performer, came through in the clutch all the time, wanted to be paid accordingly, was not then was traded to Phoenix. Eddie Blefor, they started feeling like, uh, maybe this guy’s getting a little old, he’s starting to drop off a little bit. Well, the team was starting to drop off a little bit, too. Then Eddie Belffor goes on to win a Stanley Cup, right? Um, and then Chris Chelios, he’s 36 when they trade him. So, the assumption was Chris Chelios doesn’t have a lot of good hockey left. Uh, so let’s see. He played 10 more years. His last year in Chicago, he was 37 years old. He went on to play one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, uh, 10 seasons with Detroit and another seven games with Atlanta. So, while he played more games for the Hawks, he played more seasons for Detroit. Um, that was just a huge miscalculation. Look, I can see not wanting to commit long-term to a 37y old defenseman. But the guy played till he was 48 and he also finished sixth in Norris voting at the age of 38 in 99 2000 and was runner up to his teammate Nicholas Lindstöm. Might have heard of him. uh in at the age of 40 age of 40 he was the runner up to the Norris. Yeah. So it was uh Bill Wartz was a very stubborn businessman. Did not want to pay uh premiums for premium players. Thought that being a Blackhawk was a privilege. Um and just there was just a lot of penny pinching around the organization. But they did do a good job of drafting. They had some decent coaching throughout that era. of course with Mike Keenan. Um but it’s they they did make some savvy trades too. Um like the Chelios trade, you trade Dennis, people are like, “What the hell?” And you get one of the best defenseman in your franchise’s history. So you know, and Jay Stroser in the chat points out a couple others. Dirk Graham, the Sutters, uh Gary Sudter, who was Chris Chelios’s left hand uh right-hand man for years. uh Tony Ammani was a trade the best 10 in Hawks history. So it wasn’t so much that Wartz was not trying to be competitive, but he would always I have like this list of guys in my head like Doug Weight, Jason Arnot, uh uh like uh Shane Corson, like these were like the Btier NHL players that always felt like the kind of guy that Bill Wartz would sign. he would never go for the big home run like the Bret Hole thing. Like it was s it seemed like it was going to happen. It was such a no-brainer that Bret Hull plays for the Blackhawks and they just couldn’t get it done because of money. That sort of thing happened all the time. Or you get guys at the very end like Doug Gilmore at the very end. Paul Coffee at the very end for 10 games. Yeah. Right. Like wow, look at this huge name. Oh wait, this guy is totally totally done. Theo Flurry. Theo Flurry. Yes. Is another example. But they they made some savvy moves. They developed well and they were just unwilling to get that final piece. Like that cup series against Colorado in 96. The like whoever won that series was winning the cup and the the Hawks gave the Avalanche all they could handle, but the Avalanche were just a little bit better. And they were they had, you know, the Hawks had Eddie Belffor, they had Patrick Wah, the Hawks had Jeremy Ronic, they had Joe Sackic. So they were just a little bit better in every little category. and the Hawks just would not add to make the team good enough to get over that hump. But I will say there were several teams in the 90s that could have won Stanley Cups that were good enough and just didn’t. We’ve seen that in the NHL many, many times, you know, where you look at the Oilers. Are the Oilers a cup champion quality team? Yes, they are. They just haven’t done it. Yeah. So, they were right there. It was just the frustration of man, let’s just get over the hump here and bring that guy in to to make the difference and works would just never do it. All right, I think we’re out of time. We got to wrap things up. Uh, we got time for one more. Time for one more. All right, let’s do one more. We’ll we’ll head to overtime. All right. Heisenberg from the Pope the 14th says, “With the King signing a few free for agent defenseman, uh, the Blackhawks should consider trading for 65 veteran defenseman Joel Edmonson for a mid-round pick. Despite having three years left on his deal, Edmonson could replace Connor Murphy, who’s on an expiring contract and could be moved at the deadline, leaving Edmonson as the team’s lone veteran defenseman moving forward. So Murphy is a right side D, so it wouldn’t be a direct replacement. I don’t hate the idea. I just I don’t know. I’m I’m I’m here to just let let young guys play and bring and bring guys in because I don’t I think having Conor Murphy around is great, but I think having Conor Murphy as a deadline chip is very appealing. I think there’s going to be a lot of teams that look at a guy like Conor Murphy, if he’s healthy to solidify their defense for the playoffs, that’s a really good ad. Conor Murphy’s a really good and respected player. Yeah. Um, is he a star? No. But you add a guy like that to your cup run, that is a big piece. And I think the Hawks will do well in trading him at the deadline, assuming health. And that’s always the thing with Conor Murphy, right? Yeah. And then just let Del Master or Kaiser or whoever. Yeah. to me that that’s that is the sticking point is, you know, we’ve heard about, you know, are the Blackhawks going to bring in, you know, another veteran defenseman, you know, bottom pair, something, whatever. Like, sure, you can do that. I think it’s it would be fine to have another NHL veteran voice in the defensive group outside of Murphy. Um, but I think it’s very clear that Kyle Davidson is just wanting to have the young guys take over the team and and be able to to find their footing in the NHL. And Vlic, you know, he’s still a young guy, but he’s got over 200 games in the NHL. Like, he’s he’s kind of found the ropes, so to say, uh, in the league and can can now be that like leader of the young defenseman. Um, and you, you know, you got Kevin Cchinsky who’s played nearly 100 games in the NHL. Um, you know, Kaiser’s been back and forth AHL, NHL. He’s played professional hockey for, you know, this will be his third season. Um, so they’re not it’s not that they’re all rookies. They’re all 20 year olds. Um, they’ll they’ll have some experience to kind of kind of lean on. And yeah, I think if you were to if you were to move out Murphy at the deadline, your thought is, okay, now Ethan Del Mastro has a full-time spot or Nolan Allen gets out of the, you know, three, you know, the the three defenseman that just rotate in the number six spot or whatever it is like that. Um, then you can put one of those players in there in the in the lineup on on the ice night in and night out that was was in and out of the lineup rather than just saying, “Okay, Murf, pluck one veteran out for another veteran that does nothing to like push any of those young defenseman forward as far as getting the the on ice experience.” Um, and I think you know what we’re seeing around the league, like you look at some of the guys that are still available, you know, in free agency or some of these players that are kind of like out there on the trade market. All the marquee names are gone. And I think we’re actually kind of seeing a little bit of a shift in how free agency and and all that works. With this cap going up, teams are able to just have the guys that they already have and you you you dance with the the one that brought you there rather than trying to go out and get somebody new or, you know, try and sh you know, shake anything up, you know, within your team, you just say, “Well, all the guys we liked from last year, if a team had success, we’re going to bring them back like, you know, what the Panthers did.” Um, so I think if you’re if you’re looking at Edmonson and being like, well, we could go out and get him, but what what purpose does it serve other than just he’s been around the league? I don’t know. I just Yeah, I don’t think it makes if I’m bringing if I’m my our whole thought on free agency and everything is if you’re bringing in a veteran, it’s someone who has to make things better. It is someone who makes the team better and more competitive. I don’t know if Joel Edmonson does that. He might in the in the immediiacy be better than you know, Allen or Delmro or one of those guys because it kind of feels like a similar profile of a defenseman, similar style. Um, but I’d rather just have Allen or Delmro playing. I agree. So, all right. Got a super chat from Michael Evans. Two bucks says, “Speaking of Soder Bloom, what was his qualifying offer?” I didn’t see it published anywhere, but uh cap wages has the qualifying offer calculator. said his would be a million bucks. So, he deserves a little more than that, which is why he probably went to arbitration. Yeah. And I’m sure he’ll get somewhere between one and two and everybody’s happy. Yeah. I don’t think it would be a very contentious arbitration process. Um, the only chip I could imagine the Blackhawks have to play and say like, “Well, we don’t want to pay you all this money,” is saying like, “Well, we could just have Drew come up and take your spot.” or Lauren Prisah. Lauren Prisahis, but Kyle Davidson has publicly been, you know, he’s been out there saying if he if he’s healthy for next season. We don’t even know if Lauren Prisah is going to play next year. No idea. So, I Yeah, again, I don’t think it’s going to be contentious. I think they’ll get this done. Everyone will be happy. It’s not a lot of money and Sold Bloom’s back. It’s I don’t think it’s any sort of uh like you said, there’s no contention. It’s just like uh I think I’ve earned a little more than that, so I’m going to try to get it. And the Hawks say, “Cool. Good luck. We’ll see you on the other side.” I think everybody’s fine with it. Absolutely. All right, we’re going to wrap things up. We are back tomorrow. Can we promote our guest yet? Not yet. All right, check your text, former Hawk. Jeez Louise. All right, it’ll be good. We’ll talk to you tomorrow at two. Thanks for being here. Thanks for getting us over the 100 like mark. We appreciate all of you as always. Talk to you tomorrow at two on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. We all sitting like the mayor.

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We continue Mailbag Monday leftovers as Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabassi tackle your questions. Would you rather have the Bears or Blackhawks’ future? What could new contracts look like for Connor Bedard and the current restricted free agents? That and more on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast.

0:00 Intro
01:00 Mailbag Tuesday!!
02:00 NHL News: ESPN Contract, Turner Sports Contract, New NHL Rules
09:00 Would You Rather: Bears or Blackhawks Rebuild
20:00 Can the Hawks Continue to Afford Connor Bedard
33:00 Who Can the Hawks Leapfrog to Get to the playoffs
41:00 What are the Prospects’ Choices Moving Forward?
46:00 Cost and Term of RFA and Arvid Söderblom Arbitration
52:00 Video Question!
59:00 Hawks Trading for Joel Edmundson to Replace Connor Murphy
01:04:20 Superchat!
01:05:00 Goodbyes!

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