…but then he’d probably talk about how he hates gay people. But that’s another story.
Anyway, Stan got Jack Skille to essentially take a 50% pay cut, signing him for 600k today. So, to the big board!
Will Skille’s signing, and the utter assurance he has to play with the big club this year (seriously, if he’s not ready by now than he’s the Wings-version of Ville Leino, though I doubt he’d go somewhere else and tear it up) the Hawks forwards look something like:
Brouwer-Toews-Kane
Stalberg-Sharp-Hossa
Kopecky-Bolland-Skille
Reasoner
That’s not what the lines will look like but you get the idea. The Hawks still only have their top 4 d-men, and if we go with the “have the cap room of Huet and Scott”, well, Skille’s new deal and Scott’s are basically a wash. So the Hawks need 3 forwards, a goalie, and 3 d-men with about 4.8 to play with. Bickell and Dowell are almost certain to fill out a couple of those, at no more than 1.2. So 1 forward, a goalie, and 3 d-men with 3.6. If you want to throw Lalonde or Vishnevsky on the roster, then it’s 2 defensemen and a goalie for about 3.
However, there’s every chance the Hawks could elect to not have Reasoner start the year here, or be here at all. Which means filling out four forward spots, 3 d-men spots, and a goalie for 6.4 million (Huet, Scott, and Reasoner’s space minus Crawford’s). Bickell, Dowell, and Skille take that down to 4. Lalonde/Visnevsky plus another d-man for let’s say 700k puts you at a goalie, a d-man, and a bonus forward for 2.6.
Basically, there’s no way Kyle Beach starts the year here, or is here before the All-Star Break, though he might need the development mentally. We shall see.