Forgive me for stepping on Hack’s goodbye, though he’d probably prefer it that way. And forgive my confusion, as it feels like it’s been about four years since I wrote anything about….well, anything. I’ve been doing filler for so long, I can’t remember how this goes.
Anyway, the Hawks have announced the signing of Michal Rozsival to a one-year deal. The initial buzz is that it’s for $2 million, which seems a bit high for a stay-at-home third pairing guy. Hey, don’t I write that about the Hawks a lot?
First, Rozsival the player. I miracle worker he is not. This is a kind-of big body you can put on the third pair to be a roadblock, and on the kill as well. In fact, he is a pretty effective penalty killer. Now, if you talk to Rangers fans, they’ll be laughing at the Hawks today. But a big part of that was the Blueshirts signing Rozie to a pretty ridiculous contract for what he is. Coyotes fans really like him, and will probably be sorry to see him go. In fact, according to Behind The Net, Rozie was the Yotes best d-man last year, with a +0.60 Rating. He did that while seeing about an even Quality of Competition, and managed a plus-Corsi. In the end, he’s a passable road-grater back there when he’s on. You’ll also recall him ragdolling some Hawks forwards last spring. There is some snarl here, and that’s welcome on a blueline that’s kind of short of it.
Where does it leave the Hawks situation? Well, Hjalmarsson is even more a goner than he already was, if that’s possible. So let’s eliminate him from the equation. Steve Montador may also be heading out the door, though that would be a mini-white flag from Stan in favor of Q, getting rid of his signing that Q pissed on from the word go. Whether Montador goes or not, it leaves the Hawks with a bevy of d-men who can’t play with Nick Leddy regularly and are basically third-pairing guys. Does anyone really want to see Johnny Oduya on the second-pair for the entire season? Rozie and Brookbank and Montador and Olsen can’t be trusted with those minutes either.
What it does give the Hawks, with the impending departure of Hammer, is another guy you can trust with 15 minutes or more per night. That’s not a bad thing. It seems like the theory for the Hawks this year is that Keith and Seabrook will get their 20-25, and they’ll just make up the rest in some sort of grinder-stew with a bevy of guys from night to night who can take about 20.
It’s all dependent on Leddy taking a leap in his 3rd year, of course.
Hey, that was probably, ilke, my last news post on SCH. That’s kind of sad. Oh well.