The Dumb Part Of Hockey Twitter Is Mad At Me Again About A Seth Jones Trade Proposal
Here I am out on the internet, just thinking out loud about how to get a deal done for Seth Jones that would both a) have a chance at getting a yes from CBJ and Jarmo and b) doesn't completely debilitate the rest of the roster going forward by removing Dach or Debrincat(or even Reichel). This trade was an attempt at that and it was met with utter contempt from the bowels of hockey twitter. Mutants who don't follow me, can't read, and honestly don't know dick about anything. These are the examples
I would like to start at a place where I think we all agree...we don't want to give up Debrincat or Dach. Check
This is a world where you have to give up something to get something. The Blackhawks will have to part ways with a high end prospect, a 1st round pick, and likely more pieces to get a deal done for Jones. People don't like Jones. I am not saying he is a Norris guy necessarily, but he is absolutely a top pair defenseman which are very hard to come by. It is my assumption that Boqvist will never be that type of guy.
At the moment Boqvist has two GIANT red flags in my opinion. 1) the team has a stated goal for him to improve his conditioning. He's 20. He's a pro. He should have no problem motivating himself to be a top conditioned athlete as a guy making good money and a former top 10 pick. 2) He was drafted for his considerable offensive skill which definitely pops at times. That talent has yet to translate to production on the ice. He had ZERO primary assists at 5v5 play. He's not driving offense. The light switch could come on and he could before an offensive player, but we haven't seen enough to say that all he needs is more time. Whenever there is this much of a disconnect between perceived talent and on-ice production there's a problem. Could be conditioning. Could be hockey IQ. Could be confidence. Could be coaching. This is an era where young defensemen who were high draft picks have come in and had success. McAvoy, Heiskanen, Makar, Adam Fox, K'andre Miller, Quinn Hughes, Sam Girard, etc...all more advanced at similar ages than Boqvist. Hell, even though he's older, Kalynuk was more productive offensively last year.
IF You do make a trade for Jones(or even sign Hamilton) Boqvist's role becomes redundant and he would have even fewer opportunities. Jones is your first pair RD. Murphy is your 2nd pair RD. That leaves Boqvist as your 3rd pair RD at best. The left side still has de Haan, Wyatt Kalynuk, Caleb Jones, and Riley Stillman. So if you're giving up a top 3 prospect for Jones it makes sense that it would be the guy destined to be your 3rd pair D and 2nd PP unit guy(at best). His loss is mitigated by having Ian Mitchell to fill that 3rd pair role. Even if you are convinced that Boqvist is much better than Mitchell, and maybe he is, we are talking about a 3rd pair guy. What is Boqvist's absolute ceiling? A Tyson Barrie type? Give me a right side of Jones, Murphy, and Mitchell for the next 6+ years and I will win a lot of games.
Kurashev is the next guy on the list. I think he looks like a pretty good player. Not a center long term, imo. Probably better suited as a wing, but he looks like a middle 6 guy to me. Not like he is an all-star. The Blackhawks have roster re-shaping to do because right now the top 9 looks like this
Debrincat-Dach-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Hagel
Reichel-Strome-Borgstrom
Again, I like Kurashev. I think he could be a 50 point guy some day on a good team. That is nothing to sneeze at. I would like to keep him if possible, but you need to dangle something to make a trade plausible. Kurashev should be considered an attractive 2nd piece
Nylander sucks. Get him off the team. If he can be used to get Jones throw a parade for the trade.
Beaudin looked okay in a very small sample size. Seems like a smart player. Having Kalynuk and Kaiser in the pool helps mitigate that loss. I don't think Beaudin is more than a 3rd pair guy on a championship level team.
The Blackhawks tried to give away Zadorov. The Kraken said no thanks and took John Quenneville. I don't want to sign Zadorov to the price tag he's reportedly asked for. Maybe CBJ will. If they don't and someone else gives him the contract worth between $4.1 and $6M then that turns into a 2nd rd comp pick. Ditto for Suter. If you look at the lines above and give Reichel and Borgstrom spots(I think they're both in the lineup on opening night) then where exactly does Suter fit? He's a nice player. Not a guy that you NEED to have if you're the Hawks and you believe in Borgstrom and Reichel. If you like Suter more than Strome, I won't argue too much, but Strome is still younger and if they give him wingers that compliment his game I believe his ceiling is higher than Suter's. That could be my opinion/preference, but I like Strome more.
1st round pick after all of that...is a lot, but again, because the Blackhawks aren't really giving up any truly high end prospects besides Boqvist(and that depends on your evaluation of his red flags and struggles) you have compensate with volume of prospects, assets, and a lotto ticket that has some top 3 lotto protection built in because the top 3 next year is so special.
People argued that "6 roster playerss" is too much for Seth Jones(a top 20-25 Dman). It's not. You know why? Boqvist, Nylander, Beaudin, Kurashev, Suter, and Zadorov were all "roster players" on a team that was bad. Very bad. So bad that they gave up the most high danger chances in the league...again. AND...the Hawks weren't particularly good except for in transition offense where you'd expect Boqvist to excel, but he didn't. So what are we even talking about. If this deal, or something similar, is on the table now just call the fucking league office and make it happen. I'm giving up 6 dimes and a scratch ticket for a dollar. People are so stupid sometimes it drives me insane. You need to be able to think through the entire roster, future, and treat it like you're building a castle. You need cornerstones and keystones. Guys like Kurashev might be a nice brick in the wall some day, but he's not a corner stone piece. Seth Jones is. You can always find extra bricks laying around to fill in the gaps.
Debrincat-Dach-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Hagel
Reichel-Strome-Borgstrom
Hinostoza-Kampf-Carpenter
de Haan-Jones
Stillman-Murphy
Jones-Mitchell/Kalynuk
This response from hockey twitter was pure hockey twitter
I don't mind people responding. I felt the need to write 1000 words or whatever explaining things that are obvious to me and other people who understand hockey. I don't mind the "ratio" because I know I am right and all these people are wrong and dumb. That is the way of the world.