[TRADE] Hjalmarsson to ARZ

[2014olympicgold]

This can't be a cap deal. It's 250K. That's nothing.

Think term too. Murphy i think has 2 more yrs at his cap hit.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Wow this sucks. Chicago just got much worse. Murphy isn't a bad defender, but he's definitely no Hammer. I dont understand this deal at all with the lack of cap savings.

[RizzeeDizzee]

Some reactions are making it seem like Murphy is a stratospheric downgrade, but is he really? I'm not saying he's NH's equal by any means, but at more than a handful of years younger I see this deal as being defensible. With the reactions you'd think it was NH for Adam McQuaid. Murphy is servicable and should only get better.

[rataylor22]

Think term too. Murphy i think has 2 more yrs at his cap hit.

Murphy has 5 more. Hjammer has 2

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Some reactions are making it seem like Murphy is a stratospheric downgrade, but is he really? I'm not saying he's NH's equal, but at more than a handful of years younger I see this deal as being defensible.

Yes. Yes he really is.

[The Black Panther]

Plus Murphy is younger and might have some untapped potential.

Connor has amazing skills/offensive upside. Tippett just didnt give him that role.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Some reactions are making it seem like Murphy is a stratospheric downgrade, but is he really? I'm not saying he's NH's equal by any means, but at more than a handful of years younger I see this deal as being defensible. With the reactions you'd think it was NH for Adam McQuaid. Murphy is servicable and should only get better.

"Serviceable" is a stratospheric downgrade from Hjalmarsson. Hammer is a top 2 defenseman on one of the best teams in the league. I do think Murphy is a good 2nd pairing guy who's young and has some upside still, but is that upside a top 2 defender? I don't know, but I really doubt it. This trade just sucks, plain and simple.

[bondon]

So I guess Arizona is really going for it?

Interesting turn of events. Kind of makes you wonder if they would like to have Hanzal back given their current state...or if he really wasn't part of their plan at all.

Also makes this whole Doan situation a lot more interesting too. He was super upset last year when they traded Hanzal away from what I've heard and thought that it signified that the organization was going forward with another rebuild plan which he wasn't happy about. These trades speak to the contrary. Maybe it's about shifting of the guard - getting Smith Doan and Hanzal out.

[rataylor22]

"Serviceable" is a stratospheric downgrade from Hjalmarsson. Hammer is a top 2 defenseman on one of the best teams in the league. I do think Murphy is a good 2nd pairing guy who's young and has some upside still, but is that upside a top 2 defender? I don't know, but I really doubt it. This trade just sucks, plain and simple.

This

[Pengwin7]

So I guess Arizona is really going for it?

Conversation out of Glendale:

AZ Ownership: "So.. John (Chayka). We are hearing that Vegas' new GM is absolutely killing it with his trades. Rumours are their team is going to be way better than ours."
Chayka: "Not true. I have assigned strategic weighted value to every player in the NHL and I assure you that we have more collective worth among our team."
AZ Ownership: "In English, please".
Chayka: "Pretty sure we'll do better than Vegas."
AZ Ownership: "Good to hear, because if they finish higher than us in the standings, you're fired".
AZ Ownership leaves room.
...
Chayka (to self): "Fugg me, time to make some calls".

[Daydream Nation]

I am optimistic with this trade. Hammer is 30 years old and there have been some cracks in his game. He had a poor 2nd half and 4-game playoffs. Hjalmarsson has played a lot hockey and blocked a lot of pucks over the years. When he starts to slip it might go very quickly. I have said for a while that I wish Bowman was more like Belichick and this is definitely it.

I don't know anything about Murphy but I know that Bowman loved his game when he was involved with him on Team USA. Arizona fans have a relatively good report on him and I know he had good possession numbers on a poor Phoenix team last year. Overall. I have enough faith in Bowman to trust him on this one. Bowman has done well in the past in identifying defensemen. Oduya and Kempny are a couple that come to mind and some of the failures I attribute more to Q than Bowman.

Personally, I will miss Hammer. He is one of my favorite Hawks over this entire run. He has been a warrior for the Blackhawks.

[lucafen4]

Conversation out of Glendale:

AZ Ownership: "So.. John (Chayka). We are hearing that Vegas' new GM is absolutely killing it with his trades. Rumours are their team is going to be way better than ours."
Chayka: "Not true. I have assigned strategic weighted value to every player in the NHL and I assure you that we have more collective worth among our team."
AZ Ownership: "In English, please".
Chayka: "Pretty sure we'll do better than Vegas."
AZ Ownership: "Good to hear, because if they finish higher than us in the standings, you're fired".
AZ Ownership leaves room.
...
Chayka (to self): "Fugg me, time to make some calls".

Here I thought the convo was more like this.


owner: Chayka... I now own the entire team. I can't afford and will not continue to lose $25million a season, or more. You take this team out of its rebuild stage and get it into the playoffs this season.
Chayka: but we need a goalie, top 2 dman, and a #1centre before that is even computable.
owner: perfect, glad to see you already have your list ready.

owner walks away

Chayka to himself: what just happened?

[rataylor22]

Conversation out of Glendale:

AZ Ownership: "So.. John (Chayka). We are hearing that Vegas' new GM is absolutely killing it with his trades. Rumours are their team is going to be way better than ours."
Chayka: "Not true. I have assigned strategic weighted value to every player in the NHL and I assure you that we have more collective worth among our team."
AZ Ownership: "In English, please".
Chayka: "Pretty sure we'll do better than Vegas."
AZ Ownership: "Good to hear, because if they finish higher than us in the standings, you're fired".
AZ Ownership leaves room.
...
Chayka (to self): "Fugg me, time to make some calls".

Maybe this conversation could have happened before the expansion draft, but after seeing how bad McPhee botched that Chayka would be laughing.

[The Comish]

Just gonna say, Hjalmarsson is so much better than Murphy.

He was far and away Chicago's second best defenceman. Chicago is a much worse team now.

Completely agree. Hjalmarsson is a rock back there. I mean, I like Murphy and think he might have some untapped potential, but giving up an established rock on the back end is tough to lose.