{{TAZER19}}

[Tazer19]

[OilCountry93]

More than a little excited for this, great to see you back on the boards Tazer!

[Nickflyers]

All aboard the Hype train!!

[Braeden]

Tazer and Panarin hype train.

[Tazer19]

Good evening, Operation Sports. First off, I want to say that I'm really excited to be back on the boards for another installment of my Blackhakws' Dynasty. If you have followed me in the past you know what to expect. I try to be really creative, and rely a lot on graphics that I make to help tell the story. This is a very realistic dynasty, as in there won't be any "video game" trades or weird things like that in order to enhance the experience, the experience is enhanced by the content, and I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to interact, and I always love to hear your thoughts, time to lace em up, let's go!

Winds of Change are Blowing in Chicago

It was an odd off-season, you know, it didn't see a parade and a host of Hawks' players traipsing around the city with Lord Stanley in tow. It was full of disappointment, and an understanding that change wasn't an "if" but a when. The St. Louis Blues took care of the Hawks in seven games to close out the 2015-2016 season, and shot down the Hawks' chances of repeating as champions, way too soon. It was a hard fought series, but shined a light on the Hawks' deficiencies, mainly their lack of depth in the top six up front, and on the back end.

The salary cap has always made things difficult for the Hawks but that is the obvious price of success, and I don't think fans or players would have it any other way. The pressure of the cap was felt right away as the Hawks traded away Bryan Bickell, and Teuvo Teravainen on June 15th to Carolina, then traded Andrew Shaw to the Canadiens on June 24th. Losing some of their depth up front is going to make the competition for jobs during camp wide open. The Hawks still need someone to play with Jonathan Toews, it sounds weird but that was a huge hole last year, all year. Young players like Nick Schmaltz, and Tyler Motte are going to be given every opportunity to make an impact right away.

The blue line is where the Hawks improved the most during the off-season. Brian Campbell returns to the Hawks where he won a ring in 2010, and this time it's on a very friendly deal. Campbell is not exactly young, but has shown the ability to play 20+ minutes a night which takes a huge load off the group as a whole. Michal Kempny was another large addition for the Hawks, although it is not known what kind of game Kempny brings from Russia, he is an instant upgrade to the 5-6 spot from last year.

There are a lot of questions heading into this season as the Hawks are on the brink of turning the roster over to build it back up as their elite talent is aging and not getting any cheaper. Artemi Panarin is going to get paid after this year, but the Hawks will be more than willing to make that commitment to the bread man, but to make that happen the roster will have to look much different.... time to find out who wants it the most, and if the Hawks can afford it.

The 2016-2017 pre-season starts NOW....

[Strug04]

will be interesting to see how you manage some of those contracts

[Tazer19]

We are barely through the rookie tournament, and have not seen one preseason game yet, but already there are rumors flying that the Hawks are thinking about doing the unthinkable and deconstructing a team that many still believe have enough talent to win.

I don't know how accurate the rumors are, but something is definitely up...

[Nickflyers]

UH-oh! Big changes in Chicago???