What I'm Reading About What Scott Is Hearing

It's peak off-season. I've got that itch to write about the Blackhawks, but there's nothing really worth diving into.

Well, other than some rebuild stuff, I'm writing for On Tap Sports Net.

So, to scratch that itch, I thought I'd react to one of Scott Powers' recent "What I'm Hearing About the Blackhawks" articles over at the Athletic.

For clarity, I'm not reacting to anything he's saying specifically. Just mental tangents that my brain went on during each topic.

Mason West

Mason West was the first draft pick that made me publicly overreact. I'm not a prospect guru. Never claimed to be. When it comes to the draft, I'll research the top picks and dive into whoever the Blackhawks picked.

Mason West, though, I knew about West. I knew that he was a multi-sport athlete and was returning to high school to play one more year of football. I knew that because Elliotte Friedman of 32 Thoughts talked about how West could be a reach at the draft.

And the Hawks traded their two second-round picks to select him late in the first.

Why was I so upset? Well, mostly because I was drinking bourbon, and football is more lucrative than any other professional sport.

But considering that I've been wanting Kyle Davidson to do something a bit more bold, I should probably have kept my mouth shut.

Especially since this was considered a weak draft class.

Goaltenders

The Hawks have a lot of them, don't they?

They recently signed Stanislav Berezhnoy, a 22-year-old from Russia, who will most likely be Drew Commesso's backup in Rockford.

And Commesso is interesting.

Arvid Soderblom is also interesting, with a recent signing of $2.75 million for two years, it's an overpay. But does it really matter, considering the term and the way the cap is going?

I've praised Kyle Davidson heavily for the Spencer Knight trade. Mostly because he was able to retain so little on Seth Jones' contract while getting a potential starting goaltender in Knight. Jones is a good defenseman (fight me, Hawks fans), but he didn't want to be here, and his effort reflected that most nights. Bad contract aside, it was time for him to move on.

But for Knight, only time will tell what he turns into. Goalies are weird. There was a lot of hype around Knight when he came here, a lot from me. But will he actually be something?

Oh, and don't forget about Adam Gajan. Yes. He struggled in college (a .885 SV% through 21 games). But the kid is so young. Ilya Kanarsky was also drafted in the seventh round this year.

Laurent Broissoit is somewhere.

Prospect Development Camp

It sounds like Adam Gajan was one of the few Blackhawks prospects who got ice time during development camp. The latest Every Shift episode details their camp and how they had the prospects play with EZ Bake Ovens or some bullshit. I don't know, I haven't watched it yet.

I'm going to be honest, I don't care about how the organization chooses to run its camp. On ice, off ice. Don't care.

Personnel Changes

At the very end of Scott's article, we get some very interesting news about personnel changes in the Blackhawks staff.

What caught my eye were the scouting department changes. Four scouts and the former senior advisor for player recruitment were not extended. Of the scouts, two were in the Professional Scouting Department.

Well, that itch is scratched.

I'm working on comparing the Blackhawks rebuild to the Capitals rebuild over at On Tap Sports Net. Also working on evaluating each team's season and offseason over there as well.

Until next time.