In this edition of Hawks Headlines, we take a look at the beginnings of the Chicago Blackhawks’ offseason plans, with a prospect they’re trying to sign, Patrick Kane’s continued maturation, and one of our favorite writers’ foray into player evaluation.
- We start out with Kevin Hayes, our number five prospect in the Blackhawks’ system. The team is still working feverishly to sign the Boston College product, and GM Stan Bowman is very hopeful he’ll get the youngster into the fold for next season. [CSN Chicago]
- Patrick Kane has gotten a lot of publicity for his maturation process over the past few years, and Barry Rozner makes it a point to give the player, not the team, a big deal of credit. [Daily Herald]
- Scott Powers is doing player reviews for the Blackhawks, and he puts Jonathan Toews under the microscope in this piece. [ESPN Chicago]
- Mark Lazerus is covering the Stanley Cup Final, and he wrote an interesting piece about how the Los Angeles Kings and the Blackhawks got through some dark days before becoming model franchises. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- The Kings are becoming masters in the art of the comeback during this year’s playoff, becoming the first team in league history to come back from two goal deficits in three straight playoff games. [NBC Los Angeles]
- Finally, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Jim Rutherford to be the team’s new GM last week, and one of the big reasons the team is going in a new direction is an internal struggle over the role of advanced analytics in running an organization. [Globe & Mail]
