Smith's drafting in 02-05 with Tallon's asset management in 06-09, lethal combination

Never realized how important drafting outside of the 1st round was. Tampa is another example of having great drafting.

Recognition to Patrick Sharp. He never got the press that Kane, Toews, and Hossa got (who all deserved it too). Keith was marshalling the blue line. Sharp was the most consistent shot for most of their cup runs (alternating with Toews and Kane as the primary offensive threat). Some of those goals were aboslutely magical, and came in high-pressure situations. Kudos, Mr. Sharp. And shout out to Hjalmarsson. The ying to the yang (Keith). Perfect defensive foil to the machine-like performances of Keith, especially 2015. Massive respect to "The Hammer". Hawks 2010-2015 is a good phase to look back on and analyze the ingredients to their success.

Those early 2010s Hawks teams were so fun. That cup final against the Bruins was crazy

This is an excellent video which NHL Fans should watch. There's more to a rebuild then just tearing it down. Shannon is spot on with the analysis in this video.

Been a Blackhawks fan since 94 and I can tell you those early to mid 2000's were miserable.

For a successful rebuild, you need good asset management, good drafting (including first and later rounds), and good signings. The salary cap will set you back into rebuilding mode if you can't manage it well (2020 Arizona was close to the playoffs but they were the team that spend the most in the league, sending them back in tank mode)

Ruutu for Ladd was a sneaky good move the Blackhawks made during their rebuild that isn’t ever spoke about

If you read the Wikipedia page on the Black Hawk franchise, it is obvious that a turning point was the ascension of Rocky Wirtz to being team owner. There was historically a ton of resentment against the previous owners, who were accurately accused of being tight with their money and even disregarding of the fans. Rocky definitely happened on the right people as team president, and general managers, and coaches, but it is doubtful that any of the good things would have happened without the new ownership.

The Hawks didn’t really “rebuild” in the intentional sense. They stunk from years of mismanagement because Dollar Bill Wirtz thought having a winning roster was too expensive.

Thanks for this nice little recap/team history. I became a fan of the Blackhawks in 2007 after Bill Wirtz passed away and the television blackout ended when his son took over the team. Nicely done and very informative. Thanks

I really think it turned around after the owner passed away. Used to be able to go to games in '96-'98 & you could get tickets for $15

Duncan Keith drafted #54, unbelievable. One of the best to ever play the D position.

Excellent piece of analysis Shannon.Thank you.

This is an excellent deep dive. I was baffled when they traded Hagel and Debrincat. It's been fun watching Hagel in Tampa, but I really thought he was going to be the future of the Blackhawks and really excel with a solid core around the rest of the veterans while they remained in Chicago. I think the Hawks are really punting this current rebuild away, but we'll see what happens. Please make that Tampa video you mentioned at the end. I would really like to see how their process compares. Also a little history lesson for a newly made Bolts fan (thanks to Hagel) would be appreciated. :)

This was such a well put together video! Would love to see this again with teams like the kings, penguins, and lightning that all won a couple of recent cups. Always a pleasure viewing your content Shannon!

At least now we are in a designed state of disfunction. Last couple years of old regime's mismanagement of picks still being felt. Hopefully Korchinksi continues to impress as well as Nazar panning out, and MAYBE just MAYBE we actually land Bedard. As a Hawks fan willing, but not forgiving, recent events with this team... I just want to enjoy hockey and hopefully have an exciting team to watch.

Lets go hawks!!

I’m not sure you can call what happened pre Toews & Kane a “rebuild” we had a notorious cheap owner who wouldn’t pay anyone and just traded everyone away rather than pay up. We basically lucked into Kane & Toews.

I was one of the few kids at my school that followed the Hawks through the dark days as my dad is a hockey fan himself and played in amateur leagues up until the early 2000’s due to work and family. It was always bamboozling how the only games on TV were road games, home games were only on the radio cause Dollar Bill “didn’t want to make it unfair to season ticket holders”. But the instant Bill died and Rocky took over, home games were finally on CSN Chicago and WGN, and we make the playoffs the next season followed by beating the Flyers in the Finals the season after. That 2008-2009 season was when I was no longer one of three kids at school that followed hockey. And if you’re wondering, the only others that followed hockey at my school were two girls that LOVED Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

The most important event in the rebuild was Rocky Wirtz inheriting the team after his father's death.

Excellent excellent video; very informative. Thank you for all the research and hard work!

This is a great video. Been a hawks fan since 95 and we endured some dark times (probably even more recently) and no one wants to admit it, but you have to have a bit of luck in order to make a dynasty team. Getting good draft picks are important, but at some point you need to invest in free agents to show everyone that you're a desirable destination too. Huet was a miss, but im glad we went out and got him because it put the hawks on the map for a team that was showing that we wanted to win.

This was a REALLY interesting study. I loved this. Please do more studies like this. You do essays and studies really well!

One thing about Kirby Dach: he’s been injured almost 90% of his time in Montreal. If that continues, Chicago wins that trade.

The Blackhawks absolutely made the right move to trade Kirby Dach. For someone who was drafted so highly with a lot of expectations, he continues to have a pedestrian season. It may be better than his previous seasons, but nowhere near the hype people placed on him

As a life long Blackhawks fan that used to watch Hull, Makita & Esposito, it is really refreshing to see the current GM build from the ground up with young talent. The frustration of the Bill Wirtz half hearted ownership was terrible. So many teams that were almost, but couldn't get there. Careers wasted with a team whose ownership didn't care about winning it all. I am looking forward to seeing the young core of talent that they put together and watching it grow. It reminds me of the 1980 US Olympic team where there was more focus on teamwork than individual accomplishments. I am hoping that this is the case. I could be wrong, but I saw some sparks of the future in some of the young players this year, especially towards the end of the season. Bedard should also make it exciting. The young players have a great opportunity to step up and gel together. I am optimistic. Only time will tell. Thanks for the great video, Shannon. As always you are appreciated for your hard work and thorough analysis.

Great video! These are some of my favorite, look at a decade to see what a team did. Shannon, I think a difference could be where in this Example with the Blackhawks they didn’t tear it down it took them about ten years to come out of it. I think teams that tear it down for draft picks and early picks for a few years are hoping to fast forward while still doing a full rebuild. I’m all for an organic rebuild(long time, good drafting for five ten years,) examples are your current Tampa bay lightning, devils, Sabres, redwings.

Hjalmarsson at 108 was pure gold. Most underrated player on those teams.

i’d love a look at how tampa put together their roster. with the way they keep getting hits in not only late round drafts, but trades and few agent signings as well, there’s no reason to believe they’ll be slowing down any time soon. that’s how you build sustainable success. yea there’s a few very high draft pick in there (stammer and heddy) but look at the team around them. no one on earth expected Kuch to become the world beater that we know him now as. smart drafting is the foundation like you said. you don’t need a 1st overall every year and it’s not like every 1st pans out like we expect them too anyways.

such a great breakdown!! id love to see you do one of the Pens in the 2000s...i feel like they are a better example of needing these #1 picks to win ...but also to get the multiple cups really needed some of their late drafts and trades to carry some weight

I am a huge Blackhawks fan and I was watching this time period very closely. I think the overall take away from this video is that while the Blackhawks in the late 90s and early 2000s were not trying to lose and rebuild, they basically did lose and rebuild. Also drafting is extremely important, whether that’s at the very top of a draft or perhaps more importantly, throughout the entire draft. From 98 to 2001 the Blackhawks drafted horrendously. However from 2002 to 2006 they were almost perfect in drafting/trades in a building a foundation for a championship. So while the dynasty was not the product of a focused tank it was the product of incredible drafting that happened to occur during a time that the NHL team was basically terrible.

Make this a series Shannon!

Bedard-Nazar-Reichel-Moore-Korchinski-Del Mastro- Commesoo. Looking good so far throw Rinzel in there too.

Incredible research and evidence make Shannon's points in this analysis very hard to dispute. Very well done.

Very interested in you doing a version for this with the Kings, especially with browns number being retired next month and then having two very significantly impressive runs on both ends of them plowing through the competition in 2012 and then having to battle it out in 2014

It’s insane how incredible your videos are… thank you for being you and bringing this content. Shine on my man

One player can't 🏆, but you need that Kane, and Crosby. Kane was damn 🔥 good, a highlight legend. The plays Kane made at critical points in games, vs Philly and Boston, were huge, really huge 😳

Kirby Dach simply wasn’t working out that well in Chicago. He needed a wake up call, and it seems like getting traded was just what he needed.

Great video! I don't know if you've made similar videos on the Kings and Penguins but those would be entertaining as well

Yes! I don’t know or care if you did this video is because I suggested a video series like this in another video. Obviously I was going to love it no matter why you made it. Thank you!

Hossa and Kane were beasts 💪 when they needed that next one.

I was born at the perfect time. My first season watching hockey I was 4 and it was 2008-09, the first year out of the rebuild.

I hope to see you do a career video for Jocelyn Thibault. He was a pretty good goaltender that always ended up on bad teams but played well regardless. I loved him in Montreal in the 90s despite the Roy trade.

Hockey legend Bobby Hull, who won one Stanley Cup and was a 12-time All-Star who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers, has died. He was 84.

You should do that kind of videos more often, how a dynasty was built or how a team finally got their first ever cup or first after a long drought. Some ideas : late 90s Detroit, Colorado and New Jersey, early 2010s Kings, early 90s Penguins, 2020s Lightning

A complete tear down is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY,Davidson wrecked this team for years to come!

Getting hits in other rounds is very important...unless you are the Avs and your Gm can steal random 4th liners and turn then into top line guys

Great breakdown Shannon. Some good drafting. Some good assets attracted. Brought in some good coaching and then they got lucky. So much of this comes down to luck and stars aligning. You could have all the talent in the world and bad chemistry. Or less talent and great chemistry. It just lined up for them. In the end what killed them? Big contracts after winning. Just look at how long it took Washington with a really strong team for over a decade before they won.

No matter the sport, all Chicago professional sports teams seem to be in a “rebuild”….wait until next year!!!

Bolland was so key when he was healthy. No he wasn't around for Cup 3, but I always felt like if he'd been in that '11 series against Vancouver from game 1 they probably would've played Boston a few years early. I don't buy all the way in on him being that far under the Sedins' skin, but you look at how the series went and it's pretty obvious that he had a dramatic effect.

Definitely agree you have to draft well outside the first round but you have to get that star as well, if that is in the first round with the first pick or second round, trade Or sign in free agency

I would love to see this kind of video about Tampa Bay Lightning.

As a younger hawks fan, I only remember the end of our dark ages, but they were miserable times for us.

Honestly it is impressive what they did But the Kyle Beach situation makes this overshadowed and rightfully so And because of that the Blackhawks are the team I hate the most

The biggest difference for the Blackhawks took place in 2007, when owner (Dollar) Bill Wirtz died and his son Rocky took over which brought about a lot of good changes.

Jukka Jalonen: Olympics gold and bronze (2022, 2010), Skoda-cup three golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze (2022, 2019, 2011, 2021, 2008) U20 gold 2016. And no real interest because Suhonen didn't get sucky Hawks to playoffs.

Stole Patrick Sharp from the Flyers is a major Dang-it for the Flyers

Would they have won the cup without Patrick Kane? He was a lottery win as well right?

Great, spot on video and so true . Going back even further, look at the Red Wings, # 53 Lidstrom, #74 Fedorov in 1989, Osgood # 54 in 1991,Dandeneault #49 in 1994, Konstantinov #221 in 1989, Holstrom #257 in 1994. All Part of the 96/97 championship team (and beyond for some players).I know some of the Russian players were older, but you have to find players where you can. I wish the Hawks had found away to have kept DeBrincat. I wonder if Kane would look better with better players around him. Maybe you go to Kane/Toews at the end of the season and say can you stay for less so that we can bring in some better talent and keep this thing rolling? We'll never know what went on but it does make me wonder.

You are right that you need to hit on the later round picks to be a winner long term. but without the superstars you still will not win the cup. Without Kane and Toews they would have been a good team but that is all.

Hey, Shannon.... Great video as always, but Blackhawks is misspelled in the title.

Wow I bet a lot of work in to this video,Shannon you Rawk

2003-04 Penguins 1. Dick Tarnstrom: 16-36-52 2. Aleksey Morozov: 16-34-50 3. Ryan Malone: 22-21-43 4. Milan Kraft: 19-21-40 I think you get the idea. 18. Brooks Orpik: 1-9-10 20. Mario Lemieux: 1-8-9 (10 games, injuries) Rob Scuderi got a cup of coffee. Martin Straka somehow survived the firesale to that point but got traded mid-season. In goal were Sebastian Caron, J.S. Aubin, and rookie Marc-Andre Fleury shuttled back and forth to death between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Malone and Scuderi were the two emerging late-round guys who contributed to the resurgence (or Experienced the Evolution, if you will). Malone left after 2008, not part of the Cup-winning roster. Drafts are always important from start to finish--not sure anyone worth their salt would argue otherwise. But the Pens' only great veteran by this time of year in 2004 also owned the team, soooo ... yeah, I think even though it was for financial reasons, it's very safe to say the Penguins torched the NHL roster of great veterans before drafting Malkin and Crosby. I agree it's a rare counterexample that I definitely don't recommend following, but it would be disingenuous to purport that 2003-04 squad ended with noteworthy veterans who played more than 10 games. So many teams have torched that I believe it's a matter of when we see another anomaly like Pittsburgh, not if.

As a flyers fan, I'm still mad about dropping to 2nd in the 2007 draft. Instead of Kane, we got JVR. What could've been.

Proper drafting, proper signing, and proper trading are the main keys to building a successful team. A team won't be successful if they spend a big chunk of their cap hit on a small group of players who overvalue themselves, then struggle to get a roster put together because they don't have the cap flexibility. As far as drafting goes, it's nice to get the players hyped for the first round, but GMs and scouts need to be looking for those diamonds in the rough beyond the first round. Patric Hornqvist was picked 210th in 2005 (he was the last player to be drafted) and eventually won two Cups with the Pens. That was a mix of smart drafting by Nashville and smart trading by both Pittsburgh and Florida before and after those Cups.

To paraphrase the film Hoffa, “you fire the people you wanna get rid of the first day so everyone else isn’t looking over their shoulder”. That’s what they pretty much did this past offseason so everyone else can assume they are part of the process moving forward.

I'm really beginning to wonder if teams are thinking of the new team approach get rid of everyone and start new they think it's easier but it takes work from everyone from scouting all the way up hockey is a team game and you have to compliment your good players with great supporters your great players will not score every night and you need support from the rest of the team to bail you out on those off nights

Interesting if you do this with the Kings,Penguins and Tampa too.

Detroit in the 2000s also showed you dont need to tear it all down to build back into a winner.

Why I think teams completely blow it up a few reasons actually, Lemiuex, Crosby, and Mcdavid. Teams see what can happen with those kind of players and are willing to do whatever to get the 1st overall pick like the Sabres going into the Mcdavid draft. I think other sports have an impact on it like basketball, baseball, and sometimes football. The Astros and Cubs are big examples of teams that completely blew it up and built up from nothing. Football and basketball not as much teams nearly don’t have that level of success doing it. So it’s more than just GM’s in the NHL thinking like this. Building a championship caliber team is very hard or even building a team from the ground up and to be a consistent playoff team. Great video and I do hope the Hawks land Bedard they do have a decent prospect core I’m liking, I don’t like how we got to this point but hopefully it goes for the Hawks soon

I swear, I learn more from this channel…

Keller Bedard Guenther Cooley. A lot of potential there.

The smart move is to trade your "rentals" like Domi. The franchise is boosting their numbers just by playing them bigger minutes, hence boosting both skill and confidence, something you really won't benefit from as you have to pay the forthcoming contract, but you do get the better value in terms of picks. If it is a player around Hossa's level, then you can keep them, but only if the contract is suitable and it was later in the rebuilding and they are still trying to accumulate picks and/or young players. To me its about combining talent with experience, but since they don't have their talent to build around just yet or perhaps within the next or two years holding onto "rentals" like Domi would be foolish.

Shannon, could you do a video of Rutherford's tenure as GM? Interested to see what Canuck fans could hope for with him/ Allvin at the helm when it comes to trades and drafting, and wins/ losses in each

Totally agree you need consistently good drafting. BUT. It doesn't matter how many Bickells they get, without Toews and Kane this team wins nothing. And it's easier to trade for a 3rd liner than a star.

Would love to see a John Madden career video.

Blackhawks got great value for Kirby Dach, who I doubt will ever be a difference maker. But it was a mistake to trade Hagel. Again, good value, but they’re going to have a hard time replacing him. The Debrincat trade was probably smart, given the contract extension that was upcoming.

My favortie time as a HAWKS FAN

it was a movie I watched. I can’t member. The name of the main person was an ex professional tennis player. And I think they kept bringing up all the time is that hard work was obviously a necessity, but at the end of the day it’s really hard for people to admit a lot of times that luck has a lot to do with a lot of things in combination with Hardwork, etc. And after watching you go through all this completely remember that because I think it really does have a lot to do with it. Something you missed in talking about the hawks. I think that is not overlooked but I think it’s probably talked about more if you were actually from Chicago and you follow the team is that when Bill Wirtz died I think it changed things a lot because they had a lot of good teams. The problem with them was they never could pull the trigger at the trade deadline because he wouldn’t take on a salary or a contract and that had a lot to do with it. When they sign Marian Hosa that really is what changed everything because that guy was amazing

Have you heard anything about horvat possibility he’s not playing today?

The interesting question for me from this is; what is the actual value of 1st round picks outside of the top 5-10? Obviously it varies draft to draft, but how many hits are there on competitive teams with picks 20+?

did not realize that many of those 04 draft picks were there for cups

Chicago's current "tear it all down" has been a top-to-bottom thing, starting with the Front Office, so it's not just the team that's rebuilding. It's organization-wide, and why I don't consider what they're doing to be "tanking." As for their "foundation," that hasn't been great, for a while now. Their prospect pool has been pretty thin, made worse by Bowman trading away some of their better prospects for magic beans. Davidson is trying to build it back up again, hence his current drafting strategy of getting as many picks as he can. I hate that he traded away Dach for some of those picks, but Kirby is better off not having to suffer the rebuild. As for Domi, I agree they should re-sign him, which I never thought I'd say. I wasn't thrilled with that signing, but he has changed my mind. There's also no reason they can't trade him for picks, and bring him back next season, as he'll be a free agent in June. I wouldn't be at all surprised if 19 and 88 are back next season, too, even if they do get traded. They should hang onto Lafferty, as well.

Pulford GM career video when? :D

Please do the same for the LA Kings!

That 2007 #1 should have been the Flyers' pick.

Eric daze back going out while traveling helped the hawks in the long run

Great video. It’s amazing how fundamentally clueless pro sports management is these days. They’re clearly cartels more interested in marketing benchmarks than actual integrity, knowledge and progress. But hey, the owners and executives can’t be allowed to lose money because they’re wrong, because the investors have to be protected at all costs, right? Negative performance can always be blamed on the players, coaches and so on.

The idea as you said was to build up the roster behind the stars with good picks in later rounds plus make good FA signings. Once you get to Toews's draft, look how well Chicago had built up their roster. I see it more as "there isn't much room on the roster for later round picks to get a chance" than "Chicago didn't have good picks in later rounds from 2006 onward". John Madden was brought in just for his leadership and experience, you can't draft that. Also, if Chicago ends up winning a cup in a few years and you would make this style of video again, then you would see Kane and Towes on the roster until 2023. This wouldn't suggest "trading everybody". And 2023-24 seasons Chicago starts with Hall (another big name). Plus, Chicago tanked for Bedard. Had there not been such a strong draft class as we had this year, who knows what Davidson would have done. It's not a 1-to-1 comparison to their build-up to 2010, 2013, and 2015 cups. Also, why teams do this "burn everything and start from 0" has to do with not wanting to stay in mediocrity for 10+ years. The team gets terrible for a few years and then builds up its roster, this would attract some free agents. If a team struggles to make it to playoffs, they are just prolonging their suffering. At least I see that as why teams get rid of everyone.

as a flyers fan this is what i have been saying on twitter and forums that tanking is worst idea ever, you need a foundation of good depth and bringing in stars whether you luck them in the draft, trades, or fa to make them into a contender, not tanking and having nothing to build from. that's what the flyers are trying to do.

Had no idea the legendary Raiders coach also played for the blackhawks

Maybe I’m being a little greedy, but could you do the same thing for the Kings?

Patrick Kane. That is all

Thanks Shannon...this was one your best video ever...granted I am a Hawks fan (In the closet currently) but great insight on how things happened...yeah right now I am waiting for the new core to be in place before I start paying attention to this team again...and this is why getting Bedard isn't enough...no matter how great he might be he can't do it alone...ha ha funny live in Tampa now so yeah some commonality in how the two teams were put... together...and yes hope to see more videos like this... fascinating!

Some teams get talent and win fast (Pittsburgh, Chicago), some take a while (Colorado), some take a long time (Washington, Detroit), some never win (San Jose). Will Toronto be a Detroit, Colorado, or San Jose?

As a Canucks fan, I hated the hawks. I would have hated them even more if I knew what was going on behind the scenes.

At any rate

Hagel? Traded to Tampa is mind-numbing. Why ?

Helping a rebuild immensely is Patrik Stefan missing an empty net goal.