First Solid Hawks Trade Rumors of 2009

While many people have speculated about who the Hawks might be adding, a rumor came my way (thank you, Rob) that suggested not just possible options, but guys the Hawks actually may be close to acquiring.

So, here's my very uninformed take on who they are and what they'd mean for the Hawks:

Niclas Havelid, D, ATL

Havelid is a veteran stay-at-home defenseman who would definitely shore up their blue line. He's 35 and his $2.7M deal ends this year, meaning he's a rent-a-player. But his numbers are good - he's no longer a 24-25 min a game guy, but still logs 20 each time out. He's been on the positive side of the plus-minus the last four years in Atlanta, including on some bad teams.

Not too big, not too tough, but seemingly a good fundamental European defenseman. Definitely something the Hawks could use come playoff time.

The question is which defender would be out of a job? Would this guy be an upgrade over Walker? They seem to like Walker, and he brings size and youth that Havelid doesn't. So would Wisniewski sit? Seems kinda silly to sacrifice his development when he's young and shown a lot of promise.

Is Barker on the way out? With Campbell and Keith around, I don't think you need another rushing defenseman. Especially because Barker remains a serious defensive liability. That's something you can put up with if you need his offense or have great defenders otherwise, but Campbell is iffy at best and Wisnewski and Walker are prone to mistakes. That will kill you come the playoffs. On top of it all, he's probably got a boatload of trade value (most teams are sorely in need of an offensive defenseman who can put up numbers like Barker has this year on the power play) and costs the Hawks a decent amount ($2.8M and sure to rise with his stat line).


Jeff Halpern, C, TB

Halpern seems to be a solid role-player centerman. He's about a 15-goal scorer, with 25 assists- fairly steady in that production line over the years. He's 32, been on some playoff teams, and only costs $2M a year (this year and next). Gets a lot of ice time, probably solid defensively. Definitely very good on the face-off - consistently wins around 55% every year. He was hurt at the beginning of the seasion, not playing until mid-December, but over the course of his career has been fairly durable while logging a good amount of minutes.

I'd say he's an ideal 3rd line center - keeping the other teams top line in check, winning you some key face-offs, scoring occassionally. Doesn't quite fit what we're looking for in terms of a pure 2nd line center who can score 20+ and/or rack up 40+ assists.

Tho I'm not sure a pure scoring center is exactly what the Hawks need. They've got a lot of offense and I think any reasonably talented centerman would be an upgrade over playing one of their wingers out of position. I kind of like the idea of having four good defensive-minded centers out there.

Defense wins championships in hockey as much as any sport, so having your centerman all plus defenders would be a nice advantage. Especially because most of our wingers are all good defenders also. So Halpern wouldn't upgrade the offense much (a bit over either Brouwer or Buff), but the defense, experience, and face-off skills could be pretty useful in the playoffs.