Chicago Blackhawks: What would it mean if team won draft lottery?Ryan Sikeson June 19, 2020 at 11:00 am

While the odds are not favorable, if the Chicago Blackhawks landed the number one overall pick, the results would be franchise-changing.

Alexis Lafreniere is the consensus number one pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. He is, in every way, the next great talent to enter the National Hockey League. This past season, he tallied 35 goals with 77 assists for 112 points and a +41 plus-minus rating playing for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. And the Chicago Blackhawks have a chance to land him.

Sure, the odds are not favorable by any means. In fact, with just a five percent chance to land the top pick in the draft, they’d probably have better odds playing the PowerBall right now. All joking aside, while still not great, the Blackhawks have a 16.0 percent chance to luck into a top-three pick.

A year ago, the Hawks had a 2.5 percent chance at the top pick, and they ended up with the number three overall pick, taking Kirby Dach, who scored eight goals with 15 assists for 23 total points in 64 games in his rookie year.

What would it mean for the Chicago Blackhawks to win the No. 1 pick and a chance to draft Alexis Lafreniere?

Landing the top draft pick would be the equivalent of the Chicago Bulls grabbing Derrick Rose number one overall in 2008, despite having a 1.7 percent chance to do so. Lafreniere is the most NHL-ready player in this draft. He is an excellent skater. His vision is off the charts. He’s the quarterback on the ice, leading rushes down the ice while having a keen sense of where everyone is. His timing is impeccable; fitting passes between tightly-knit windows. He’d be an immediate plug-in along the third or fourth line of the Blackhawks, thus bolstering their offense from their top two lines.

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What would winning a top-three pick mean for the Chicago Blackhawks?

Missing out on Lafreniere is not the end of the world. This class is loaded with NHL talent, and grabbing Quinton Byfield in the top three is the next best thing. The Newmarket, ON native turns 18 in August and is a left-handed centerman. He’s spent the last two years playing for the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL, tallying 32 goals with 50 assists for 82 points and +26 plus-minus rating in 45 games.

The Blackhawks have an immense amount of talent at center on their roster, but Byfield would fit well on the fourth line to start, working his way up to the top line. They could potentially find salary relief by trading Andrew Shaw, again, who carries a cap hit of $3.9M through the 2021-2022 season.

Byfield is widely viewed to be the second-best pick in this draft, so if the Blackhawks land the number three pick again, they can go with Lucas Raymond. The 18-year-old is from Goteborg, Sweden, and can play both winger positions. He’s one of the faster forwards in this class. Raymond tallied four goals with six assists for ten points this past season for Frolunda HC of the SHL.

What if the Chicago Blackhawks pick outside the top three?

If the Blackhawks end up on the outside looking in of the top three draft picks, then it starts to become a bit unclear who the top choice is. Do they draft based on need or take the best overall player on the board? Cole Perfetti, who we have discussed before, is a talented winger who can score in bunches. Might they grab Corey Crawford‘s replacement in Yaroslav Askarov? He’s considered to be on the best goalie prospects in quite some time.

Regardless if they go with other players like Tim Stutzle, Marco Rossi, Jamie Drysdale, or Jake Sanderson, the Blackhawks will be adding to an already talented farm system. Ideally, outside of the top three picks, the preferred option would be a defenseman to shore up the issues at the blue line.

Next: Draft Profile: Jake Sanderson

Drysdale would be that guy for me, one who can change the dynamic of the power play while still providing sound defense.

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Chicago Blackhawks: What would it mean if team won draft lottery?Ryan Sikeson June 19, 2020 at 11:00 am Read More »

Chicago Bears: Best of luck to NFC North quarterbacksPatrick Sheldonon June 19, 2020 at 12:00 pm

Chicago Bears (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears defense will be a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

Last season, the Chicago Bears defense was among the best in the league, ranking in the top five in DVOA. One area, however, where they took a step back — besides turnovers forced — was in the sack department. In 2018 they recorded a whopping 50 sacks, but that number fell to just 32 in 2019.

However, based on a significant offseason acquisition in Robert Quinn and an apparently rejuvenated Khalil Mack, NFC North quarterbacks could become an endangered species this season.

While Leonard Floyd did a lot of things adequately, he was not adept at rushing the quarterback. Perhaps he was above average against the run, but the Bears seem more interested in their edge rushers being able to rush.

In steps Quinn who comes over from the Dallas Cowboys where he recorded 11.5 sacks last season, which is only seven fewer sacks than Floyd recorded in his entire four-year Bears career.

Outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino believe Quinn’s addition brings “a new sense of urgency” to the linebackers room and definitely thinks he and Mack will challenge each other and make one another better on a daily basis.

Perhaps we are already seeing this play out, as other comments from Monachino suggest Mack might be on a mission this year. Monachino mentioned that Mack has been “training like I’ve never seen anybody [train] before” and that “he’s approached this offseason with something to prove.”

Mack is one of the best defensive players in the entire league and has been absolutely dominant throughout his career. Granted, by his standards, he had what would be considered a down year last season, but considering the number of double and triple teams he faced, he was still quite effective. Add to that the fact that he was missing his running mate, Akiem Hicks for much of the year, and the aforementioned lack of pass-rushing production from Floyd and Mack’s performance looks even better.

Next: Bears have plans for Shaheen in 2020

But now the defensive line will have a healthy Hicks, a motivated Mack, and a second edge rusher who knows how to consistently get to the quarterback. Sunday afternoons in the NFC North might be full of carnage, as these bloodthirsty Bears will be looking to decimate their opponents. In some ways, you have to feel bad for opposing quarterbacks. On second thought — no you don’t.

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Chicago Bears: Best of luck to NFC North quarterbacksPatrick Sheldonon June 19, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Tarik Cohen’s fitness comment raises eyebrowsBrandon Hinrichson June 19, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Chicago Bears’ Tarik Cohen recently shared that he didn’t prioritize his fitness last season which was a big reason why the Bears took a big step backward.

Many fans and media pundits out there have continually blamed quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s performance on the field being the main reason why the Chicago Bears went from being 12-4 in 2018 to 8-8 last season. The criticism is certainly warranted, given Trubisky’s regression as a quarterback, but it’s not entirely justified to make Trubisky the lone scapegoat here.

Head coach Matt Nagy seemingly struggled to get into any sort of a good rhythm with his play-calling, while the offensive line couldn’t generate enough holes for runners to power through. Furthermore, Khalil Mack and the entire defense struggled to generate the type of impact they produced in 2018 when they led the league in turnovers created.

Most notably, however, was the fact that the Bears just couldn’t rid themselves from the injury bug all season long. Akiem Hicks, Kyle Long, Trey Burton, Anthony Miller, and a whole cast of noteworthy players on the roster couldn’t stay healthy throughout the season. Add all of these factors up, and it’s no wonder the Bears found themselves back to being a .500 team, missing the postseason in disappointing fashion.

Recently, Tarik Cohen opened up to the Chicago Sun-Times about the grueling effects that the physicality of the season brings.

‘I’ve been doing yoga now, stretching more often and just like the small training room — in-house things you do to keep your body durable,” he said. ”And to keep the wear-and-tear of the season off of you longer.” Cohen later added: ”I really slacked on that. I always had older guys that would keep me on that, keep me in line.”

Cohen’s noteworthy comments here reflect how the entire 2019 season played out for the Bears. It’s entirely possible that the Bears as a unit felt high-and-mighty from their previous success, therefore not displaying the same focus and intensity, whether on the field or during team workouts, that propelled them to a division title. Cohen also mentioned that reliable veteran players like running back Benny Cunningham weren’t around last season to keep him focused on taking care of his body.

The Bears, despite their previous success under Matt Nagy, seemingly had a void in leadership in 2019, possibly because many impact players were hurt on the sidelines, focusing more on their own rehab as opposed to being on the field practicing and playing in actual games. Maybe like Cohen, it’s because they too didn’t properly take care of their bodies.

It all comes down to doing all the little things necessary to avoid these types of hurdles that plague teams like the Bears who were seemingly on the rise before the 2019 season began. That means the Bears can no longer be complacent because they’re no longer the ones being hunted in their own division. Whether it’s in practice, during workouts, or once the games actually matter, the Bears must not take anything lightly from here on out if they want to get back to winning frequently again.

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Chicago Bears: Tarik Cohen’s fitness comment raises eyebrowsBrandon Hinrichson June 19, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Blackhawks: Proud of the leader Patrick Kane has becomeVincent Pariseon June 19, 2020 at 2:00 pm

The Chicago Blackhawks should be so proud of how Patrick Kane has grown up over the years. He has truly developed into a great leader for this franchise.

The Chicago Blackhawks owned the National Hockey League for about eight years. It was a lot of fun to watch the growth and development of all their star players which allowed them to win a boatload of hockey games. In particular, Patrick Kane developed into one of the greatest players who ever played. It was a bumpy ride off the ice at first but he has developed in that area of his career as well and it has been wonderful to see.

There was the Cinco de Mayo pictures, the cab driver, and alligations against him early on that made people wonder about his character but it has all turned out well for Kane. He is a tremendous leader on the ice and off the ice which makes him an even more valuable asset to the organization. He is the face of the franchise and he is going to be for a long time still. There might be a time in the past where nobody ever would have thought that Kane deserves an “A” on his sweater at all but here we are.

He has 1022 points in 973 games played for the Hawks and is on his way to being known as the all-time greatest Blackhawks player. He is also headed towards being known as the greatest American born player in the history of the sport. All of that is fine and dandy but his character off the ice is important too and that has really come a long way from where he once was.

Kane recently appeared on ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special version of SportsCenter. He just speaks so eloquently now and is a great representative of the Chicago Blackhawks and National Hockey League as a whole. He talked about getting back to playing hockey and how he is a guy that needs to be skating regularly and working on his craft in order to be ready. It makes complete sense that Patrick Kane is addicted to practicing hockey because of how good he is.

At this point in 2020, it is fair to go into the playoffs (whenever they happen) with a bit of confidence that the Hawks will be able to at least make it interesting. That is because of the fact that Patrick Kane is there with some other experienced veterans like Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith to lead the way.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Proud of the leader Patrick Kane has becomeVincent Pariseon June 19, 2020 at 2:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: 5 burning questions about the offenseRyan Heckmanon June 19, 2020 at 3:00 pm

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Chicago Bears (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Going into training camp and the preseason, the Chicago Bears have a lot of questions surrounding their offense.

Two years ago when the Chicago Bears hired Matt Nagy to be their head coach, fans immediately felt something they hadn’t in quite some time. From the get-go, Nagy was an excited, positive and outgoing character who brought the team together. He instilled hope from the very first moment he spoke to the fans and media.

Nagy’s background was supposed to help lift the Bears’ offense from the ashes to better days ahead. In 2018, the rookie head coach saw his team take a small step forward, finishing as the league’s 19th ranked offense in yards per game.

Last year, though, the offense seemed to regress in every sense of the word.

Whether it was Mitchell Trubisky looking like a rookie all over again, the offensive line falling apart or the run game failing to find itself, the Bears were miserable on that side of the ball. Heck, Nagy was at plenty of fault throughout the season as well.

A year after winning the NFC North and seeing so much hope brought to the future of this team, and specifically the offense, the Bears fell backwards to the NFL’s 29th ranked offense, putting up a measly 296.8 yards per game.

They ranked similarly in points per game (29th), rushing yards per game (27th), passing yards per game (25th), first downs achieved (28th) and third down percentage (25th).

All in all, they were horrendous. Needless to say, there are going to be continuous questions regarding the offense all the way up to the first game of the season. Five, in particular, are overly worrisome. Hopefully, these are answered early on in the regular season — and let’s hope these answers are the ones we want to hear. If not, the Bears are doomed once again.

Next: Question No. 1

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Chicago Cubs: Uphill battle ahead for Albert Almora Jr.Ryan Sikeson June 19, 2020 at 4:00 pm

After a down year and reduced playing time in 2020, Albert Almora appears to be fading out of the Chicago Cubs’ future plans.

Albert Almora was Theo Epstein’s first draft pick as President of Baseball Operations of the Chicago Cubs. At the time, various media sites graded the pick highly, because of Almora’s ability to put the bat on the ball. And through his first three seasons in the big leagues, he looked the part…mostly.

But while 2019 was downright awful for Almora, it really started in the second half of 2018 when the former first-round pick hit just .232 in 62 games. He finished with a .286 average on the year, thanks to a .319 first-half surge.

He was on the rebound through 48 games last year, hitting .259 with eight doubles, seven home runs, and 20 RBI. But then in Houston, Almora’s foul ball went into the stands, hitting a young fan, and he was never the same after that.

Almora would go onto hit .215 the rest of the year while also posting a negative defensive rating for the first time in his career. His glove has always been highly-touted coming up through the minors, but it was a matter of whether his bat was Major League-ready.

There was some level of suspicion whether the Cubs would tender Almora a contract in the offseason. Had they seen enough? Apparently not, as he was tendered a one-year $1.6M deal and, thus, avoiding arbitration. He’s under team control for two more seasons, but it raises the question if he should be part of the Cubs’ future plans.

With the 2020 season likely settling on 65-70 games, playing time is going to be sparse, especially with the addition of Steven Souza Jr. added during the offseason. The real offseason, I should say.

However, with the DH likely to be implemented permanently, Kyle Schwarber figures to step into that role, freeing up left field to the group. Ian Happ will have a larger role in 2020 after spending the majority of 2019 in the minors working on his timing. He returned for 58 games, reducing his strikeout rate from over 36 percent in 2019 to 25 percent last season.

Happ played well in limited time, but he also needs to prove that it wasn’t a fluke. We know one thing. Jason Heyward is a permanent fixture in right field, and Kris Bryant is likely to get some spot starts in the outfield to accommodate David Bote’s playing time, especially with a crowded middle infield.

Next: Ranking the NL Central draft hauls

So, to put it mildly, Almora has a difficult task ahead of him. Thankfully, he comes at a fairly insignificant cost, but at some point, he may no longer justify getting regular at-bats. Especially with Brennen Davis and Cole Roederer knocking on the door in the minors. Let’s see if he can make the most of a shortened season.

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Chicago Cubs: Uphill battle ahead for Albert Almora Jr.Ryan Sikeson June 19, 2020 at 4:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Is Mitchell Trubisky the next Javier Baez/Yoan Moncada?Vincent Pariseon June 19, 2020 at 5:00 pm

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 31: Eloy Jimenez #74 of the Chicago White Sox speaks with Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky before the game against the Cleveland Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field on May 31, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images) — CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MAY 31: Eloy Jimenez #74 of the Chicago White Sox speaks with Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky before the game against the Cleveland Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field on May 31, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears are hoping that Mitchell Trubisky could have a similar turnaround to two stars from Chicago’s baseball teams.

The Chicago Bears have a lot on their plate when football gets going. They have one of the best defenses (if not the number one best) in the National Football League. That means that bad quarterback play has kept them down over the past year and will continue to keep them down if it doesn’t get better. They traded a fourth-round pick for Nick Foles earlier this offseason to compete with Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job.

The Bears took Trubisky with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft ahead of studs like Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes and he has been awful, especially in 2019. He seems to be getting one more chance to be the Bears starting quarterback as they didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. If this year goes poorly for him, he will be gone.

There are two baseball stars in this town that make you wonder if we should give Trubisky one chance to rebound from his lousy 2019 season. Friend of the program, David Kaplan, discussed the topic on his ESPN 1000 show “Kap and Co.” with his co-hosts about the fact that they need to “let things play out”. They used that logic because of the rebound that Javier Baez had with the Chicago Cubs.

Baez was awful in his rookie 2014. He was so bad that he was in trade rumors and a deal with the San Diego Padres was extremely close to happening. Now in 2020, it is clear how bad of a trade that would have ended up being. Javy proved that letting it all play out is sometimes the best possible strategy because the Cubs now have an MVP level player on their roster.

I’ll even do Kap one better, how about Yoan Moncada? He was so awful in 2018 and struck out a billion times for the Chicago White Sox. It was tough to see Moncada truly ever living up to being one of the world’s best baseball prospects but in 2019 he made us all look bad by being a top-ten hitter and third in the American League. It was an incredible turnaround for both of these guys and now both of them are some of the best players in the world.

Now, keep in mind that Moncada and Baez might both be players that are so good that they go to the Hall of Fame one day. Nobody, including Kap and company, is saying that will happen for Trubisky. What we’re saying is that we let things play out with those two guys and look how it turned out. Trubisky doesn’t even have to become one of the league’s best like Moncada or Baez, he just needs to be average and this football team will win games. Hopefully, something like this could happen.

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Chicago Bears: Is Mitchell Trubisky the next Javier Baez/Yoan Moncada?Vincent Pariseon June 19, 2020 at 5:00 pm Read More »