Posted by by: Michael P. Kelly
Changes on the way for Blackhawks
How much trouble are the Chicago Blackhawks in as far as the salary cap is concerned? Well, the Hawks are about $50,000 from the ceiling andhave been forced to send Jack Skille down to the minors between games to save money. Each time they do this the team saves $6,600. It may not sound like a lot, but in today’s salary cap world, moves like this are necessary. On the heels of last season’s success, Blackhawk fans are pumped for their team to make a run to the Stanley Cup Final. If the city of Chicago is to see its 49 year Stanley Cup drought come to an end, this will have to be the year to do it. While the team is loaded with young talent, the issue of the salary cap is set to bring about major changes in the Windy City.
The Hawks have $43.223 million in salary committed for the 2010-11 season. There are also 10 players on Chicago’s roster that will be free agents come July 1. With the NHL’s $56.8 million salary cap projected to drop by next season’s start; that leaves the Blackhawks with $13 million, at best, to sign 10 players. Players that will be looking for new contracts include restricted free agents Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith. Kane and Toews alone will command somewhere in the range of $6.5 million each; that’s $13 million already. So how can general manager Stan Bowman stick-handle his way out of this situation, while keeping the team’s nucleus intact?
Re-signing Kane, Toews and Keith are priority number 1. It would be hard to imagine a scenario where Bowman would allow any case to get as far as an offer sheet. So, how do you free up the cap space necessary to re-sign the trio? Sources indicate that defenceman Cam Barker andforward Patrick Sharp are two names that are being shopped around in an attempt to dump salary. The two represent a $7 million cap hit combined. Even Kris Versteeg, who was a Calder trophy finalist last season, has been linked to trade talks. John Madden will be an unrestricted free agent at seasons end and will likely not be offered a contract.
Knowing all this, the move to sign Marian Hossa to a 12-year contract seems questionable at best. Assuming Kane, Toews and Keith all re-sign with the Hawks, is the addition of Hossa worth the loss of Sharp, Barker and or Versteeg? Well, Sharp leads the team in scoring with 9 points, Versteeg is 2nd with 7 points and Barker is a top 4 defenceman. Hossa is on the injured reserve list and hasn’t cracked 75 points in either of his last two seasons. When I do the math, it simply doesn’t add up.
Michael P. Kelly
(photos courtesy: Flikr)
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46 and Counting
Barker is the #6 defenseman, not top 4. He barely is allowed on the ice in non PP situations.
There definitely will have to be some trimming of the fat to squeeze signing TKK, but it certainly isn’t signing Hossa that was the problem, its Campbell and Huet. Even if neither of those guys are movable, do you really have a problem with exchanging Sharp for Hossa????