Blackhawks Silence Stars, Streak Continues
Both teams brought a five-game winning streak into the United Center on Monday night. But a dominant third period extended the Blackhawks streak, and pushed the Stars to the brink of an early summer.
Offense came from all over the Hawks’ lineup, providing a final box score that has become commonplace for Chicago this season.
Marian Hossa led the way for Chicago, playing his best game since returning from a shoulder injury. He was credited with an empty net goal, two assists, two takeaways, one hit and one blocked shot in the game.
But important goals once again came from secondary scorers. Viktor Stalberg and Andrew Shaw each scored their ninth goal of the season, with Shaw providing the game-winner less than 90 seconds after Jamie Benn tied the game early in the third. Shaw was also credited with a team-leading four hits.
Benn scored both of Dallas’ goals in the game, and was really the only player to challenge the Hawks defense. Even though he led the Stars’ with both goals, he was still minus-two for the night.
For the Hawks, Hossa, Shaw and Jonathan Toews all had multi-point games. Toews scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season, was credited with two takeaways and won eight of 18 faceoffs.
Surprisingly, the Blackhawks were led at the dot by a dominant…. Dave Bolland? Bolland won 15 of 19 faceoffs in what was his best faceoff performance in a long time.
The hallmark of this late season stretch has been fantastic team defense by the Blackhawks, and Monday night was no different.
Ray Emery allowed only two goals, and only faced 18 shots against a Stars team that had scored 20 in their five previous games. The Hawks blocked 11 shots in the game, led by two each from Patrick Kane, Michal Rozsival and Brent Seabrook. Emery is now 16-1-0 this season.
Chicago’s penalty kill continued it’s strong play as well, handling the only powerplay for the Stars easily.
Unfortunately, the Hawks’ powerplay continues to be a hot mess. At one point, coach Joel Quennville rolled a group of Michal Rozsival, Michael Frolik, Marcus Kruger, Nick Leddy and Rozsival out for the start of a powerplay. Of course, that didn’t work; nothing has on that unit lately. The Hawks squandered all four of their advantages in the game.
As has been the trend, the lack of producing anything on the powerplay didn’t impact the Hawks at all. After Benn tied the game at two, Chicago put two goals on the board in 4:39 to run away from Dallas.
In the wake of the tragedy in Boston, Chicago’s fans once again showed why they’re the class of the NHL. After respectfully observing a moment of silence, the National Anthem was as good as it gets.
One quick comment before I head off to bed…Hammer is really having a great season. He blasted that shot tonight and he looks like he’s getting a little more confident and involved on the O end.
Also makes me think back to all the calls on CI for him to be gone over the past year; I’m sure glad none of those ready to send him packing are the GM. He’s regained 2010 form and then some.
Cruisin!
I still think, overall, that the 2009/10 team was better, but this team might have a better team defense. And their offense isn’t too shabby either. Playoff results will be the ultimate arbiter so we’ll just have to wait and see … but so far the ride has been sweet.
ZebraGreg – “Hammer is really having a great season…He’s regained 2010 form and then some.” Absolutely. But, in fairness to those of us who suggested that he may be expendable, who would have foreseen this after the last two seasons? After his first year his play spiraled down – also absolutely. I believe that he and Leddy have been the Hawks best d-man, and I’m delighted for both of them. Continued success, I say.
Go Hawks!!
ER – I’d be a fool to dispute your point (“overall, that the 2009/10 team was better”) since they were the champion, but….this team certainly looks like it has a legitimate shot, doesn’t it?
“this team might have a better team defense” – I’ve read and considered a lot of information/opinions here, and I keep coming back to “team defense”…Byfuglien, Neimi, Ladd, Campbell, Versteeg or Sopel (…ha, ha, ha, ha?) didn’t win the Cup — “team defense” did, *in my opinion*. I believe if the teams can continue to play the same way/at the same level of commitment they have the last few games, they may do it again.
“Cruisin!” – GO HAWKS!!
I was surprised by the lack of desperation on the part of the Stars
Tab, do you still really think that Stalberg signs (w/ anyone) for less than 4M next year?
And Leddy for less than 3.5M? IMO- NO WAY!
Which leaves 4.5M for Goalie, 7th D-man, Kruger (1.75M) and Bick (2.5Mish)-
So Hawks will have to dump 67 and or 36 and Hopefully someone takes Cbomb…
I also think a BIG round of applause should go out to Bowman. There were a lot of people here giving him flack for not doing to much at the trade deadline. Also a lot of flack for picking up Hanzus. He has proven to fit in with this team at a minimal cost and done a great job so far. Bowman has a great sense of making the right business/player choices. A GM REALLY has to get “bang for your buck” in the cap driven NHL….
Ok, so now that the trade deadline is in the far distant mirror, the Hawks have been shwoing hwat they’ve got for the playoffs, and here’s what I’ve learned from what we’ve seen the past 2 weeks:
1. After getting back our 2 top-6 injured players, it’s clear that while Sharp is an important member of the team, Hossa is CRITICAL to this team’s success. What a horse this guy is! His performance since returning from injury puts the significance of losing him for last years run in better perspective. I liked his tough physical play against the Blues and he was a man among boys against Dallas. Truly one of the top 10 guys in the NHL imho. Hawks absolutely need him healthy if they are going to make it to the finals.
2. Zues is better addition that I expected him to be. Size, faceoff competency and willingness to mix it up in front of the net makes him effective and valuable playoff piece. mark my words, he’s going to chip in an important goal or 2 in front of the net before it’s over. Good grab there Stan.
3. The Blues game was the most important game of the year to date. StL played dirty, physical and tried to intimidate. Hawks answered. Major statement that shows me we can hang with these type of teams if we’re willing to show the heart. Will be required when/if we see StL, LA and Ducks. Will be hard to handle for more than 1 series, and will need Bickell, Zues, Bollig, Carcillo, Shaw and even Bolland to get fiesty/nasty to make it thru.
4. I know Bollig is not popular among some on this board, but I like what he brings to table (as I also do with Carcillo). Someone posted accurately that Q does not tolerate instigator stupidity which is why these guys are on leash, but having them there to pop punks like Backes will be critical to our success.
5. I personally prefer we get Detroit to open. Kind of an appetizer warm-up before the rugged stuff gets tougher. Hope someone knocks off the Ducks and we TCB with whoever is left (LA and/or Vancouver.) Would be much tougher physically to start with Minny, Columbus or StL…
6. Finally, no way we should coast/rest into playoffs to get “healthier”. Would be a bad move. This is/was a short season and the reason President’s Cup winners often lose is they lose mojo heading into playoffs. Teams that are hot into playoffgs are dangerous (see LA in 2012.) Hawks are cruising and may even be peaking/jelling again. Need to continue to push it full throttle into playoffs and hit ground on a roll.
Wall…..according to Cap Geek the Hawks shape up like this for 2013-14, based on yesterday’s roster.
58.5mm tied up in 16 players for next year
6.0mm cap space for next year needing 8 players
Players whose contracts run out this year
Handzus 2.5mm
LeBlanc 1.4mm
Kruger .9mm
Stalberg .9mm
Mayers .7mm
Bickell .6mm
Rosival 2.0mm
Leddy 1.1mm
TOTAL 10.1mm NOT included in next years 58.5mm committed players
Players with 1 year left on their contracts
Bolland 3.4mm
Frolik 2.3
Carcillo .8
Bolig .6
Shaw .6
Hammer 3.4
Brookbank 1.3
TOTAL 12.5mm and included in the 16 players @ 58.5mm for next year
Conclusion: Hawks have 46mm committed to 9 players & 12.5mm committed to the 7 players who have 1 year left. In the end you are looking for 8 players with about $6mm.
Assuming you will NOT trade the 9 players with multiple years left (Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Kieth, Seabrook, Oduya, Saad and Crawford) the answer for next year lies in the guys with one year left and maybe Oduya.
Lets assume you can move Brookbank and Bolland. You now have $10.6mm for 10 players. You want to resign Leddy, Stalberg, Kruger and LeBlanc (chosing LeBlanc over Bickell). You will probably need most of the 10.6mm to do it. That leaves zero left and you still need 6 players. Somebody with multi years left will have to go. Oduya represents another $3.4mm. That is probably enough to fill out the roster with guys from Rockford. Speaking of Rockford, Karlsson and Hutton (Goalies) are both UFAs this year, so you have to sign one of them if you are not gonna keep Emery. Luckily, most of the guys you want on the Hawks are signed through next year or beyond.
Bottom Line: The lower cap is a mess, but MANY teams are in the same situation. Yes there are teams with 20-30mm in space, but most of them need 10 or more players. SB will not be a major (or even a minor) free agent player this summer unless he dumps salary for prospects. BUT he can manage the cap using guys from Rockford.
Biggest Fear: NHL loses players to Europe and the KHL because they can offer more money. The NHL needs to step up. I love small markets, but hey, can not cater to them and lose star players to other leagues.
Wall any other year and I think both of those guys are gone and even this year it will be hard to sign both. The one saving grace this year is the cap goes to 64M and with that I believe they can sign both but they’ll need to dump Carcillo, Frolik and Bolland. If they can’t get anyone to take them, then yes it will be hard to keep them both.
My feeling is that Stalberg will probably be the one they decide not to sign, it’s a shame but that’s the system all teams work in.
@ wall re: new deals for Stalberg & Leddy…. let me once again offer some perspective.
No. I do not believe anyone in their right mind is going to give Viktor Stalberg $4M per this summer. He has a career high of 22 goals and is currently making $875k. Troy Brouwer, after the 2010-11 season, had his negotiating rights traded to Washington for a first round pick and subsequently signed a two-year deal with a $2.35M cap number. If someone wants to give Stalberg a bigger cap number in the new CBA world with a cap coming down next year, then trade him for a 1st round pick like you did w/ Brouwer and move Morin into his spot on the 3rd line.
Is Nick Leddy a $3.5M defenseman? Maybe. On his next contract? No. I’ll point you to PK Subban, who is held in higher regard and is a top-pair defenseman in Montreal. He signed a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2.875M before this season. If Leddy’s worth $700k more than Subban, that’s news to the NHL…
And, again, I don’t see Kruger getting $1.75M or Bickell getting $2.5M. I’m not sure where you’re coming up w/ these cap numbers, but take a look at what other players are getting paid. As I pointed out a month ago, a comparable financial career projection for Bickell could be Wayne Simmonds. Simmond’s first deal that jumped over the $1M mark was a two-year deal w/ a $1.75M cap hit… that’s is appropriate for Bickell’s next deal, considering he’s currently making $541k. And Kruger jumping to $1.75 as a 3rd or 4th line fwd is grounds for the Hawks accepting the draft picks on an offer sheet; an arbitrator wouldn’t give him more than $1.5M, which would represent a $600k (and 66%) increase from his current $900k cap hit.
Let’s slow down with the nightmare scenarios surrounding this summer’s finances of the Blackhawks. And let’s try to be realistic with our cap projections.
It’s an interesting debate btw the 2010 and 2013 Hawks. 2013 Hawks have a better team +/- and GAA. 2010 Hawks had more dominating individual statistics. Shots against are actually the same on both teams.
Two key difference that this team has that the 2010 didn’t:
1) Rings. And lots of them. Half the roster has rings whereas in 2010 I think only Madden and Ladd had them?
2) Coming off two bad playoff losses. VAN was incredibly disappointing and PHX was an utter disaster. I believe this team is going to play pissed off in the playoffs, as they should, and will be well prepared for LA and ANA.
@Wall – $4m for Stal? Damn that seems high. Is that seriously the going rate for a goal scorer who has hit 20 once?
OK- Tab, your argument of PK vs. Ledds is a good one… so maybe I am high on that #
16- my guess was 1.5-1.75– so we are close.
Bicks- The 1 signing that stood out as a steal the year Simmonds was FA was his deal…
when I saw that low #— I wondered why the Hawks didn’t try to get him!
With that said… he should make 2.25-2.75 in my eyes… Hope you are right!
But Stalberg- it is not All about the #’s (which by the way he is putting up in 12-14 min.) albeit against 3rd/4th lines usually… but the game changing speed/pressure is incredible… and lastly- there are a lot of bums making that kind of coin… Hope you are right!!! Ya can’t replace that speed!!!
Maybe we win the Cup and he gives us a Hometown discount… perhaps Kane/Toews request he gets in on some of the commercials to supplement his income!!!
Let’s forget the cap situation, right now, and concentrate on the playoffs. Don’t worry about tomorrow, worry about today.
A good friend of mine is the bro-in-law of a Blues player. After the last Blues / Hawks game the Blues player basically said, “nobody in the league can keep up with them in a 7 game series, they are too fast and too skilled”.
So what everyone on this blog has said is true, there is no substitute for speed. The Hawks have skill AND speed, which is deadly in the playoffs. Although we have 2 great #1 and #2 lines, our #3 and #4 lines are very quick and as tenacious as any other lines in the game. Cudos to Frolick, Stahlberg, Shaw, Bickel and the rest of the boys who go out and forecheck and backcheck, tirelessly.
Remember, talent will not go anywhere without hard work. This team works hard from start to finish!!
Tab, Agreed. I think the Hawks can resign 4 or 5 of their free agents for $10mm. They will be short contracts 1, 2 or 3 years max. But the perspective that all teams have this problem will hold prices down for all except the elite players. Let’s just hope they all stay in the NHL
I’m really looking forward to Brad jumping in on the cap discussion after his post after the Red Wings game.
Hawks have kids that need roster spots. We don’t need to overvalue the 3rd and 4th liners when they will be easier to replace than you think. Bowman has a plan, even though no one believes it. Obviously Leddy and Stalberg are the most important people to re-sign, but Stalberg isn’t worth breaking the bank over. He’s fast and that helps create a lot of chances, but if the guy actually had hands he would be elite. Stalberg is a GREAT third line player, what will the going rate of a third liner be after the cap drops?
On to the game last night! Holy cow that was awful to watch.
Emery was bad. If the defense wasn’t on top of their stuff that could have been a disaster. Hopefully he has a nice bounce back game in his next start.
I really liked the PP unit they put out with their second PP. I think it was Frolik, Handzus, and Kruger. Definitely intended to slap the stars in the face to get them to do what they are supposed to do. SHOOT THE PUCK. After the shot, go chase the puck down and start the movement again. This is not new strategy. I am to the point where I get angry at Keith on the point. Every time he does a slap pass that (of course) fails, I want to throw something at the tv. Stop. SHOOT AT THE NET!!!
Not much to say about the game outside of the power play making my blood pressure rise and the rest of the game putting me to sleep.
Something of note.
The Hawks have 5 losses. One of which they got spanked. Their other 4 losses are all by one goal (techinically the one against Anaheim they got an empty netter so it was 2). I know when they started playing poorly, people freaked out, but they have one bad loss on the year. That’s pretty awesome.
Regarding cap conversations…
Assuming Olesz and Montador are bought out, the Hawks will have 9.9M left to fill the following holes
LW3 (Bickell)
RW3 (Stalberg)
C4 (Kruger)
D5 (Leddy)
D6 (Roszival)
Goal2 (Emery)
Best case scenario: Leddy doesn’t sign an OS and you retain Leddy/Kruger for about $4.3M combined (2.75ish and 1.5ish respectively). If you can get Emery back for $1.6M (assuming no 1A goalie openings), that would leave you with $4M. Maybe Roszival resigns for the same $2M and maybe one of Bickell/Stalberg will resign for $2M. Ship out Carcillo and one of Danault/McNeil/Morin/Hayes/Smith take the other 3rd line spot.
Worst case scenario: Leddy signs an OS for $3.36 and we match, so he and Kruger cost $4.8M. Emery bolts for a bigger opportunity and we sign Karlsson or another meh back up for $1M, leaving us with $4M. Roszival bolts for more minutes/$ and we plug in Stanton/Clendending/Olsen as our 5th/6th D, leaving us with $3M. Bickell and Stalberg have hot suitors and require $3M and we resign one of them. Ship out Carcillo and one of Danault/McNeil/Morin/Hayes/Smith take the other 3rd line spot. Or maybe we decide retaining Emery/Roszival is more important than one of Bickell/Stalberg and we allow 2 of Danault/McNeil/Morin/Hayes/Smith to replace them on the 3rd line.
As for how much Leddy, Bickell, Stalberg, Kruger will make, I think the two biggest unknowns are if someone offer sheets Leddy and if someone goes Tallon/Kopecky crazy on Bickell/Stalberg.
If Leddy gets an OS, he’s going to command a bit over $3M to retain. It seems like the reason no one gave an OS to Subban was that they knew the Habs would match it and want to sign him long term and/or Subban refused to sign one because he wanted to stay in Montreal. The Hawks may or may not match it considering their logjam at D, cap situation, presence of Clendening, etc. And we certainly know Leddy is just going to go for the bucks (which is certainly his rite, just like Hammer). I’d put the odds of him signing an OS at about 50/50. An OS below ~3.4M nets a 2nd round pick. If he doesn’t sign an OS, then Subban’s deal will be the benchmark, or roughly $2.75.
As for Bickell/Stalberg, the comparison to Simmonds previous contact ignores the fact that Simmonds was an RFA and Bickell/Stalberg are UFAs (Simmonds UFA contract pays him $4M). Bickell and Stalberg are unique in that they are ~40 point players each with an elite skill (hitting and speed respectively). A GM may look at a player like Kopecky who is also ~40 point player and makes ~$3M. BUT, there certainly are ~40 point players whos first UFA contract is in the ~$1.5M range. Brodziak is a good example of guy who falls into both categories. Although, you can find similar guys who were RFAs and signed deals ~$3M (Setoguchi/Filpula/Hanzal/Foligno). If you want to look at guys who got ~$1.8M in their first UFA contract, you’re talking about guys like Winnik . Certainly a fine player but he has neither the elite unique skill that Bickell/Stalberg have, nor the multiple 40 point seasons (I’m prorating this season). So again, a lot of potential variance here. Could be $2M guys or could be $3M+ guys.
@wall, Simmonds was an RFA…an RFA the Flyers just traded their captain and one of the best players in the league, Mike Richards for (Flyers received Schenn as well). They love Simmonds and would have matched any offer sheet…hence why they gave him an extension for boku bucks. He was never available to the Hawks (nor anyone else).
Maybe you are thinking of someone else.
I am not gonna debate their talents and achievements, but will simply say I really get a charge out of seeing and watching 19C and Hossa together. Much like I did when it was Savy and Larmer playing together. 19-81-20 is a pretty special mix.
Ozzie, I don’t know if you can sign all 6 of those guys for $9.9mm.
Bicks 1.5
Stalberg 1.8
Kruger 1.6
Leddy 1.8
Rosival 2.0
Karlsson 1.2
There is your $9.9mm. I don’t see it. Plus you have to fill 2 more roster spots. Shipping out Carcillo only frees up $.825mm and you have to fill that spot as well
Prospect cap hits
Hayes, Pirri, Morin Clendening, McNiel, Danault and Hayes all make more than Carcillo, Bolig and Shaw. SB has some work to do.
Perhaps we need to be realistic about a few things when looking ahead to the summer.
Bickell -> Hayes ($875k)
Stalberg -> Morin ($886k)
Kruger – $1.5M
Leddy – $2.5M
Karlsson – $900k
Rozsival – Stanton ($900k) or Clendening ($925k)
That’s a conservative $7.6M for six players… and might be closer to this summer’s reality than bringing back an aging Rozsival or overpaid Bickell/Stalberg. Let’s also not forget that BOTH Ben Smith & Brandon Bollig signed deals that are one-way in 2013-14, meaning both of them will count against the NHL cap next season. So pencil in Smith’s $562,500 somewhere on the roster (maybe Frolik’s fourth line role if he can be dealt).
I doubt that Rosival comes back you can save a little over 1M by bringing up Clendening.
Kruger and Bickell should not be an issue resigning unless some other GM goes crazy or SB doesn’t want them back.
Stalberg will get offer SB can’t match is my guess. Some GM is going to believe he is ready to be a top 6 forward.
Leddy is the one I’m not sure of, because D-Man are a premium in the league. But if you trade Bolland, Carillo and Frolik that nets you 6.5M and dumping Olesz gets you another 3.1M plus the 1M saved by Rosival gets you over 10M.
So that should be enough to resign Leddy, Bickell, Kruger and either Emery or Karlsson and bring up the needed young guys from Rockford.
Bowman will keep HIS players and his prized “finds”. Stahlberg is the crowning piece of the period where we dumped salaries…as is Jeremy Morin…know that those two will be here. Bowman will do what it takes to sign Stahlberg, and I get Wall’s point that the intangibles behind Stahlberg will drive his price up, but not to $4 million. Bowman drafted Kruger and Shaw in the 5th round in consecutive years…they aren’t going anywhere…he stole Leddy from Minnesota…he isn’t going anywhere. Bickell is having a nice season, but he IS replaceable. Guys like Mayers, Carcillo, Frolik, Rozy, Brookbank, even Oduya have really been 1 to 3 year “rentals” until the system Bowman built was fully operational. Clearly Bowman’s system is ready…ready to graduate good players to the parent club EVERY SEASON from here on.
So in terms of how we are going to “afford” everyone, including maintaining the corp group (and adding to that number) its relatively simple…from here on Bowman will “shop” through Rockford. As we discussed yesterday, Rockford has 6 guys that are ready now, and holding them back any longer will only halt their development…
* Jimmy Hayes
* Jeremy Morin
* Ben Smith
* Brandon Pirri
* Adam Clendening
* Ryan Stanton
These kids have done EVERYTHING we have asked of them, including produce when they have been called up here. Clendening is an AHL All Star in his rookie season. Ben Smith has 23 goals in 52 games. Pirri is essentially a PPG #1 centre. Morin is 2nd in AHL goal scoring with 100 penalty minutes. I don’t think Stanton has had a bad game all season. On top of this list of players you have guys like Dylan Olsen, Joe Lavin, Shawn LaLonde, Terry Broadhurst that are showing that they get it and can be NHL players…and this list doesn’t even include TT, Danault, McNeil, Garret Ross, Kevin Hayes, Nordstrom and Rendsfeldt.
So none of us has to “worry” about the future of the Hawks…we will be loaded, including at centre and goal. The only thing I commented on was now…Hossa and Sharp have had injuries in recent years and were coming off extended injuries, and we needed depth a C/FW that could win face-offs. Is that Handzus alone? Right now it looks like it might be…but that’s based on a healthy Patrick Sharp taking face-offs and dominating there. IMO Bowman took a significant risk by not adding a rental 2nd line centre at the deadline…let’s just hope the gamble pays off…because to win the Cup we need Hoss and Sharp healthy.
Note: there is no “h” in Stalberg.
Tab wrote…
Bickell -> Hayes ($875k)
Stalberg -> Morin ($886k)
Kruger – $1.5M
Leddy – $2.5M
Karlsson – $900k
Rozsival – Stanton ($900k) or Clendening ($925k)
That’s a conservative $7.6M for six players… and might be closer to this summer’s reality than bringing back an aging Rozsival or overpaid Bickell/Stalberg. Let’s also not forget that BOTH Ben Smith & Brandon Bollig signed deals that are one-way in 2013-14, meaning both of them will count against the NHL cap next season. So pencil in Smith’s $562,500 somewhere on the roster (maybe Frolik’s fourth line role if he can be dealt).
And other than with Stahlberg he is exactly right…I do think that Bowman will get a deal done at reasonable dollars with 25, and the rest MUST come from Rockford…and not SHOULD, but MUST…this is how organizations win, win, win with strict CAP leagues. Bowman is a smart guy and knows this…this plan has been in play since 2009, but it takes some time…and now it is all nicely coming together…we are just a little thin at that “2nd” centre position right now, but that’s it…Bowman has got this organization LOADED from top to bottom…and the next decade will mean little to no trades (other than to move rental contracts like Frolik, Carcillo, etc), or action in Free Agency, as we have it all within our own extended family.
So guys like Rozy won’t be coming back, no matter how well they have done this season. Think about our D…in 5 years time Leddy and Clendening are your #1 guys…paired with 2 solid “stay at home DMen” like say Stanton and Olsen, that’s your top 4, replacing Sebs and Keith…The same is true for our forwards as well…in 2 year’s time, we could have the entire “older” Hawks forwards replaced (with the exception of Toews and Kane) by what we have now, and what’s coming. That’s impressive…and fiscally responsible.
STAHLBERG…its now a tradition! I think in 2-3 years time, everyone will be spelling his name this way…
Tab and Brad. I agree, Rosy will not be back. I also agree that Bickell and/or Stalberg will get pulled away. I hope we can keep Karlsson at 900k. Trading Carcillo and Bolig gets another couple of guys with EL contracts. But there is a lot of misunderstanding. Losing Rosival does not FREE up money from next years commitments cause he is not included in those commitments. As you both say, Hawks may have to replace a Stalberg and or a Bickell with players who have similar cap numbers that those guys have this year.
I posted this on the Hawks boards:
Buyout Montador & Olesz.
Trade Bolland. If more cap space is needed – trade Frolik too.
Resign Leddy ($2.5M), Stalberg ($3M), Bickell ($1.75M), Kruger ($1.5M), Karlsson ($1M).
Promote Pirri, Morin & Stanton
CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Brandon Saad ($0.894m) / Jonathan Toews ($6.300m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)
Patrick Sharp ($5.900m) / Brandon Pirri ($0.870m) / Patrick Kane ($6.300m)
Bryan Bickell ($1.750m) / Andrew Shaw ($0.565m) / Viktor Stalberg ($3.000m)
Jeremy Morin ($0.887m) / Marcus Kruger ($1.500m) / Michael Frolik ($2.333m)
Brandon Bollig ($0.575m) / Daniel Carcillo ($0.825m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Duncan Keith ($5.538m) / Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.500m)
Nick Leddy ($2.500m) / Brent Seabrook ($5.800m)
Johnny Oduya ($3.383m) / Sheldon Brookbank ($1.250m)
Ryan Stanton ($1.000m) /
GOALTENDERS
Corey Crawford ($2.667m)
Henrik Karlsson ($1.000m)
——
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,612,628; BONUSES: $377,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $1,064,872
According to CapGeek we have approx $5.9 in cap room after current contract locks unless we can trade players on contracts. In tight cap year, not sure how easy it is to accomplish “dumping/trading” higher salaries than performance dictates on other teams. Who is taking:
* Bolland at $3.375?
* Frolik at $2.33?
That’s the issue. The Hawks simply have to dump big salaries when the cap dips $6M next year. Which team take Bolland and/or Frolik for nothing but draft choices or AHL’ers? If we’re stuck with them thru next season (like it or not), assuming we can NOT trade out of current obligations, then we have only $6M to re-sign or fill the following 8 un-signed and unaccounted for holes:
* D: Leddy, Rosival
* C: Kruger, Zeus, JMayers
* F: Stalberg, Bickell
* G: Emery
Can’t see how to make that work without losing 3 of 4 guys we want to keep (Leddy/Kruger/Stalberg/Bickell.) Teams at bottom of league that have room, depends on who they will want this offseason with pending fire sales. Definitely will be a buyers market for them.
@ Negzz – the $5.9M salary cap space does not include the total buyouts of Montador and Olesz. If the Hawks use their two compliance buyouts on Montador and Olesz, the cap space is closer over $9M. See the capgeek roster I posted just above – it has Montador and Olesz bought out and Bolland’s salary removed as if he were traded. As you can see, by trading Bolland and buying out Montador and Olesz, the Hawks should have enough cap space to resign Leddy, Stalberg, Kruger and Bickell – and still have a 23 man roster with $1M in cap space.
Guys, what am I missing???
5.8M cap + Monty (2.75M) + Rusty (3.1M) = 11.65M – Smith .590M= 11M Cap space
25- 3.75M
Goalie- 1M
7th D- 1M
16- 1.5M
8- 2.75M
29- 2.25M
Puts us over by about 1.5M… so we dump a Cbomb and Bollig or 67… and they will be wanted by some near cap teams looking for experienced cheap players…
My fear is that some GM is going to offer 25 some 4M+…
@wall – one thing you’re missing is that the total salary cap hit of a “buried player” is not charged against the cap – only the amount exceeding $900,000. The rule is that $325,000 is added to the league minimum salary for a particular year, which I think is $575,000 for 2013/14 and that amount is not charged against the team’s cap – only the amount of a buried players salary that exceeds that amount.
So in the case of a player making less than $900,000 – he can be buried in the NHL with no salary cap impact. But in the case of a player with a salary cap hit of $2,000,000 – the team will have $1,100,000 ($2,000,000 – $900,000) charged to their cap.
So the numbers that you see on Capgeek are Montador’s and Olesz’ salary cap hits minus $900,000 from each.
Therefore:
5.8M cap + Monty (2.75M) + Rusty (3.1M) = 11.65M
should be:
5.8M cap + Monty (2.75M – 900K) + Rusty (3.1M – 900K) = 9.85M
ER, Mike, Wall, Neggzz…great posts as always…
Really there isn’t much of an issue at all, because there are lots of GMs around the league that have the money and would love to add Bolland (and his 1 or 2 rings), if they didn’t have to give up much…the Hawk’s could get a B prospect and a mid level pick…the same with Frolik…he’s proved himself to be VERY valuable as a key role player on a winning team…if a team only had to give up a 6th round pick, there are tons of destinations for him to go to…
I am sure Bowman, Q, and us fans would love to keep Frolik, but it isn’t even about the cap space…its the system…if this system that Bowman has created and put into place is going to work you MUST trust and promote from within…and for next year there are a bunch of guys that are coming up, and they have to…
Pirri
Karlsson
Clendening/Stanton, or both
Hayes
Morin
Ben Smith
They are all ready to play now and must be given their shots…so to that end, Bickell might not be resigned at all…and Brookbank might be traded so that Clendening/Stanton can be the 6th/7th guys.
There is always a home for an NHL player at the cost of a 6th or 7th round pick…we just want to try and get a 5th rounder in any of these deals…as in the last 3 drafts our 5th round has looked like this:
Marcus Kruger
Andrew Shaw
Garret Ross
Geez I can think of 5.8 million reasons to trade seabrook and his lazy butt and fill the space with a young defenseman from Rockford.
re: trade Seabrook – No.
While we’re all throwing around trade scenarios and talking about how much players on this team are overpaid, I think many are forgetting one key part of the new CBA: teams can eat part of a player’s cap number. So if the Blackhawks indeed wanted to trade a Bolland/Frolik, they could retain part of the cap hit to make that player more “affordable” to the acquiring team.
All the cap & salary experts have way too much time on their hands. Is anyone working these days on top of being Jr’s assistant?
Zebra……The business of hockey is unique. Unlike other team sports, every transaction is important for several reasons….not just making the team better. It is fun to speculate. In the end we all want the Cup in Chicago.
Sr. Brad says this all the time, but you have to promote from within if you have an organization built to do so. You can’t keep players who need NHL experience in the AHL. I think the key resigns are Stalberg and Leddy and then Kruger and Bickel. Rosy was a great one year signing, but he won’t be back. I think Oduya might be dangled too. If there are no takers for Bolland and Frolick, they make Kruger and Bickel less of a priority…
Now back to this season: Let’s go!
To give you one more perspective. The Yankees have a payroll of $200mm while San Diego has a team payroll of $55mm. That’s crazy! In the NHL, the Canucks spend $70mm and the Coyotes spend $50mm. The created parity has made our game far more exciting than before the 04-05 lockout.
The Cap has saved several to many small market teams. You could argue that maybe the league should contract to 24 teams and thus raise the cap. However, the thinking right now is to have the NHL system reach as wide an area as possible.
@ Tom I agree. Can we please stop all the Offseason talk before we even get to the Postseason? I find it completely Ironic that a lot of people qualified every statement or feeling about the point streak earlier this year with something like “it won’t mean anything unless we win the cup” yet we are talking Offseason moves earlier then some teams fans that have been eliminated!
@ Al I agree I like Bowman. He has made a ton of smart moves. He has made some poor pickups as well but the good signings out weigh the bad.
If we need a topic here is one. I feel like Handzus needs to be back on the 3rd line. Kruger then needs moved to 4th line center and Shaw can play wing on the 2nd line.
Handzus works very well with Stalberg and Bick as seen by the assist to Stals. Kruger is great one the first line Pen Kill and is more effective there when he is playing on the 4th line I feel. Also Shaw is a better winger and Krugs better center this is why Shaw to 2nd line wing, Zeus 3rd line center and Krugs 4th line center should be the way we go till Sharpie gets back.
Thoughts?
Mike…many thanks for informing of the unique nature of my favorite sport. The reminder wasn’t necessary. You missed my point, clearly. Let’s take the Prez Trophy, win one series at a time then claim the Cup and – then – worry about contracts, cap space, trades and such.
I’m thinking the PP, getting healthy and peaking should be foremost on everyone’s mind right now.