While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Despite more roster turnover last offseason, most of the core of the Blackhawks remained intact and expectations were still high. Chicago played well during the season and earned the top seed in the Western Conference but things unraveled quickly from there as they were swept by Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. GM Stan Bowman has promised more changes to the roster which makes them a team to keep an eye on this summer. Here are a few keys to their offseason success.
Get Under The Salary Cap
30 of the 31 teams head into the offseason projected to be under the salary cap. The one team that isn’t is Chicago and not by an insignificant margin either. They have over $77.5MM already committed per next season per CapFriendly and the cap isn’t expected to jump all that much higher from the $73MM it was this season. A major factor in their situation was more than $3.5MM in bonuses being reached this year by several players, most prominently winger Artemi Panarin. As they finished the season at the cap ceiling, the charge for those bonuses being reached will be applied in 2017-18.
As a result, Bowman needs to find a way to trim a fair bit of payroll. What may prove challenging is that nine different players have some form of no-move or no-trade protection and most of those are their higher paid players.
Among the options to move is center Marcus Kruger. Earlier this week, it was reported that a deal was being worked on that would move Kruger to Vegas in an agreement that would also see the Golden Knights land young defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. Kruger’s cap hit on its own isn’t particularly onerous ($3.083MM) but he’s a bottom six forward and it would make sense to try to free up space there over moving a top six option. Center Artem Anisimov has also been suggested as a player who could move but that would have a much bigger impact in their top six. One way or another, they need to free up a fair bit of payroll room.
New Backup Goaltender
With the offseason trade of Scott Darling to Carolina, the Blackhawks need a new backup goaltender. Their internal options are limited with Jeff Glass being the only other goalie under contract while their two full-time AHL goalies from last season are unrestricted free agents. As a result, they’ll likely be turning elsewhere to find the right fit.
The trade market is expected to be more robust than usual for netminders over the next few weeks but most of the players changing hands have bigger contracts which will keep Chicago away. Instead, free agency will be the place to look.
While there are a few bigger names that will hit the open market next month, there are several quality backups to choose from and there should be fewer vacancies than there are goalies available which should bode well for Chicago. With Corey Crawford entrenched as the starter plus their cap troubles, they aren’t expected to be in the market for the top backups but they should have no difficulty adding an NHL-quality option at a cheap price if they wait out the market.
Add Defensive Help
The back end has been a concern in Chicago for a little while now and it’s projecting to be that way next season as things currently stand. Unless Brian Campbell wants to take another pay cut, he probably won’t be able to stick around while trade deadline addition Johnny Oduya will also price himself out of what they can afford unless he wants to take a deal that’s well below market value. Plus, if the Vegas deal happens, they’ll find themselves without another option in van Riemsdyk as well.
The Blackhawks have a strong veteran core in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Niklas Hjalmarsson but there are plenty of question marks after that. Gustav Forsling has good potential but only has half a season under his belt while 2016 offseason acquisition Michal Kempny had an up-and-down rookie campaign. Michal Rozsival remains on the roster but isn’t an option to play a regular role at this stage of his career.
In a perfect world, Bowman would find a way to add another top four option without taking away much from his roster. That’s probably too optimistic at this point but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them go after a couple of veteran bottom pairing options in free agency to at least try to help the bottom pairing and add some depth. It’s not the perfect solution but that’s about the only improvement that they can likely afford as things currently stand.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bowman’s moves seem to work but he has given up a few valuable young pieces to do it! I still don’t get why cap is in canAdien dollars but too old to figure out why:)