The Blackhawks surprised many with their upset of Edmonton in the Qualifying Round before being ousted quickly by Vegas. Still, it was a promising step for a team that was going to miss the postseason altogether in a normal year. Despite the small change in their fortunes, GM Stan Bowman told reporters, including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago, that he doesn’t foresee much in the way of changes for next season. The team already has $74MM in commitments for next season with no starting goalie under contract while winger Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome need new deals as well. That doesn’t leave any room to really add to the roster.
When asked about the possibility of buyouts (defenseman Olli Maatta and forward Zack Smith are speculative candidates), Bowman acknowledged that it’s an option. However, decisions on whether or not to use that route to free up some short-term cap space won’t be made for another month or so.
More from the Western Conference:
- On top of Nick Schmaltz missing the entire postseason with a head injury, Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider notes (Twitter link) that center Christian Dvorak played through a shoulder injury while winger Conor Garland had a head injury. On top of that, center Brad Richardson has a thumb injury that will require surgery this offseason. Arizona was able to get by Nashville in the Qualifying Round before falling in five games to Colorado.
- With Calgary bowing out quickly in the playoffs again after being ousted by Dallas, many expect the Flames to make some notable changes before next season. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis suggests that winger Johnny Gaudreau is a likely candidate to be moved following another quiet postseason showing that saw all but one of his seven points come with the power play. However, another potential factor is that Gaudreau is one season away from having a significant no-trade clause (a five-team trade list). At a time where many teams will have to shake things up, the time may be right to test the waters on Gaudreau as well. He has two years left on his deal with a $6.75MM AAV.
Have read few places gaudreau is phil kessel. Agree he is not a player you want to be the guy to carry your team. You need him to be four or fifth guy like kessel was in pittsburgh.
Dylan Strome – no arb rights, but Kubalik does. Kubalik signing a team/player-friendly bridge deal until the cap gets fixed? Not much wiggle room there. Caggiula is also RFA w/arb rights, as well as Malcolm Subban and Koekkoek. You can hear the cap room shrinking from here. Worst strategy for any RFAs in the COVID-crimped cap era would be to try and hold out for unreasonable demands.
Great points all around! And I think Chicago is stuck with the goalies they have now. I can’t see how Crawford comes back.
If Krug leaves Boston and you’ve got some room to work with… Debrusk, Trent Fredric and a pick (1st or 2nd?) seems reasonable to me. And debrusk is due for a new deal so cap wise given the decent amount he’d get it’s probably close ish (4-5 mil seems fair) but I’d rather have Johnny hockey on Krejci’s wing…
Frankly, I’m not sure I’d move DeBrusk to get Gaudreau, especially throwing in picks and prospects as well. Unless and until Gaudreau adds some muscle to his frame (e.g. Marty St. Louis), he’s going to be limited in his effectiveness in this league.
@Gbear – Marty was an absolute beast! Leg strength to push a derailed train back on the tracks! One of my all-time faves, for sure, but it still pains me to remember him abandoning coverage of Alec Martinez during a certain Cup Finals game a few years ago. Still love him, though!
@Connorsoxfan –
UFAs: Nordström, Krug, The Captain (Big Z), Miller
RFAs: DeBrusk (no arb rights), Grzelcyk (arb rights)
And, of course, a couple of the non-roster RFAs could theoretically get one-way deals, if Sweeney & Butch thinks it’s the right thing to do. Jake can play up and down the lineup, but w/o arb rights, he can only hope for a semi-decent deal, commensurate with his perceived value to the team. If they win it all, does Big Z come back or go out on a win? All the talk seems to be to let Krug go, but would he consider coming back on a team-friendly deal? Does Grzelcyk try to get as much as he reasonably can, or stay for a fair offer? Is Nordström worth bringing back? And, maybe they’ll cut the oft-injured Miller loose. Lotsa questions, I know… (As always, BIG thanks to CapFriendly for the help!)
I think Krug would’ve locked in a team friendly deal pre-covid if he was interested. Nordstrom can come back but if someone gives him a pay bump I’d let him go they don’t have room. Miller is probably done I’d imagine. Gryz is dependent on Krug. I’d tell chara he can have what’s left after you take care of Krug/Gryz and debrusk, which won’t be much but I don’t think it’s worth well-compensating him for his what age 45 ish season at the expense of losing Krug or Gryz.
Johnny G for Brendan Smith(for salary purposes), Lias Anderson, 2nd, and 3rd
Hey we will throw in STAAL and the King (for salary purposes as well)…
@acarneglia – You are just not going to give up on pitching Andersson overboard, are you? :)
7 points in 10 games is “quiet?”
Gaudreau to NYR for Chytil and D’Andre Miller or NJD For Zacha and Bahl… Johnny would probably want to play close to home…
The Rangers have to send someone with high salary for it to make sense…Rangers are strapped cap wise
Unless they’d do Letang for him, he’s not going to be a Pen.
But, with 3 first round draft picks, I don’t see how he ends up with any team but New Jersey if he is traded. They’d need him more than any other team.