Early salary cap projection for next season: $73 million

[DMelt36]

This came from Yahoo reporter Nick Cotsonika on Twitter today.

Given some reports that the cap may go down, this is a very good sign for the Hawks.

Current cap is $69 million. Per CapGeek, the Hawks have just under $65.8 committed next year to 15 players.

http://capgeek.com/blackhawks

 

[HawkWriter]

This came from Yahoo reporter Nick Cotsonika on Twitter today.

Given some reports that the cap may go down, this is a very good sign for the Hawks.

Current cap is $69 million. Per CapGeek, the Hawks have just under $65.8 committed next year to 15 players.

http://capgeek.com/blackhawks

There is a pretty big "IF" to that $73mil figure though. That is the projection IF the Canadian dollar stays where it is and doesn't continue to trend downward.

I believe the Canadian loonie actually continued to fall today.

Still way too early to predict but even the $73mil figure isn't great for the Blackhawks...better, but not great.

 

[LordKOTL]

Historical rises taken into consideration, 71M is probably the best gess. Anything more is icing on the cake. 73M would be great.

 

[Diehardfan]

Historical rises taken into consideration, 71M is probably the best gess. Anything more is icing on the cake. 73M would be great.

Either way, with Saad's deal coming up.....a couple of our beloved Hawks will have new addresses next season

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

UFAs
Richards
Carcillo
Oduya
Rosival
RFAs
Kruger
Saad
Dahlbeck
Rundblad
Darling

In the AHL (players of note)
Clendening
Regin
Svedberg
Nordstrom
LeBlanc
Leighton

65.7m committed with the cap projected to hit 73m.
Not much wiggle room. Someone is getting moved with a weighty contract.

 

[fatbeard]

Not much wiggle room. Someone is getting moved with a weighty contract.

Goodbye Patrick Sharp or Brent Seabrook. Thanks for the memories!

 

[DMelt36]

Goodbye Patrick Sharp or Brent Seabrook. Thanks for the memories!

Already mentally preparing for one -- and maybe even both -- to be gone after this season. Need to send them out with a 3rd Cup.

 

[fatbeard]

Already mentally preparing for one -- and maybe even both -- to be gone after this season. Need to send them out with a 3rd Cup.

Both hurt, but IMO Seabrook hurts a lot less. It seems to me that the Hawks have a lot more good young D-men who are capable of moving in to take his place than cheap scoring threats to replace Sharp.

 

[DMelt36]

Both hurt, but IMO Seabrook hurts a lot less. It seems to me that the Hawks have a lot more good young D-men who are capable of moving in to take his place than cheap scoring threats to replace Sharp.

I'd think Sharp would be easier to replace.

Even if Sharp left town, your top 6 next season could be

Versteeg-Toews-Kane
Saad-Teuvo-Hossa

That's still pretty damn good, IMO. Could even throw Bickell up there with Toews and Kane if you wanted.

 

[JZsportsfan]

Going to be a lot of turnover either way. I wish the NHL would wake up and Gary Bettman would realize his desert strategy was a failure and move some of these franchises to places that will actually make the league money. I read the other day that the Original Six (minus Detroit) and the Penguins make like 78% of the income for the NHL(can't remember the exact number) . That is not healthy for the league and it really hurts the teams that are the ones making money.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

Going to be a lot of turnover either way. I wish the NHL would wake up and Gary Bettman would realize his desert strategy was a failure and move some of these franchises to places that will actually make the league money. I read the other day that the Original Six (minus Detroit) and the Penguins make like 78% of the income for the NHL(can't remember the exact number) . That is not healthy for the league and it really hurts the teams that are the ones making money.

Remember, the Blackhawks aren't making money either.
It all rests on how you cook the books.

 

[DMelt36]

Remember, the Blackhawks aren't making money either.
It all rests on how you cook the books.

That's one of the more hilarious claims made by a pro team in recent memory. If they're not making money then the entire front office is fucking incompetent and would've been fired yesterday.

 

[LordKOTL]

Either way, with Saad's deal coming up.....a couple of our beloved Hawks will have new addresses next season

That's the nature of the business, though.

UFAs
Richards
Carcillo
Oduya
Rosival
RFAs
Kruger
Saad
Dahlbeck
Rundblad
Darling

In the AHL (players of note)
Clendening
Regin
Svedberg
Nordstrom
LeBlanc
Leighton

65.7m committed with the cap projected to hit 73m.
Not much wiggle room. Someone is getting moved with a weighty contract.

My guess is Bickell and Sharp are shippied out.

Bickell may be a playoff beast, but like Buyfuglien before him disappears in the Reg season. Some team out there will accept him at 4M.

I also figure that a 5-6M contract is going to have to be moved:
Hossa: O may be down a bit but still the best defensive forward in the league. Has not slowed in leg speed or HockeyIQ. Has the dreaded Recapture clause over his head.
Keith: 2 time Norris winner, and unlike in 2011 has not shown a regression after winning this Norris. Also has the Recapture clause.
Crawford: Theortically this team can win with a lesser presence in net, but if other support players like Oduya are gonna be priced out, a known presence in net might be worth keeping. Plus, if Crawford is moved you either have to gamble on a completly unknown quantity in net, or pay some of his salary to a known quantity, and then the money doesn't work. So far after he got beaten up by a flight of stairs, we haven't noticed his absense too much.
Seabs: Known for making some bad plays, but overall a big-bodied rightie that *actually* has some skill. Unless Johns makes leaps and bounds or TVR comes out of nowhere and can soak up 1st pairing minutes it's likely he should stay.
Sharp: Best Goal Scorer, worthelss at the PP point, D is pretty good (but not at a Toews level--much less a Hossa level). Didn't notice his absense too much when he was down.

My guess is Sharp. Saad is on his way to being an adequate replacement for him.

Anyhow, assuming Sharp and Bickell are gone, that leaves 55,888,462 cap with the remainder to be split among 7 fwds, 3 D-men, and 0 goalies (assuming 13 fwds, 7 D, and 2 netminders on the roster). at 71M, that's an allocation for 1.5M each. At 73, that's 1.7M each.

Assuming a conservative 71M cap, Morin gone, we sign Saad for 4M. That leaves 1.23M each for everyone else. Add in T² and that's 1.277 each for the rest. Aiming high on a rookie D (Pokka), and we're at 1.327M Each for the remainder. Re-sign Nordstrom for 800k (I don't see him making any more or less than Morin does now), and now we have 1.45M for the rest

That gives us:
Saad/Toews/Hossa
Versteeg/TT/Kane
Smith/Shaw/Nordstrom
X/X/X
X

Keith/Seabs
TVR/Hammer
X/Pokka
X

Crawford
Raanta

For shits and giggles, let's say Kruger resignes at 3M, now all of a sudden we have 1.098M for the remaining 5 slots. Let's say for the 13th fwd and 7th D-man we have Danault & Johns. Now we have about 3.8M to fill 1 bottom-pairing D and 2 4th line FWDS, which is 1.275M each.

We can do it, and still be competitive. if the cap goes to 73M, more dosh and icing on the cake.

 

[winos5]

Blackhwaks prospects/AHL team is deep in talent on offense and defense. I'd rather loose Bickell and a few RFAs than Sharp or Seabrook. But, If it has to be one of Sharp or Seabrook I'd rather replace Sharp.

 

[ClydeLee]

That's one of the more hilarious claims made by a pro team in recent memory. If they're not making money then the entire front office is fucking incompetent and would've been fired yesterday.

It's a true situation, the Blackhawks franchise, is or at least was losing money... but the idea people had that it was some ownership complaining to state that fact was idiotic. No point did McD or Rocky ever complain about it, they merely stated it as a fact. The Blackhawks franchise was losing money because it didn't matter if they were losing money, Rocky and the Wirtz corp weren't losing money, so they would transfer funds from the corporation that benefits even larger from the NHL club than an NHL club could to cover it. The liquor and stadium deals were far enough for the ownership group.

But the Hawks spending to grow their market and team and do things other clubs don't do did cost. Having for some reason various ex players on the payroll as ambassadors, a massive front office staff, huge events, remodeling stores, having the training staff go on every road game(a rare thing) are all factors that occur under the Blackhawks price-line.

Depending on this post-season Bickell could be shipped. They do have more soon to be ready NHL D Prospects to replace Seabs over Sharp. But It's a stretch to bank on either of them being a top 3 D player who can play a two-way game like Seabs. Johns is the only legit prospect to really offer the size and physicality but his full game potential isn't certain. The Hawks can already field a top 6 that works well without Sharp and if Tuevo joins the club, he can add the value. But maybe Bickell doesn't have as strong a post-season and they can move him and hope McNeil or Ross like they've been playing lately work out as a large forward.

 

[Diehardfan]

Seems like every year this is an issue. I guess it's the cross you have to bare if you're a perennial winner. One thing is for certain...if you want to be a Cup contender on a yearly basis, you better draft well and have a strong minor league system to fall back on. It's one thing I like about the NHL. There's no buying a Cup these days....no New York Yankee syndromes. Some have tried (Pittsburgh most notably) but most have failed. I like that.