With the signing of Brad Richards, and the eight-year contract extensions of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks find themselves in another salary cap issue. Compared to the championship season of 2010, the Blackhawks are currently only over the cap by just over $2 million. This means, most likely, at least one player is going to be moved.
Blackhawks Over The Cap
The three names that have been rumored to be moved are Johnny Oduya, Bryan Bickell, and Patrick Sharp. Johnny Oduya’s salary this year is $3.375 million, Bryan Bickell would clear $4 million from the Blackhawks cap space, and Patrick Sharp’s cap hit is $5.9 million. Three great players, none of which you want to see leave the team, but business is business, and somebody has to go.
The Blackhawks defense struggled a lot in last years playoffs, and it mostly showed in the series with the LA Kings. The Blackhawks defensemen gave up uncharacteristic turnovers and were not skating or communicating as well as they did in the regular season. Trading away one of your top-four defensemen does not sound like the best idea with a defense that struggled so much in the playoffs last year, and it would only allow the Blackhawks to clear the cap space by about $1.3 million. With potential free agent signings still out there, the Hawks may want to look at either Bryan Bickell or Patrick Sharp.
Bryan Bickell’s $4 million cap hit seems like a lot more than $4 million when you look at production. Not taking anything away from Bickell’s abilities as a hockey player, because I do think he is a great player, but he is not the best regular-season performer. Bickell most definitely shines when it comes to playoff time. So the question with Bickell is: is it worth paying a guy $4 million for a playoff performance every year? Especially when the other guy in the trade talks, Patrick Sharp, had such an amazing regular season last year.
Patrick Sharp was the leading goal scorer for the Blackhawks in the regular season last year, but fell off the face of the earth when the playoffs started. Sharp’s $5.9 million salary for this year is the highest of the three players rumored to be traded, but is it worth giving up your top goal scorer and a top-liner from the previous year? No, it is not. Trading away Patrick Sharp would clear up the most cap space for the Blackhawks and even give them a little more room to dabble in the free agency market, but your losing a lot of regular-season production by trading him away, and every point counts when it comes to standings and seeding for playoffs. Patrick Sharp may have disappeared during the playoffs last year, but he has proven in years past that he can perform in the playoffs.
I would absolutely hate to see Bryan Bickell be traded and not be wearing the Indian sweater next year, but it is the best option for the Blackhawks at this point trying to clear that $2 million in cap space.
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