Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks
It’s going to be another painful summer in Chicago, but this time, there’s no Stanley Cup to soothe fans. On Tuesday, the Blackhawks traded promising young forward Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina to dump the salary of Bryan Bickell.
It was a mixed-bag of a season in the Windy City. The team’s Championship defence started out with star forward Patrick Kane under investigation for allegedly raping a woman at his New York home. The charges were later dropped. Kane teamed up with rookie Artemi Panarin to score a career-high 106 points and win the Art Ross Trophy. Panarin, in his first NHL season after six years in the KHL, finished in the top 10 scorers in the league. The Blackhawks finished third in the tightly-contested Central Division and lost to rival St. Louis Blues in 7 games.
Projected Cap Space: $8.4MM, 16 players under contract.
Key Restricted Free Agents: Andrew Shaw – the pesky forward scored 34 points this season, the second highest total of his career. He’s coming off a controversial playoffs where he was suspended for using a homophobic slur towards a referee after making an inappropriate hand gesture. Shaw has been a favourite of coach Joel Quenneville, but was doubtful to return before Tuesday’s trade. Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus reported that the Blackhawks fully expect to be able to re-sign Shaw. Expect the deal to be for 3 or more years north of $3MM per.
Other RFAs: Dennis Rasmussen
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Andrew Ladd, Dale Weise – the pair of wingers were acquired at the trade deadline as the Blackhawks loaded up for a Cup run. Both players are expected to test the open market as Chicago doesn’t have cap space to sign either at close to their market-value.
Other UFAs: Christian Ehrhoff, Tomas Fleischmann, Michael Leighton, Brandon Mashinter, Michal Rosival.
Outlook: The Blackhawks need at least 5 forwards, a couple defensemen, and a third string goalie. Don’t expect any of those players to have a salary above $1MM.
With $48.78MM invested in their 7-player core of Jonathon Toews, Kane, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Corey Crawford, money is going to be tight to re-sign Shaw, round out their roster, and prepare for Panarin’s new contract next season.
With regards to the expected expansion draft next summer, the Blackhawks do not have much to worry about, as they will be able to protect all their important pieces. Chicago does not have a first round pick in the upcoming draft.
Blackhawks Re-Sign Richard Panik
UPDATE 4:38 PM CST: Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston gives us details on the contract amount. It’s a one-year deal worth $875,000, which is actually less than he earned last season.
2:00 PM CST: The official team account has confirmed the signing.
1:35 PM CST: According to TSN’s James Mirtle, among other sources, the Chicago Blackhawks have re-signed forward Richard Panik to a one year contract. Panik came to Chicago in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in January that saw Jeremy Morin head the other way. After the deal Panik, who had been playing for the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, was put on the top line with Jonathan Toews for long stretches.
A common linemate of Teuvo Teravainen who was dealt earlier today along with Bryan Bickell, Panik will give the Blackhawks an inexpensive skilled forward capable of playing anywhere on the top three lines. His performance in the playoffs this year was exceptional, and really cemented his place on this Blackhawk team going forward.
While the details of the contract are not yet known, Panik should come in with a relatively low cap-hit, somewhere in the $1MM range. That helps the Blackhawks, who without Panik have $62MM allocated to just 15 players. With Andrew Shaw still to be signed, and Artemi Panarin next season, this is a good follow-up move after losing Teravainen this morning.
Carolina Acquires Teravainen and Bickell From Blackhawks
UPDATE 4:11 PM CST: After the NHL released the draft order, it appears that the 2016 second round pick dealt to Chicago is actually the Rangers pick (#50 overall) that was used to acquire Eric Staal at this year’s trade deadline. Carolina will hold onto the #43 selection.
3:19 PM CST: Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun Times adds that the Blackhawks now fully expect to re-sign Andrew Shaw, after clearing room with the Bickell trade.
10:48 AM CST: According to the team Twitter account, the Carolina Hurricanes have acquired Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell from the Chicago Blackhawks. In return the Hawks will recieve a second round pick in 2016 and a third rounder in 2017. The Blackhawks, in cap trouble this year were expected to move or buy-out Bickell who had another $4 million dollars coming to him this season. The Blackhawks immediately regretted giving Bickell his current four-year $16MM dollar deal almost immediately, as the bottom six forward has only recorded 45 points in the first three years.
Teravainen on the other hand is a promising young forward and a tough price to pay to get rid of Bickell’s cap hit. The Finnish winger put up 35 points this season at just 21 and is still on his entry-level contract after being selected in the first round (12th overall) of the 2012 draft. The centre will now join a young group in Carolina and figure into their long-term plans.
The fact that Teravainen didn’t cost a first rounder is a testament to how badly the Hawks needed the cap relief provided by dealing Bickell. With Andrew Shaw‘s status as a restricted free agent this summer, the Blackhawks now at least have some room to try and bring him back. They now have just over $9MM in cap room with 15 forwards under contract.
Buyout Candidates: Bickell, Bolland, Cowen
With the buyout window opening Wednesday evening, there is speculation as to which players will most likely see their contracts bought out. Luke Fox from Sportnet put together a list of players who might find themselves a victim of buyer’s remorse. Here are a few:
- Bryan Bickell: After having the playoff performance of a lifetime during the Chicago Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup run, Bickell’s contract has been a thorn in the side of the Hawks constant cap worries. Signed to a 4-year, $16MM deal in 2013, the return on investment has been null for the Blackhawks. Some will point to bench boss Joel Quenneville as one of the reasons Bickell never found sustained success after his magical year. Scott Powers wrote in the Chicago Sun Times back in January that Bickell was resigned to his fate, and that it was ultimately up to the Chicago brass as to how they solved the problem. Bickell was shuttled back and forth to AHL affiliate Rockford, and barely saw ice time even when he was up in Chicago. As Fox points out, with only a year left and $4MM owed, if Bickell isn’t traded, he’s most likely to be bought out.
- Dave Bolland: Another former Blackhawk, Bolland has been injury plagued and unable to produce like he did when he was in Chicago. Back in December, the Hockey News speculated that Bolland would be an excellent candidate to be removed from the books with 3 years still left on his deal. However, the average hit on the Cap should Florida choose to do this would be $1.833MM per year through the 2021-2022 season. While the Panthers have historically taken on large contracts to remain above the salary cap floor (Brian Campbell comes to mind immediately), this would be a steep price for six seasons of a nearly $2MM hit. One other caveat: Fox reports that Bolland failed a recent physical, which would disqualify his contract from being bought out per CBA rules.
- Jared Cowen: The Maple Leafs are in the midst of an epic purge, and already dealt most of the bad contracts from the previous regime. Cowen’s was acquired in the Dion Phaneuf trade, and as Fox notes, general manager Lou Lamoriello already indicated that Cowen would be bought out. TSN (as well as mentioned in Fox’s article) also writes that the Leafs would get a credit for buying the contract out. Mark this one down as a guarantee.