Cap Discussion for 2011 and On

Overpaying for anyone is not really an option, and even though I like Troy Brouwer, I’m not willing to have Stan Bowman pull a repeat of the Tallon-Versteeg situation and just launch 3+ million against the cap at Brouwer. Especially since, admittedly, Brouwer is eminently replaceable – Perhaps even by someone within our system, like Kyle Beach.

There are options. The arrival of Campoli whom I doubt Bowman acquired simply as a rental and the fact that Leddy willl not be going anywhere, makes Niklas Hjalmarsson far more replaceable than he was when we signed him this summer. Finding a suitor for Hjalmarsson could give the Blackhawks more cap flexibility.

Even then though, there are a number of RFAs who also need to be signed this summer, including a couple who I think are higher priority than brouwer. First among them, Crow. I think Crow is the blackhawks top priority to get resigned. Now, SCUM might’ve unwittingly done us a favor, paying out a modest 2 and quarter million dollar raise to Jimmy Howard, and my guess is that Crow’s agent will be looking for Jimmy Howard money. After that we have Brouwer, Frolik, and Campoli, all of whom have comparable contracts, and only 2 out of the 3, in my estimation will still be in a Blackhawks sweater next season.

My gut tells me that Campoli will be resigned, especially if the hawks plan on shopping Hjalmarsson. I can’t really say who gets the extension between Frolik and Brouwer: Although Parting ways with Skille, who took a major paycut, in order to grab Frolik suggests to me that there is an institutional interest in our front office to keep Frolik long term.

Ultimately i think, with all of our RFA’s for this season, who does and does not get resigned will rest on who the front office thinks they can replace. I assume that there is little interest in stashing Morin and Beach (especially Morin) in the AHL for another season. TomoKops undoubtedly imminent departure at the end of the season frees up space to call up one of these players, and I am left to wonder if the Blackhawks won’t opt to let Brouwer go and use his cap space on a player like Beach.

along with signing a goalie at about Turco’s $1.3 (if not Turco, someone else) – we’d be about $600k over this year’s Cap figure (recalling that we get the $4.1 million bonus penalty back for use next year).

If the Cap does move up by $2 or so, then we’ll likely be OK.
But, yes, there will have to be some tough negotiating and perhaps some tough decisions. But we’ll be OK, I think.

as I am not really as cap savvy as some others on this site and some of my info may be incorrect (I’m sure it will be pointed out if it is), but what the hell, I’ll give it a shot.

OK, the Hawks have Kane, Toews, Sharp, Bolland, Hossa, Bickell, Soupy, Keith, Seabs, Hammer, Leddy, & Scott signed for $49,302,170

Of those I think should be resigned we have, Craw, Frolik, Brouwer, Dowell, Campoli, & Salak.

The current cap is at 59.4, and from what I have read is expected to go up as much as 3.5 – 3.75. Just to be conservative I will use 3 mil and the cap will be 62.4

Again, this is just my opinion on these numbers, but
Craw 2,500,00 and that is kind of generous, I really think he should get 2
Frolik 1,275,00 he stays where he is at to see what he is worth in the long run
Brouwer 2,500,00 I think he has earned that as he has had a great year thus far
Dowell 750,000 He has proven a good 3rd line center
Campoli 1,500,000 Not really sure if this would fly, but who knows (a raise is a raise)
Salak 1,500,000 Don’t really agree with this but he is already making 1,300,000 so
                               where does he go from there?

For all of that the Hawks would be at 59,327,170 which would leave them a little over 3 mil to sign another 4th line winger & center & maybe an extra D man.

Like I said, I’m not as cap savvy as most people on this site, but I felt like giving it a go. Let the criticizing begin. Oh yeah…….. GO HAWKS!

is that Frolik needs to be signed to a deal. How in the hell Tallon trades him for Skille is still a headscratcher to me, but I think with a little time to learn the system and get comfortable with the players around, Frolik could be a dominating player on this team.

I’m not sure what anyone else thinks, but at some point I would kind of like to see Frolik on the 2nd line with Bolland & Hossa (not right now, but somewhere down the road) just to see how it goes for a while.

Bollie has been doing a pretty good job centering the 2nd line right now and hopefully he will improve a little more for next year.

Fro should be resigned, and like I said earlier, I would like to see him with Bollie & Hossa just to see what is what. Campoli would be a great sign also if he can be afforded with Hammer, if not, then that is a tough decision to make.

Kop should go the way of the DO DO bird after this season unless Hossa makes a stink about losing his buddy, but maybe Fro can be his new running mate; especially if they are paired on the 2nd. Buying out Scott’s contract wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if it can be spread out for 4 years. However, since his hit is so low, I don’t know if there is a special clause for players making the minimum to be bought out.