Archive for the ‘Hot Stove’ Category

Roster spots to be had at forward

September 20th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

With the Blackhawks’ roster virtually locked up in net (Turco and Crawford) and on the blue line (Keith, Seabrook, Campbell, Hjalmarsson, Boynton, Hendry and Scott – with Vishnevskiy on the outside looking in), the competition at training camp is happening at forward. The Hawks’ top-six are set, but there are spots to be won as a bottom-six forward.

Who’s locked in?

Brouwer – Toews – Kane
Sharp – Bolland – Hossa
Stalberg – ??? – ???
Bickell – ??? – Kopecky
???

Who has a realistic shot?

Kyle Beach – Top prospect in the Blackhawks’ system will play his first game in the NHL sometime this season, but will his time come when training camp breaks? You can’t deny the kid is talented, but he’s “in need of a serious attitude adjustment.” Spending more time in Rockford could do some good, but he’s a Bowman favorite.

Igor Makarov – The 23-year-old Russian forward won the hearts of everyone in attendance at the training camp shindig over the weekend, and has a legitimate shot at stealing a roster spot from any player on this list. Makarov dazzled in prospect camp two years ago, but faded into the drab background of the KHL as a fourth-liner since. In 51 games between St. Petersburg and Moscow, he score five goals with four assists.

Fernando Pisani – If healthy, he’ll easily make the team out of training camp. Pisani will provide a veteran leadership on one of the bottom lines, and will help on the penalty kill. That being said, his skills and offensive production have tailed off significantly since he was a playoff hero for the Oilers in 2006.

Ryan Potulny – A nice off-season signing at a nice price, and could fill the role of third- or fourth-line center with the Hawks this season. At 26, Potulny has a small upside, and a scoring touch (15 last year). His plus/minus rating of minus-21 was indicative of playing on the last place Oilers.

Jack Skille – This will undoubtedly be the last shot for Skille to make the club that drafted him five years ago with the seventh overall pick. Really, there is nothing new I can tell you about Skille. His high water mark is as the Kris Versteeg replacement on the third line, but being assigned to Rockford is a possibility.

Jake Dowell – A spot on the Blackhawks was as good as his before ex-Oilers Pisani and Potulny were brought into the fold. Dowell still has an outside shot to make the team, but it appears as though he’s destine to begin the season in the AHL for the fifth time. The only thing he has going for him is that he’s a natural center.

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Rumors have Huet going to Switzerland

August 23rd, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Cristobal Huet (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Rumors surfaced this morning that Cristobal Huet was in talks to sign a one-year deal with Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss League. The plan is to loan his services to a team in Europe, but send his contract to Rockford (AHL) after he clears waivers, which he would. His $5,625,000 salary-cap hit would no longer be on the books as a result. According to the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA), this is 100% kosher.

The Washington Capitals did the same thing with Michael Nylander last season. Nylander played 24 games in the AHL with the Grand Rapid Griffins, but made the move to Finland mid-season. The situation differs in that Huet would be in the Swiss League when the season starts, and Bowman hasn’t kept his intentions in regards to Huet a secret. The rumored deal, however, would only cover one of the remaining two years left on Huet’s contract.

With the size of his contract, loaning Huet to a European team is the only option. The Blackhawks weren’t going to find a trade partner – especially in the goalie market this off-season. In the salary-cap era, buying out his contract or keeping him on the roster weren’t viable options either. Under the CBA, renegotiating contracts is prohibited, which he probably would do if it meant he could stay in the NHL.

I’m not going to lie, I sort of feel bad for the guy. Never have I been a fan of his, but Huet is a NHL-caliber goaltender. If his cap hit wasn’t so high, he would be a No. 1 goalie somewhere in the league – possibly with the Blackhawks. The validity of this particular rumor doesn’t matter much – Huet is as good as gone. Marty Turco ($1,300,000) and Corey Crawford ($800,000) will man the pipes in Chicago in 2010.

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With Jordan Hendry signed, blue line filling out

August 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

As expected, Jordan Hendry re-signed with the Hawks to a one-year deal worth $600,000, which is a $25,000 pay-cut from his salary last season. Getting Hendry inked to a lower cap-hit was possible because the Blackhawks didn’t tender him to a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, and became an unrestricted free agent as a result. If they didn’t take the roundabout process to re-sign the 26-year-old defenseman, he would have been owed a 10% raise.

The blue line picture is starting to come together. The top-four defensemen were locked up when Stan Bowman opted to match Niklas Hjalmarsson’s offer sheet from San Jose. Hendry will play upward of 60 games on the third pairing. John Scott will be a healthy scratch on most nights, but will intimidate opponents when he is in the lineup.

Seabrook – Keith
Campbell – Hjalmarsson
??? – Hendry
Scott

Bowman will either hit up the free agent market for the final spot on defense, or let a few prospects duke it out at training camp. Jay McKee’s name has been thrown around as a possible target, but I would rather see Ivan Vishnevskiy (acquired in the Ladd trade) get a shot.

Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.

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Now we wait on Bowman and Co.

August 1st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

We are somewhere in the middle of the 48-hour window that the Blackhawks have before a decision needs to be made regarding Antti Niemi and the one-year, $2.75 million contract he was awarded in arbitration. The number is a little higher than expected, but it’s do-able. Once again, the Blackhawks can accept the deal, move him via trade or walk away from it making him an unrestricted free agent. Expect Bowman and company to take their time before announcing their decision whether to keep or move the 26-year-old netminder.

If the Blackhawks opt to keep Niemi, they might have to move yet another body to field a roster of 20 to 21 players. However, there have been rumors that Marty Turco has a tentative deal in place at a cheaper price tag. With Turco in net, the organization would have more wiggle room with the roster.

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Blackhawks on hold as they wait for Niemi’s number

July 29th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Antti Niemi and his agent Bill Zito met with the Blackhawks in Toronto to plead their respective cases in front of an arbitrator because they were unable to come to an agreement before yesterday’s hearing. A ruling is expected to be made on Saturday. From what I’ve been reading Niemi’s camp has their hearts set on a number above a $3 million cap hit. Knowing the Blackhawks’ cap situation, it becomes hard to believe all the rhetoric that Zito fed the media regarding his client’s desire to play for Chicago next season.

In Stan Bowman’s conference call earlier in the evening, he said:

“Depending on where it comes in, it’s going to dictate what we have to do. We’re going to try to make it work, but it’s hard – we’re kind of playing a guessing game and I don’t want to speculate because I don’t know where it’s going to be.

“There are numbers that we have in mind which would make it more easy to fit him in versus really difficult to fit him in. We’re just going to have to wait and see.”

The impartial arbitrator will have to either pick the number the Blackhawks submitted, the number Niemi’s camp submitted or choose a salary somewhere in between. If the arbitrator sides in favor of the 26-year-old goaltender, it will likely force Bowman and company to move on. The Blackhawks will have 48 hours to sign Niemi, trade him or walk, thus making him an unrestricted free agent.

Anything above a $2.5 million cap hit could be detrimental to the Blackhawks ability to field a roster of twenty skaters and two goaltenders. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bowman had deals already in place if Niemi’s price tag is too high. There have been rumors floating around that Bowman has already talked to Jose Theodore and Marty Turco, and that suitors have called regarding Niemi’s availability. In one last-ditch-effort to keep their goaltender around, the Blackhawks could move Tomas Kopecky and his $1.2 million cap hit.

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Blackhawk roster taking shape: Forwards

July 20th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Last week the Hawks made a few minor moves that will have some affect their roster this fall. Jack Skille, a restricted free agent and former first round draft pick (7th overall in 2006), re-signed to a one-year deal worth $600,000. I feel like a broken record writing this, but Skille should have every chance in the world to leave training camp with the Blackhawks. His cheap price tag guarantees that. Skille will have a Versteeg-like role on the third line, but is bigger (6’1” 215).

The other transaction was the signing of Russian forward Igor Makarov to a two-year entry-level contract worth $1,105,000 (a $552,000 cap hit). Makarov made an impression at prospect camp two years ago, but hasn’t backed that performance up in two seasons in the KHL. He split the 2009-10 season between St. Petersburg SKA and Moscow Dynamo, and in 51 games between the two clubs, Makarov had five goals and four assists with 61 penalty-minutes. The 22-year-old Russian will compete for a spot on the Blackhawks’ roster as a bottom-six forward at training camp, but he’ll likely land in Rockford come October.

If Skille and Makarov don’t get you excited, maybe Bryan Bickell will. There have been whispers that Bickell (RFA) is close to signing a multi-year contract with the Hawks. It’s a matter of when. The Blackhawks will re-sign him to a cap-friendly deal at $550,000 – a slight raise from last year. Once Bickell is inked, the Hawks will have twelve starting forwards locked-up.

Brouwer – Toews – Kane
Sharp – Bolland – Hossa
Stalberg – Reasoner – Skille
Bickell – Dowell – Kopecky

Update: Recently acquired Marty Reasoner was traded to Florida for Jeff Taffe.

Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.

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Blackhawks’ unrestricted free agent (UFA) rundown

June 16th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The Blackhawks have a handful of players that will be unrestricted free agents (UFAs) when free agency begins on July 1st. With the payroll issue, the organization will likely promote cap-friendly players from within their system to replace key UFAs. Of the four players written up below, Burish might be the only one invited back.

John Madden – Center
(2009-10 Salary – $2,750,000)
(2009-10 Cap Hit – $2,750,000)

When the Blackhawks signed Madden to a one-year deal last summer, both parties knew the union wouldn’t last beyond this season. He was to be the veteran presence on a very young roster. Madden brought the experience of a two-time Stanley Cup winner to the Blackhawks, and centered the very effective checking line all season. This could have been the 37-year old pivot’s last hurrah. He will have to choose between heading out to pasture, or have a similar veteran role for another team.

Adam Burish – Right Winger
(2009-10 Salary – $712,500)
(2009-10 Cap Hit – $712,500)

A fan favorite, the fourth line winger embodies everything Chicago sport fans love in their athletes – a not-so talented white guy. Burish missed 65 games recovering from knee surgery, and was frequently scratched from the lineup down the stretch and in the playoffs. He plays the role of agitator well. Burish has the ability to getting under opposing player’s skin, and thrives off of chirping opponents from the bench – he averaged only 8:46 minutes in thirteen games this season.

If he comes at a fair price, I could see the front office toy with the idea of re-signing Burish to a short-term deal. But it’s more likely the organization will give a younger/cheaper guy a shot, such as Bryan Bickell.

Kim Johnsson – Defenseman
(2009-10 Salary – $5,300,000)
(2009-10 Cap Hit – $4,850,000)

Does anyone know what really happened to this guy? He disappeared from the face of the earth as though he lived in Argentina during the Dirty War era. Aside from speculative rumors, the only thing being reported is that he couldn’t overcome the post-concussion symptoms. Well, no matter what happened, Johnsson will end his career with only eight games as a Blackhawk on his resume.

Nick Boynton – Defenseman
(2009-10 Salary – $1,500,000)
(2009-10 Cap Hit – $1,500,000)

Boynton will have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup because he replaced Jordan Hendry on the blue line in the last three games of the finals. He was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations, and served as a back-up plan on defense. In the ten regular- and post-season games Boynton played with the Blackhawks, he didn’t embarrass himself. On July 1st, he will be a small fish in the free agent pool.

Others: Mark Cullen, Danny Bois, Richard Petiot, Jassen Cullimore.

*Salary numbers were pulled from CapGeek.com

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I’m Just Saying

April 12th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

So, I spent some time this afternoon on CapGeek.com browsing the team pages and found the buyout calculator. I wondered how much it would set back the organization if the remaining two years of Cristobal Huet‘s contract were bought out. Trading Huet this off-season would the ideal move. But if that doesn’t turn out to be an option, would Stan Bowman opt buy him out? That is if Bowman is even interested in moving his $5M+ backup. Anyway, if the information bellow is correct, buying out the French netminder seems to be do-able.

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Squashing Dreams… I Mean Rumors

February 8th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

I don’t normally give unsubstantiated rumors any lip service, but there were a few beauties that surfaced over the weekend. There aren’t many days left for deals to be struck with a roster freeze going into effect from the 12th to the 28th of February. The official trade deadline is March 3rd. Anyway, here they are.

- The Tribune’s Len Ziehm regurgitated (sort of like I’m doing now) a rumor he heard or read on TSN stating that the Blackhawks have interest in Tampa Bay defenseman Andrej (which he spelled Andrei) Meszaros. In the same article he mentioned a few other defensemen the Blackhawks have been linked to – Carolina’s Niclas Wallin, Los Angeles’ Sean O’Donnell and Anaheim’s Scott Niedermayer.

Red Rising’s Take: Well, Ziehm has the right idea. The Blackhawks could use some help on defense, but Meszaros isn’t an option. I don’t think Stan Bowman would create more work for himself in the off-season by trading for a player with a cap hit of $4M with a contract that expires at the end of the 2013-14 season.

Wallin is no longer an option – he was traded to San Jose yesterday. A veteran with an expiring contract like O’Donnell would work. The Kings would likely want some offense in return, and the Blackhawks have forward depth and can spare a player. However, two conference foes bound for the playoffs don’t help each other fill holes often. I’ve already spent enough of my time and your time on Niedermayer.

- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun wrote that the ‘Hawks “are likely to add a goalie by the March 3 trade deadline”. He then suggests that Cristobal Huet can be stashed in Rockford to make the salary-cap numbers work, and the thrity-five year old Tim Thomas could come to Chicago.

Red Rising’s Take: If this sounds like a viable option to you, please go sit in the corner. I will never be Huet’s biggest fan, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize this will never happen. The Blackhawks will go into the playoffs with the current goalie tandem.

- The Daily Herald’s Barry Rozner reported that a “team source” stated the Blackhawks are interested in ex-Blackhawk defenseman James Wisniewski. He suggests Cam Barker could go the other way.

Red Rising’s Take: Barker’s name will come up a lot as the trade deadline nears. He hasn’t been all to effective on the blue line this year, and due to the length of his contract Barker isn’t in Blackhawks’ plans after the season. The Wiz is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he isn’t all that great in the defensive zone. What the ‘Hawks need is a third pairing defenseman with an expiring contract – who is better then average in his own end.

I usually never waist my time reading anything Rozner writes, but I saw this rumor picked up by a few others. My impression of him is that his hockey IQ is minimal, and he is controversial to remain relevant. Rozner does make some sense when he says Niedermayer is a better option, but then he ruins it hinting Bowman might trade for a goaltender.

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Niedermayer Is All The Rage

January 21st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

A few weeks ago ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun mentioned Ilya Kovalchuk and the Chicago Blackhawks in the same breath. Like any other good blogger would, I ran with a rumor that had no validity to it whatsoever. Since LeBrun reported that the Blackhawks could make a play for the Russian sniper’s services, every other team in the league has been linked to Kovalchuk.

I bring this up because in my poorly written post regarding the Kovalchuk to Chicago rumor, I named Scott Niedermayer as a possible target for the same reason acquiring Kovalchuk would work. Stan Bowman would be able to shed a few multi-year contracts in order to ease the off-season payroll issue now for a veteran, ‘superstar’ defenseman. His contract expires at the end of this season, and he would bolster the roster for the playoffs.

Sam Fels of Second City Hockey mentioned in a post yesterday that he likes the idea of trading for the Ducks’ defenseman. Niedermayer would provide some depth on the blue line, and could play on the power play. He suggests moving Cam Barker and an expendable forward (Dustin Byfuglien or Kris Versteeg) back to Anaheim. None of which will be back with the Blackhawks next season anyway. The depth at forward wouldn’t be depleted since Dave Bolland and Adam Burish are close to returning.

I like where Fels is going with this, and can easily get behind any idea that would move Byfuglien elsewhere. Barker hasn’t been all that great this season either. He hasn’t even seen a substantial amount of time on the power-play recently. If a draft pick is needed to sweeten the deal, I’m all for it.

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