Great article about the Hawks & upcoming contract challenges.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1847528-how-re-signing-jonathan-toews-and-patrick-kane-would-affect-chicago-blackhawks

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

There's no such thing as a great article from Bleacher Report. To wit:



Nuff said.

Cap is supposed to go way up for 2016, I wouldn't worry too much.

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The $10M they decided to give to Bickell and Crawford ain't looking so good now.

Especially the cash given to Crawford.

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Bickell's deal is $16M. I don't understand either of these contracts. Ranta may have more upside than Cro.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I have said this all season and was shot down on Crawford. Obviously, the Hawks have bet that the cap is going to go up a lot due to the new Canadian tv deal. From what I have read so far, they bet correctly on the cap.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Goalies are always up and down... Crow will be ok. I just don't think the guy is a 60 start goalie, which isn't a great sign but he's relatively solid.
I don't like the Bickell money.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Hindsight being what it is it looks like maybe they should've kept Frolik which would've solidified their woeful penalty kill and I'm pretty sure he would have at least matched Bickells production this year and let Bickell go.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Bickell is playing on two bad knees, not that it fully excuses his bad play. He should still be on IR, honestly. Can't give up on him just yet.

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I like Bickell, but at $2M to $2.5M a year. In a salary cap world, you have to make choices. It would have been tough to let him go because of his playoff performance, but he is not worth anywhere near the money he was paid. I said that money was only good if he stayed on the first line and produced like the playoffs. With coach Q, you get about 1 shift, then he flips the lines around.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

If it came down to a cap issue Crawford is at least tradable unlike Khabi and Huet with their contracts.

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Elections have consequences.

Double that. Bicks deal is 4 years $16 Million.

I agree on Frolik. He was great last year. He's just a better Hockey player than Bickell & yea, the Hawks sure could use him on the PP.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

TSN/RDS signs the Senators/Sénateurs to a new local TV deal, $400 million over twelve years/douze ans. Estimated to be an increase of at least $20 million/yr for the rights to a market smaller than Birmingham, Alabama and the one generally considered to be the weakest of the seven in Canada. And the cap goes up.

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Do the local contracts go toward cap or just National US and Canada ones?

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Elections have consequences.

It's tabulated as hockey-related revenue. Take all the money that teams and the league earn in a year. Divide it in half, divide that by 30, and that's the midpoint. Ceiling and floor are still +/- $8MM, I believe, much to my chagrin (it has to be more, I recommend +/-20).

It isn't shared among teams the way national TV money is, though.

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You are 100% correct.

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Doesn't warrant its own thread, but Michael Kostka is on waivers. Quenneville picked him over Ryan Stanton out of camp, then Vancouver claimed Stanton off waivers and got decent third-pairing production out of him. End of an error, I guess.

Could mean another trade coming, could mean P-M Bouchard coming up, I don't know, but the cap space he frees up -- about $163,000 by my napkin math -- is negligible.

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While the Bickell contract is not looking good, Crow's contract is not terrible. The cap is going to go up every year. In 2 years, a 6 mil per year for an above-average goalie will not be an overpayment. I still don't know why Stan didn't wait. If he had, doesn't that contract come down to Jimmy Howard money?

Don't forget that Hammer's contract is fantastic at 4.1 m and they are only paying Versteeg 2.2 against the cap.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Tampa claimed Kostka, so there's $160,000 off the books, as per Capgeek. They also say we're up to about $837,000 in cap space, which means you'd be looking at guys making no more than $3.2MM on the year. I don't think teams are allowed to have more than three retained-salary contracts on either side, and we already have Versteeg, Regin, and Bouchard. With $3MM on the year and an expiring contract, 12 and 21 in 49, Mikhail Grabovski would be the perfect addition, but I don't know if Tits McPhee is ready to concede that the Crapitals won't make the playoffs (they won't).

EDIT: oh unless his ankle is busted in which case scratch all that

EDIT 2: this also opens up a spot on the 50-man roster for Stephen Johns, whom we really really really don't want to lose.

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