Why Penguins' playoff success bodes well for BlackhawksEveryone in the NHL knew the 2015-16 season would be a hard one for the Blackhawks, who had to make several tough roster choices with $10.5 million-per-year extensions kicking in for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
But the Hawks weren't alone in going through salary-cap hell. Keeping them company were the Penguins, who took the NHL by surprise when they executed a blockbuster trade last summer to acquire winger Phil Kessel from the Maple Leafs.
They added Kessel's $6.8 million cap hit to their books, which already included hefty price tags for center Evgeni Malkin ($9.5 million), captain Sidney Crosby ($8.7 million), defenseman Kris Letang ($7.25 million) and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.75 million).
That's $38 million — more than half of this season's cap space — allotted to five players. By comparison, the Hawks had about $38.3 million tied up in their top five cap hits.
In that way the Penguins were Blackhawks East — a large chunk of their salary cap was devoted to a few star players, with little room for error to surround them with a quality supporting cast.
So if there were an encouraging result for the Hawks this postseason, it's that the Penguins, despite their cap pressure and early struggles, are now in the Stanley Cup Final. It shows if you can find the right mix of top-tier talent and complementary talent on the cheap, you can make a deep playoff run, even with players who earn top-of-the-market salaries.
The Sharks, meanwhile, showed spreading the wealth can work, too. Their top five cap hits totaled about $31.2 million, leaving them room to fashion a deeper roster. The good news for them is the essential players on the roster are under contract for next season.
Hawks general manager Stan Bowman has always downplayed his team's concerns related to the salary cap. His argument makes sense: It's better to have the players who command the highest salaries than not have them. Other teams would gladly use their cap space to sign players such as Toews, Kane or Duncan Keith.
But even with all the talent at the top of their roster, it wasn't a smooth ride to the Stanley Cup Final for the Penguins. In December, they fired coach Mike Johnston and replaced him with Mike Sullivan, who helped get them back on track.
They traded defenseman Rob Scuderi to the Hawks for Trevor Daley, a trade that worked out better for the Penguins. Daley was a better fit with the Penguins and was playing well until he suffered a season-ending broken left ankle in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Regardless of how long it took them, the Penguins started playing championship-level hockey toward the end of the season. The Hawks couldn't quite get back to that level.
As nice as it might be to have cap flexibility to enhance roster depth, it's better to have superstars playing like superstars. Ultimately, the Penguins' marquee players — outside of Fleury, who is now the backup — earned their money, and that's why they are where they are.
Through his first 32 games, Crosby had just six goals and 16 assists. The rest of the season, he had 30 goals and 33 assists. Kessel scored four goals in the conference finals playing on the hot "HBK" line with Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino.
Meanwhile, Toews did not score a goal, and Kane had just one during the Hawks' first-round exit. That is no coincidence. If those numbers were better, maybe the Hawks would still be playing.
They're not, but the Penguins' success shows that the Hawks' way of building a roster can still pay off.
chine@tribpub.comTwitter @ChristopherHine
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