A helmet on the Picasso in Daley Plaza is just one of the signs that the Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup Final.
John Konstantaras/Chicago News Cooperative
The Blackhawks hold a 2-1 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers going into Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals in Philadelphia tonight. If the Hawks end their 49-year championship drought and hoist the Cup in the next few days, their fans should take a picture of the celebration and cherish the memory.
The team could have a markedly different look in its pursuit of the National Hockey League’s grand prize next season, and it will continue to change in years to come as the Hawks deal with the N.H.L.’s economic system, which discourages the creation of dynasties.
“I wish we could keep this group together because they’re really good kids as well as good players,” said Stan Bowman, the Hawks general manager. “But it’s not possible under the current system. There will be changes.”
Goaltender Antti Niemi, who has emerged as a star while backstopping the playoff run, is one of several Hawks with an expiring contract. Salary-cap restrictions will probably prevent the team from retaining all those players. “There are hockey decisions and there are business decisions,” Coach Joel Quenneville said. “They don’t always run together.”
Player movement is a fact of life in professional sports. In recent seasons, the New England Patriots have lost the all-pros Richard Seymour and Ty Law and several other starters from their Super Bowl rosters. Marian Hossa jumped from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Detroit Red Wings to the Blackhawks over the last three years and wound up in the Stanley Cup finals with each team.
N.H.L. owners were seeking cost certainty when they endured a lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season. The resulting collective-bargaining agreement guaranteed the players between 54 percent and 57 percent of leaguewide revenue but imposed a strict cap on payrolls. The cap was $56.8 million this season, and it’s not likely to grow much, if at all, next season, league officials said. The Blackhawks are right on it.
“If you have a good year, everybody gets a raise,” said Bowman, who will work with team president John McDonough to try to keep the Hawks intact.. “If you’re at the salary cap, you can’t give everybody raises. The system we’re under allows for quick improvement but works against teams with a lot of talent because you can’t pay everybody.”
The Hawks were far-sighted in locking up young core players, like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith with long-term, cap-friendly contract extensions in December. Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg, all top-of-the-line contributors, are under contract for at least the next two years; Brent Seabrook and Dustin Byfuglien for another year.
But they’re at risk of losing Niemi and Niklas Hjalmarsson, a standout defenseman, and significant role players Andrew Ladd, John Madden, Adam Burish and Ben Eager unless they can create the financial flexibility to retain them. Collectively, they provide lineup depth few other N.H.L. teams can match.
Niemi, 26, supplanted Cristobal Huet in March. “He’s given us a chance to win every night,” Bowman said. A restricted free agent, Niemi made $826,875 this season. Under collective-bargaining rules, the Hawks have to offer him a 5-percent raise — to $868,218 — to retain the rights to him, enabling them to match any offer he receives on the open market. If they choose not to match, they will receive draft-choice compensation.
Huet, 34, has two years at $5,625,000 per year remaining on the free-agent contract he signed before last season. The Hawks would love to find a taker for Huet, but N.H.L. rules don’t allow them to pay part of his salary, as is frequently done in baseball when a team wants to move a bad contract. They could buy him out for roughly two-thirds of the contract’s existing value, with the cap hit lingering for twice its remaining length.
“We’ll dive in on that in the summer,” Bowman said.
Hjalmarsson, 23, made $660,000 this season. Like Niemi, he is a restricted free agent. A smaller base salary entitles him to a 10-percent raise in a qualifying offer, to $726,000. Ladd ($1,650,000 this season) and Eager ($950,000) also are restricted free agents. Madden ($2,750,000) and Burish ($725,000) are unrestricted, meaning they can sign elsewhere with no compensation to the Hawks.
“Some guys might take less money to play here because of what we’ve got going — John Madden did,” Bowman said. “We take care of our players. Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough have given us the resources to become a destination franchise.”
Jeremy Roenick, a hockey analyst for NBC and a former Blackhawk, agrees.
“Chicago has a good young team with a lot of talent and leadership, but keeping it together, they’re in trouble there,” he said. “They have too much talent. There’s no way they can keep it all unless the wise guys meet them in a back alley somewhere and convince them it’s in their best interests to stay.”