Blackhawks Clear Cap Space With Thrashers

			2009-2010 NHL Statistics				2011 Cap Info
To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Dustin Byfuglien	Forward	25	82	17	17	34	1	$3 million
Brent Sopel	Defense	33	73	1	7	8	1	$2.3 million
Ben Eager	Forward	26	60	7	9	16	0	UFA
Akim Aliu	Forward	21	0	0	0	0	1	$875,000
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To Chicago	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Marty Reasoner	Forward	33	80	4	13	17	1	$1.15 million
Joey Crabb	Forward	21	0	0	0	0	0	RFA
Jeremy Morin	Forward	19	0	0	0	0	3	$608,000
2010 1st Round Pick (24th overall)
2010 2nd Round Pick (54th overall)

Well, the Blackhawks took their first steps to getting their franchise on track for the 2011 season and it looks as though they waited until the salary cap number dropped to know how much they needed to cut away in a deal and the result looks a little something like this.

The Blackhawks dropped a couple of their mid-to-high range contracts in both Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel, threw in the rights to Ben Eager, who is a restricted agent in a little over a week and a prospect in Akim Aliu, who wouldn't necessarily count against the cap, but seems to have sweetened the deal a little bit for the Thrashers.  In return, the Blackhawks only take on Marty Reasoner for some veteran help, a minor-leaguer in Joey Crabb, a 2009 2nd rounder in Jeremy Morin and two picks that the Thrashers received in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal.

Without a doubt, the Thrashers became incredibly tougher with all four players received having an edge to their game and some size to compliment that edge.  Byfuglien isn't the best regular season scoring sensation, so there might not be a great increase in scoring over 82 games with this deal, but the Southeast Division now has a speed bump that hits you back when you go though Atlanta.

The Blackhawks didn't exactly lose a lot of scoring, if the Thrashers didn't gain a lot of scoring, but the main thing that the Blackhawks did gain in this deal was cap space, which will be discussed further down.  In Marty Reasoner, the Blackhawks may have a little bit of leverage to move one of their veteran forwards as well, since Reasoner plays a solid defensive game and for a fraction of the cost.  Morin isn't exactly a bluechip prospect, but he will be joining a system that likes young talent, so with the right attitude, he could be a good player.


So, the Blackhawks needed some space and this deal should have alleviated that dearly.  Chicago dropped their approximate annual cap hit (among players, not including bonuses or penalties) to $53.2 from $57.4 million earlier in the day, now with only 13 players signed.  This currently leaves $6.2 million for the remaining 10 players, plus penalties from the Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews bonuses. 

The Thrashers on the other hand filled some of that cap space with more salary, thus moving up from 2nd last on the salary cap chart (published on the salary cap number post) up to 28th (or 3rd last), with $32.9 million allotted to 13 players.  With the cap floor being down at $43.4 million, there is still a fair bit of space to fill before the Thrashers get there after this deal.

According to my chart, the Flames are now the top ranked team on the chart, but they also have 17 players signed onto their chart.


Well, this deal is a pretty good one for the Blackhawks, in my opinion, especially since their youth system is not too bad and they can likely fill some gaps with some cheaper options.  However, they still have some room to free up, but they can at least get through the Draft and the first few days of the free agent frenzy before having to make any drastic decisions or make any deals that don't make much sense for the team.

For the Thrashers, in essence, they spent a 1st round pick and two 2nd round picks, plus a cheap veteran, in order to get tougher and possibly a little harder to play against along the boards or in front of the net.  It isn't common place to spend that kind of prospect talent for rough and tumble players, but it's happened, so let's all get used to it.  It won't translate into better pool results, if not worse ones for Byfuglien, nor should it turn into many more wins, unless whoever coaches these new Thrashers turns them into great team players, like they were complimentary to the Blackhawks.

I think the Blackhawks won this deal, but it could have very well dropped the talent for the hockey pools next year... for now.