Blockbuster Blackhawk Deal

Well, everyone knew that something would have to break in the Hawk salary cap situation. The first step has dropped as the Blackhawks completed a massive trade with Atlanta.

What Atlanta Gets:

Dustin Byfuglien
Akim Aliu
Brent Sopel
The Rights to Ben Eager

Roughly a $5 million cap hit.

What Chicago Gets:

Marty Reasoner
The Rights to Jeremy Morin
2010 First and Second Round picks (acquired by Atlanta from New Jersey in the Kovalchuk trade)

A Cap hit of $1.12 million (above the $1.2 million contract of Reasoner)

Redwing77's Take:

A necessary evil, this seems to be something that was doomed to occur. My only regret is that the Hawks couldn't somehow get rid of Huet in the deal.

The roughest part is losing Byfuglien. He was KEY in the Stanley Cup victory. He completely unravelled Vancouver.

Losing Sopel and Eager aren't biggies. Eager was good and will continue to be a gritty winger. Losing Sopel won't be missed. Gaining Reasoner is a lot like gaining another Sopel. Unless Versteeg, Ladd, and Sharp aren't retained, I don't think Reasoner is going to be an every game player. He's a veteran and he is pretty reliable, but certainly more of a salary throw in.

The acquisition of Jeremy Morin is interesting. It's too bad he's not NHL ready yet because he'd be a good addition to the team instead of Eager.

What this DOES mean is: Eager and Byfuglien's departures means that this is Skille's and Fraser's (should Chicago re-sign them) chances to stick in the NHL.

The first rounder makes me wonder if they may now try to trade away their 30th overall pick in a package with some more salary.

Here's a list of remaining free agents the Hawks have left to decide upon:

Restricted Free Agents:

Colin Fraser (C)
Andrew Ladd (LW)
Antti Niemi (G)
Jordan Hendry (D)
Niklas Hjalmarssen (D)

A slew of minor leaguers headlined by Jack Skille, Hannu Toivonen, and Bryan Bickell

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Nick Boynton (D)
Adam Burish (RW)
Kim Johnsson (D)
John Madden (C)

3 minor leaguers: Mark Cullen, Danny Bois (awesome name), and Richard Petiot.

I don't know about Boynton or Burish, nor do I know about the minor leaguers but I doubt Johnsson (who spent most of the year injured) or Madden will return solely because of financial reasons.

I'd like to see Ladd, Hjalmarssen, Toivonen, and Skille at least re-signed. Colin Fraser is good too.

But right now the main things that Chicago needs to accomplish is:

1. Get some sort of solution regarding Huet.
2. Dump more salary
3. Start thinking about next year when Seabrook becomes a free agent.

Analysts make a big deal about Versteeg and Sharp but I don't see the Hawks getting rid of both if they can at all help it. To be honest, I'd love to see either or both on the Red Wings.