Hawks find defensive help on deadline day

One thing Stan Bowman proved the last two years is that when he says he's going to sign someone, he does it.

When he took over as Blackhawks GM, he vowed that he would get the Hawks' core inked long term and under the salary cap, and he has done that.

The latest is Brent Seabrook, another recipient of a massive contract, and yet another defenseman making huge money.

And if at some point in the next year Bowman says he intends to get Patrick Sharp in the fold — before Sharp becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012 — believe that, too.

In the process, however, Bowman has committed to a singular approach in staying competitive, which is that the core must play great while some kids must show up and contribute in a big way.

The Hawks have to get help from the young and the cheap in order for this to work, because they're spending so much of the cap on so few players.

It's never going to be as bad as it was last summer, when Bowman was handed a disaster by his predecessor and forced to dump half a Stanley Cup-winning roster.

But it's never going to be easy as long as so much of the payroll is devoted to so few, a strategy that's already drawing criticism from some of the faithful who wonder how this can work if Bowman's unable to move a big contract.

Bowman is working with some smart people, like Kevin Cheveldayoff and Al MacIsaac, and they had to make some tough choices.

They chose the core that won the Cup over trying to find the pieces all over again.

It means it's going to be tough to improve through trade or free agency, and trade-deadline deals for the Hawks will be minor, while clubs with cap space can make a big splash.

The only team making a serious move Monday was Los Angeles, which traded for expensive power forward Dustin Penner of the Oilers.

Other than that, trade-deadline day was as dull as the Oscars, and the best part by far was the Brian Burke news conference.

The Leafs GM is always the highlight of the day because of his honesty and personality, traits severely lacking in a league that's often missing both.

As for Bowman, he did find the Hawks a nice fifth or sixth defenseman in Chris Campoli, a good skater with offensive ability who should find his best game with the Hawks.

He's nothing special in his own end, but he's also never had a chance to skate with quality players before, and he should fit right in with the Hawks' style of play.

They couldn't find the stay-at-home type they desired, but Campoli is an upgrade from Jordan Hendry, who's done for the season with a knee injury.

This is what it will be like for the Hawks, trying to locate million-dollar, cap-hit guys like Campoli to fill in behind all the pricey stars and hoping they catch lightning in a bottle.

Therefore, in the years when the core isn't great, which has been the case for most of this season, or if the kids don't show up and contribute, or if there's a single serious injury to any of the big names, the next few years will look a lot like this one.

That means the Hawks will be a middle seed in the good years and fight for a low seed in the years like this one. If they can score big with a youngster or two, get lucky with players like Campoli, or guys like Duncan Keith can remember that they know how to play, they can return to the top of the West.

The cap's a nightmare, but it's not going anywhere and there's no stepping back from it now that they've gone down this road, so the only way to get significantly better is from within.

And unless they're able to move one of the huge contracts, it's going to be this way for a while, with too many players skating a line higher than they ought to be, or getting more minutes than they've earned.

In the meantime, they'll have a chance every year to compete, which isn't the worst posture in the world.

Like it, hate it, fear it or loathe it, but by all means get used to it.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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