Salary cap issue hovers as Hawks open camp
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - It will be the backdrop of the preseason for the Blackhawks until something changes their salary-cap situation.
With the first practices of training camp to begin Friday morning at Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena, the Hawks know something must be done before the regular season starts Oct. 9 in Dallas. They are $2.2 million over the NHL's hard cap, according to salary tracking website Capgeek.com, and a trade is the most likely solution - barring an injury that would provide relief through injured reserve.
The Blackhawks, however, remain stoic.
"This is a process and we have to be ready to go in October, but the whole point of training camp is to see where we're at," Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday at a news conference inside Notre Dame's arena. "We have a lot of players we want to take a look at, and that's why we're here - not only in scrimmages but in exhibition games, and that will play itself out. We're excited to be back and we're not going to focus on (the cap)."
Players, however, might have it in the back of their minds. They follow the storylines of a season too, knowing that a guy they're playing beside might not be there the next. In the Hawks' case, that's probably going to be the case this preseason.
They'll just try to compartmentalize it, according to defenseman and alternate captain Duncan Keith, who met with reporters Thursday along with captain Jonathan Toews and alternate captain Patrick Sharp.
"Sure I think about it," Keith said. "It's not something that's a topic of conversation every day among us players. We all kind of know the business. As players we just focus on being fit and ready to play and skating out there (Friday) to start training camp. Trades are always part of the game, part of the business and that's never going to end."
It will subside whenever the anticipated trade happens. Bowman said he has talked trades this summer, and he expects those calls to get more serious after a couple weeks of camp are in the books.
"It's a bit of a waiting game at this point," Bowman said. "We've had a lot of discussions over the last weeks or months, but until guys get on the ice, not a lot changes from July until now. I think we'll see that play itself out over the next couple weeks here."
Until then, the focus will be directed toward the upcoming season and what needs to happen for the Hawks to make another deep playoff run. Regardless of trades, they return nearly the same roster as last season, knowing they came within one goal of playing in the Stanley Cup Final.
"Everybody certainly has a little bit of an appetite to get back to where we left off, knowing we left something out on the table and it was a disappointing ending," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I'm sure that everybody's got the right focus and the right preparation going into this season."