Chicago Blackhawks trade Shaw to Canadiens
Andrew Shaw - the player opponents love to hate, but teammates absolutely love - is gone.
No longer a Blackhawk. No longer a Chicagoan.
In a move made because Shaw's agent and Hawks general manager Stan Bowman couldn't come to terms on a new deal, the team decided to trade Shaw to the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of second-round draft picks.
The move gives the Hawks 10 picks in this weekend's draft and three in the second round (Nos. 39, 45 and 50 overall).
Shaw, who made $2 million last year, was said to be asking in the neighborhood of $4.5 million a season. With the Blackhawks firmly up against the NHL salary cap of $73 million and Artemi Panarin seeking a lengthy, expensive extension, Bowman was simply unable to give Shaw what he wanted.
"It's a very tough day, a difficult decision to make," Bowman said. "We love Andrew and everything he's brought to the Blackhawks. We certainly want to thank him for some incredible hockey. He's been the ultimate warrior for us."
As the league's 30 GMs descended on Buffalo's First Niagara Center for the first round of the draft Friday night, Bowman had been weighing his options and sending out feelers on both Marcus Kruger and Shaw.
"It was evident long ago that something was going to have to give with the money that we have already committed, and where the salary cap is," Bowman said. "We looked at a lot of different options and this is the one that made the most sense."
So ends Shaw's five-year run in Chicago. It was a tumultuous one at times, but the 24-year-old Ontario native did so much more than score goals or dole out assists for coach Joel Quenneville.
His teammates will miss his competitive fire, the way he got under opponents' skin, his ability to make them laugh and just his overall demeanor.
"Shawzie is such a big part of our team," defenseman Brent Seabrook said in late April. "We'd be disappointed if he wasn't able to come back. We all love him and hopefully him and Stan and his agent can get something worked out."
The biggest goal of Shaw's career came when he won Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final by deflecting a shot past Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask 12:08 into triple overtime.
Shaw averaged 16.3 goals and 16.7 assists the last three seasons. Quenneville loved the 5-foot-9, 179-pound forward's versatility as he could grind it out on the fourth line and - as he showed for an extended period last season - also had the ability to provide energy and scoring punch to the top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
"Shawzie's argument is as tough as you're ever going to get, because he brings so much to the table that you appreciate," Quenneville said in April. "His competitiveness. His willingness to find the dirty areas, score big goals doesn't get distracted by the competition.
"I think everybody loves that feistiness I think he brings every game."
The NHL draft continues today with Rounds 2-7.
• Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report.