Tallon pleased with positive reaction to free agents
Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon allowed himself to kick back Wednesday and bask in the glow of Tuesday's free agent jackpot when he signed two of the best players available in defenseman Brian Campbell and goaltender Cristóbal Huet.
"I'm fried," Tallon said.
It was a day spent talking to more agents and to several Hawks players about what the additions of Campbell and Huet mean.
"I talked to some of the guys and they're pumped," Tallon said. "There's been a lot of positive feedback, but the feedback that means anything to me comes from coaches, players and agents. People know what we've got going on here now."
Hawks coach Denis Savard spent part of Wednesday thinking about how he would use the two new additions.
"The message Dale sent everybody is we're going to continue to try and get better, and we got better in a hurry," Savard said. "Those are two major acquisitions. We got a No. 1 defenseman and a No. 1 goalie."
Tallon wished he had even more money to spend after signing Campbell and Huet because there were other players targeted by the Hawks who wanted to come.
"Every free agent that we had interest in wanted to come here," Tallon said. "There were others we had a strong interest in, but there wasn't enough time and room."
High-scoring winger Marian Hossa was a person of significant interest to the Hawks, but after giving Huet and Campbell a combined $12.7 million for next season it left Tallon about $3 million over the NHL's $56.7 million salary cap.
The Hawks don't need to be at the cap until opening night.
Hossa wound up signing with the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, but only for one year at $7.4 million.
"That's OK. Maybe we can get him next year," Tallon joked.
Don't laugh. Hossa could be a guy the Hawks target next summer considering $16.75 million comes off the payroll after the 2008-09 season when the contracts of Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Havlat and Robert Lang expire.
Not only is Chicago now seemingly a destination for the premier free agents as evidenced by what happened Tuesday, chairman Rocky Wirtz and president John McDonough have shown a commitment to do whatever it takes to win and be competitive and visible on and off the ice.
The term and price tag was a bit high for Campbell at eight years and $56.8 million, but Tallon never had to beg Wirtz and McDonough for the money to spend.
"They said, 'Just get him,'" Tallon said. "They told me that if it makes sense, go do it."
While the Hawks' roster is considerably better today than it was in April when the season ended, Tallon hopes to get a few more things accomplished before training camp, likely via trades.
Tallon has assets from which to deal from strength now, starting in goal and on defense. There's still a chance the Hawks would listen to offers for Khabibulin despite Tallon's claims that he wants Khabibulin and Huet to share the goaltending duties next season.
Khabibulin might be easier to trade now because he is entering the final year of his $27 million contract.
"We're not satisfied," Tallon said. "We've still got some tweaking to do."
Even though the defense looks solid with Campbell, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brent Sopel, James Wisniewski, Cam Barker and Jordan Hendry, it might look different come training camp.
"We'd still like to add some physicality back there," Tallon said.
The Hawks lost their second free agent Wednesday when winger David Koci signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay.
Goalie Patrick Lalime signed a two-year deal with Buffalo on Tuesday.