Tallon says Keith will get his reward
Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon has a promise for defenseman Duncan Keith, who will see 13 of his teammates potentially make more money than him this season.
"He'll get his," Tallon said of the player many consider to be the Hawks' most valuable player. "He's a great player and a great guy. Dunc will have his day. Definitely we'll make sure Dunc is comfortable."
Keith will earn $1.9 million this season in the final year of his four-year contract before becoming a restricted free agent next summer. Keith's asking price a year from now could approach $6 million or more.
The Hawks must find money to pay Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane next off-season.
The Hawks will have approximately $13 million to $14 million in expiring contract after this season. In addition to Keith, Toews and Kane, the contracts of John Madden, Andrew Ladd, Adam Burish, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Antti Niemi also come off the books.
"We have everything in place," Tallon said. "We're not in this short term, it's all big picture. We know what we have to do. We have a plan in place and we're going to continue to keep the core together."
Kids are all right: Oh, yeah, there's a prospects camp going on.
The restricted free agent mess of the last week has somewhat overshadowed the Hawks' prospects camp is going well at Johnny's Ice House.
"I love our young defensemen and our centers," Tallon said. "I like our size. I'm very impressed by our depth."
Among the players who have impressed Tallon so far are forwards Kyle Beach, Akim Aliu, Daniel DeLisle, David Pacan, Brandon Pirri and defensemen Shawn Lalonde, Paul Phillips, Dylan Olsen, Braden Birch and Teigan Zahn.
Olsen, the Hawks' recent No. 1 pick, didn't scrimmage Wednesday because of a charley horse.
Phillips is the Hawks' seventh-round pick from Darien.
"The kid from Darien, he's maintenance free and makes no mistakes," Tallon said.
Tip-ins: Winger Bryan Bickell agreed to a one-year contract Wednesday. ... On Tuesday, the Hawks signed defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin to a three-year contract. The 6-foot-7, 208-pound Pepin just finished his college career at the University of Maine.