Hawks need cap space right now for big three

The Blackhawks likely need to trim some payroll if they want to announce contract extensions for Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane sooner than later.

According to the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, teams cannot commit more money for the following season than the total dollars of expiring contracts it has coming off the books.

It's called "tagging room," and right now the Hawks don't have enough of it to accommodate the approximately $19 million the club would commit to Keith, Toews and Kane for next season.

A report Friday on TSN.ca claimed the Hawks were about $1 million over their tagging room and as a result were shopping defenseman Brent Sopel and his $2.33 million cap hit through next season in order to open up the necessary space for Keith, Toews and Kane.

Sopel's contract is going to be a tough sell for the Hawks since it runs through the 2010-11 season, but putting Sopel on waivers is an option. If Sopel cleared waivers, he could be sent to Rockford, taking his $2.33 million cap hit off the books, although the Hawks still must pay him.

Meanwhile, several sources say the Hawks have placed center Andrew Ebbett on waivers to shed his $447,000 cap hit. Ebbett has 1 goal and no assists in 12 games.

It's being reported in a lot of places that the Hawks are waiting to announce the deals for Keith, Toews and Kane until after the circus road trip in order to have a lavish press conference, but it might not be as simple as that.

Toews and Kane are expected to sign five-year extensions for more than $6 million a year each. Keith is believed to be receiving a 13-year extension for a cap hit of less than $6 million a year.

Of course, if the deals aren't announced until after the season the roster could stay as it is now and the Hawks wouldn't need to deal with their cap problem in the summer.

Power up: The 4 power-play goals by the Hawks in Thursday's 7-1 win at Calgary were a season high.

They scored 3 power-play goals against Florida in the second game of the year in Finland.

"Our power play has been struggling a little bit, but it's nice to get it back on tract," Patrick Kane told reporters. "Hopefully we can keep it going."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville called Thursday's win a "great game across the board."