Hawks close to 5-year deal with Seabrook
It appears as if Brent Seabrook will remain part of the Blackhawks’ core group for at least five more seasons.
According to both sides, Seabrook and the Hawks are close to a five-year contract extension that will see the veteran defenseman earn a little less than $30 million over the course of the deal.
“It’s the only city I’ve played in and the only team I’ve played for in the NHL, so it’s one of those things I’ve grown up with this group,” the 25-year-old Seabrook said. “We accomplished a lot over the past six years and we definitely can accomplish a lot in the future and I hope I can be part of it.”
Hawks general manager Stan Bowman wasn’t ready to announce the deal Saturday, but most of the key issues have been resolved. An announcement could come as soon as today.
“It certainly moved along a lot faster in the last week or so,” Bowman said. “It’s not completely done yet, but it’s getting close. We’ve been working on it for a long time. There was a lot of back and forth, but he’s a guy we’ve said from the very beginning is a big part of the group we have here.
“We believe he’s been instrumental in getting us to the point we’re at and he’s going to be instrumental in keeping us at this level. He’s at a good young age and is just entering the prime of his career. He’s been a great player and I think he’s going to get even better.”
Seabrook, who presently makes $3.5 million, would have been a restricted free agent after the season. His cap hit will be $5.8 million a year, according to TSN.
Barring no off-season changes, the Hawks will have a combined cap hit of $23 million for their top five defensemen next year: Brian Campbell ($7.1 million), Seabrook ($5.8 million), Duncan Keith ($5.54 million), Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.5 million) and Nick Leddy ($1.1 million).
“We think defense is kind of the key that makes everything go for us,” Bowman said. “We have a lot of really skilled forwards and the style of hockey that we like to play is kind of dependent on having mobile, puck-moving defensemen.
“When you look at those forwards we have, they like to play with the puck and if you have defensemen that can also make plays and also match up against other people then that’s going to really allow us to play the style we want. It’s important for us to have that strength on the back end. If you look around the league, the teams that don’t have a strong defense typically don’t do very well.”
Fitting everybody under the cap for 2011-12 is a problem for the summer. The NHL’s cap is expected to go up at least $3 million from its present $59.4 million.
Plus the Hawks would have another $4.1 million off the books from bonuses unless they win the Stanley Cup again and some of those are reached.
Seabrook has tried to not let the ongoing contract negotiations affect his game as the Hawks fight a desperate battle to make the playoffs.
“I’ve tried just putting it out of my mind,” Seabrook said. “It’s something I have thought about and I’ll be very happy when it’s over.
“I’ve thought of different scenarios and things like that, but if they wanted to sign me I figured they would.”