Rozner: Chicago Blackhawks, Saad feel salary-cap pain again

A very happy and sweaty Brandon Saad stood on the ice after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup two weeks ago and talked about never wanting to leave.

“For me, it's all about winning and I don't want to be anywhere else but here,” Saad said as his teammates danced about the ice with family and friends, taking pictures and swapping hugs. “That will all work itself out. I'm confident.”

When I told him I had heard that his people were already asking for $6 million annually, and that if the Hawks can't pay him someone else most certainly would, Saad said he hadn't put any thought into it yet.

“You know, that's all going to work itself out,” said the 22-year-old Saad. “This is where I want to be and I'm sure this is where I will be.”

Hawks GM Stan Bowman felt similarly at the time.

“The game just ended and we're celebrating right now, but we do have some work to do and we know that,” Bowman said. “Brandon is a big part of our core and he's a young guy we plan to have a part of this for a long time.”

As the celebrated laureate Al Swearengen once offered, “Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.”

No one in Chicago was laughing late Tuesday afternoon when the news broke that Saad had been traded to Columbus after the two sides could not come to terms on a new contract.

As reported here three weeks ago, Saad — a restricted free agent — was indeed looking for at least $6 million annually, a fair price for a player of his ability and production. But with the Hawks' cap conundrum, an NHL exec predicted that the Hawks would not be able to match an offer sheet if it came to that, and that a trade was a genuine possibility.

Saad could have received an offer sheet as early as Wednesday, maybe from someone in their own division or conference, and the compensation would have been drafts picks. Bowman decided acquiring players who might be able to help the Hawks win, while trading Saad out of the conference, was the better option.

“It was a factor to consider. It was certainly a possibility, but we'll never know for sure,” Bowman said Tuesday of a potential offer sheet. “The plan all along was to sign Brandon.

“We didn't know until we started negotiating where they were going to start. We couldn't come to an agreement and we can't get stuck. We have to prepare for next season.”

This is officially the worst hit the Hawks have taken during the post-Cup salary dumps. Yes, the Hawks still miss Andrew Ladd in so many ways, and while the purge of 2010 may turn out worse overall, Saad is the best player sacrificed to Gary Bettman's salary cap.

This is the price you pay for winning three Stanley Cups.

This is the price you pay for having great players who eat up a huge percentage of the cap.

This is the price you pay for a small-market friendly CBA that keeps the cap low and punishes wealthy owners like Rocky Wirtz and marketing successes like John McDonough, who would be willing to spend tens of millions more to keep their team together if they could.

And Saad is a devastating price to pay.

This is a junior Marian Hossa at 22 years old with 10 huge years in front of him. This is a top-line player who could play in every situation for the Hawks, and now he is gone.

Had the Hawks signed Saad at $6 million, they would have essentially been at the cap for next season already, still needing to sign another six players.

With the trade for No. 2 center Artem Anisimov — who Bowman said would be signed long term — and versatile, 20-year-old forward Marko Dano, the Hawks saved about $3 million.

They'll still need to find several million more in space — maybe as much as $5 million — to put a competitive team on the ice, but thus far have made little progress in terms of moving contracts like those belonging to Patrick Sharp or Bryan Bickell, and this includes the return of none of the UFAs like Antoine Vermette, Brad Richards or Johnny Oduya.

“We have some flexibility,” Bowman said. “We're not pressured into doing anything.”

Bowman denied that the inability to make trades last weekend at the draft had an impact on the Saad decision.

“The negotiation with Brandon was independent of any potential trades,” Bowman said. “You still have to come to terms on a contract you think is fair and works for your team going forward.”

If the Hawks can sign restricted free agent Marcus Kruger — and Bowman sounded confident that would occur soon — the Hawks could line up Jonathan Toews (27 years old), Anisimov (27), Teuvo Teravainen (20) and Kruger (25) at center next season.

“It's difficult to trade a player you think highly of, but this is a business and we have a job to do,” Bowman said. “We have to remain competitive and have a chance to win the Cup again next season.

“Sometime it involves difficult decisions. We took our best shot and worked hard at it, but when it became apparent we couldn't reach agreement, we turned our attention to trying to improve for next year.”

So the cap has hit the Hawks hard again after winning a Cup, and Saad is an enormous price to pay.

They scouted, drafted and developed a top-line winger they found at No. 43 overall just four years ago.

And the pain of losing him may be felt around these parts for a very long time.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM.