Shaw wants to stay, but can Chicago Blackhawks afford him?

Andrew Shaw loves Chicago. And he loves playing for the Blackhawks.

But the gritty winger also knows the realities of the salary-cap era and understands that general manager Stan Bowman may not be able to keep him next season.

"I trust my agent and Stan to do what they can," Shaw said Wednesday. "I want to be back here, and I think they want me back."

Shaw is a restricted free agent for one more season, which means the Hawks can make him a qualifying offer at his 2015-16 base salary of $2.5 million for one year. The problem is the Hawks already have close to $66 million committed to next season and that doesn't include Artemi Panarin's bonus overage of about $2.8 million.

Last year's NHL cap was $71.4 million.

"I've been in Chicago for five years now and I've made this place my home," Shaw said. "I love the city, love the fan support here. Like I said, be patient and wait for that call."

The biggest obstacle to retaining Shaw is Bryan Bickell's contract, which carries a $4 million cap hit next season before it comes off the books. If they can't trade him, they can either leave him in Rockford and save $975,000, or they can buy him out. If they go the latter route, Bickell would count $1 million against the cap next season and $1.5 million in 2017-18, according to capfriendly.com.

Shaw, 24, has seen friends such as Nick Leddy and Brandon Saad traded in the last two years. He said he's talked with both about what life in other organizations, but he wouldn't go into details.

Shaw was one of those classic Bowman finds - a fifth-round pick in 2011 who turned himself into a versatile, hard-nosed player capable of scoring 20 goals a season. Well liked in the locker room, he's and a huge fan favorite as well.

"He would be a difficult guy to replace," said Patrick Kane. "We all enjoy having him around. He's one of those guys that gets along with everyone on the team. He brings some comedy to the room.

"At the same time, you saw how successful he was and has been in playoffs."

When asked about Shaw, Bowman called him a "heart-and-soul player" and loves that he "lays it on the line every night." Bowman, though, wouldn't handicap whether or not the Hawks could keep him.

Coach Joel Quenneville was effusive in his praise for Shaw, who led the Hawks with 4 goals against St. Louis.

"Shawzie's argument is as tough as you're ever going to get, because he brings so much to the table that you appreciate," Quenneville said. "His competitiveness. His willingness to find the dirty areas, score big goals, doesn't get distracted by the competition.

"Everybody loves that feistiness I think he brings every game."

Shaw said he's going to Universal Studios in Orlando with his girlfriend, who is a big Harry Potter fan. After that, they're off to either Paris or Hawaii.

And when September rolls around, Shaw hopes he'll be able to roll back into Chicago as a Blackhawk.

"Like I said, I want to be back here, and I have a feeling they want me to be back," Shaw said. "Hopefully both parties can make it work."