nuckin_futz Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Sagging Canadian dollar could force Blackhawks to make big changes Hockey players don't live in a vacuum. Life isn't all about what happens on the ice. So when word recently circulated that due to the sagging Canadian dollar — referred to as the loonie — the NHL's salary cap for the 2015-16 season might remain stagnant and force teams like the Blackhawks to make major moves during the offseason, the level of concern rose. "That's the talk everywhere," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "I'm one of those that hope that that's not going to be the case." The man in charge of managing the Hawks' purse strings has heard the rumblings, too, and general manager Stan Bowman admits that unless there is a sudden uptick in the Canadian dollar — currently worth about 87 cents to the American dollar — change will be in the air. The revenue generated by the seven Canadian teams has a major impact on the rest of the NHL franchises. As the Canadian dollar falls, the revenue generated by those teams follows suit and that can impact the cap. With nearly $66 million committed to 15 players next season and raises due to restricted free agents Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger, a cap anywhere near the current $69 million just doesn't add up to the Hawks looking anything like they do now. That could mean a sell-off reminiscent of the summer of 2010, when half the team that won the Stanley Cup was jettisoned in a salary-cap purge. "Obviously, if the cap doesn't go up and we keep the exact same team, no, that wouldn't work," Bowman said. "You get into all of these hypotheticals, 'Well, if you keep this guy, that means you can't keep that guy.' "I'm not sure that's a productive endeavor. We've always been able to figure it out in the past, and we've had a pretty good run of stability. We're looking to try to do that as much as possible." Bowman is confident that if another massive turnover on the roster happens — this time almost certainly including one of the core players, possibly Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook or Bryan Bickell — he can again rebuild the Hawks into a Cup contender. "We've been through this type of talk before," Bowman said. "I've always been cautious to make predictions good or bad about the cap. It will be what it is, and we'll figure it out. "I'm not really focused on that point right now. If it doesn't go up a lot or if it stays the same, then we'll find a way to make it work. "It's no secret, though, the more it goes up, the better it is for all the teams that are around the cap. We're not the only one. It's a little premature right now to guesstimate where the cap is going to go." That isn't to say Bowman isn't preparing for the possibility of a cap remaining near $69 million, even if previous expectations had it rising $5 million or $6 million next year. "We've been doing that for a while," he said. "It's not just because there are rumors. That's our job to be prepared. We've spent a lot of time over the last number of months, even going back a year ago. The cap is always going to be there. You're always going to have a potential of it not rising much or even going down. Yes, we've thought about that, but it's not a main point that we're fixated on." It wasn't something Hawks brass was fixated on when it signed Toews and Patrick Kane to matching eight-year, $84 million contract extensions that will kick in for the 2015-16 season and carry cap hits of $10.5 million each. That will be $21 million allocated to two players alone, albeit players who are the cornerstones of the franchise. "The one thing that trumps everything is you need great players on your team, and great players make a lot of money," Bowman said. "I would much rather be in the position where you've got them and you're trying to make your cap work than to not have them, and then you're trying to figure things out and trying to say, 'How do we get good players?' "There was never a question about whether we would bring those two players back. They've played such a pivotal role in turning our franchise around originally and then sustaining the level we've been at. They're still young. They're both entering the primes of their careers." NHL players have the option to invoke a 5 percent escalator clause to the cap next season, but there is a definite possibility they will not exercise it as that affects the amount of escrow taken out of their paychecks. That increases the urgency to win a Cup when a team is as loaded with as much talent as the Hawks. "I think it's important to take advantage of every year when you have a team like this," Kane said. "We feel very excited about our lineup and who we have and the chances we have to win every year. "We never really know what the salary cap is going to be ... and that's way out of our control. Everyone is very confident with our management inside our organization. That's something we can't be worried about." Toews said he approaches every season as if it's the last chance to win a Cup, which could become closer to a reality if the Canadian dollar doesn't rebound. He remembers a conversation he had early in his career with then-Hawks assistant coach Marc Bergevin during the 2009 Western Conference finals against the Red Wings. "I'll never forget," Toews said. "Marc told me … that you always think, 'OK, maybe we have a young, talented team that if it's not going to work out this year, you might have next year.' He said, 'You can't be thinking that way. You never know when your next opportunity is going to be.' "Regardless of the salary cap, I think we believe in ourselves that we can fight our way to the playoffs, and once you get there it's anybody's game. We feel like our chances are as good as anyone over the last number of years. We're not looking to pass up any opportunities at it. We want to make the best of what we have right now, and whatever happens later we'll worry about that when it comes." ckuc@tribpub.com http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-blackhawks-salary-cap-spt-1201-20141130-story.html ******************************** This is going to be a huge problem for all teams close to the cap ceiling. With commodity prices buckling, especially oil and gold the Canadian dollar seems prepared for a prolonged slumber. Probably going to be some Ehrhoff for White/Rahimi type steals to be had for astute GM's in the year(s) to come. 1.1427 CAD currently = $1 US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Keith for Lain. Oh darn, we already traded Lain. Forget it then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Yeah it seems like they'll have to trade Sharp or Seabrook atleast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 That sucks. They ousted us time after time but they're my favourite team to watch in the playoffs. I hope they can keep most of their pieces, LA vs CHI round three this year, and hopefully many more to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absent Canuck Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 That sucks. They ousted us time after time but they're my favourite team to watch in the playoffs. I hope they can keep most of their pieces, LA vs CHI round three this year, and hopefully many more to come! That sounds great and all but I would much rather prefer to see Canucks v Blackhawks round 6 (hawks temporarily lead 3-2 ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFCanuck Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Eventually Kane and Toews were going to get paid. Now they'll fall down to the pack, they have already lost some of their mojo this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Mind Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 This is what happens when you pay 2 players nearly 2M more than Crosby. I think they'll go through something similar to what Pittsburgh did. No one should be surprised by this, every top team eventually starts to lose key players because of the cap. It happened to Boston this year, next will be Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bissurnette Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 lol at the hawks trying to blame the canadian dollar for their problems with the cap. No Bowman, you're in trouble because you signed two players to contracts that would take up almost 30% of your cap. I'm not buying the crocodile tears... EDIT: Plus they overpaid their goalie and Bickell so they're not getting any sympathy from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkSniper Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 lol at the hawks trying to blame the canadian dollar for their problems with the cap. No Bowman, you're in trouble because you signed two players to contracts that would take up almost 30% of your cap. I'm not buying the crocodile tears... EDIT: Plus they overpaid their goalie and Bickell so they're not getting any sympathy from me It's funny they asked Toews about their future problems if the Dollar does go down, "Duh I signed for so much money I hope my team isn't affected." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 That sounds great and all but I would much rather prefer to see Canucks v Blackhawks round 6 (hawks temporarily lead 3-2 ) Yeah, I think Chicago is one of the elite teams we could actually hold our own against right now. Baby steps though, we were saying the same thing at this point last year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 lol at the hawks trying to blame the canadian dollar for their problems with the cap. No Bowman, you're in trouble because you signed two players to contracts that would take up almost 30% of your cap. I'm not buying the crocodile tears... EDIT: Plus they overpaid their goalie and Bickell so they're not getting any sympathy from meMe neither. Can't wait until the Hawks become irrelevant again and bandwagon nation goes quiet. One of my buddies who's a Hawks fan is in absolute denial that his team will have to be dismantled lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I think it depends on what Saad and Seabrook ask for in the following couple of seasons, and by the time that swings around I wouldn`t bet against many of their prospects being ready to play. Once they trade Crawford, Sharp, Bickell, Rozsival and Versteeg they would have freed up $20 M already, and if they further strip down the roster and bring in young players and prospects and sign more bargain guys including a bargain bin 1st string goalie they could probably still produce a competitive team and be ripe with young prospects again. After their last purging and rejuvenation I would not bet against them still, when Bowman is still in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobble Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Parity at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outsiders Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 i can see Benning getting Seabrook over the summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robongo Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Hope Toews and Kane feel good about themselves for handcuffing their team and single handedly being responsible for one of their close teammates having to get traded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancaster Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Maybe the NHL should be spending more effort to drive up revenue from the lower half of the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Hope Toews and Kane feel good about themselves for handcuffing their team and single handedly being responsible for one of their close teammates having to get traded. I've been thinking this since they signed for too much money. So much for being team players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimp C Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 "That's the talk everywhere," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "I'm one of those that hope that that's not going to be the case." Lmao this is pure comedy. Maybe you should've taken one for the team, Mr. Intangibles? Now you're going to have watch your team descend into mediocrity because you valued money more than having your team remain dominant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimp C Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Canucks will take 1 Saad. What was the offer Bowman made for Kesler? Leddy Morin and a 2nd? Going off that base.... Jensen, Markstrom and a 2nd for Saad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robongo Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Canucks will take 1 Saad. What was the offer Bowman made for Kesler? Leddy Morin and a 2nd? Going off that base.... Jensen, Markstrom and a 2nd for Saad. Saad or Seabrook would be phenomenal. It is however, a pipe dream. They'll move Sharp before they move either one of the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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