Defenseman Johnny Oduya's presence and the Chicago Blackhawks' absence from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs tells the story.
The loss of Oduya to free agency last summer is not the only reason why the Blackhawks were eliminated in the first round. But his absence symbolizes how the Blackhawks’ depth has been eroded by salary cap issues caused by their success -- what will now be three Stanley Cups in seven seasons.
It is challenging to keep championship teams together. While general manager Stan Bowman did an effective job of refreshing the roster after each Stanley Cup, eventually the win-now approach would catch up to the Blackhawks. It happened this season when they lost in Game 7 to St. Louis on Monday night.
While there is no reason to panic, there is work to be done this summer in Chicago:
Upgrade the defense
Trevor van Riemsdyk, 24, will continue to improve, but the Blackhawks still need one more veteran to make this defensive unit deep enough.
In Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Blackhawks have three top-end two-way defensemen. Instead of overtaxing that trio, it makes sense to add pieces to strengthen the unit.
Even with goalie Corey Crawford posting a .924 save percentage, the Blackhawks ranked 11th in goals-against per game during the regular season. There are still ingredients here to be a top-five defensive team.
More salary cap woes
The Blackhawks have more than $65 million committed to 17 players for next season, according to generalfanager.com.
Rookie Artemi Panarin has earned entry-level bonuses that will top $2.5 million, which will be applied against next season’s salary cap. Raises for Seabrook, Marcus Kruger and Artem Anisimov also boost that total.
With the cap expected to be between $71-$74 million, there won’t be much room available to make moves.
Trade Andrew Shaw?
Shaw’s name comes up whenever the Blackhawks have salary-cap issues.
But Shaw isn't the Blackhawks’ first choice to trade because he is a valuable role player who disrupts the opposition with his prickly playing style. He is a versatile forward who can play in the top-six or on a checking line.
The issue is that Shaw will be a restricted free agent this summer, and he will expect a significant raise over the $2 million he made this season. It will limit Bowman’s ability to make other needed moves.
Shaw, 24, has trade value. He could be turned into a veteran defenseman or scoring help.
Add a scoring winger
The Blackhawks' offense was better this season (2.85 goals per game) than they were when they won the Stanley Cup in 2014-15 (2.68 goals per game). But Chicago needs another scorer to play with Jonathan Toews.
Last summer, the Blackhawks moved out two prominent scorers – Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp. Plus, Marian Hossa is 37.
Teuro Teravainen is only 21, and the expectation is that his offensive contributions will expand next season.
Change support personnel
It might be time for a new look on the bottom two lines. It will help the Blackhawks’ buying power, maybe even allow them to keep Shaw, if they somehow convince a team to take Bryan Bickell’s $4 million contract off their hands. It would be worth giving up a significant asset for the salary cap relief.
