The Chicago Blackhawks already have a little over $41 million in cap space committed to seven players for the 2015-16 campaign and that doesn’t include Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews as they are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2015.
When faced with questions about that potential cap issue after handing lucrative extensions to Corey Crawford, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Bryan Bickell, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman firmly stated that Kane and Toews “will be here forever.”
That message resonated with the team’s captain.
“It meant a lot to hear that,” Toews said, according to CSN Chicago. He later added, “Right now, it would be tough to find a reason to play somewhere else. There’s no place better to play hockey.”
The question is if those feelings will lead him and Kane to accept a hometown discount. If they sign at market value on top of Chicago’s other commitments, then Bowman could potentially have the vast majority of his cap tied to just nine players -- depending on how much the ceiling rises over the next couple years. In that scenario, assembling the depth needed to excel in the playoffs would be a challenge.