The BC Boys
November 17th, 2009 by Jason ChenEver since the implementation of the salary cap, bad contracts are as immovable as Tomas Holmstrom in the crease. Not only do high salaries handicap teams looking to add talent, the biggest drawback is the failure of those teams to retain their talent and for a shining example look no further than Brian Campbell.
Let’s face it, the Hawks really don’t need him. When he was signed, my assumption is that Dale Tallon didn’t believe that Keith, Seabrook, Barker, or even Hjalmarsson would develop enough to quarterback Chicago’s powerplay. Campbell brought to the table an incredible ability to skate and move the puck, something that has become a premium in the post-cap era, although whether the need for this type of player is necessary or not is another story. Now that the Hawks enter an uncertain off-season in which their three young stars, Keith, Toews, and Kane are becoming RFAs, Campbell’s contract has put Stan Bowman in a giant hole.
While Kane and Toews are expected to ink extensions soon (anywhere long-term from $5-$7m per year), pundits are less optimistic about Chicago’s chances of re-signing Keith. According to Chicago Now, the extensions for the two forwards could mean that Keith becomes the odd-man out unless Bowman masterminds a deal in which they would be off the hook for Campbell’s contract. No doubt that if the Hawks fail to re-sign Keith that he would draw considerable interest and if that may be the case the Canucks need to make a charge for the swift-skating blueliner.
Rivalry aside, the Canucks need a reliable, every situation skating defenseman like Keith. No one on this roster, not even Bieksa or Edler, comes close in terms of overall play. The Canucks have been building their defense by committee for the past couple of years, opting to pay their top 4 similar money instead of front-loading to have an elite all-star defenseman to anchor the entire corps. While the strategy makes sense, in part because the Canucks don’t have that elite player, this is a golden opportunity for the Canucks to bring back a local player to really jumpstart this defense. The Canucks will have significant salaries coming off the books and if Keith is inked for the long-term, the Canucks will be looking at a core group of Luongo, Keith, and the Sedins, filling in every position of the ice.
While I the chances of Keith hitting the market remain small, I remain hopeful because of the constant juggling Chicago has to do. They’ve stockpiled talent but also brought in players with questionable contracts and this sort of juggling will continue to be a theme for Chicago over the next couple of years. You can bet that Bowman will be looking for opportunities for the under-performing Campbell and perhaps Bryan Murray and the Sens may come knocking on the door yet again. A trade would make sense for both teams, although I imagine that the Hawks will be asking for Mike Fisher to anchor their second line and be a presence on the PK, something I don’t think Murray is too enthusiastic to do, but the fact remains that the Sens desperately need a puck-mover and Campbell, a Strathroy, ON native, may be a good fit.
For those of you paying attention to the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes, it’s been publicly announced that he will not return to the NHL, instead remaining in his native Sweden to play with MoDo in the Elitserien. At least he made a decision early. Perhaps unsurprisingly, former Canucks captain Markus Naslund has also come out of retirement and will play with MoDo for the rest of the season, something that he has proclaimed he would do since his days in Vancouver.
Posted in Canucks
3 Responses to “The BC Boys”
By Ruben on Nov 22, 2009
man, couldn’t every team use a dman like Duncan? Kid is pretty good.
I was screwing around with capgeeks cap calculator for next year, and for the team to be able to afford all three guys WITHOUT moving Cambpell would basically mean jettisoning Sharp, Byfulglien, Sopel, Barker, and not resigning any of their free agents and stocking the rest of their team with guys making near the minimum.
And Campbell is not the only problem, I can’t believe they signed Hossa this past summer. They look like they are swinging for the fences right now, but man are they going to be in a bind. If dany heatley only fetched a decent 2nd liner and flash in the pan shooter, what is brian campbell going to get? I wouldn’t be surprised if Bowman has to do something like Campbell and a high pick for some minor leaguer just to get Campbell out of there.
By Jason Chen on Nov 22, 2009
You’re right, all 29 other teams are thinking the same thing I am, in all likelihood, but my belief is that Keith would prefer BC.
I also agree that the Hossa signing was peculiar, as well as Kopecky. They’re paying about a million more than the league average for a fourth liner. There have been talks that Hossa’s on the block and it would be a history-making situation indeed if Hossa doesn’t ever suit up for the Hawks.
I’ve pushed for Campbell because with him in their structure they will need to offload more and more salary every summer. Not only does this hamper their ability to acquire some much needed veterans, it also means that the team will be “top heavy” a la Ottawa a couple years ago and lack any sort of competitive depth. Now that all the Hawks’ kids have made the jump, their pipeline is getting thinner. Like I said before Murray has the leverage here and the Hawks may have to settle for just a mid-round pick, at the extreme.
If it were up to me, I’d cut Campbell and Sopel. Byfuglien is a player I feel actually slows down the Hawks and is awful on defense due to his mobility. Sharp is indispensable due to his versatility and leadership while Barker is good to have around but not the type of player that will stick with just one franchise.
By Jason Chen on Nov 22, 2009
Also interesting to note that Bowman may be considering the buyout option, which for me means they’ve thrown in the white flag and will get nothing in return except roughly a $2.4m cap hit (wow!) for the next couple of years.