Report: Hossa to Chicago

Chicago is going to bE HOT now...They have sharp, kane, now hossa..... Hey Rich, any word on Havlat?
He wants a long-term, but will DL take the chance??

....I wonder what they see in Hossa that they didn't have/see in Havlat, and it could have saved them some $$$

Wow. Big move by the Hawks...12 years was obviously, and rightly, too much for Deano. Chi town is gonna be even more fun to watch.

darko how about not major injuries plays full season and is better then Havlat

That's a good start Earl.

How in the world does Chicago expect to sign Toews, Kane, and Keith next summer? Isn't the cap supposed to be falling?

surely that puts at least Campbell and Khabiboulin (sp?) on the market, even with Hossa's front loaded deal getting under the cap over the next 36-months is going to be really hard. What price Havlat to the Kings now?

Heavily front loading a 12 year deal to a 30 year old player is actually a fairly easy way to reduce the cap hit and pay the player big money. How much of that does he play? 8 at most?

Seems like it will be the new, popular way to help circumvent the cap. What's the max number of years? Are we going to see 15-20 year deals for veteran players with minimal cap hits or will the GMs be too afraid of players showing up to work just to collect a couple extra million at the end of their careers?

Wow...Chicago is going for it this year. Come next season and after that, they are ripe for the poaching. They will be leaving guys like Kane and Toews exposed. with contracts like Hossa's...Chicago can't be expecting those guys to take a hometown discount.

I understand the concept of front loading contracts, but you still have to pay the piper down the road. While Hossa's being scratched for 60 of 80 games when he's nearing 40...Chicago will have to rid themselves of someone to keep his bloated cap number on the books.
It's short term success for long term suffering...
This is something that the league will need to address in the near future, otherwise this will blow up into a huge financial mess for both the league and the players association.

I feel I should add that I suspect it's only a strategy you can expect to see with European players as the KHL and SEL gives them an outlet to leave the NHL and continue to make big money before they have to start playing into the lesser years of their NHL contracts.

I think a healthy Gaborik is better then Hossa.

How much does a healthy(?)Gaborik cost...especially considering what these other guys are getting?
I would be completely shocked if he took a short term deal....there's too many teams looking to spend $$.
To sign this guy to a 4 or 5 year deal in the $6 mil range would be insane...but somebody will do it.

Before they re-sign Toews, Kane and keith, they have to re-sign Barker and Versteeg. My guess is that they'll let either Kane or Toews walk after next season and take the draft-pick compensation.

Looks like the Blackhawks are aiming to come in 2nd.

Good, glad he's not coming our way. Just not a fan of his, though a did gain a little respect for him when he said the pressure got to him and then he stuck up for Crosby regarding the hand shake incident(no I'm not a Crosby fan either).

Deadcountbounce

If you're right, I would hang onto our cap space and try and workout a trade for either one of them and sign him long term.
Both are better options than anything out there. Of course we would have to wait until after the season, but I think it would be worth it.
As far as what we have to offer Chicago...just looking at draft picks, we have a 1st and 2 2nd rd picks next year.

Vicarious, that was brilliant!

"Looks like the Blackhawks are aiming to come in 2nd."
With Huet now the number one guy in net, that's aiming pretty high.