Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman: 'Good Discussions' In Trying To Re-Sign Andrew Shaw
(CBS) By moving the large contract of winger Bryan Bickell and packaging promising forward Teuvo Teravainen with it to the Hurricanes recently, the Blackhawks opened up cap room and provided a glimpse into one of their top offseason priorities.
The Blackhawks want to bring back forward Andrew Shaw, and now they have the cap room to do so.
"We've had some good discussions with his agent," Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday. "That's sort of ongoing. We're trying to get something done."
Once again, Bowman and the Blackhawks are working to clear cap space this season. The cap number saw a slight increase to $73 million, which wasn't quite as much as the Blackhawks hoped but also better than staying flat, which was a possibility. The Blackhawks have around $66 million committed in 2016-'17 salary right now.
Trading Teravainen with Bickell was deemed a necessary move in order to open up cap space for free agency. Bickell was making $4 million a year.
"It'd be great to say anyone you draft is going to be a Blackhawk forever, but our situation doesn't allow that," Bowman said.
"It's a constant game of maneuvering your assets."
The Blackhawks' top targets include Shaw and apparently 2010 Stanley Cup champion defenseman Brian Campbell, as the Chicago Tribune reported on Wednesday that Campbell would be open to rejoining Chicago in 2016-'17. If that were to happen, Campbell could be forced to take a discount of sorts.
Free agency in the NHL officially begins on July 1 at 11 a.m. CT, with the Blackhawks expected to be busy.