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Hossa & Kopecky to the Blackhawks
by Alanah McGinley on 07/01/09 at 02:08 PM ET
Comments (29)
Noted by Pierre Lebrun at ESPN:
LeBrun (2 p.m. ET): The Chicago Blackhawks have signed star winger Marian Hossa to a 12-year whopper deal. Sources tell ESPN.com the deal is worth an average of $5.2 million a year.
more here later
added 2:21pm, from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail, T
he Chicago Blackhawks landed Marian Hossa today today with the free-agent push in Chicago once again coming from team president John McDonough, who was the driving force behind last year’s two prominent free-agent signings, Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet, neither of whom provided good value for the money.
Hossa should be a much better buy - less money against the cap and a far better track record than either Campbell or Huet who, one year after the fact, are problems for the team going forward.
Release from the Chicago Blackhawks,
The Chicago Blackhawks have signed right wing Marian Hossa to a 12-year contract and center Tomas Kopecky to a two-year contract.
“To add Marian, an elite and world-class player, and Tomas, a Stanley Cup Champion, to our exciting young core reinforces our commitment to try to win the Stanley Cup,” Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon said.
note: Kopecky was added to the headline at 2:24pm.
Update 2:32pm ET: TSN notes that Kopecky’s deal is for $1.2 million per year, for 2 years.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Best of luck Hoss…
that is, when not playing the Wings.
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 07/01/09 at 02:12 PM ET
Say goodbye to some other players, Hawks fans. A lot of them. I have no idea how exactly they think they’re going to pay Hossa that much money plus still pay their young guys the healthy raises they’ll all want.
Unbelievable. Detroit signed him for one year and dealt with the cap issue. How the heck are the Hawks going to deal with it for at least 3 or 4 more?
Posted by Primis on 07/01/09 at 02:15 PM ET
Hmm. Chicago’s good. The West continues to get better and better.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/01/09 at 02:16 PM ET
Doesn’t bother me. Good luck, Hossa, unless you’re playing the Wings.
Also, Chicago is going to be in cap hell next year with all those free agents and an expected decrease in the cap.
Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 07/01/09 at 02:16 PM ET
Primis, they must be pushing as hard as possible to win a Cup NOW. Only explanation I can think of. Or they think they can build a culture similar to what Detroit has done, and potentially get Kane and Toews and Versteeg and Barker and on and on and on to buy into the mentality and all take a little less.
Or maybe they just found a way to get rid of Brian Campbell’s broke ass game and his large ass contract.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/01/09 at 02:17 PM ET
He wanted the lifetime contract and he got it. Good for him (except against the Wings).
But my goodness, is Chicago ever screwed in the future. If they get a glut of injuries .... wow.
Maybe they plan on going dirt cheap with goaltending? But unless they guys are good, it will still bite you eventually.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/09 at 02:22 PM ET
Hmmm looks like next year we’ll have enough cap room to invite a few hawks over to our side.
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 07/01/09 at 02:22 PM ET
Don’t worry Chicago, after we boost you from the play-offs next year (if you get that far) we’ll be glad to take one of those rising start that you will now not be able to afford off of your hands…
And around and around we go…
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:23 PM ET
They’ll probably try to get rid of Huet and possibly Campbell in the forseeable future. Looks like a tough sell, but never underestimate GMs.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 07/01/09 at 02:24 PM ET
Primis, they must be pushing as hard as possible to win a Cup NOW. Only explanation I can think of. Or they think they can build a culture similar to what Detroit has done, and potentially get Kane and Toews and Versteeg and Barker and on and on and on to buy into the mentality and all take a little less.
I’m inclined to think a “win now” mentality. They probably figure that even if they get guys to take discounts, they still won’t be able to keep everyone, so the best bet is to go for it now and then if they lose players at least they will have benefitted from them with a Cup win.
They still need to dump carrot-top and that contract, though.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/09 at 02:24 PM ET
start
= stars...damn I gotta get out of the office.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:24 PM ET
Yeah but now, they’re married to him. Nobody’s going to trade for that contract if it doesn’t work out or he becomes unhappy.
I just… don’t get it. I thought CHI was moving in a smarter direction than this. If they’d signed Hossa to 1 year, I wouldn’t have batted an eye and said ”Great move!” to them. But geez.... for any more than 1 year it’s suicide.
I just went looking at CHI’s cap picture for the next two seasons. It’s U-G-L-Y.. and keep in mind the cap numebr may drop still next offseason. I mean, ouch.
Posted by Primis on 07/01/09 at 02:25 PM ET
They’ll probably try to get rid of Huet and possibly Campbell in the forseeable future. Looks like a tough sell, but never underestimate THE STUPIDITY OF GMs.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 07/01/09 at 02:24 PM ET
There...fixed.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:25 PM ET
Looks like Hossa has learned that a young, upstart team can win the Cup, though too bad he realized this a year too late.
Posted by Scurvy____BBLLLAARRRGGGHH from Chicago on 07/01/09 at 02:26 PM ET
“Toews is a Wing after next year"--moore00 just laid it down via text from the gym.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:31 PM ET
Huh. Kopecky too eh?
Odd choice by the Hawks. It appears now to be nothing more than two signings to try and stick it to the Wings, rather than being well thought-out moves.
Posted by Primis on 07/01/09 at 02:34 PM ET
Odd choice by the Hawks. It appears now to be nothing more than two signings to try and stick it to the Wings, rather than being well thought-out moves.
Posted by Primis on 07/01/09 at 02:34 PM ET
“Um....what?"-Matin Havlat after hearing the news.
Tallon again throws out money he doesn’t have (or won’t have after next season)
Versteeg, Kane, Toews...hmmmm eeny, meeny, miney, mo…
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:36 PM ET
Versteeg they can sign fine. It’s going to be Barker, Kane, Toews, Skille, etc.. those are the guys they need to worry about in the next year.
Oh yeah, and they still won’t have a goalie either.
Posted by Primis on 07/01/09 at 02:39 PM ET
It’s like a 4 point game, take from Detroit and add to Chicago. Now Kane and Toews have no pressure and won’t get the top defense pair every shift.
Posted by Tero from Tacoma on 07/01/09 at 02:39 PM ET
Should be fun watching Tallon squirming with the cap hits in the next two years.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 07/01/09 at 02:42 PM ET
Petsk too?!?!? Jesus this is starting to sting a little.
Hang tight, Jiri.
Otherwise, maybe Havlat to the Wings?
I doubt it; no room.
Re-signing our core, we are just under the cap:
AUTO-GENERATED CAPGEEK.COM LINES
FORWARDS
Pavel Datsyuk ($6.7m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.1m) / Johan Franzen ($4.0m)
Valtteri Filppula ($3.0m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.8m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($2.2m)
Kris Draper ($1.6m) / * Jiri Hudler ($1.0m) / Kirk Maltby ($0.9m)
* Ville Leino ($0.9m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.8m) / Darren Helm ($0.6m)
DEFENSEMEN
Nicklas Lidstrom ($7.5m) / Brian Rafalaski ($6.0m)
Brad Stuart ($3.8m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.0m)
Andreas Lilja ($1.2m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($0.9m)
Brett Lebda ($0.7m) / Derek Meech ($0.5m)
GOALTENDERS
Chris Osgood ($1.4m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.7m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS
ROSTER: 22; PAYROLL: $56.2m; CAP ROOM: $0.6m
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 07/01/09 at 02:43 PM ET
Hoss probably made Tallon take Kopy too. Would be interesting to find out that tick-tock’s reluctance to sign Kopy was what pushed Hoss away from the long-term deal the Wings offered.
Posted by Riviera on 07/01/09 at 02:47 PM ET
Now Kane and Toews have no pressure and won’t get the top defense pair every shift.
Posted by Tero from Tacoma on 07/01/09 at 02:39 PM ET
Um..yes they will, come play-off time.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 07/01/09 at 02:50 PM ET
Hoss probably made Tallon take Kopy too. Would be interesting to find out that tick-tock’s reluctance to sign Kopy was what pushed Hoss away from the long-term deal the Wings offered.
Posted by Riviera on 07/01/09 at 02:47 PM ET
That was what I was thinking, too. Before the negotiations with Hossa came to a stop, it was already clear that Holland was going to let Kopecky go the free agent route.
It’s one thing to sign a player to a bad contract - if several more contracts that you don’t like come along with it, the situation is impossible. It’s like dating a guy you love to pieces, but you wish his entire family would get stranded on a deserted island far from shipping lanes and with no cell phone or internet service so you can’t get their crazy disjointed phone calls or goofy emails. 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/01/09 at 03:07 PM ET
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Aww Hell. Did he really have to sign in our division?
Chicago == My New Most-Feared Team
Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 07/01/09 at 02:10 PM ET