proud purebred Pole here too

and… I don’t like the Spezza thing

Pass.

Did you change your handle?

Finally fessing up to being of Polish descent?

Enough said.

Spezza for Campbell.

1) Hawks get $142,785 in relief
2) Sens get rid of chronic underachiever
3) Spezza comes off the books 1 year earlier than Campbell and is 4 years younger. Spezza is 27, Campbell is 31
4) Spezza slots in as the #2 Center and gets out of the glare of the Canadian spotlight. Chicago isn’t Columbus obviously but Spezza’s underachievement won’t be a national sports news story either.
5) If the Hawks figure out a way to get more production out of the big playmaking center he has way more value than Campbell ever will. Spezza still has upside, Campbell is a finished product.
6) Bolland becomes the #3 Center. On a high caliber team that is where he belongs.
7) Sharpy gets to stay on the wing if Quenneville wants him to.
8) Chicago can start the season with one AHL center instead of two. In this scenario I like Dowell over Reasoner.
9) Murray gets to finally move Spezza.

If I am Murray I ask for 2 prospects as sweetener because of Spezza’s age. If I am Bowman I give it to him.

You gotta figure Stan knows this too – given the tight spot the Hawks are in the above would be a major win.

It’s Crawford’s turm this yr…having only on yr. left means nothing now.

Joe Fallon is an UFA with St. Louis. I liked his play in Rockford. Wonder if Stan would re-sign him for depth??

Heck, could Crawford be the odd man out again this year? Toivonen (or Fallon) would save $250,000 and any dollar saved is a good dollar.

If Antii gets $2M, another trade is likely. If he gets more, it’s a necessity.

Campbell has a No Trade Clause. Do you think he would accept a trade to Florida?

The biggest loser in both cases could be Niemi if the award was too high…the Hawks trade him to a team with cap space or he becomes a UFA and can’t sign with any club for more than Bowman was offering.

It is in everyones best interest to get it done but Bowman has the check book and the account is almost overdrawn.

I’m surprised they haven’t gotten it done yet, but maybe both sides are playing chicken until we get closer to D-day (or would that be A-day?)…

What if they make it a bonus-laden deal? Would the bonus be deferred to next year? Does deferral depend on the type of bonus?

I thought $2.3 to begin with….If Zito would come in at $2.2-3 I think Bowman would sign off now.

The tune is changing out of Zito…there’s no more 3-4 mill talk…now he says he would like to avoid arbitration…I don’t blame him.

If I am Bowman I am offering him about what you said with just a little wiggle room.

I also would tell him if it goes to arbitration the Hawks will seek a two yr. ruling….

Zito knows he could come out with a $2.2 ruling and be stuck for two years instead of just agreeing to a one yr deal.

Bowman sent Zito and Niemi the clear message by publicly guaranteeing Sharp he isn’t going anywhere that they will not shed anymore salary to accomodate them at the negotiating table.

If I am Bowman I have 1.9 on the table with room to 2.2 and am banking on Zito realizing this is a terrible market for Goaltenders.

It the arbiter goes 2.5+ Bowman will let Niemi walk without even thinking about it. He has to.

Campbell isn’t going anywhere while the Hawks have their current salary cap issues. Who would do them that favor? I think McCabe for Campbell for 1.4 in relief while it is much needed is not enough.

The roster as I pencil it out without Huet because he will not be there comes in at $57.1 +/- a rounding error. That leaves 2.2 for Niemi and puts them right against it.

Just my thought. Good luck Stan

Plus.. $1.4 mill doesn’t sound like a lot but here it is.

The extra 1-1.5 mill on Hammer’s deal did hurt.

That 10% cap overage is only permissible during the offseason. They still have to get total salaries, including last year’s “deferred bonus” penalties, under $59.4M once the season starts.

Let’s say Niemi signs for $2M; a little unrealistically optimistic, but let’s say he does. That gives Bowman $2.8M to play with until the Hawks reach the magic 10% overage. So he has breathing room during the summer months.

That also leaves management with a major decision. Either Huet starts the season in Rockford and the club buries his salary of $5,625,000 in the minors, or they have to make a major trade to reduce salaries by $5M to $6M.

Yikes.

Which leads to the logical conclusion that Huet has to remain in the minors. He’d be crazy to walk away from his contract, and nobody is going to trade for him.

If Bowman and Tallon make a trade (Campbell for McCabe), the Hawks only save $1.4M off the cap for 2010-2011. That means we cannot take McCabe back without sending Huet down or still needing to make another blockbuster, salary dump trade.

That one would really smell like a salary dump.

Okay, let’s assume Bowman has already informed Huet that he starts the season in Rockford. Take Huet’s $5.625M off the books and bring up Corey Crawford. Roster still stands at 18 players and total salaries are approximately $57.7M.

That leaves a minimum of two roster spots to fill, maximum of five. And only $1.8M (approximately) to fill those spots.

Again, yikes.

In my humble opinion, Bowman cannot afford to sign Niemi for much more than $2M. And shedding Campbell’s salary for McCabe would provide much needed breathing room for this year, but more importantly going forward.

If you want to see this for yourselves, go to http://www.capgeek.com/cap_calculator/index.php?teamId=11 and play with the numbers yourselves.

It ain’t purty.