I thought pre-TDL this CAR deal would have happened...or something similar with a young prospect. AA is EXACTLY what Carolina needs and a 3.5 year $4.5M cap hit is right up their alley for a #2C. Clearly it didn't.

Way too much money for Hino. He'll be around $1.25M for sure.

Thanks for the feed back, and yeah, I saw a similar concept to the AA trade. And, yeah, I guess I’m a bit of a hypocrite for telling people they overpay players and then I do, but I personally think Vinnie is worth at least 2 million. He’s been really good.

Hino has indeed been playing really good lately. I'm just super hesitant to give any of these RFAs more the $1.5M because of...well...Richard Panik who inexplicably got $2.8M after being gifted NHL ice time after being on the Marlies. I'm not saying Bowman wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't do it. Yes, Hino's been playing great. 20 points in 32 games this year and really creative playmaking with both Kane and Saad. I get it. It's still just 1 year though and he played 23 games in Rockford this year. Duclair played a lot for the roadrunners in Tuscon. It's just easier for me to give the money to guys like Schmaltz and Debrincat because they aren't coming off a season with mixed NHL/AHL time. Anyone could have a hot streak and while I hope that isn't the case for hino...I would absolutely be playing that card as a GM.

Fair enough. I’m gonna edit it.

exo2769 what do you think of the Seabrook Trade?

IMO, with the cap going up to at least 82 (it may go up to as much as 85) the Hawks really don't need to move Seabrook along with assets because his cap hit won't be an issue. Sure, the cap space can be better used - but as long as the Hawks have what they need - what good is empty cap space sitting around???? it's not like Seabrook will be preventing the Hawks from signing a UFA this summer... The Hawks are going to have plenty of cap space with Seabrook on the books to sign just about any UFA they want (except for Tavares)...

I'm sure if there is a deal that makes sense Bowman will trade Seabrook - but I don't see any teams interested in him right now with his front-loaded contract. Seabrook is making 9 million in 2018-19, then 7.5 in 19-20 and then his salary goes down to 5 million a year in 20-21.... So yea trading him in 20-21 will be a lot easier IF the Hawks even have to.

The truth is Seabrook will be finishing his career with the Hawks...

The more the cap goes up the lesser the burden his contract is, and right now it's a pain in the @ss but it's not preventing the Hawks from improving the team via UFA signings or trades.

Let's not forget there is a good chance Seattle will be awarded a franchise this summer, and if that happens they will be ready to rock for the 2019-20 season and they may take Seabrook at that point and at the very worse the cap will go up another 8 million..

So realistically the salary cap could be at 95-100 million in 2 years and that would make Seabrook's cap hit irrelevant.

Seabrook's contract is only a liability from a cap perspective if it prevents Bowman from improving the team, and I don't see that being an issue for the foreseeable future.

Good point on the fact that the cap will go up and make his contract more affordable. However, I don’t think it’ll go up as much as you think. If so, we’ll be having a lockout for the 2019-2020 season. But even if it goes up to what I think it will ($79 million) it’ll still make Seabs’ contract really affordable especially since we’d still have almost 10 million in cap.

Really appreciate all the positive feedback on this team! Thanks!

It's going up waay past 79..

You have to remember the salary cap is tied directly to league gross revenue and the league revenue has gone up significantly with the addition of Las Vegas, not only that but they will have a playoff run which will add even more revenue... Let's not forget that the economy is much better so that will play a role too.

So the cap is going up to 82 at minimum but I have heard projections as much as 86.. No one really knows but "significant" is a word that's being used to describe the rise in the salary cap this summer. I mean don't be shocked if the cap goes up to 85 which is a very good possibility.

You have to remember tho, with a rising cap players salaries will rise too. Which is why IMO guys like Tavares and Karlsson are reluctant to sign extensions now. They're waiting to see how much the salary cap is going up, because the higher it goes the larger contract they can get - so it would be dumb to sign an extension right now.

But at any rate, Seabrooks contract won't really affect Bowman's opportunity to improve this team.

Bowman will have anywhere between 19 million and 23 million (perhaps more) to make additions to this team. The Hawks have 17 players signed with no major pending RFA's or UFA's so Bowman will be able to make significant improvements this summer... You can do a lot with 20+ million when you only need to sign 7 players to fill out your roster. Let's not forget that 3-4 of those contracts will be RFA's so ..

So yea, expect Bowman to have an active summer and expect him to sign some big names... I'm not saying Tavares or anything, however don't be shocked if he signs JvR, Carlson or Kovalchuk and adds guys like Vermette and Bozak to strengthen the bottom 6 .....

I'll comment. I like the trade in the long term. Not necessarily the immediate impact. Seabrook is only going to get worse while Shaw will be 30 at the end of his contract and probably just starting to decline. Getting out of the Seabrook contract now would be the best bet for the Hawks. The problem is that you only save $1.975M and you have to fill Seabrooks role.
Now you could argue that you are saving a 3rd-4th line roster spot salary because Shaw is in the lineup and you don't have to spend that on a forward. Let's assume that roster spot would normally be filled by a $2.5M player. So you can then look at it as your net gain is 4.475M (1.975+2.5) to fill Seabrook's role.

With all of the extra cap space the Hawks will have after this season this gives them the option to sign a true #2 defenseman for decent money while also leaving enough space open to sign Schamltz and DeBrincat the following years.



The cap is projected to be between 78-82 million next year. And judging by the last like 5 salary cap changes and the prediction that were put out ahead of time the cap will be just about 80M. Every year they give a projection and it lands almost dead center of that range every time.

The cap is not going to go up 25% in the next 2 years. That is just outrageous. The NHL salary cap has only gone up 32.2% since the 2008-09 season.

But lets get the the real topic here. Brent Seabrook's contract is quite literally stopping the Hawks from signing a player like John Carlson this summer (if he is available). IF they were sign him to a $7M contract, please show me how they sign Schmaltz the next year. And the DeBrincat the year after that. They cannot. The cap would have to go up unrealistic amount (like you suggested) for that to even be remotely possible.

While yes adding a team increases league revenue they are also increasing spending on the player by opening 23 more roster spots on that same team. While the US has seen good economic growth over 2017, Canada hasn't. Not to mention the US economy is now in the middle of a correction.

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-revenues-salary-cap-projected-to-rise-in-2018-19/c-293815570

I would bet more on 82...

It doesn't really matter because Bowman has a TON to spend this summer.

At an 82 cap with Hossa placed on LTIR Bowman will have $21,931,539 in cap space with 16 players signed and no significant RFA's or UFA's.

So this summer is going to be exciting for Hawks fans, the Hawks have 2 first round picks and $21,931,539 in cap space, and lets not forget players want to play in Chicago too.

The Hawks can be a really good team next year and absolutely the Hawks will make a couple of UFA splashes this summer Bowman will plug plenty of holes and sign a few upgrades.

The cap is tied to gross revenue...

I only wish the salary cap was based on players salaries -- you see that would make a lot more sense.

The cap should be at 82, if it's at 80 so what...........My initial point in this thread was Seabrooks cap hit won't prevent the Hawks from significantly improving this team, hence trading him right now if it costs the Hawks assets just isn't worth it right now...... At a lower estimate of an 80M cap ceiling the Hawks would have $19,931,539 in cap space, and they have no major UFA's or RFA's to sign... None of Hawks RFA's will get over 1.5 per, so. yea Bowman is in good shape this summer..

& @HawksFan28

Man, My opinion on any Seabrook trade really has nothing to do with hockey unfortunately. I don't think he'll waive his full NMC (maybe to VAN), but he just built a brand new home and had a baby his roots are here...he has his contract he likes playing here. He may not like his play, but his play probably won't jump from a change of scenery so I really just don't see us moving him. WITH THAT SAID, I'm hoping for a compliance buyout. Page 288 of the NHLPA/CBA...$0 Cap hit, but we need another round to be approved in a new negotiation.



True, but Canada loves hockey and the reason for the previous "lesser" increase was because literally 0 Canadian teams made the playoffs. I think Canadians theoretically should be spending more now that they have teams in the playoffs.

One more thing to keep in mind is how signing bonuses affect the cap. Not taking away from anything you mentioned...just adding (2) points...I think we'll have a renegotiation due to the owners not liking the signing bonus epidemic... "up front" money...hence maybe another compliance buyout and the cap AND I need to verify this, but I think the league calculates the cap annually basad on total hockey revenue and any 1 player can earn up to 20% of the TEAM's cap, but signing bonuses that count toward the cap are limited to 10% of the players salary...meaning if this trend continues where only the good players get these large signing bonuses...it'll affect the cap negatively in the near future.

Look @ Steve Stamkos. This year his signing bonus is $8.5M, but only 10% of this go toward the future cap...If there's a lawyer reading this...correct me if I'm wrong.

https://www.tsn.ca/as-cba-watch-grows-so-do-signing-bonuses-1.803846