he Chicago Blackhawks made one major move with Brandon Saad getting traded this offseason and with Johnny Oduya still on the free agent market, the team may look at trade deals with Patrick Sharp or Bryan Bickell to clear salary cap space and this comes after the team signed Artem Anisimov to a contract extension after acquiring him from Columbus.
The Blackhawks are coming off of a Stanley Cup victory, but they need to make some more moves to help keep the salary cap in check. The team wanted to keep Saad, but the young forward was too expensive and they ended up trading him to the Blue Jackets. The Blackhawks acquired Anisimov in the deal and inked him to an extension and now CSN Chicago reports that the team is trying to bring back Oduya.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Oduya is "waiting" for the Blackhawks to clear enough cap space to sign him, but Craig Custance of ESPN reports that he may not wait much longer, as he is "sitting on a very good offer" from another team. The Blackhawks want to keep Oduya, but they also have Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson on the roster along with David Rundblad and Trevor van Riemsdyk on defense. GM Stan Bowman said that the team "would like to" bring back Oduya and they are "working" through "financial hurdles."
The team traded Saad because they did not want to get stuck with a long contract with a high cap hit and now if the team doesn't make moves, they could lose Oduya. Anisimov has a $3.3 million cap hit for next year and Sharp comes in with a $5.9 million cap hit and could be traded with two years left on his deal.
There are free agent options available for Chicago, but Oduya has been solid and the depth defense has been one of the reasons why the team has been so successful in recent years.
According to Larry Brooks at the New York Post, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars could be in the mix for Sharp. Last season Sharp had 16 goals in 68 games with 43 total points and those numbers were down from his previous year's performance. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Blackhawks originally had "high demands" on Sharp and they could keep that if they push a deal for him now. Sharp is turning 34 and he comes in two years removed from scoring 34 goals in 82 games while setting a career high with 78 points.
The Blackhawks also could consider a trade with Bickell, as ESPN Chicago reports that the Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins could be interested in a deal. Bickell is coming in with a $4 million cap hit and he will be a free agent after the 2016-17 season and his salary is $4.5 million next year. The winger is 29-years-old and he comes in after scoring 14 goals and putting up 28 points last season, which set career highs for Bickell.