As the hockey media and blogosphere have all but dealt Brent Sopel and a 2nd round pick to the Maple Leafs for Garnet Exelby and a box of tape, I think it's time I weighed in with some facts and considerations that will hopefully, at the very least, provide some clarity around the Hawks' cap and roster situation, as well as next steps.

First, dealing Sopel does not solve the Hawks' cap problems next year. Not even close.

What dealing Sopel accomplishes is only (perhaps) allowing the Hawks the tagging room to make the signings of Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Pat Kane official.

OK, this is a nice p.r. move and should have some on-ice benefit in terms of less distraction, etc.

So let's give the scribes at TSN (and presumably the Hawks) the benefit of the doubt and assume Sopel is dealt, possibly even for a guy like Exelby or Ian White who can possibly replace what Sopel brings (which should not be underestimated, by the way).

With Sopel dealt, and Kane, Toews and Keith signed at what's rumored— $6.2 million a year a piece for the former two and $5,5 million for the former— that puts the Hawks' salary commitment for 2009-2010 at $58 million. That is most likely, also, where the cap will be next year, if not very close to that.

What that figure does not include is what most Hawk fans are missing: the salaries of John Madden, Andrew Ladd, Antti Niemi, Nik Hjalmarsson, Colin Fraser, Adam Burish and Ben Eager, all of whom are either RFA or UFA on July 1.

Hjalmarsson is not going anywhere and will require at least $3 million per annum to sign. The remainder of those players (or their replacements) will need to be players of some value.

So, let's be clear, the Blackhawks need to move more than Brent Sopel to address their cap woes next year.

Now, there are, as I've blogged recently, two schools of thought on this. One is to just stay the course and address it all in the offseason. The other is, to address it proactively before the trading deadline.

The proponents of the first argument will say that dealing in-season will absolutely hurt the Hawks. And there will be a market for their young, signed players in the offseason. These are both over-generalizations and quite possibly untrue.

No, Stan Bowman doesn't have to make a major move for an impending UFA at the cost of Kris Versteeg or Cam Barker right now. Nor should he. One cannot discount the impact of Marian Hossa's return on the lineup and the value of waiting to see how the roster/line chips fall, before making a move.

And, certainly, if dealing Sopel does not too adversely affect the Hawks' third defense pairing, fine, go ahead and do it. Get the signings announced.

But those who advocate waiting until the offseason to make more significant deals to clear cap space need to realize a few things.

First, I would guess 90% of NHL trades are made in February, not in June. Why? Because teams have an acute need to either dump salary or add missing pieces in February that can only be done via trade.

In June, those needs are not as acute, because there is no hockey being played, and, more importantly, oodles of talent will be available on July 1, much of which does not require any compensation to their former team.

Put another way, if Stan Bowman is shopping Patrick Sharp and his $4 million cap hit in June, why would a GM of another team not grab a similar player at near the same dollars on July 1, without having to surrender draft picks, prospects or a good young player to the Blackhawks?

The Hawks have all the leverage at or before the trading deadline when there is a huge market for trades, and they have tons of talent to deal, and almost none in June when free agency is pending and they are over a barrel in terms of their cap— and 30 GMs know it.

Further, this is a test of Stan (and Scotty) Bowman, and one I think they will pass.

What do good to great teams that want to win Cups do in February? They add pieces that they know can put them over the top. Yes, it's a risk to deal young talent for impending UFAs that might or might not win you a Cup that year. But, in the Hawks case, there is the added benefit of creating absolutely crucial cap space for the following season.

Now, there are many in Blackhawk Nation who look at the current team and assume it's blessed and has no holes. While the team is rolling right now, I disagree.

There are really only three legitimate NHL centers on the present roster. A physical shut down defenseman would be a nice add. The goaltending looks very solid right now, but that could change. Those three factors also make injuries to certain players (Huet, Toews, Madden, Seabrook, Niemi) a potentially huge problem.

Now, do the Hawks need to go the rent-a-player route solely? No. Actually, anyone who watches the Rockford ice Hogs or examines the Hawks' talent pipleline would agree this is a team in need of draft picks and prospects. Further, the Hawks are no longer in a building mode, banking on the future. They are in a maintaining mode. What this means is they will need to trim veteran salary on an almost yearly basis, while drafting and developing young talent to step in and not miss a beat.

It can be done. it's what the Red Wings under Ken Holland and, yes, Scotty Bowman, did for years.

My advice is this: based on the salary numbers, the Hawks are going to need to deal 2-3 salaried players or prospects before the trading deadline. Pick from: Pat Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Dustin Byfuglien, Tomas Kopecky, Corey Crawford and Jack Skille.

What they should try to get back is at least one veteran UFA who can really add something none of the above does. Two impending UFA players I would be looking hard at would be Anton Volchenkov of Ottawa, a rugged, physical, shot-blocking machine, and/or arguably the most underrated player in the NHL, Ilya Kovalchuk.

Make no mistake: adding Kovalchuk at the cost of 2-3 of any of the above players makes the Hawks a better team this year. In addition to his lethal offensive skills at even strength, he is a very physical player with a mean streak and is deadly on the point on the power play.

But I would also try in these deals to add prospects or picks.

Thus the Hawks would deal salary for both the present and the future, while maintaining a very competitive core.

Just my .02.

JJ

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