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Sharp Has New Deal; I Have Thoughts

August 3, 2011, 10:35 PM ET [ Comments]
John Jaeckel
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Much anticipated, signed, sealed and delivered this afternoon at 5 years, $29.5 million.

The annual cap hit (which, for those still assuming otherwise, is ALL that matters) is $5.9 million. A bit higher than I thought he'd get, about 10% higher actually, and a year longer than I thought.

Sharp will be 36 when the deal expires in 2018. Then again, Marian Hossa will be something like 42 when his expires, though no one expects him to play through its term.

The deal isn't a back-breaker by any stretch. In fact, this summer has seen mostly inflated salaries due to the increase in the cap, and the Hawks created a ton of cap space by dealing Brian Campbell.

And an argument can be made that Sharp is possibly the Hawks' second most valuable player: 2nd line center, occasional first line LW, leading goal scorer, often mans the point on the power play, plays defense, assistant captain, keeps things loose in the dressing room.

Now, the Hawks' core is signed for at least the next 4 years: Sharp, Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. Corey Crawford and Niklas Hjalmarsson are signed for the next three years.

And offsetting a fatter cap hit like Sharp's, are a couple that are quite reasonable (Keith and Hossa at $5.3 and $5.2 million respectively).

More tomorrow.


JJ
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