After a long night of debating the Hawks' salary cap and the relative merit of Cristobal Huet on the board, not to mention the adrenaline high of signing Hossa and Madden, today I've come somewhat back to earth.

Last night, I thought (and blogged): it's time to add the last piece, a solid 3-4 FA defenseman like Derek Morris. But that is expensive and the Hawks do have to think about the cap.

OK, but here's the more likely scenario. Or a couple of them.

First, the Hawks added 3 forwards yesterday, while losing two.

Consider also that between the top lines in Rockford and the 4th line in Chicago last year, along with legitimate prospects Kyle Beach and Igor Makarov, the Hawks have a lot of young guys who could conceivably play in the NHL next year. In addition to Makarov and Beach, Jack Skille, Pascal Pelletier, Colin Fraser, Adam Burish, Ben Eager, Jake Dowell and possibly even Evan Brophey. And nowhere near enough room for them.

The emergence of Nik Hjalmarsson, the return of Brent Sopel, not to mention Aaron Johnson and Jordan Hendry, also means there are a lot of candidates for those 5-7 defense jobs.

What this means is a trade or trades are coming. Now, predicting trades is almost like picking Power Ball numbers. So the scenarios I throw out are only hypothetical samples of deals that could conceivably be done, to demonstrate the flexibility and potential the Hawks have.

Two possible trade partners for Dale Tallon are Bob Murray in Anaheim and Rick Dudley in Atlanta. These guys are thick as thieves and have both worked and traded together before.

So what if Tallon shipped Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and Huet to Anaheim for JS Giguere and James Wisniewski?

Or Versteeg and Barker to Atlanta for Ron Hainsey and a pick?

I know, totally hypothetical and likely problematic but not out of the realm of possibility.

The Hawks are in the enviable position of seeing their years of multiple high draft picks now coming to fruition and having some assets that are not vital to their success, yet might be attractive to other teams (add to that list: Troy Brouwer, Corey Crawford, Ben Eager). Some see this as a coming cap problem. But you can also look at those assets as the key to alleviating the cap problem— if they're dealt judiciously.

So, look for trades as the more likely next move of the Hawks. And maybe sooner rather than later, in light of the current fluidity in the market. And, as always, stay tuned.

JJ

Join the Discussion: Chat Room » Message Board »

» D-U-M

» Something To Build On?

» No Cigar

» Statement Made

» No Deal