First off, Happy 4th of July to all my American friends! Have fun, be safe out there.
Second, phew. I feel like I can finally breathe. June was a busy one personally as well as in the hockey/Blackhawks world.
I'm sure most of you have visited CapFriendly recently to see the Hawks back to the top of the teams with salary cap space – or lack thereof.
Currently, the Hawks have just over $1M remaining, however, they need to still sign Brendan Perlini. Also, some other tweaks on the site like adding in Kubalik, Sikura, Quenneville and sending down Delia. Still, they are right against the cap.
I've heard that the real hold up with Perlini is that they are trying to clear up space still after the Lehner signing pushed them closer to the top than they expected on July 1st.
All signs are pointing to Artem Anisimov being the unfortunate candidate to be moved.
It sounds like the Hawks aren't having much luck finding a partner as the dust hasn't completely settled on UFAs out there. Guys like Dzingel, Ferland and Gardiner are amongst the top names still. None of those guys are centres though (despite what people say, Dzingel is not a true centre).
So, if teams are weak down the middle, who's still left on the open market?
Hmm… not very appealing, eh?
You have Joe Thorton who is SJ or bust.
After that, it's really just Marcus Johansson who is in the same category as Anisimov.
The rest of the list and beyond, teams are more shopping for a depth/role guy like Brian Boyle, Marcus Kruger, etc.
Does that make Anisimov more appealing? I believe it does but I am in sales, so I may be just trying to polish up ol' AA.
Honestly, though, Anisimov is still a valuable player and could slide in nicely to a 3C – and play up at 2C if needed. He can play in all situations and is still capable of strong two-way play and 20(ish) goals. Not bad for $4.55M for the next couple of years.
Also, as many have pointed out after his signing bonus was paid on July 1st, his real salary is only $5M total. So, if you are a budget team (*cough* Ottawa *cough*) and view him as $2.5M per year… that's a steal. Honestly, it is.
I mention not-so-discretely that Ottawa would be a good fit for AA. I have also identified NYR (Panarin reunion anyone?), Montreal and Carolina as teams that may be interested.
Regardless, I'm hearing that the Hawks might have to add a small sweetener for a team to take on Anisimov. My guess is that that would come in the form of a Rockford player – most likely a forward at the Alex Fortin or Graham Knott level.
Could someone else go? Sure. The Hawks could surprise and send Brandon Saad out (unlikely at this point) or Connor Murphy, but all I'm hearing is that AA is the guy and a trade is inevitable.
Time will tell.
I will be back tomorrow with a blog on "The Future of Blackhawks Goaltending."
See ya out there!
TC