Morning Skate: Artemi Panarin deal creates salary cap puzzle for Blackhawks

Those are some choppy salary cap waters to navigate.

Dec 29, 2016, 2:52 PM UTC

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Lace ‘em up. Time for the Morning Skate.

TOUGH DECISIONS AHEAD

The Blackhawks made it official this morning: they’ve signed Artemi Panarin to a two-year deal worth $6 million per season.

It’s a move that had to be made. Panarin is truly a diamond in the rough; a signing from the KHL that immediately paid dividends last year and continues to do so. He’s got one of the best shots I’ve seen in the league and has great chemistry with the team.

So the Blackhawks made it work. But they have work to do. They’ve opened a two-year window for themselves to shed salary ahead of Panarin’s next big contract.

The candidates? Marcus Kruger, for one. He’s an expensive ($3,083,333 million per year), yet replaceable, center. But that likely wouldn’t be enough. Suddenly Brent Seabrook’s massive $6.875 million per year salary (he’s 31 years old, remember) for the next eight years looks like an albatross.

And what if they need to move Marian Hossa? Yikes.

It’s worth it to keep Panarin, but the cap corner Chicago painted itself into is beginning to look like a needless puzzle.

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