Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell a Trade/Buy-Out Candidate
By Ryan Ritchie
Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell Should Find Himself on the Trade Block, if No Takers, A Buy-Out is Possible
Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell has likely played his last game for the franchise that drafted him 41st overall (2nd round) back in 2004.
The 30-year-old veteran has one year remaining on his contract at $4 million dollars, and it’s unlikely he sticks around after a dismal 2015-16 campaign.
Coming off a two-point 25-game 2015-16 season in which he spent 47 games with AHL Rockford (31 points), that $4 million dollar cap hit is simply too expensive to have on the books when several players have new deals kicking in, and others looking for a new contract.
GM Stan Bowman will once again need to look to trim salary this offseason as the cap casualties continue to pile up each offseason. Luckily for Chicago, they may be able to avoid trading young stars (i.e. Brandon Saad) this time around.
Players with new deals kicking in:
Artem Anisimov – $3.283 million dollar cap hit in 2015-16; will carry a $4.55 million dollar cap hit through 2021.
Brent Seabrook – $5.8 million dollar cap hit in 2015-16; will carry a $6.875 million dollar cap hit through 2024.
Viktor Svedberg – $575,000 dollar cap hit in 2015-16; will carry a $750,000 dollar cap hit through 2018.
Total Salary Committed to 2016-17: $65,858,460
Unrestricted Free Agents
Andrew Ladd
Dale Weise
Tomas Fleischmann
Brandon Mashinter
Christian Ehrhoff
Michal Rozsival
Michael Leighton
Jay Harrison
Tim Jackman
Restricted Free Agents
Andrew Shaw
Richard Panik
Dennis Rasmussen
Mark McNeill
What to do with Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell?
1st Option: Trade Him
Ideally, Stan Bowman would likely prefer to trade Bryan Bickell.
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We already know that he went unclaimed through waivers, so it’s almost a certainty the Hawks would need to retain salary, possibly the full 50 percent ($2 million dollars).
Who knows, it might be an affordable risk for another team. Even some fourth liners earn close to $2 million dollars/year.
2nd Option: Buy-Out
If finding a trade partner proves unsuccessful, the Chicago Blackhawks will have no choice but to explore a buy-out option.
Given that only one year remains on the contract, the Hawks would only be on the hook for one extra year in 2017-18.
Using the Buy-Out Calculator via GeneralFanager for Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell,
1 Year remaining – $4 million dollar cap hit
Buy-Out Cost – $1.5 million over the next two years
Buy-Out Savings – $3 million in 2016-17, -$1.5 million in 2017-18
Buy-Out Cap Hit – $1 million in 2016-17, $1.5 million in 2017-18
2016-17 Salary After Buy-Out: $62,858,460
2016-17 Salary After Trade (50 percent retained): $63,858,460
Even with the possibility of emerging prospects such as Tyler Motte, Mark McNeill, Ville Pokka, among others, the Blackhawks still need to find room to re-sign key core pieces such as RFAs Andrew Shaw and Richard Panik.
Next: Chicago Signs Czech Defenseman Michal Kempny
Expect a decision on Chicago Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell sooner rather than later. The last thing GM Stan Bowman wants is another team signing Andrew Shaw to an offer sheet.
Chicago just needs to convince another team to take a chance on a 30-year-old veteran in hopes that a change of scenery is all he needs to once again be an effective role player/secondary scorer.