Alright folks, let’s chat about the Chicago Blackhawks. Did you know they’re throwing a ton of cash at players who aren’t even on their team this season? Yeah, you heard that right!
Thank goodness the Blackhawks got deep pockets! They’re shelling out a whole lot of cash for players who aren’t stepping on the ice right now. But don’t worry, this number should go down soon. Why? Because Jason Dickinson, who’s been injured, will be back in the game, making $4.25 million. Plus, if Andreas Athanasiou gets called up to the NHL again, we might see that number dip too.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. The huge bills for players not even on the roster come from snagging Shea Weber right at the trade deadline. His cap hit is a whopping $7.857 million for this season and the next, but spoiler alert—he’s not playing anymore! And to top it off, they’re also covering Laurent Brossoit’s $3.3 million while he recovers from an injury that happened at the season’s start. Ouch!
Since the Blackhawks are in rebuilding mode, they’ve done a pretty solid job managing their salary cap to grab better players via trades. For example, they’re holding onto $4.625 million of Mikko Rantanen’s cap for the rest of the season, covering $2 million of Jake McCabe’s salary, and even $2.5 million of Seth Jones’ cap until 2029. Wild, right?
To get their hands on better assets earlier, they picked up Josh Bailey’s contract and then let him go. That $1.167 million will fall off the cap this summer, giving them a bit more wiggle room.
Now, just to wrap it all up, while the Blackhawks are dealing with a hefty $30 million spent on non-roster players at the moment, T.J. Brodie, one of their defensemen, hasn’t seen the ice since March 1 and likely won’t be around much longer. A buyout could be in the cards since younger players are stepping up, and he hasn’t exactly been killing it this season with a $3.75 million cap hit hanging over him.
Looking ahead, next season should see the Blackhawks cut down on that money spent on players sitting on the sidelines. With Dickinson and Brossoit expected to be back, Athanasiou’s contract ending, and a couple of cap hits disappearing, they could be looking at around $10.357 million spent on non-roster guys—unless they shake things up again.
