The Chicago Blackhawks wasted almost no time shaking up their roster for 2016-17, shipping Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell to the Carolina Hurricanes for a couple draft picks. It was widely known that the Blackhawks would have to create some cap space in order to retain other assets, but the actual deal was still pretty surprising. One of those surprised by the trade was Teravainen himself.
Teravainen’s comments as seen in the Chicago Sun Times:
“It was just a normal day, then this. You never know what’s going to happen, especially with Chicago with their cap situation. You never know, but I was not expecting anything.”
Though it was clear the Blackhawks would have to once again get creative financially during the offseason, Teravainen looked mostly safe due to his small cap hit of $894,166 per season. Bickell’s cap hit of $4 million was an easy target, but the 21-year-old Finnish skater was a more affordable option to keep with some solid upside. He was going to need a new deal after the 2016-17 season and would be due for a raise, but that’s something the Blackhawks could have waited to address.
Teravainen and Bickell (though Bickell to a lesser extent) now join an insane list of players the Blackhawks have been forced to move due to the salary cap crunch. That list includes skaters such as Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, Andrew Ladd, Brian Campbell, Dave Bolland, Nick Leddy, Kris Versteeg, Brandon Saad and others.
You could create one hell of a roster with the players the Blackhawks have been forced to move, but it’s important to remember that the Blackhawks always seem to remain a Cup competitor regardless of who they move in the summer.
