NHL Rumors: 2 Blackhawks Buyout Candidates Named

1 week ago  /  NHL Trade Rumors  /  Read Time: 59 seconds

As another disappointing Chicago Blackhawks season comes to an end, it's getting time for management to take stock and look at making some tough decisions in the offseason. Two Blackhawks players, both brought in last summer on multi-year free agent deals in an attempt to raise the veteran leadership quotient, have been named as buyout candidates by insider Mark Lazerus writing in The Athletic.Tyler BertuzziIt's been a disappointing season for Bertuzzi in Chicago, the first of a four-year, $5.5 million AAV free agent deal that he signed last summer. That cap hit actually makes him the highest-paid Blackhawk currently. He has 19 goals and 40 points in 71 games with a career-worst plus/minus rating of -36. TJ BrodieThe second former Toronto Maple Leaf the Hawks brought in last summer, Brodie will be turning 35 after the season, and Chicago may want to get out from under the $3.75M cap hit he holds through next season. He's playing a career-low 15:38 per game, and has even been a been a healthy scratch for the last nine consecutive games. A buyout would lower Bertuzzi's cap hit to $3.7M, $2.9M, and $2.52M over the next three seasons, then $1.22M for another three years. Brodie's would go down to $3.2M for next year, then just $258,000. As Lazerus notes, "With the cap skyrocketing, it’s a minor nuisance, at most."With the team expected to have about $32 million in cap space this summer (before the buyouts), that still gives them plenty of room to go out and try to make the big splashes they're hoping to make to expedite the rebuild. Chicago currently sits with the second-worst record in the NHL, ahead of only the San Jose Sharks, a repeat of last season. With 51 points and 11 games to play, they'll top last year's 52-point total, but certainly nowhere near the improvement the team was looking for. Photo: © David Banks-Imagn Images...

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