Insider Trading: What does the reconstruction of the Chicago Black Hawks mean for Toves, Kane and the team’s other vets?

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBron and TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli wrote a letter to their fans with Host Gino Reda to discuss where the Blackhawks’ veterans are leaving, discussing if they have an idea of ​​the starting point for next season and how the leaves will handle them. The cap situation so far.

What is the Blackhawks message to veterans?

Chicago sent an open letter to their fans on Tuesday “to rebuild our list”. What does this mean for the rest of the Stanley Cup core?

LeBron: Well, first in the message sent to the fans through the team website. This is very similar to what the New York Rangers did when the Rangers announced their rebuild a few years ago. The difference now is that the Blackhawks are already rebuilding themselves, they have decided to come out and I have decided to be really honest and transparent about where it is. The fact is that they want to continue the young age and recruit other young players. But when it comes down to it Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toves, Brent Seabrook And Duncan Keith, They want to be a part of this reconstruction. In fact, General Manager Stan Bowman made a video call with the four a few days ago to further explain where the Black Hawks were going and what they wanted to do. Now, let’s see how those players respond. This time we did not hear from them and they had time to digest it in the off-season but surely the Blackhawks want those players, those veterans want to be a part of this rebuild. Let’s see where it goes.

How will the next season be?

It’s been three weeks since the Stanley Cup was handed out and we now have a lot of clarity for next season. Is there any progress?

LeBron: Well, all I can tell you is that the NHL and the NHLPA US Committee – responsible for playing back – have not met yet. Not because they don’t work. Internally the league is collecting Intel from its clubs and eventually this joint committee will meet. There will be about 10 players on this joint committee. In the meantime, there is an NHL General Managers meeting on Friday. It was truly the first official GMs meeting after Boca Raton in March, although GMs met on calls, especially in the spring after the closure of the COVID – 19 regular season. This is a meeting of important GMs. I mean, a key point? American Hockey League. NHL GMs want to know what they are going to do with their opportunities as they look forward to when the AHL season begins. Now, I’m talking to AHL President Scott Howsson, with December 4 remaining the target date for the start of the AHL season, which will be pushed back to reflect some of what the NHL is going to do. But I can tell you this: there are some NHL GMs who want to play their chances as soon as possible, so this is going to be an interesting conversation on Friday. Last note, seven teams that did not participate in the Return to Play this past summer? They are going to get some good news. They asked for some extra training time and the NHL and NHLPA tentatively agreed that those teams might have more extra training time than regular training camps, when it was next season.

Seravalli: Another juicy item that is not on the agenda in the short term. Want to know the answer to what happens to every single player in the National Hockey League? Will they be promoted in the context of a brief season? And there really is no answer to this point. The NHLPA is currently operating in the belief that as soon as players play a game in the 2020-21 season, they will receive a declared salary of minus 20 per cent for escrow and 10 per cent for salary deferral. . But this time, there was very little discussion. As you said, the two sides have not yet met to launch these plans. The league is quiet. What will happen if the brief season happens is not clearly stated in the Memorandum of Understanding for this collective bargaining agreement. So wait, it could be a real conflict to move forward at some point in the future. The two sides said they were going to discuss it jointly.

Does the flat cap keep the leaves behind the eight ball?

Leafs roster structure They are always likely to face some salary cap issues. But did the pandemic speed it up?

Seravalli: I do not think so. I think the leaves sorted out very nicely how they were going to handle the $ 81.5 million hat this time around. Ilya Mikhayev and others have some loose ends to build with Travis Dermot, Both are limited free agents. Mikhayev [is] Entered into his arbitration hearing on Wednesday. But this time, once those two players have signed, the leaves are expected to be set. Kyle Dubas said over the weekend. And their plan is to get as close to 20 players on the list as possible. Carrying up to 21 players on game day, the exceptional player can shuttle minors to earn salary cap space during the holidays at the beginning of the season. After that, once they have banked some space, they can start getting creative if needed later in the season. But guys, whatever point you want to try and budget for as little as possible, this season it’s due to roster space considerations and the COVID-19 crunch. Who knows what the coming season will be like? You will have some exception cap players that you will ever travel with your team. Smart movement by the Leafs in that context and how they play to attack this time.

** Note: Mikhaev then signed a two-year deal with Leafs on Tuesday night. Read more about signing Here.