The Chicago Blackhawks will be looking to tweak various parts of their roster during the offseason, but from the instant the Los Angeles Kings eliminated the Hawks in the Western Conference Final, GM Stan Bowman has had one priority: re-signing Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
The earliest the players can sign new deals is July 1st, but contract talks with agent Pat Brisson, who represents both players, have already been occurring, and according to Chicago Sun-Times scribe Mark Lazerus, things are going well:
“Both Bowman and Pat Brisson – the agent for both Toews and Kane – are hoping to have the deals done by then.
“’That’s been our No. 1 objective all along,” Bowman said Wednesday following the league’s GM meeting. “And I’m expecting to meet that.””
With the salary cap expected to rise north of $70 million next season and potentially to more than $75 million by the time Toews and Kane’s contracts would kick in, it wouldn’t be surprising to see both players sign deals with an average annual value of $10 million or more. Both players are currently making $6.3 million per season on their deals that are set to expire at the end of next season, so their raises will likely be largely covered by the increase in salary cap.
