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The last issue I’ll spend some time on is every Chicago fans favorite albatross contract, Brian Campbell. By now, you should know that Campbell’s $7.1M cap hit for the next 5 years is a major burden on the Hawks salary cap. One thing is obvious, Campbell is not worth that money and he’s severely overpaid. However, a lot of fans let his contract distort the fact that Campbell is still a top 4 NHL caliber defenseman and while he has some weaknesses in his game, has a skill-set that in demand in today’s NHL being a puck-moving defenseman. Despite his value on the ice to the Hawks, from a cap perspective, the Hawks would be much better off if they can trade Campbell.
Campbell does have a no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to submit a list of 8 teams that he would accept a trade to at the start of each year. It is believed that these teams are Eastern teams as it would allow for Campbell to be close to his family.
When considering a possible trade partner for Campbell, the following must be kept in mind. First, the team must have significant salary cap space to fit Campbell’s contract. Further to that, another way to look at it is the potential trade partner must need to get to the salary cap floor (NHL teams have to spend a minimum of $16M less than the cap). The potential trading partner must also have a need for a puck-moving defenseman. As mentioned above, the team most likely would have to be in the Eastern Conference. Finally, the team most likely would have an albatross contract of their own they’d like to get rid of, and the Hawks would have to take back. Think Scott Gomez in Montreal or Mike Komisarek in Toronto.
One possible trade on HFBoards which actually elicited a decent response from both sets of fans was something involving Campbell for Komisarek. Komisarek has 3 years left at $4.5M per on his current contract and has struggled mightily for the Leafs in his time there. They are trying to move his contract and have a need for a puck-moving defenseman. The Hawks might have to throw in a sweetener in any deal to move Campbell, maybe a Kyle Beach. I still would make that trade. Campbell is a better player than Komisarek, but the Hawks save $2.6M in cap space and 2 years off the contract. Here’s what a possible roster could look like in a deal for Komisarek (generated by Capgeek):
FORWARDS
Patrick Sharp ($3.900m) / Jonathan Toews ($6.300m) / Patrick Kane ($6.300m)
Michael Frolik ($1.500m) / Dave Bolland ($3.375m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)
Bryan Bickell ($0.541m) / Marty Reasoner ($1.500m) / Ben Smith ($0.812m)
Tomas Kopecky ($1.600m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.950m) / Arron Asham ($1.000m)
DEFENSEMEN
Duncan Keith ($5.538m) / Brent Seabrook ($5.800m)
Nick Leddy ($1.116m) / Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.500m)
John Scott ($0.512m) / Mike Komisarek ($4.500m)
GOALTENDERS
Corey Crawford ($2.000m) / Backup Goalie ($0.700m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $62,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $56,721,795; BONUSES: $545,000
CAP SPACE (20-man roster): $5,278,205
Looking at the roster, the Hawks still need a defenseman (probably top 4Dman) and could have extra money to acquire a top 6 forward up front with the cap space saved. It gives the Hawks a lot of flexibility.
There is another option regarding Campbell and that’s a buyout of his contract. If the Hawks chose to buy out Campbell, there would be a dead cap hit on the Hawks salary cap of $2.4M for the next 10 years. Since Campbell makes $7.1M for the next 5 years, the Hawks would save $4.7M in cap space in years 1 thru 5, but then have $2.4M in dead cap space in years 6 thru 10. One must also remember that even though the Hawks save $4.7M in cap space in buying out Campbell, they still have to find a replacement for him and that will eat into the $4.7M of savings. This is a tricky solution as there are both positives and negatives to this. The Hawks wouldn’t have to take back a bad contract in any trade of Campbell, however, that $2.4M in dead cap space in years 6 thru 10 isn’t ideal. Looking at 2011-12 though, it does provide the Hawks with options as outlined below (using a $59.6M cap to account for the $2.4M buyout cap hit):
FORWARDS
Patrick Sharp ($3.900m) / Jonathan Toews ($6.300m) / Patrick Kane ($6.300m)
Michael Frolik ($1.500m) / Dave Bolland ($3.375m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)
Bryan Bickell ($0.541m) / Marty Reasoner ($1.500m) / Ben Smith ($0.812m)
Tomas Kopecky ($1.600m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.950m) / Arron Asham ($1.000m)
DEFENSEMEN
Duncan Keith ($5.538m) / Brent Seabrook ($5.800m)
Nick Leddy ($1.116m) / Niklas Hjalmarsson ($3.500m)
John Scott ($0.512m)
GOALTENDERS
Corey Crawford ($2.000m) / Backup Goalie ($0.700m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $59,600,000; CAP PAYROLL: $52,221,795; BONUSES: $545,000
CAP SPACE (19-man roster): $7,378,205
The Hawks would have $7.4M to find 2 defensemen and another forward. It would provide them with a number of options during the offseason to improve the team. The key to this option is whether the Hawks could find a top 4 defenseman to replace Campbell for a good price.
The two options outlined above are just that, options. The Hawks should be looking to deal Campbell all offseason. While that’s a tall task to accomplish, Campbell is still a good NHL player and would help a team on the ice. Do I think it’s likely he gets dealt? Probably not. It is more likely that Campbell will be on the 2011-12 roster due to the difficulty of trading him, and the fact it’s unlikely Rocky Wirtz chooses to buy him out.
One final interesting point regarding Campbell is that the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the end of the 2011-12 season. This is significant because a new CBA could allow NHL teams different options to deal with contracts such as Campbell’s. General managers like to have “erasers” for mistakes they make, and the only way it seems that GMs currently can correct mistakes is by burying contracts in the minors (Wade Redden, Huet, Sheldon Souray). It is my prediction that the new CBA will have some sort of mechanism to allow GMs more options when trying to deal with mistakes, either with a free buyout period at the start of the new CBA (not financially, but from a cap perspective), or allowing teams in trades to keep a portion of a player’s cap hit on their books instead of burying players in the minors.
But for now, Campbell will most likely be a Hawk in 2011-12 and the Hawks can still find a way to ice a very good hockey team in 2011-12 with him still on the roster.
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