The sagging Canadian dollar isn't news to most Americans. In fact, it's probably not even a thing they're more than peripherally aware exists.
But for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks, they may have to start taking notice of the financial happenings of our neighbors up north, because the falling value of Canadian currency may indirectly force general manager Stan Bowman to make some pretty big changes to the team's roster.
"That's the talk everywhere," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said, per Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. "I'm one of those that hope that that's not going to be the case."
Bowman and the Blackhawks have nearly $66 million committed to 15 players next season and a handful of other guys due to be restricted free agents, such as Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger, who are in line for serious raises.
The cap is expected to hover somewhere around $69 million for next season - clearly an outcome the Hawks' braintrust did not foresee, or else they wouldn't have given Toews and Patrick Kane matching eight-year, $84 million extensions that kick in next season and carry cap hits of $10.5 million.
"There was never a question about whether we would bring those two players back," Bowman said. "They've played such a pivotal role in turning our franchise around originally and then sustaining the level we've been at. They're still young. They're both entering the primes of their careers."
The Kane and Toews deals combined with the stagnant cap leave little to no room for Bowman to operate going into next season.
"Obviously, if the cap doesn't go up and we keep the exact same team, no, that wouldn't work," Bowman said. "You get into all of these hypotheticals, 'Well, if you keep this guy, that means you can't keep that guy.'
"I'm not sure that's a productive endeavor. We've always been able to figure it out in the past, and we've had a pretty good run of stability. We're looking to try to do that as much as possible."
It wasn't all that long ago, in the 2010 offseason, that the Blackhawks gutted their Stanley Cup winning team and sold off half the members in a salary-cap purge. They survived that monumental organizational shift and Bowman is confident that, if need be, they can do it again.
"We've been through this type of talk before," Bowman said. "I've always been cautious to make predictions good or bad about the cap. It will be what it is, and we'll figure it out."
