Stan Bowman And the Chicago Blackhawks came to St. Paul, MN on a mission. Yes draft a couple of young hockey players, but they also wanted to shed so cap space.
Mission accomplished.
The Blackhawks spent the whole day shopping around forward Troy Brouwer, and finally the Washington Capitals agreed. In exchange for Brouwer the Blackhawks received the 26th pick on the night.
Defenseman Brian Campbell who had a cap hit of over $7 million had been first on Bowman's list. Campbell had been asked to waive his painful "no trade" clause all night. First for the Florida Panthers; to which he refused. The Blackhawks then stuck up a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Brian Campbell refused again. Eventually Campbell caved and waived his "no trade" rights and he was sent packing to beautiful Florida. The Blackhawks got winger Rostislav Olesz who has a cap hit of about $3.25 million.
Overall the Blackhawks who started the night with just about $7 million in free cap space; ended up with $17 million in free space.
These moves put the Blackhawks in great position. First and foremost the Hawks can sign fan favorite and point leader Patrick Sharp. Second they can. Sign a couple of they're own free agents; like Campoli and Frolik. Then they can see what else is out there for them in the free agent market.
Campbell never played big minutes, never was effective on the penalty kill either, and really at the end of the day (which I think he realized) he was more useful to the Hawks traded.
As for Brouwer, the Hawks did him a favor trading him to the Capitals. Every year they are contenders and Washington is a great hockey city.
Stan Bowman said earlier this month that he was going to make drastic changes and he was joking.
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Tags: chicago blackhawks, nhl, nhl draft, Stan Bowman, troy brouwer
