While trade rumors relating to the Chicago Blackhawks are mostly circling around Andrew Shaw and Marcus Kruger ahead of the NHL draft, which begins tonight in Buffalo, the current talking point has to do with Shaw’s contractual demands.
According to Blackhawks beat writers, Shaw has requested a deal with an yearly salary of $4.5 million. Yes, that’s just $1.5 million less than what Brandon Saad requested last year and about as much as Artem Anisimov makes now.
So, let’s get the obvious out of the way: The Blackhawks can’t pay Shaw $4.5 million per season, for any amount of time.