Team: 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks

Initial Creation Date: May 20, 2023

Published: May 21, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This is a hypothetical exercise based on what's happening in Toronto, to examine how simple or difficult it would be to do an about-course if the opportunity presented itself, so don't feel obligated to tell me how dumb I am.

I despise the ownership and everyone involved in what happened in 2010. That said, would like to see if they can put a paper contender together, leading the way with a certain trade...

Now, I'm not super-familiar with their prospects, so if someone young not named Reichel is set to make the team next year, c'est la vie.

If Matthews signed here and Chicago made it clear they were pushing to quickly rebuild, others would follow. They have nearly half the cap open this summer, and as a result can do things.

In a situation like this, with the team again pushing to contend and with AM34 here, this could be a situation where Kane says "save me a couple million under the cap" and lets them use money that would otherwise be allocated to him elsewhere. It's happened countless times, and hockey players take less than any other major sport to begin with.

This team is far from perfect, as the cap is still constricting, not being a fan I don't know these prospects, and the team has very little on the roster going into the offseason. If anything, this exercise shows why even if AM34 ends up being available in the next little bit, Chicago would be wise to slow-build around Bedard.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.