Truth & Rumors > NHL

Blackhawks delay contract talks

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08:46 AM ET 05.20 | Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon said contract negotiations with two of his top players are on hold until the postseason ends. Forward Martin Havlat and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin are both in the final year of their contracts and will be unrestricted free agents July 1. "We're waiting," Tallon said Tuesday before the Hawks' 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. "We've agreed to wait until after the season. We had previous discussions early and we'll talk after the playoffs." Both players had stellar regular seasons and have been key components of the Hawks' playoff run.

Chicago Tribune

Nikolai Khabibulin, AP Nikolai Khabibulin, AP
May 20, 2009  09:18 AM ET

Nokolai just sharted.

May 20, 2009  09:32 AM ET

Arrrrrrgggggg, I will send ye to Davey Jones' locker.

Funny how they were trying to get rid of the Wall at one point. With all of their young guns, Chi-town will be pushed towards the salary cap soon enough, and the Wall is not cheap.

May 20, 2009  09:46 AM ET

Huet is under contract for the next 3 years at 5.625 million. The rights to Khabi will be trade bait after the season unless he wants to take a drastic reduction in his 6.750 salary.

Havlat is only 27 and made 6 million the last 3 years. A 29 goal scorer will be a hot commodity on the open market should the Hawks not re-sign him.

May 20, 2009  09:54 AM ET
QUOTE(#3):

Huet is under contract for the next 3 years at 5.625 million. The rights to Khabi will be trade bait after the season unless he wants to take a drastic reduction in his 6.750 salary.

Unless they can trade Huet instead.

May 20, 2009  09:57 AM ET

Yaarrrrrr, 3 on 1's s-uck

May 20, 2009  09:58 AM ET
QUOTE(#4):

Unless they can trade Huet instead.

A fair point, but Huet is almost 3 years younger than Khabi and doesn't have the injury history either.

May 20, 2009  09:58 AM ET
QUOTE(#5):

Yaarrrrrr, 3 on 1's s-uck

Are you watching Pirate movie marathons again santapig? :)

May 20, 2009  09:58 AM ET

Havlat is a lock to be re-signed. Habby's contract is alittle tricky, I don't think he's return unless he takes a pay cut.

May 20, 2009  09:59 AM ET

Good lord, that is a lot of salary tied up in goalies! I forgot it was that much. Detroit's two barely pulls over one mil.

May 20, 2009  10:00 AM ET
QUOTE(#7):

Are you watching Pirate movie marathons again santapig? :)

Well I...yar, yar I am. And also that SNL bit with Peter Saaaaaaarrrrrrsgaaaarrrrrrd.

May 20, 2009  10:01 AM ET

I wish the hawks could move Huet, but next year will be Huet and Crawford. Crawford is their future. I hope the Hawks can get in the Jonas Gustavson derby

May 20, 2009  10:02 AM ET
QUOTE(#9):

Good lord, that is a lot of salary tied up in goalies! I forgot it was that much. Detroit's two barely pulls over one mil.

The hawks don't have any cap space, so Havlat and Habby will be an either or in my opinion

May 20, 2009  10:09 AM ET

My bad, looks like Ozzie got a raise to 1.4. I think he made 800K last year. So Detroit's two make just over 2 mil.

The problem this year was the Wall was still on contract and no one wanted him; though if someone took him off waivers the Hawks would have taken half his hit. Now there's no contract, so I expect him to be gone. The caveat being if he takes a huge pay cut.

May 20, 2009  10:13 AM ET

nice - so there is a good chance the Hawks are gonna keep paying their goalies upwards of 10 million. Brilliant. You gotta think Habby is gonna want this to be his last contract, so he won't be wanting only a 1 year deal, and of course, they still have Huet signed for 3 more years...at a pretty high rate for a guy who couldn't be a starter because of poor play this season. The more they want to pay their goalies, the weaker they stay as a team, the easier they are to handle for my Red Wings...things just keep getting better!

May 20, 2009  10:15 AM ET
QUOTE(#9):

Good lord, that is a lot of salary tied up in goalies! I forgot it was that much. Detroit's two barely pulls over one mil.

Chris Osgood has an annual cap hit of $1.417M himself, they are actually just over two million greenbacks.

May 20, 2009  10:16 AM ET
QUOTE(#6):

A fair point, but Huet is almost 3 years younger than Khabi and doesn't have the injury history either.

Agreed, but there are always the Flyers, they're always looking for a goalie.

May 20, 2009  10:18 AM ET
QUOTE(#10):

Well I...yar, yar I am. And also that SNL bit with Peter Saaaaaaarrrrrrsgaaaarrrrrrd.

Well Shiver Me Timbers!

May 20, 2009  10:18 AM ET
QUOTE(#16):

Agreed, but there are always the Flyers, they're always looking for a goalie.

According to recent T&Rs, there getting Liongo! ;)

May 20, 2009  10:18 AM ET

*Luongo*

 
May 20, 2009  10:21 AM ET
QUOTE(#9):

Good lord, that is a lot of salary tied up in goalies! I forgot it was that much. Detroit's two barely pulls over one mil.

Nope, Detroit's tandem is a little less than $2.5 mil. The Blackhawks rise could be quickly muted by the fact that a number of their young "shining stars" are going to have to be paid some serious cash in the next 2 or 3 years. Huet may be younger and a little cheaper than the Wall, but he's a lot more inconsistent also. As I see it, the Hawks could be in deep trouble, because of the commitments to Campbell and the goalie position, when it comes time to pay Toews and Kane. If the cap shrinks, beginning in 2011, they might have to pick and choose. Sucks to have all those high-draft choices!

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