2 Blackhawks That Won’t Be T...

The Chicago Blackhawks have already been one of the busiest teams ahead of this year's trade deadline and it doesn't seem like they're done yet. While there are some players that the team should definitely trade, there are two in particular that the Blackhawks will find it very difficult to trade due to the lack of salary retention spots remaining this season.

Every team can retain salary on three players at a time. Chicago is currently doing so with Jake McCabe, Mikko Rantanen, and Seth Jones. None of these have gone to waste at least. The return for retaining the cap allowed the Blackhawks to acquire assets and move on from those players (Taylor Hall in terms of the Rantanen retention).

Chicago is retaining $2 million on McCabe, $4.625 million on Rantanen, and $2.5 million on Jones. The Blackhawks are free of the first two this summer.

Playoff teams don't usually have a lot of cap space to work with unless there is a big injury that will last a long time that comes ahead of the deadline. This is what happened with the Florida Panthers to help get the Jones trade done. So players that make over $4 million AAV are especially difficult to move to a contender.

This is the position the Blackhawks are in with Petr Mrazek and Alec Martinez, the two players I think the team will find very difficult to move without being able to retain salary. Then again, the San Jose Sharks were just able to move Vanecek at $3.4 million AAV to the Panthers, but he is a rental. Mrazek's $4.25 million AAV through next season makes that a lot more difficult.

It has been reported that the Blackhawks are aggressively pursuing a trade for Mrazek before the deadline, but money is a huge factor. The only thing that could help the Blackhawks in this matter other than an injury is the extra year left on his deal. He has to also be useful for next season, so a fringe team or non-playoff team could acquire the veteran netminder to help make their goaltending situation more clear for next season. Chicago will find it easier to move a goalie in the offseason.

Mrazek is a solid goalie, but for most teams now, he's a 1b or backup. Martinez is a different story. While his contract is over at the end of the season, his $4 million AAV cap hit is large for what should be a third pairing d-man. Only a contender would pay anything for a rental, so that eliminates any teams not buying. And like I said with contenders, there isn't usually a lot of cap space and the room the teams do have need to be utilized properly.

Martinez has great experience and is a strong mentor, but at this point, the Blackhawks didn't intend on trading him with the contract that he was signed to. Money in, money out could work, but the Blackhawks would need compensation for not only the player, but the contract the team is wanting to dump.

If the Blackhawks could move either of these players ahead of the trade deadline, Mrazek especially, it would be a win. But it is tough to see it happen without specific things happening around the league in the next couple of days.

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