Michael Nylander Headed Back to Chicago? Wait a Second...

I'm having a bit of deja vu.

I remember writing an article a few months back (Sept. 23) about how Michael Nylander was unlikely headed back to Chicago to fill the void left by Robert Lang.

Here we stand, almost two months later, and TSN reporter Bob McKenzie is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals have a deal in place that would send Nylander to the Windy City. But does this make sense from the 'Hawks' perspective?

No, it really doesn't, and this is why: Nylander's cap hit.

His cap hit over the this year and until the end of the 2010/2011 season is $4.875 million, which puts a strain on the 'Hawks trying to sign future RFA's Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith, all key parts of the 'Hawks future.

I do understand that the 'Hawks will be rid of Nikolai Khabibulin's enormous contract, as well as Martin Havlat's $6 million cap hit, but it must be realized that the 'Hawks will have seven RFA's next season who are all currently on the team.

The biggest names in that bunch of seven being rookie of the year candidate Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, James Wisniewski, and Dave Bolland. It is very likely that each one of these players stand to make upwards of $1.5 million a season next year, and Barker will likely be closer to the $3 million mark.

But if the 'Hawks believe that they really need to add Michael Nylander to the 'Hawks line-up I believe there are two salaries that must be shed in order to accommodate him and the future RFA's, there names being Nikolai Khabibulin and Brent Sopel.

Khabibulin is the obvious choice because of the size of his contract and with he recent performances teams are beginning to look past the gigantic price tag. Brent Sopel is the not so obvious choice but let's think about it, Sopel's cap hit is $2.33 million until 2010/2011 season and has not lived up to his billing thus far this season.

Although Sopel has not played well for the 'Hawks he still has value in the market because he is a solid veteran defensemen that can help a team that is not deep on defense. The strength that the 'Hawks possess is their depth on the back end, with James Wisnewski slated to return towards the All Star break and the good young crop of defensemen in Rockford, they can survive without Sopel.

If you subtract Sopel's cap hit from Nylander's, you get a cap hit of $2.542 million but then add a replacement defensemen like Niklas Hjalmarsson who's hit would be $.644 million then you get a total cap hit of $3.186 million, a savings of $1.689. This is the only way I could see this deal working out.

There is another major problem that the 'Hawks and Capitals face in any deal involving Nylander is that Nylander has a no-movement clause in his contract, meaning that he would need to agree to any deal. Many indications have been that Nylander likes it in Washington and would likely veto any trade that he is involved in.

Personally, I do not like the idea of bringing in Nylander to fill the void on the 'Hawks second line because Nylander's best years are behind him. This season Nylander has recorded nine point and is a minus one through his first 16 games this season.

Nylander was also a healthy scratch a few days ago which fueled more trade discussions. I personally would like to see a player brought in with either a lower price tag, younger player or expiring contract. 

This season has been filled with tons of trade speculation and rumors, look for them to continue to surface. It will be quite an interesting couple of months before the trade deadline, buckle up 'Hawks fans.