Teravainen and Bickell to Carolina for Picks: Trying to Look at the Logical
The Blackhawks fandom came to a screeching halt this Wednesday afternoon as the team announced that they had finally moved the albatross of a contract in the persona of the ex-playoff star Bryan Bickell, at the cost of young, promising Teuvo Teravainen. Hawks bloggers began reporting a couple weeks ago that teams were asking for Teravainen in any sort of Bickell trade. It was a worst case scenario, and it came to be Wednesday.
Hawks fandom lost it. There’s no way to try and cut it. Hawks fans LOST IT. For the second year in a row, the Blackhawks would have to move a young, promising NHL ready player to move a contract for needed cap space. Last season, it was the including of Stephen Johns in the trade of Patrick Sharp to Dallas to get the Hawks cap compliant before the season began. This time, it’s Teravainen being moved in order to finally rid themselves of the contract of Bryan Bickell.
I was one of the Hawks fans when I first saw the news. I’m sure the neighbors loved the profanity.
I’ve had a couple hours to digest and try to process. I’ve tried to see every possible outcome and next steps (first of which has already happened in the signing of Richard Panik). The next step is clearly the re-signing of Andrew Shaw (who Coach Q has labeled irreplaceable), the re-signing of Artemi Panarin, and the acquisition of a 5th Defensemen. Most people believe there is a chance the Hawks could bring back 2010 Stanley Cup Winner Brian “Soupy” Campbell.
We all know that the Hawks brass missed the boat on the Bryan Bickell contact. Taking a step back, Bickell was the cream of the crop in a 2013 forward Free Agent class. Blackhawks got him at what would have been the going rate, with maybe a bit of a hometown discount. Most fans were happy to see the Stanley Cup hero staying around, but the money came as a shock to most fans. Bowman banked on the then 26-year-old to take steps forward in the next couple years, or at least play at the same high level as he did. Again, they missed the boat and overvalued past production. Now, we’re looking at 4M, 30-year-old AHL player. The Hawks, had they bought out Bickell, would have had to still carry a 1.5M cap hit. Trade was the only option.
It was the inclusion of Teravainen that sent the Blackhawks fandom into a tizzy. A 21-year-old should never be considered a bust, but that is how some fans started to view him. His production never quite hit expectations, and with the emergence of top-10 NHL Scorer, Artemi Panarin, Teravainen was once again regulated to 3rd and 4th line duties. After a performance in the 2014-2015 on route to the Stanley Cup, expectations for the under-sized Teravainen were higher than ever. Teravainen’s production dipped, and unfortunately he didn’t come close to those expectations.
Arguments can be made that Teravainen was never put in a place to succeed. I’ve made them. Q never played him with consistent line mates who could score. But the times that Teravainen was played with Toews, or Kane, he never grabbed the job and never let go. That being said, I do think Teravainen will find his stride. Maybe in Carolina. Maybe elsewhere.
But if we try to take a step back and look at what the Hawks have to work with going forward, it’s not a great situation. The going rate of moving a bloated, non-producing contract these days is a young, NHL ready prospect. It cost the Hawks Johns, and now, Teravainen. Bickell’s money needed to go. No one is going to argue that. Someone was going to have to be included, and it was going to be someone young and promising.
Why Teravainen? He’s NHL ready, and proven. Teams are going to look for someone who’s already shown they can handle themselves at the NHL level. It’s a point for Teravainen above players like McNeil or Hartman.
Why Teravainen? He never quite found favor with Q. There’s no guarantee he ever would have. We’ve all seen that Q has his favorites. Teravainen wasn’t one of them.
Why Teravainen? Contract. I hate to say this. But Teravainen was going to get paid in the next season. We don’t know what the asking price was going to be. It isn’t likely that Panarin and Teravainen would both be affordable long term.
Why Teravainen? With the expansion draft looming, Stan Bowman might already be thinking about who is going to be protected. It’s possible that Teravainen is not on that list.
The conversation should have never been Andrew Shaw vs Teuvo Teravainen. That is the epitemy of Apples and Oranges. The conversation should have always been, “Who can the Hawks afford at this point?” The Hawks know what they have in Shaw, both from a contract perspective, as well as a performance perspective. Do any of us truly know what Teravainen will be or will cost? Unfortunately, no.
The Hawks needed Bickell’s cap space. That’s the long and short of it. It was going to cost the Hawks someone promising. The move clears up almost 5M in cap space. Panarin’s bonuses and new contact, Panik, Shaw, and the needed defenseman or two will eat a majority of the money available to the Hawks. This, and the re-signing of Panik, is just the start of a long offseason. To quote the great Samuel L Jackson in Jurassic Park, “Hold onto your Butts.”
