The team knew they were going to be in cap trouble, and Byfuglien could be just the first big name player to leave the Hawks.
The Stanley Cup champions moved Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and a prospect to Atlanta for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, prospect Jeremy Morin and veteran forward Marty Reasoner. The two picks are the picks Atlanta got from New Jersey in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade at the deadline.
Contract extensions for Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Ducan Keith kick in this offseason pushing the Hawks into dangerous salary cap area and the trade frees up about $5 million in cap space for the Blackhawks.
Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg are the next two players the Blackhawks will have to make a decision on.
