On Frozen Blog

An unbelievable story out of Chicago: Blackhawks’ management apparently failed to execute properly the qualifying offers for some key restricted free agents ahead of July 1, and this morning there’s grave uncertainty that young stars Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker will be back with the club this fall. The league could rule that all Blackhawks’ players who were not notified of their QOs in a timely fashion are unrestricted free agents. The players union would certainly support such a ruling.

Versteeg was a Calder Trophy candidate in 2008-09, finishing second in rookie scoring behind Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan. The 6 ‘3, 215-pound Barker was the third pick in the 2004 Entry Draft, right behind Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. Were both Versteeg and Barker declared unrestricted free agents by the league, bidding, you have to think, would be voluminous and high.

Both the league and its players union have initiated investigations into the matter.

The Blackhawks attempted to tender QOs to six players — in addition to Versteeg and Barker, new deals for Troy Brouwer, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, and Aaron Johnson. The Hawks put the QOs in the mail on June 29 — kinda late, and especially since July 1 is a national holiday in Canada. Moreover, QOs aren’t supposed to be mailed, precisely to avoid what apparently has happened in this instance. Hawks’ General Manager Dale Tallon alleges that the team notified the NHL, via fax, of the offers in a timely fashion. At issue is when the players, and most particularly their agents, learned of the offers.  

Qualifying offers for restricted free agents allow clubs to match any offers potentially made for the players from competing clubs. There is precedent in this story: in 2000, the New Jersey Devils screwed up their QOs for Brian Rafalski and John Madden. Both players were more or less half-a-million dollar bargains at the time. The league ruled that the Devils had to offer “market value” pacts to both players, and Jersey spent millions more in the signings.

What makes Chicago’s screwup so extraordinary, beyond the fact that young studs Versteeg and Barker are involved, is that Tallon spent last week on a drunken-sailor-at-port splurging in free agency. He signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year, $62 million dollar deal. And ironically enough, he gave Madden a one-year, $2.75 million pact. Last summer Tallon overpaid wildly for Cristobal Huet, and seriously enriched Brian Campbell — the defenseman in 2009-10 will be entering the second year of an eight-year, $52 million dollar deal.

A cursory glance at the newly updated salary commitments for clubs at NHLnumbers.com reveals that the Blackhawks are potentially in a real pickle here. You look at the cap hits for the likes of Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Jonathon Toews, Hossa, and Madden, and you realize that absent deals for Versteeg and Barker, Chicago is pushing $50 in committed salaries. They have $28 million tied up in forwards already, nearly $15 million in defensemen, and $5 million-plus for Huet and no signed backup netminder. Should the league decide to penalize the Hawks as it did the Devils nine years ago how in the world would the club be able to afford “market value” for the likes of Versteeg and Barker?

In fact, it’s abundantly apparent that Tallon splurge-spent last week with the belief that his restricted free agents were already in the fold.     

‘Clerical error could cost Hawks’ the Chicago Sun-Times decreed this morning. NHL general managers are so typically evaluated by fans for their work in drafting and trading, but this story out of Chicago reminds that a manager’s work with contracts is vitally important every step of the way.