from Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times,
With 12 forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders, the Hawks have more than $71 million committed already, and a few spots left to fill. Talks with Kruger continue to inch along slowly, though Bowman said Tuesday that the two sides were “close” to a deal. Defenseman prospect Stephen Johns is the front-runner to make the team out of camp, so that’s another $800,000. And the Hawks want to add another veteran defenseman, whether it’s bringing back Oduya somehow (his cap hit was $3.375 million this past season) or Kyle Cumiskey, or signing someone such as Christian Ehrhoff.
Next year’s salary cap will be $71.4 million, so salary-shedding trades are still coming. The Brandon Saad trade did little to prevent that, as Artem Anisimov and Marko Dano gobble up the salary earmarked for him. Sharp and Bickell still are the leading candidates to be dealt, as they combine for a $9.9-million cap hit, each with two years left on his contract.
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