Will Patrick Sharp Be Traded Now That Toews/Kane Contracts Are Finalized?

Jan 29, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Chicago Blackhawks forward

(10) awaits start of the play against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Rogers Arena. The Chicago Blackhawks won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Patrick Sharp trade rumors will not go away this summer, and if he stays with Chicago through the 2014-2015 season his name will be in the rumor mill at the trade deadline, 2015 draft, and 2015 free agency period if he lasts that long.  The question is will Patrick Sharp survive the summer with the Blackhawks or will he get traded now that the Blackhawks have finalized and announced the Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane contracts.

The Blackhawks as we are discovering with little stories here and there are a very proud franchise so one would imagine that if the Blackhawks were going to pull off a trade with the magnitude of a Patrick Sharp’s name involved that it would be done before the Hawks convention that starts on July 18th.  Rocky Wirtz and company would have some egg on their face if fan after fan came out to see their Sharpy at the convention and then before training camp he was sent out of  town.

According to people who were at the draft on opening night for the First round selections that even though his agent was denying it Patrick Sharp’s name was one of the hottest names being floated around as being available for a trade.  Now, the Blackhawks after the Brad Richards signing are 2.2 million and change over the cap and need to make room this year and most certainly the next year with their cap number.

Patrick Sharp makes sense for many reasons one being he’s 32 and although has good years left is still in his 30’s. The Blackhawks were one overtime goal away from the Stanley Cup Finals while getting almost nothing from him offensively and the biggest and most glaring reason his 5.9 million dollar salary cap hit.

Places that Sharp could land in a trade look to be most likely Montreal and our favorite trading partner of all-time Florida.  Montreal makes a lot of sense because they are 15 million dollars under the cap and they lost Thomas Vanek to the Minnesota Wild in free agency.  Sharp could be that scoring wing that the Canadiens needed most in the Eastern Conference Finals that they were lacking when Vanek disappeared.  Sharp’s ability to get shots on net while playing defense would seem like a smooth transition for the veteran if he were moved to the Canadiens and this would give the Blackhawks some breathing room and flexibility with the salary cap especially for this season.

The other spot is Florida mainly because Dale Tallon is crazy and after seeing the migration of talent to the Western Conference could truly believe that the Panthers could make a playoff run in the very weak in Eastern Conference. The Panthers like the Canadiens are Cap friendly with close to a 15 million cap space and Sharp would be an instant fan favorite putting fans in the stands in South Florida.  Sharp would also probably instantly become their top scorer if he was healthy all season, and along with former Blackhawks Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell become the veteran leaders on a very young squad.

The Purge II isn’t necessarily coming like some Cap experts believe, but a Patrick Sharp trade could give Bowman the flexibility he’s looking for this season that he hasn’t had in a while and no agent will be able to stop Bowman if the right offer comes through which probably has been the plan all along.

The worst case (or best case) is that the gang makes one more glorious run and the Hawks find somewhere to dump Michal Rozsival‘s contract and be squeezed up against the cap all season.  A trade is coming, the question is will it be Patrick Sharp’s name on the trade update on your smartphone when a Blackhawks deal happens?

What do you think will Sharp get moved?

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