Blackhawks will need to avoid Simon Edvinsson-type situation with Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel

Dominating the hockey headlines as of late has been the messy contract stalemate between the Detroit Red Wings and restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson. The Original Six club had more than 15 months to get a deal done with Edvinsson, yet the two sides still have not reached an agreement, with Detroit prioritizing other matters around the organization until now.

With teams and fan bases around the league watching the situation unfold, it raises the question of whether other clubs are learning from it and will try to avoid something similar. The Chicago Blackhawks find themselves in a comparable spot, and with two players instead of one.

Defensemen Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, both former first-round picks and two of Chicago's top six blueliners, are in the final seasons of their entry-level contracts. With the recent boom in player costs and the rise in the salary cap, the price of re-signing them will only climb the longer the Blackhawks wait.

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium set the precedent by signing an eight-year, $75 million contract with a $9.38 million cap hit, and Edvinsson's eventual deal is expected to land in a similar range. Even relatively unknown defensemen are cashing in. Anaheim Ducks blueliner Tristan Luneau got a new deal, earning more than $7 million per season despite playing as few as 14 NHL games.

Neither Levshunov nor Rinzel has made a major impact at the NHL level yet, so Chicago would be taking a gamble by paying them now. But the wait could prove costly, especially for a potential top-pairing defenseman like Levshunov. It is also not a good look for an organization when it cannot find a way to get deals done.

The biggest obstacle is the Blackhawks' cap space, as Chicago currently has just under $1.5 million available. Adding two significant contracts will be complicated.

The most likely outcome is that the situation won't be resolved until the offseason, when general manager Kyle Davidson will have time to shuffle money around and find a way to keep both players. Still, sooner is better if possible, since extending the two blueliners earlier would put the team on stronger financial footing against the salary cap.

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