Chicago Blackhawks Cap Space: Examining Blackhawks salary heading into the offseason

The Chicago Blackhawks are not like most NHL teams heading into the offseason.

With the salary cap not going up as much as expected over the past couple of years, most teams have none to very little cap space, but that isn't a worry for the Blackhawks.

Chicago currently has a projected cap space of $24,928,210 according to CapFriendly but that doesn't account for the $950k entry-level deal Connor Bedard will sign.

With the Blackhawks having so much cap space, we have already seen them acquire players that teams are looking to dump for nothing like Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry. The latter two reportedly signed one-year deals worth $4 million.

Chicago is in a good spot this offseason as it can acquire picks or prospects along with a bad contract for a year or two for nothing.

"We are thrilled to be adding players of Nick's and Taylor's caliber to our organization," Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson said. "The two bring a wealth of experience and leadership that will strengthen not only our forward group, but aid in the development of our entire roster."

As well as having so much cap space, Chicago already has 11 forwards signed, with Perry expected to sign soon. On defense, the Blackhawks will likely be active in free agency as they have just four players signed, as well as only having one goalie signed.

Although the Chicago Blackhawks have some needs, Davidson has said they won't be spending to the cap, especially due to the fact they want to leave cap space open for future years when they will be competitive.

"I don’t think we’ll spend to the cap,” Davidson said. “That would be pretty tough given our situation and the contracts we have on the books... We have a ton of flexibility moving forward. We’ve got tons of flexibility this year.

Chicago Blackhawks pending free agents

Chicago likely won't be challenging for a playoff spot next season but it has most of its core signed.

The Chicago Blackhawks have Perry, Jonathan Toews and Jujhar Khaira as pending UFAs upfront, while Anders Bjork, Philipp Kurashev and Austin Wagner are their pending RFAs for forwards. On defense, Caleb Jones is an RFA, while Andreas Englund is a UFA. Finally, in net, Chicago has backup Alex Stalock as a pending UFA.

Even with a lot of cap space, Chicago likely won't be going after the top players available this summer.