Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa is facing a serious health issue and will not play in the 2017-18 season because of what he called a "progressive skin disorder" and the severe side effects associated with the disease's medication.
Hossa's announcement means the Blackhawks will be missing one of their top players from last season (26 goals, 19 assists), a Hall-of-Fame caliber player who had a rebound season at 38.
It will also have major implications on the complicated salary-cap situation for the Hawks _ and it may end up providing them with some cap relief, although they'd rather have a healthy Hossa playing for them.
Hossa signed a 12-year, $63.3 million deal with the Hawks before the 2009-10 season. Most of the money in the contract was frontloaded and Hossa stands to make just $1 million in each of the final four seasons even though he carries a cap hit of $5.275 million. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, which was signed before the 2013 season, the league would punish such long-term contracts if the player were to retire before the contract expires.
Teams can face harsh salary-cap recapture penalties if a player retires before the end of a long-term deal.
This is why Hossa saying he will just miss next season _ and not formally retiring _ is so important to the cap situation. The Hawks are likely to place Hossa on long-term injured reserve and could get relief on the $75 million cap from his absence.
In February 2015, the Hawks placed winger Patrick Kane on long-term injured reserve. That meant the Hawks were able to go over the cap in the amount of Kane's hit minus the amount of cap space they had previously to replace him on the roster so long as he was out during the regular season.
The Hawks swung multiple trades after Kane's injury and brought in high-priced center Antoine Vermette at the trade deadline. Kane did not play the rest of the regular season and, because there is no salary cap in the playoffs, the Hawks were able to keep all those acquired players on the roster when Kane returned for the Stanley Cup-winning playoff run. The handling of Kane's injury and the cap machinations ruffled some feathers around the league.
The situation is similar in Hossa's case. If Hossa goes on long-term injured reserve, the Hawks should be able to go over the cap in the amount of Hossa's cap hit minus the amount of cap space they have going into the season to replace him.
Cynics are likely to say this is just another questionable way in which the Hawks are going to circumvent the cap. Other teams have employed this tactic in the past, like Chris Pronger with the Flyers and the Coyotes when they acquired Pronger's rights.
The Hawks have to be cap-compliant only by the first day of the regular season, meaning they can sign someone and be over the cap by 10 percent ($7.5 million) until the day of the first game. They will likely put Hossa on long-term injured reserve just before the season. He could stay there for the remainder of his contract without ever formally retiring.
