Kings, Blackhawks manage the cap, raise the Cup

While the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks were locked in a memorable Western Conference final last spring, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi conceded he had no appreciation of the epic nature of the confrontation.

"When you are part of it from a team perspective, it's really hard to enjoy it," he said. "But I don't know how many people have told me that series did more for hockey than any series over the past 15 years."

What made the series intriguing was the fact that both teams defy the conventional wisdom that it is nearly impossible for a team to have a continuous run of success in a salary cap era.

"If you looked at our teams and the matchups, it was Drew Doughty-Duncan Keith, Anze Kopitar-Jonathan Toews, (Marian) Gaborik-(Patrick) Kane ... it was a (battle)," Lombardi said. "We were a little younger, but the age distribution was almost dead on. And the money situation was similar. ... At the time, their top guys were very reasonable, and that allowed them to have a great team one through 20."

Thanks to Alec Martinez's overtime goal in Game 7, the Kings advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, where they defeated the New York Rangers in five games to give them two titles in three seasons.

The Kings and Blackhawks sit as the only teams with two championships during the salary cap era, which is entering its 10th season in 2014-15. It seems clear the Kings and Blackhawks lead the NHL in knowing how to manage the salary cap.

"It's still the basics, the young players coming through your system," Lombardi said. "Even that became difficult when second contracts went through the roofs. But the big thing for us is that our top players don't eat up an inordinate amount of the payroll."

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman's explanation is similar.

"To sustain success year to year, you have to have two things in place," he said. "It's star players, or whatever you want to call the guys who carry the mail for you in both the regular season and playoffs. And you also need the ability to introduce younger players along the way who can support and grow with your team."

The Kings and Blackhawks met in the conference final the last two seasons. Their runs could be called a dynasty if they could win a third championship over the next couple of seasons.

"The formula never really changes for winning in the playoffs," Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "You have your top guys and then have guys around them get some big goals."

Crosby points out that the Kings and Blackhawks had younger players come up and contribute, such as Bryan Bickell for Chicago and Jordan Nolan and Dwight King for Los Angeles in 2012 and Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson for the Kings in 2014.

It's essential, according to Crosby, to "have (younger) guys contribute as much as those guys did."

Entering this season, the Kings and Blackhawks will have essentially the same rosters, although Los Angeles lost defenseman Willie Mitchell to free agency and Chicago filled a hole at No. 2 center by signing Brad Richards. The Blackhawks also signed rugged forward Daniel Carcillo late in camp.

"As we look to next season, you have to have some young players come into the mix, because financially they allow you to offset what you are spending on your top guys," Bowman said. "Every team has high-priced players. If you have the depth of some younger players, then it allows you to have a balanced approach."

This season, the Kings' three highest-paid players (Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown) are making an average of $6.5 million and the Blackhawks' three highest-paid players (Toews, Kane and Corey Crawford) have an average cap hit of $6.2 million. Both teams have seven players making $4.8 million or more.

Shortly after winning the Stanley Cup last June, Lombardi faced difficult contract challenges with Gaborik, Matt Greene, King and Mitchell heading to free agency. The team had $9 million remaining under the $69 million cap.

Gaborik made $7.5 million last season, but he accepted a contract that was worth an average of $4.875 million over seven seasons. Given how well Gaborik played in the postseason, he left money on the table. He would have been a hot commodity in the unrestricted free agency pool, which had a limited number of pure scorers.

Greene's four-year deal was worth $2.5 million a year, which was $750,000 less than he was earning the previous season.

"Clearly those guys valued winning as much as dollars," Lombardi said.

King, a restricted free agent who filed for salary arbitration, settled early and received a raise from $750,000 to $1.95 million.

Mitchell was left to test the free agent market, where he earned a home run contract ($8.5 million over two seasons) with the Florida Panthers.

"You have to be dispassionate in your assessment of players," former Calgary Flames general manager Craig Button said. "Once you determine a player may not fit into your salary structure, you have to move along."

Button says avoiding sentimentality is one of the keys to effectively managing the salary cap. He notes that approach has been essential to the New England Patriots staying on top in the NFL.

"Remember, David Bolland scored the Cup-winning goal (in 2013), and two weeks later the Blackhawks traded him," Button said. "That's what you have to do."

In 2010, Bowman had to turn over half of his roster in order to get his team in a better salary cap position. It took the Blackhawks three seasons to win another Cup.

"They still had the core players in 2011 and 2012, but because of the cap and the implications of bonus overages they had to jettison some players," Button said. "But they understood what makes a successful team, and they built up their team again."

Button says staying on top isn't just about drafting well. Successful teams also have to add undervalued free agents or find undrafted players with potential, as Chicago did with backup goalie Antti Raanta.

"Good teams also don't feel like they have to rush their prospects," Button said. "Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson didn't have to be rushed in Los Angeles, and the Blackhawks don't have to rush in Teuvo Teravainen."

Toffoli and Pearson played significant roles during the Kings' Cup 2014 playoff run (a combined 26 points), and both are still on their entry-level contracts.

"It is kind of similar to when we brought up Nolan and King when we won our first Cup," Lombardi said.

Winning also fosters a feeling of togetherness that prompts players to want to stay where they are.

"These guys love each other," Lombardi said. "It's not something you can define, but when you see what they go through ... they never lose their resolve and they never point fingers."

Lombardi says players seem to appreciate when teams don't have a revolving-door policy on roster building.

"He trusts us and trusts that we still have the hunger," Kings winger Justin Williams said of Lombardi.

The core players on the Kings and Blackhawks have been together for a lengthy period, some of them five or six years.

"We have proven that we can win with (this group), and they have let us run with it," Kane said.

Kane also says togetherness is important.

"It's kind of fun going into a locker room where you know everyone," he said. "You have that team chemistry and camaraderie that can come together. Sometimes when you have that off the ice it results in a good thing on the ice."

Kane has never bought into the theory that a team needs to change personnel regularly to keep the ambition and motivation.

"We are one of the teams that have been together four and five years that proves otherwise," he said. "It's inevitable that changes have to be made. But when you can keep the same group together, it's usually good for everyone."

Fans in Los Angeles, according to Lombardi, have homed in on the fact that the Kings play for each other because of their bond.

"We were able to persevere through the down times because we care for each other," said Williams, who was voted the playoff MVP. "We are not just teammates. We are brothers.

"We don't have cliques where players go off to do something else. You always fight harder for the guys you care about."

Neither the Kings nor the Blackhawks look close to losing their competitive edge, although Bowman will have new challenges next season, when Kane and Toews both will have cap hits of $10.5 million. The two signed eight-year, $84 million extensions during the summer.

Both players wanted to stay, and Kane said they knew that they probably would sign the same deals.

"In the three or four weeks leading up to the signing, we were texting all the time," Kane said.

He said he and Toews considered themselves fortunate.

"With both of our deals, we were pretty lucky with what we got," Kane said. "The term we got, the money, we got, everything. ... It's pretty special. There was probably something left on the table. At the same time, you realize you have a chance to win and you have some players maybe up in a few years ... you will have to take a little less.

"We are happy with what we got. We want to be competitive, but the cap is going to go up. We are going to be in a good position to win for a long time."

Next summer, Richards and defensemen Johnny Oduya and Michal Rozsival will be unrestricted and Brandon Saad, Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger will be restricted free agents.

Bowman might have about $10 million to sign eight players.

"We are looking ahead, and we have some ideas. And hopefully we will incorporate some younger players and the cycle continues," Bowman said.

It could have been worse, though, because both Kane and Toews are such megastars that they could have demanded more and received more on the open market.

Bowman says the key for a general manager is to maintain flexibility.

"There is no way your plan for next summer is going to be exactly correct," he said. "Things change. Players improve, and other players don't. Things that make sense won't map out the way you expect."

The Blackhawks deemed it essential that they get Kane and Toews signed this summer, even though their contracts wouldn't have expired until 2015.

"One of the constants for us is that Toews and Kane had to be here, and there was no way around that," the general manager said.

Bowman laughed when told that the contract talks with Kane and Toews looked from the outside as if they had gone smoothly, at least in terms of knowing that the team was going to get them re-signed.

"I'm glad it looked that way," Bowman said. "But these things are very complex. ... It's never an easy process."

That's why it is now so hard to stay on top in the NHL.