The Blackhawks thought they could get rid of overpaid goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. They couldn't, and now they've got problems.
Over the offseason, the Blackhawks signed Cristobal Huet to take Khabibulin's place. Alas, Huet doesn't look like much of an upgrade, having lost his first two games in the Indian Head sweater.
And, of course, Khabibulin is still hanging around -- he's hard to trade because of his ridiculously high salary. The Blackhawks have $12 million tied up in two mediocre goaltenders. In order to get under the salary cap, they traded second-line center Robert Lang and shipped promising young defenseman Cam Barker to Rockford.
With Lang gone, high scoring winger Patrick Sharp was moved to center. So far, Sharpie hasn't been so "high scoring." He has one goal in the first three games and has looked generally lost defensively.
So, the Hawks are weaker at center, wing and defense, all because they have two high-priced goalies on the roster. Just great.
Let's hope this silliness doesn't cost the Blackhawks a playoff spot this season.
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