Staple: Stanley Cup champ Blackhawks forced to unload

What the Blackhawks have done to their Stanley Cup-winning roster in just the few short weeks since Jonathan Toews raised that trophy over his head in Philadelphia has saddened some, especially the diehards who hadn't seen a Hawks Cup win since 1961.

Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd, two key, physical wingers, are now Atlanta Thrashers. Kris Versteeg, another key to the Cup win, is a Maple Leaf. And now the Hawks have some room to breathe under the salary cap, even if their chances of repeating as champions aren't as strong.

"I've tried to warn our fans that this team that they've fallen in love with wasn't going to stay together," general manager Stan Bowman said. "But no championship team does. It's kind of the nature of the world that we're in. We're doing the best we can to keep our core together, to make sure that we're going to maintain ourselves as a competitive team year to year and to give ourselves the flexibility to go into a number of different directions. We've certainly done that."

The mere fact that Bowman, and not Panthers GM Dale Tallon, is the one making these deals shows that the Hawks were in a slightly bigger bind than any previous Cup champ in the salary-cap era.

Tallon was late in sending qualifying offers to eight Hawks restricted free agents last summer, missing a deadline to file the offers. He had to sign all eight to above-qualifying offer level contracts, putting the Hawks in serious cap jeopardy this summer.

Tallon was fired and Bowman was promoted.

And then the Hawks made history.

Chicago now has room to sign goaltender Antti Niemi, a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal. Niemi's forgotten backup, Cristobal Huet, could end up stashed in the minors to offset his $5.625-million cap hit the next two seasons to create more space.

And the Hawks have some prospects with potential, most notably Viktor Stalberg from the Leafs.

Bowman fished around the Islanders before his dealings with the Thrashers began. A source said the Hawks were looking to send either Byfuglien or Ladd plus a draft pick for one of the Islanders' cheaper talents, either Matt Moulson or Andrew MacDonald, plus picks. Garth Snow passed, as he's done with most inquiries about the Islanders' younger players.

Kovalchuk still available

The Islanders' very preliminary interest in unrestricted free agent Ilya Kovalchuk doesn't match the more intense desire of the Kings to sign the biggest name with the biggest price tag on the market this summer, and one of the reasons is simple cap space.

Kovalchuk compares quite favorably to Alexei Yashin, whom the Isles signed to a 10-year, $90-million contract in the summer of 2001. Kovalchuk has more goals (338 to 218) than Yashin did when he signed, and Kovalchuk is 26 to Yashin's 27, but the rub is this: If the Islanders were to meet Kovalchuk's 10-year, $100-million demands, the team would be on the hook for both players' contracts into the 2014-15 season.

Yashin was bought out three years ago, but his cap hit lives on for another five years, at $4.755 million for next season and $2.204 million for four seasons beyond.

Coupled with the $4.5 million owed to Rick DiPietro, the Isles would be on the hook for $16.7 million of cap space to three players in 2014-15.

Rangers, McDonagh are getting closer

Wisconsin defenseman Ryan McDonagh wrapped up his week at the Rangers' prospect camp knowing just where he stands, and sources on both sides said he's likely to sign with the team next week and forego his senior season with the Badgers.

The Rangers' coaching staff liked McDonagh's smarts and cool, and the 21-year-old former first-round pick of the Canadiens seemed at ease with the Rangers' style.