What Hossa's loss means to Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks got some crushing news Wednesday morning.
Marian Hossa and the team jointly announced that the 38-year-old will miss the entirety of the 2017-18 season due to a progressive skin disorder and complications with the medication that treats it. For now it's known that Hossa will miss at least next season, but given his age and the perceived severity of the disorder, it would seem the veteran's NHL career may also be in question.
It's a dramatic and devastating loss to the Blackhawks as Hossa has been one of the most consistent and potent point producers during his time with the club, while also playing great at both ends of the ice.
Fingers will certainly be crossed with the hopes Hossa will one day don the Blackhawks jersey again, but in the meantime here is what Wednesday's news means to the club:
Loss in offense
As mentioned off the top, the Blackhawks will feel the loss of Hossa the most on the scoreboard.
Since joining the Blackhawks ahead of the 2009-10 season, he ranks third in both goals and points to only Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with 186 and 415, respectively.
Meanwhile, his 18 shorthanded goals and eight overtime goals lead the Blackhawks over that time, while his 1,614 shots rank second only to Kane.
He generates offense at all strengths and replacing him surely won't be easy.
Cap relief
If there are any positives to take from this situation it is that Hossa's loss should provide some significant cap relief for the Blackhawks.
Heading into next season, the Blackhawks currently have a cap hit of nearly $77.5 million - or $2.5 million over the $75-million cap - and that's without considering pending restricted free agents Tomas Jurco and Dennis Rasmussen.
It's likely that Hossa will be placed on long-term injured reserve for the duration of the season, temporarily freeing the Blackhawks from his $5.275-million cap hit and putting the team back under the cap to potentially give it some wiggle room to be active in free agency or to take on another contract.
Retirement not an ideal situation for Blackhawks
The biggest fear with all of this is that Hossa could be forced to retire from the game. While it would mean we've all seen the Slovak star's final game in the NHL, his retirement would also expose one of the league's more questionable rules.
If Hossa were to retire, his contract would not merely come off of the Blackhawks' books. Instead, Chicago would endure a "recapture penalty" that would cost the team $3.675 million over the next four years, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.
This would be the case even despite the fact that Hossa is owed just $1 million in each of the next four years of his contract thanks to a structure that saw it front-loaded, which is no longer acceptable under the CBA.
With that, it would be in the Blackhawks' best interest to keep Hossa on LTIR to save them from the penalty - similar to what the Toronto Maple Leafs have done with defenseman Stephane Robidas and forward Joffrey Lupul of late.
Let's just hope this isn't how Hossa's historic NHL career comes to an end.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)