A few big contract extensions to talk about from yesterday…

The biggest were the matching eight year $84 million deals signed by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. I’m a bit torn on these deals. On one hand I want to scream overpay here simply because they will have the two highest cap hits in the league when they kick in after next season. On the other hand, these two are really freaking good.

Even though the salary cap is surely going up again it could reach $80 million and those two will still be eating up a quarter of the Blackhawks' cap space. That’s kind of absurd.

Maybe these two are worth it. Frankly, I don't think that anyone outside of maybe a few franchise defensemen are actually worth that size of a cap hit but it's possible that it works out. The team already set itself ahead with the back-diving deals handed to Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith that allowed them to pay those two while maintaining low cap hits. So now they can afford to overpay a little for these two.

And the reality is that Kane and Toews were getting paid. They were headed for unrestricted free agency, which means if they didn't get the cash from Chicago they could have gone elsewhere and commanded more. With the money flooding into the NHL there would have been plenty of suitors.

All that money flooding into the league also means that at some point these deals could be bargains. Kane and Toews will be 34 and 35 respectively when these deals run out, which should mean they remain elite talents for the bulk of these contracts (although they can ask new teammate Brad Richards how quickly Father Time can catch up with you.)

What I don't like is that these contracts put the Blackhawks in a similar position to where the Penguins are now with two highly paid superstars eating up a ton of cap room. A big reason why the Blackhawks were able to be arguably the most successful franchise of the past five years is how affordable Kane and Toews were on their entry-level deals and into their second contracts. The Blackhawks are going to find acquiring the depth needed to really contend for championships that much harder to come by.

But you also can't just blame Kane and Toews for taking the money. So did Corey Crawford. So did Bryan Bickell. Hell, so did Hossa, whose deal might be favourable so long as he remains a talent but immediately becomes a liability whenever he starts breaking down.

Those are tomorrow's problems though. The Blackhawks have locked up their two best (debatable) and most marketable players for the remainder of their primes. These are huge signings for the Blackhawks. Their fans should be happy even if they did overpay. Who knows, maybe the Blackhawks can keep getting veterans like Richards on extremely favourable deals.

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There is a bit of fantasy spin here. With these new deals kicking in next year don't be shocked if one (or more) of Brent Seabrook, Hossa, Patrick Sharp or Brandon Saad finds themselves playing for another squad. It's just so hard to keep a group that well compensated together.

The positive is that the Blackhawks now become a landing spot for aging veterans looking for one last kick at the can. Think how Detroit became that landing spot for many an over-the-hill hockey player. They could definitely wring the last bit of value out of a few players over the coming years.

The Blackhawks also stand to become even more dependent on rookies and their cheap entry-level deals so you could see them graduating prospects to the NHL that much faster. It is worth noting that the Blackhawks have always been good about graduating prospects when they were ready so this may not affect things on that front.

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The other big extension yesterday was Cory Schneider agreeing to seven more years in New Jersey.

This deal makes a lot more sense to me. $6 million is basically the going rate for a free agent goalie that can walk and chew gum at the same time. Schneider is a legit starter who the Devils can be confident in building around. The question now becomes whether or not Schneider can handle the pressure.

He got the vote of confidence when the Devils let Martin Brodeur walk this summer. Now Schneider has the big contract to go along with the undisputed #1 job. How will he handle a lack of competition?

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The Anaheim Ducks – for some unknown reason – decided to sign Dany Heatley's to a one-year deal.

Dobber has the fantasy impact on this one – to quickly summarize, Heatley makes a corpse-sized road block for some of Anaheim's younger, more talented players.

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Adam Proteau seems to think that the Tampa Bay Lightning are now the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

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Interesting look at how Evgeni Malkin fared with and without James Neal courtesy of SB Nation's Pensburgh blog:

The takeaway is that Neal never hindered Malkin–Malkin didn’t defer to Neal anymore than he deferred to his earlier linemates. In fact, Malkin’s stats look much better with James Neal, which indicates that Malkin received a significant boost from playing with him. I’m sure Malkin will be fine with whoever his new linemates are, but the Penguins traded arguably the best regular linemate that Malkin has had in his eight-year career.

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Rich Clune talks with PuckDaddy about recovering from alcoholism.

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Interesting read from Tyler Dellow on how points don't necessarily measure offense when it comes to defensemen.

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Eight more years!

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.