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Chicago Blackhawks: Marian Hossa to miss entire 2017-2018 season

By Josh Marshall

Oct 18, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa (81) poses for a photo with the puck he scored his 500th goal with against Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center. The Hawks won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa (81) poses for a photo with the puck he scored his 500th goal with against Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center. The Hawks won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /
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Marian Hossa and the Chicago Blackhawks announced Wednesday morning that Hossa will miss the entire upcoming season as he is dealing with a progressive skin disorder.

Well, it’s not the news any Chicago Blackhawks fan wanted to hear in June. Marian Hossa will miss the entire upcoming season after privately dealing with a skin disorder for the past couple years. The Blackhawks staff have been aware of the situation and have been helping Hossa along the way.

This is a huge loss for the Blackhawks moving forward, especially with losing a player later tonight during the expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights. Hossa is a leader on and off the ice and is loved by all his peers. It will definitely be very difficult to replace Hossa both on and off the ice.

With Hossa being one of the older guys on the roster, you have to wonder if this is going to be career threatening. Hossa hasn’t been himself the past couple years and maybe this skin disorder is the reason why. Although he had 26 goals last season. I hope to see Hossa back in a Blackhawks uniform, he deserves to play again.

Hossa has been with the Blackhawks since 2009 and has been a major contributor to their three Stanley Cup Championships along the way.

What does this mean for the Blackhawks moving forward? Chicago will most likely put Hossa on long-term injured reserve meaning they will get a break on his cap hit for the season which is right around $5 million. If Hossa were to retire the Blackhawks could face a hard salary cap recapture penalty from the league. This is most likely why the Blackhawks and Hossa have stated he will only be missing the upcoming season.

The Blackhawks have been through a situation similar to this when Patrick Kane got hurt in 2015. They placed him on long-term injury reserve and were able to use the extra money to bring in Antoine Vermette. Since Kane missed the rest of that season, Vermette was able to be put on the playoff roster even with Kane returning. The NHL has no salary cap during the playoffs.

Next: Who could Blackhawks lose in expansion draft?

We all know how that season ended, the Blackhawks raised the Stanley Cup for the third time since 2009.

Expect the Blackhawks to be busy in free agency especially if Vegas takes Marcus Kruger off of their roster on Wednesday night. They would then have roughly $6 million to spend.

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