When you’re not expected to contend, you’re not likely to have a massive salary cap hit, and that’s the case with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2024-25. As of August 3rd, 2025, the Blackhawks have an annual cap hit of $81,322,500, per Puck Pedia.

But we know the Blackhawks added talent this season, so it could be one of those years when we see a potentially surprise playoff run down the stretch and at a decent price. If that’s the case, Chicago will find itself in a win-win situation.

Anyway, let’s do the math and find out exactly what the average player would make if the Hawks took the number listed above and divided it by 22. Note that I’m saying 22 players at the moment because it’s the current projected number via Puck Pedia, even if a 23rd player will work their way into the lineup.

Taking $81,322,500 and dividing it by 22, we get a modest $3.696 million, but again, this isn’t counting the 23rd player. Let’s go out on a limb and project Player No. 23’s salary will be a modest six figure amount somewhere between $775,000 and $900,000, and when we take the average of those two numbers, we get $837,500.

Adding $837,500 to $81,322,500, we get $82,160,000, and when we divide that number by 23, we end up with $3.572 million per player, which will factor in as one of the more generous amounts in the league. Even if our 23rd player received a contract in the lower seven figures, it still wouldn’t make an incredible dent, and the overall cap hit would likely remain under $3.6 million.

And it makes sense, as Seth Jones is the only player on the team making a significant amount of money this season, with a cap hit of $9.5 million. Taylor Hall factors in as the second-highest paid player, but with a cap hit of just $6 million, meaning the Hawks will have a substantial amount of cap space this season.

Now the question is, what would they do with it? If the Hawks don’t want to sign anyone to an extension just yet, maybe they will be active buyers at the trade deadline if they are somewhat in contention? Hey, it looks like they will have more than enough cap space, so why not?