What Duncan Keith’s retirement means for the Chicago Blackhawks

What Duncan Keith’s retirement means for the Blackhawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

According to multiple reports, former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith is retiring from the NHL, but even though he no longer is officially on the team’s roster, they’re still going to feel a huge impact from his decision to hang up his skates.

Keith, who signed a 13-year contract with the Blackhawks that took effect in the 2010-11 season, spent the last two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, and despite having one season left on that deal, he has opted to retire, giving the Oilers some much-needed cap space as they try to finally get back into the Stanley Cup Final.

While the Oilers will benefit financially from Keith’s decision to step away, the Blackhawks will actually be punished for it thanks to a league rule called “salary cap recapture.”

Here’s a breakdown:

What is “Salary Cap Recapture”?

The rule, which NHL put into effect in the 2013 collective bargaining agreement, is viewed as a way to effectively punish teams whom the league determined had gamed the salary cap by front-loading contracts to an excessive degree.

Front-loading contracts can lower an NHL player’s salary cap number because the league uses the average annual value (AAV) of a contract to determine the cap hit, not the actual salary that the player makes in a given year.

Keith’s 13-year contract was one such deal, with the defenseman receiving a disproportionate amount of his salary in the early stages of the pact.

Under new NHL rules, contracts are not allowed to exceed eight years in length, and a salary can only vary by a much-smaller degree from year-to-year.

How Was Duncan Keith’s Deal Structured?

Keith’s contract paid him more than $8 million a season initially, but his salary cap hit was only a shade over $5.5 million.

The Blackhawks used additional years of low-pay at the end of the contract to help bring that average down, with Keith making less than $3 million in each…