Stan Bowman, GM of the Blackhawks, was rewarded with a new contract. (USATSI)
Stan Bowman, GM of the Blackhawks, was rewarded with a new contract. (USATSI)

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman has had a lot of success in a relatively short amount of time, which is why the team is planning to keep him around longer. The Blackhawks announced Tuesday that Bowman has received a contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2020-21 season.

He has been the general manager for all three of Chicago’s recent Stanley Cups. Though the 2010 championship team was largely built by Dale Tallon who was ousted just prior to that season, Bowman has been responsible for deconstructing and reconstructing the last two teams with some real savvy.

The Blackhawks are always playing with fire when it comes to the salary cap, but Bowman always seems to find a way to keep them under and keep them competitive. The team is currently in first place in the Western Conference despite having to dismantle last year’s Stanley Cup winning team to fit underneath the cap.

Some of Bowman’s most important moves have come in the form of locking up core players to long-term contracts. With the exception of Marian Hossa, who was signed by Tallon, Bowman has reworked contracts for each of the team's core players. Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the team's most important players, are under contract through 2022-23. Brent Seabrook is under contract through 2023-24, Niklas Hjalmarsson is on a remarkably affordable deal through 2018-19 and goalie Corey Crawford is locked up through 2019-20. That should allow the Blackhawks to be competitive for years to come even after winning those three recent titles.

This season may represent some of Bowman’s more remarkable salary cap gymnastics, though. The team had to lose multiple key players, but have managed to replace them with some great finds, trades and draft picks. Artemi Panarin is on a collision course with the Calder after signing as an undrafted free agent out of the KHL. Trevor van Riemsdyk has grown into a top-four defenseman in just his second NHL season, also as an undrafted free agent. Artem Anisimov has been a key contributor, filling a big hole in the team’s lineup, after coming over in the trade for Brandon Saad. Meanwhile, the team has been able to filter in recent draft picks to plug holes while on affordable contracts.

Bowman's extension comes not even two weeks after the Blackhawks extended head coach Joel Quenneville, whose deal will run through 2019-20. A lot of pieces have changed over the years, but the constants are that exceptional core they've built, the coach and the GM. That kind of continuity is part of what has made them so successful as an organization.

There will still be a lot of challenges ahead, but few GMs in the NHL today have managed the salary cap as well as Bowman has. The team’s continued success is proof that you can still win and win frequently in a capped league. You just have to know what you’re doing and Bowman certainly does.