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The biggest challenge for any National Hockey League franchise that wants to win a Stanley Cup will be convincing their star players to share the wealth.

Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane’s and Jonathan Toews’s new contracts kicked in this season. They pocketed an astonishing $13.8 million each, and each carried a $10.5-million cap hit.

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They combined for 29.5 per centof the Blackhawks’ total salary cap, and subsequently, the team didn’t have as much depth as previous years. When they won the Cup in 2010 their salaries totalled 11 per cent of the cap, 18.3 per cent of it in 2013 and 18.8 per cent of it in 2015.

The Blackhawks won the Cup in 2013 with Toews scoring only one goal in the first three rounds. How many other teams have the depth to overcome their first-line centre scoring just once in 20 games? Toews didn’t score a goal in seven games vs. the Blues this year, and his team lost.

For example, if Toews and Kane had agreed to sign eight- year contracts for $72 million instead of $84 million, their cap hits would have been $9 million and it would have given general manager Stan Bowman $3 million more to use toward, say, a No. 4 defenceman or another depth scorer. This one player might have been the difference in the seven-game series vs. the St. Louis Blues.