Marian Hossa will be back with the Blackhawks.

Just not on playing on the ice. And not until at least 2022 after his contract expires.

Blackhawks president and CEO John McDonough told Scott Powers of The Athletic that he and team chairman Rocky Wirtz feel “very strongly” about Hossa returning to work for the organization in some capacity. Last February, Hossa told Powers he’d would be open to discussing working for the team.

Hossa won three Stanley Cup championships with Chicago after signing as a free agent in July 2009. He recorded several career milestones with the Blackhawks including his 1,000th career point and his 500th career NHL goal. He missed the entire 2017-18 NHL season due to a progressive skin disorder caused by his hockey equipment.

The Blackhawks were able to trade Hossa’s contract to the Coyotes in a seven-player deal in July 2018 to free up salary cap space and get Arizona to the cap floor. His contract has a $5.275 million cap hit for the next two seasons, but his actual salary is only $1 million. The 40-year-old didn’t play the last two seasons and has said he “will not play hockey anymore.”

If Hossa signs his retirement paperwork before his contract ends, the Blackhawks would have to pay a salary cap recapture penalty.

If (emphasis on the word "IF") Marian Hossa were to announce his official retirement from the league, & forgo the remaining $3M in salary owed, prior to the beginning of any of the next 3 seasons, here's what the recapture penalty would cost the #Blackhawks against the salary cap pic.twitter.com/jfKlkfVJEM — CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 12, 2018