Tribune reports Toews, Kane AND Keith to sign new contracts with Blackhawks.

November 17, 2:51 AMChicago Blackhawks ExaminerDieter Kurtenbach

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Crack open a Miller High Life Blackhawks fans, because according to Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune the trio of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith are all set to sign contract extensions. According to Kuc, the Blackhawks could announce those signings as soon as today, Tuesday.

All three players were set to become restricted free agents at the end of the season, and with the Blackhawks' current salary cap situation, it seemed very unlikely that all three players would be able to resign to market value.

Toews and Kane share an agent, and it was reported on Saturday by Pierre LeBrun of ESPN and CBC Sports that both young forwards were very close to signing new contracts.

The absence of Keith from LeBrun's report led many to speculate that he would be the odd man out of the new contract mix. Keith has developed into one of the elite defensemen in the NHL and would receive plenty of play on the open market. If Kuc's report is correct (and we have no reason to believe it is not, he's a top notch reporter,) Keith, along with Toews and Kane, will not hit the open market in the near future.

The Blackhawks have a little more than $13 million to spend on players for next year. With the market value of each of the three players being no less than $5.5 million dollars, it should prove interesting to see how the contracts are structured and how much of a hometown discount was applied. Also, while the Blackhawks would not be losing one of their three best players, some current Blackhawks might have to be moved for salary-cap reasons. While the main intrigue of the upcoming offseason - will the Hawks lose any members of the big three?- might be gone, there are still many roster changes in store over the next calendar year.

With the imminent return of Marian Hossa, and the presumably successful extension of the big three, it could be shaping up to be a very fantastic week for Blackhawk fans.

Photo: (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)