TSN's Bob McKenzie reports defenseman Brian Campbell is to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks to an 8-year, $7.1 million per season contract.

GM Dale Tallon had Campbell in his sights for months and managed to out-bid clubs like Ottawa and the New York Rangers for his services.

Campbell was considered the best available defenseman in this summer's UFA pool, but as TSN's Pierre McGuire pointed out, it seems wrong that he's earning more money than Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom, the best defenseman in the league.

Campbell's a good defenseman and he should be a welcome addition to the Blackhawks defense corps, but he's not worth $7.1 million per season, particularly when one considers he was seeking $5 million per season last fall to re-sign with the Buffalo Sabres.

TSN also suggests this move puts the Blackhawks over the cap ceiling by over $5 million for next season (considering Cristobal Huet's new contract of $5. 6 million per season), meaning Tallon will have some significant salary to dump between now and the week before the start of next season to get under the $56.7 million cap.

**UPDATE** One of my readers (thanks, Mickey) crunched the numbers and claims the Blackhawks are nearly $2 million over the $56.7 million cap, sitting currently at $58.6 million. Still, they'll need to dump more than that to get comfortably under the cap and leave some wiggle room for next season.