It’s Monday, July 1, 2024. Which means it’s Free Agency Day in the NHL, folks! What will the Blackhawks get done today? Tomorrow? This week? So many options and so much cap space… I’ll be at the rink today to meet with some of the Blackhawks’ 2024 draft picks, hear from head coach Luke Richardson and meet Rick Ball, the team’s new television play-by-play guy. All while staring at my phone for any news to pop.
New already popped early on Monday morning. The Blackhawks are bringing in a power forward for their top six in Tyler Bertuzzi. Toronto really wanted to keep him, but he opted to test the market — and he’s getting $22 million over four years ($5.5M AAV) from Chicago. This should put to bed some of the “Kyle Davidson isn’t going to go after any free agents” talk we heard a couple days ago… this is a nice get for the Blackhawks, even if the years and dollars might be slightly higher than we expected.
I did want to get into a couple things as we get ready for what will either be an exciting or underwhelming Monday, July 1. First, I quote tweeted Eli last night on this but it’s worth bringing the discussion into this space as well — especially today.
This is what actual roster mismanagement looks like. The Blackhawks trading up a month before the draft, whether it was to improve their odds of getting a specific prospect or to begin making incremental steps up the draft to try to get both Artyom Levshunov and Ivan Demidov inside the top five, is not asset mismanagement just because you personally don’t agree with the player they selected at 18 overall. Or at 27 overall after trading both of their second-round picks to move up again.
Furthermore, just because in your personal opinion the Blackhawks “could have picked” said player later, that doesn’t mean the intel they had in the room supports your personal opinion from home.
Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.
Next on my soap box list of items before we even get into the heated rumors part of the day: yes, the Blackhawks have a boatload of cap space. Yes, the front office has told us they want to improve. And, yes, general manager Kyle Davidson didn’t shy away from the idea of offering term to players this summer. But it has to make sense as part of the larger, long-term plan.
Some fans (and media members) might not like Davidson’s approach. But he’s been as transparent as any GM I can remember. When the Blackhawks introduced Richardson as the new head coach, they told us exactly the kind of team they were going to build: fast, relentless forecheckers who are defensively responsible and high character guys. And what have they drafted since then? Almost 100% that.
So if the Blackhawks don’t bring Teuvo Teravainen back today, or they don’t throw a massive offer sheet at someone, or they don’t mortgage future assets for a guy who’s entering his prime at this very moment, I beg that we all hit the pause button and keep that in mind. Would the move in question have fit in the larger picture? And were the Blackhawks even been involved in the first place?
[Steps off soap box.]
Okay, now on to the other good stuff on Monday…
Elliotte Friedman dropped his predictions for free agency on Monday and… the Blackhawks will be busy if he’s right. He had the Bertuzzi signing, but he also has a reunion with Teuvo Teravainen (who he has Rangers or Hawks) AND Jordan Martinook coming to Chicago. That would be a haul.
Darren Dreger indicated the Blackhawks are one of the final three teams in on Stanley Cup-winning backup goalie Anthony Stolarz. The other two: Florida and Toronto.
The Dallas Stars did NOT give RHD Nils Lundqvist a qualifying offer on Sunday, which is a surprise considering the price they paid to get him from the Rangers. He made $925,000 last year, is 23 years old and had 19 points while averaging 14 minutes in 59 games. If the Blackhawks are looking for a young, right-handed defenseman who could be a third-pair RHD this year and then a bridge from Connor Murphy to some combination of Levshunov-Sam Rinzel on the blue line on a 2-4 year deal… this might be a name to watch today/this week. I wouldn’t be mad.
I’ve thought about the possibility of an offer sheet for Shane Pinto from the Blackhawks since he got banned for a big chunk of this past season because of some questionable gambling-adjacent activity. He’s a really nice, young player. And the reports on Sunday were that he is looking for an offer sheet to either force Ottawa’s hand or get him the hell out of there. I’m not sure I would a) sign him for more than four years at this point (with Sacha Boisvert now coming), or b) give up a first and a third-round pick next year for less than four years of a player. So I think I’m gonna pass on this one. However, if the Sens opt to trade him for NHL-ready assets instead of losing him for picks via an offer sheet…
Rachel Doerrie at ESPN dropped her draft grades on Sunday. How did she view the Blackhawks’ class of 2024? In line with how both of the guys at The Athletic saw it: worthy of an A (well, A- here). Here’s what she wrote:
The only reason this isn’t an A+ is because Chicago left value on the board with all of their first-round selections. Getting either Ivan Demidov or Cole Eiserman (or both) would’ve boosted the haul.
Artyom Levshunov will undoubtedly be an impactful defenseman in the NHL, and fans should be excited about him. Sacha Boisvert and Marek Vanacker have fair chances to be middle-six contributors for Chicago, with Boisvert’s ceiling being the highest. There was good value in the John Mustard, AJ Spellacy and Jack Pridham selections.
Chicago is clearly trying to build the fastest team in the NHL and will likely have at least three NHL players from this class, with an outside shot at five or six. Pretty tough not to be happy with that, even with the value left on the board.
Martin Nečas got a qualifying offer from Carolina on Sunday. Zero surprise there. I’m still fascinated to see how this plays out because, with all due respect to Nečas, Seth Jarvis should be their priority.
Jake Guentzel got paid by Tampa on Monday.
God bless Max Domi. He dropped this beauty on social after he inked a nice extension to keep him in Toronto for a few more years.
Finally, back to the other gong show at the United Center… when you offer a really good scorer to a team for two players they don’t want any more and they still say no…. ouch, babe.
NEWSLETTER
