How about that Monday, folks? The Blackhawks got busy in free agency, signing two veteran defensemen, a veteran goalie and (counts on fingers) four new forwards (plus Joey Anderson) to give the team better… well, everything — but especially depth. Are the Blackhawks done? I’m not so sure they are… and I’m hearing they might still be involved in the trade conversations taking place around the NHL. So don’t put those phones away quite yet.
I didn’t write much about the goaltending situation (yet) because I’m not sure the dust has settled there, but I love the addition of Laurent Brossoit to back-up Petr Mrazek for two years. That is, of course, assuming they’re both here for the full term of their respective contracts; having both of them here for two years makes an eventual trade a possibility, which is a good position to be in.
The Blackhawks added a back-up. The IceHogs signed another option, too. Ben Gaudreau, who is here this week as part of the development camp, signed an AHL deal with Rockford on Monday. Gaudreau, 21, was a third-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in 2021 but they let his rights lapse. He spend last season with the Erie Otters — with Blackhawks prospect Martin Misiak — and had an .890 save percentage in 34 regular-season appearances. He’s 6-2, 187 on the development camp roster, which is nice size.
How about some prospects stuff? Since we met with a number of the Blackhawks’ picks from the 2024 NHL Draft while their new boss was spending money and filling out his roster on Monday. The first prospect I wanted to speak about was Sacha Boisvert, the 18th overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s getting a lot of unwarranted noise from sections of the fan base because he isn’t Cole Eiserman. I think Blackhawks fans are really going to like this kid. He said he loves to watch old Eric Lindros tape to see how a power forward plays. This comes after he said he also watches a lot of Anze Kopitar to model his game after a two-way center and loves watching Geno Malkin. Smart kid. Here’s what head coach Luke Richardson said about him:
“He’s a big center that can score goals around the net. I guess he’s tough as nails. His dad owns a boxing gym and if you can compare guys that are big in front of the net in his prime, Wayne Simmonds and going back even farther Cam Neely, guys that are big and tough and have a scoring tough around the net, it’s hard to find those guys. [The scouts] were pretty excited.”
I came away from speaking with third-round pick AJ Spellacy very impressed. He’s a big boy, but he’s also very well spoken and thoughtful.
Third-round pick John Mustard spoke with us as well. He made the move to play in the USHL because he was turned onto college hockey at a young age and made that a specific goal. He’ll play at Providence this coming season.
Rick Ball chatted with us for a while yesterday. He said he loved Chicago as someone who called games for another team and always circled it on the calendar. His wife had never been here, so her first time in our beautiful city is this week and she loves it here, too. I think fans are really going to appreciate him in the booth with Panger this season and into the future.
ICYMI: Rick’s first regular season game at the United Center: Connor Bedard vs. Macklin Celebrini. Let’s GOOO!
Great grab here from a lengthy session with Richardson on Monday. This, again, was before the Blackhawks announced the deal with TJ Brodie — another guy who puts it all out there.
While we were all trying to keep up with the Blackhawks’ flurry of moves, the Nashville Predators were going all-in at a level I’m not sure we’ve ever seen from that franchise. The headline grabber was the signing of Steve Stamkos to a four-year deal ($8M AAV). But Nashville also signed Jonathan Marchessault, (5 years, $5.5M AAV), Alexandre Carrier (3 years, $3.75M AAV), and defenseman Brady Skjei (7 years, $7M AAV). Damn, Barry! Slow down…
Where did the Blackhawks’ free agents go?
Tylor Raddysh — Washington
Reese Johnson — Minnesota (two-way)
Mike Hardman — New Jersey
Filip Roos — Ottawa (two-way)
That’s it so far… only four of the Blackhawks’ free agents got a contract (as of now). I’m thrilled for Reese Johnson to get a gig in Minnesota. I think he’ll fit in well there.
On Tuesday morning the Tampa Bay Lightning announced they’re keeping one of their veteran leaders. They found enough loose change in the couch to give Victor Hedman four more years (at $8M per). I’m gonna miss the commercials with Steven Stamkos telling him he needs to start looking at colleges for his infant son…
A couple significant deals for young players happened on Monday as well. First, the Canadiens signed 2022 No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky to an eight-year extension. The deal has a $7.6M AAV. He has 60 points in 121 career regular-season games, 50 of which came in his sophomore year.
The Flyers officially announced the three-year ELC for Matvei Michkov. I’m excited to see him in the NHL.
Finally, in the “I remember when the Blackhawks did that!” category… on the North Side, it sounds like the Cubs are now being watched to be an impact seller at the deadline.
NEWSLETTER
