NEWSLETTER
Free Agency opens at 11:00 a.m. CT today. Let’s dive right into everything before it’s too late and get you ready for what to expect or not with the Chicago Blackhawks.
• If you were like me, getting ready for bed last night and doom-checking Twitter, you saw this come across the timeline.
👀👀👀
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 28, 2021
• That only means one thing nowadays for the Blackhawks: Chaos.
Two-time Stanley Cup champion forward Tyler Johnson is a Blackhawk‼️
We also acquired a 2023 2nd round pick in the deal, in exchange for the rights to Brent Seabrook. pic.twitter.com/hOHML1ayRy
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 28, 2021
• As we saw and in case you missed it last night, the Blackhawks traded Brent Seabrook’s contract and acquired Tyler Johnson and a future second-round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• Johnson comes to the Blackhawks with three years remaining on his deal at a $5M AAV cap hit. He’s won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning and is coming off a 22-point season last year. He’s a middle-six forward option and it makes a bit more sense after this move, why the Blackhawks did not give a qualifying offer to Pius Suter.
Fun fact: Tomorrow and Thursday are Tyler Johnson's days with the Stanley Cup.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) July 28, 2021
• Johnson turns 31-years-old tomorrow as well.
• Also happening yesterday was the Blackhawks acquiring Marc-Andre Fleury for virtually nothing from the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury has stated that he does not know what his next move is in his career after being shacked by the trade from the Golden Knights. It’s been reported that Fleury may retire, rather than play in Chicago. Following the trade, Fleury released a statement which did not include the words “Chicago” or “Blackhawks,” which was odd…
Statement from Marc-Andre Fleury: pic.twitter.com/I5IbIxgM2s
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 28, 2021
• If Fleury doesn’t play in Chicago, his $7M cap hit for next season will not count at all against the Blackhawks, so there’s silver lining there if the gamble on Fleury doesn’t pay-off for Chicago. If he does play for Chicago, they have added the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and a legitimate No. 1 starting goalie.
MAF: 1st overall pick…wins a Cup…branded as a massive playoff choke artist…backs up in another 2 Cup runs…deemed expendable….gets 2nd life in Vegas…becomes playoff monster…loses job…gets job back…wins Vezina…playoff monster again…traded for literally nothing
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) July 27, 2021
• With the additions of Fleury and Johnson, the Blackhawks are right back in salary cap hell and are going to have to make a plethora of moves as free agency opens. Names like Nikita Zadorov, Calvin de Haan, and Dylan Strome are likely to be moved to create the cap space needed to fit Fleury and Johnson. If Fleury doesn’t play, then it’s a different story. But Chicago can exceed the salary cap by Andrew Shaw’s $3.9M deal, since they would place him on LTIR at the beginning of the season to be cap compliant.
• You know what rebuilding teams don’t do? Spend to the cap ceiling. So RIP the “rebuild.”
• When free agency opens, it appears the Blackhawks will already have one new addition to the team ready to go: defenseman Jake McCabe. We mentioned in yesterday’s bullets that McCabe, coming off an injury-shortened season, could be an affordable option to replace Zadorov and/or de Haan. We’ll need to see what the potential deal is, but McCabe makes sense for the Blackhawks as a middle-pairing option.
Ryan Suter and DAL; Zach Parise and NYI; Michael Bunting and TOR; David Savard and MTL; Jaden Schwartz and SEA; Tony DeAngelo and CAR; Jaro Halak, Luke Schenn and VAN; Jake McCabe and CHI; Andrew Cogliano and SJ; Zach Hyman and EDM; David Rittich and NSH. Many more to come.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 28, 2021
• Speaking of free agent defensemen, it appears Dougie Hamilton may be headed to the Devils.
Meanwhile, sources confirm Dougie Hamilton is going to market. Unless something drastic changes, he's not re-signing in Carolina. The New Jersey Devils looking like front-runners but we'll see Wednesday when the market opens. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 28, 2021
• New Jersey is becoming a sneaky team in the Eastern Conference. If Hamilton lands with the Devils, they might have a surprising season ahead of them.
• More free agency news ahead of the beginning of free agency, Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog is staying put, for eight years…
Eight years and $7M AVV for Gabriel Landeskog in Colorado. The captain stays put.@TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 28, 2021
• So that would mean that Brandon Saad is hitting the open market. *eyeballs emoji*
Landeskog re-signing in Colorado means Brandon Saad is headed to market today. He might have been the fallback had the Avs captain not signed. Will be serious interest in Saad out there.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 28, 2021
• The free agency period is going to be wild and just another day in what has been one of, if not the most unpredictable offseason I’ve seen from the NHL and the Blackhawks. Expected anything, ya’ll.
• That will do it for today, enjoy the frenzy!
