NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks offseason continues with a small checklist of tasks still left to sort out before the start of the 2021-22 season. With the biggest need being a new contract for Alexander Nylander, and maybe creating some salary cap cushion space, the Blackhawks made a minor contract move on Tuesday morning.
• Mike Hardman, a college free agent signing late last season, is signed through the 2023-24 season after inking a two-year extension from Chicago with an $800,000 AAV cap hit.
#Blackhawks have agreed to terms with Mike Hardman on a two-year extension at a $800,000 cap hit.
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 10, 2021
• Hardman was a surprisingly effective, bottom-six forward with the Blackhawks in a small sample size last season. Skating in eight games and getting a goal and two assists in his first taste of the NHL, Hardman is a physical young forward who provides solid depth to the Blackhawks NHL roster. He could work his way into the NHL lineup this season, but will likely get significant minutes with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL. A good deal for a young depth player with some NHL potential.
• Speaking of the Blackhawks’ prospect system, Scott Powers of The Athletic dug into the future of the organization, with some help from Byron Bader of Hockey Prospecting.
What’s Lukas Reichel’s NHL upside? Who is next in the Blackhawks defenseman pipeline with Adam Boqvist traded? Which of the 2021 draft picks have the most potential?
@ByronMBader provides his prospect expertise to answer these questions & others. https://t.co/gR2nQ0vRiG
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) August 10, 2021
• The biggest takeaway from Powers’ report is that the Blackhawks don’t have a top-tier, future star prospect in their system. Excluding players like Kirby Dach, Ian Mitchell, and Nicolas Beaudin, the Blackhawks prospect system has been loaded through recent NHL drafts with mostly players with middle-tier NHL projections. The last two first-round picks by Chicago, Lukas Reichel in 2020 and Nolan Allan this past July, are not projected to be much more than middle-six or middle-pair players when they reach their NHL ceilings, according to Bader’s projections.
• After trading Adam Boqvist in the trade to acquire Seth Jones, along with swiping first-round picks in this summer’s draft, giving up a second-round pick as well in this year’s draft, and next year’s first-round pick, the Blackhawks got rid of their top defensive prospect and arguably, according to Bader, Chicago’s best overall prospect. The Blackhawks have largely created their current roster through trades and free agency signings, rather than developing their draft picks into NHL-regulars in Chicago. It’s not a process that is sustainable long-term, given the history of this front office, and is not the route a “rebuilding” team would go. Chicago would be served well if players like Reichel, Allan, Landon Slaggert, Drew Commesso, Alex Vlasic, and Colton Dach pan-out over the next few years.
• Speaking of the Seth Jones trade, if you missed it, he and his brother Caleb were acquired by the Blackhawks this summer in major moves from Chicago to reform their roster make-up. The Jones brothers recently joined The Hockey News Podcast, talking about their expectations for next season and being role models for the Black hockey community, among many other topics.
The Jones Brothers Speak: Joining the Blackhawks, Leading the Defensemen, and Being Role Models for the Black Hockey Communityhttps://t.co/0Mdx8HuIgI
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) August 9, 2021
• The brothers have never played with or against each other at any level of play, which is kind of crazy when you realize they played for the same junior team with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL and have both been in the NHL over the past three seasons. With Caleb playing as a left-defenseman and Seth playing on the right, there is a chance we could see the Jones brothers play together for the first time ever and be on the same defensive pairing, but that will be up to Jeremy Colliton.
• In the podcast episode, Seth talks about what he expects in his time in Chicago, “Obviously I want to have a great season & a great rest of my career personally, but not be the team’s downfall.” To me it seems like Jones is very much aware of the weight being put on his shoulders to be one of the key players when it comes to turning the corner for the Blackhawks. There’s not many of them that the Blackhawks will have as much weight on as Jones, givens would be Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, but also guys like Kirby Dach, Connor Murphy, Jake McCabe, and Brandon Hagel will be looked at in Chicago to be catalysts to change for a franchise trying to get back to consistently contending for the Stanley Cup.
• A player with a ton of weight on his shoulders from his franchise last season was rookie Kirill Kaprizov. Needing a new contract from the Minnesota Wild, last year’s Calder Trophy winner appears to be at an impasse between his camp and the Wild. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Russian star has a MASSIVE deal on the table in the KHL, should a deal with the Wild not come together.
Initial hang-up was MIN was only interested in a 7 or 8-year deal for the Calder Trophy winner. That’s not the case. Bunch of options in term.
But the Kaprizov camp contends there has been no offer made since April.
We’ll see where this goes, two sides remain in communication.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) August 9, 2021
• Russian players are an odd bunch when it comes to the NHL. Lots of talented players end up staying in the KHL or going back to the KHL, rather than toil-away in the AHL trying to make their club’s NHL roster, or not getting paid as much to be a role player in the NHL over getting paid like a star player in the KHL.
• For the Blackhawks, this ties back to the saga that has been the “will he or won’t he” of Maxim Shalunov. He played one season professionally in North America in 2013-14, where he played a majority of the season in the ECHL and the other part of the year in the AHL. Nothing much came of his year and he went back to the KHL and has been there ever since, playing mostly in top-six forward roles with his various clubs. Shalunov is not a prospect any longer, so toiling away in the AHL to get his spot in the NHL wouldn’t be an option for him. The 28-year-old forward would likely require a guaranteed NHL spot from the Blackhawks if he were to ever come over from the KHL. At this point in both his career and the direction the Blackhawks are going, my educated guess would be that I don’t see Shalunov ever coming to Chicago.
• Speaking of international hockey, this from Devin Heroux of the CBC regarding the safety precautions that the Beijing Winter Olympics reportedly will have due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic…
From the NY Times.
On what the Beijing Winter Olympics will be like regarding restrictions.
I had heard anecdotally it would be much more strict. This is quite something. We’re 178 days away. pic.twitter.com/MLLSloQ8D6
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 10, 2021
• That sounds like something that NHL players would really not want to endure. There is still no guarantee that the NHL will be sending players to the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, but recent signs have pointed to it being more likely to happen. We shall see.
• Ending today on an amazingly positive note, Carolina Hurricanes defender Ethan Bear made a kids day, month, year, or his life with buying him brand new hockey equipment to attend Bear’s hockey camp.
❤️❤️ Ethan Bear #Canes pic.twitter.com/nJKaJ2OxIf
— Deb (@debmack__) August 8, 2021
• If you’ve ever purchased hockey gear, even second-hand gear, you’ll know how insanely expensive the equipment can be. This is such an awesome gesture from Bear. You love to see it.
• That will do it for today. Enjoy your Tuesday and try to stay cool in the Chicagoland area!
