With the Chicago Blackhawks season nearing an end, let’s take a look at the Hawks upcoming free agents and determine General Manager Kyle Davidson’s plan. The Hawks are currently sitting in a positive cap situation with about $10 million in cap room. Barring any moves in free agency, the Hawks will be sitting with around $38 million in cap room for next season. Let’s take a look at some of the top free agents on the current roster.
A Review of Free Agents to Be for the Chicago Blackhawks
Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson is the Blackhawks top unrestricted free agent with a current cap hit of $5,000,000. Johnson is certainly not the goal scorer he was early in his career and is turning 34 in July. Despite his age, you could certainly see a world where Johnson receives an extension from the Hawks. Any extension would look similar to the one Nick Foligno signed earlier this season. Johnson could be a nice veteran presence in what will be a very young Blackhawks locker room next season. Johnson was very interested in staying in Chicago amid trade rumours this trade deadline which says a lot about his interest in staying with the Hawks. This gives reason to believe that Johnson is still in a Hawks sweater next season.
Colin Blackwell
Blackwell is someone who it appears the Blackhawks are moving on from. The Hawks should have a decent amount of forward prospects joining the team next year, making someone like Blackwell expendable. While he won’t be expensive at all, Blackwell is still not someone we see retuning to Chicago next year given his role with the club.
UFA Defencemen
The Chicago Blackhawks have free agents in the form of defencemen in Jaycob Megna, Jarred Tinordi and Nikita Zaitsev. All three players will be entering their early 30’s and have all been having pretty rough seasons. The Hawks need to get significantly younger on the backend so allowing these three to walk seems likely. The Hawks also could look to clear up roster spots for guys like Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro which makes these moves even more likely.
RFA’s: Alex Vlasic
Vlasic is the first Blackhawks player entering restricted free agency we will cover as he is in the final year of a three-year deal. The Hawks will extend a qualifying offer to Vlasic to retain his rights. Other than Connor Bedard, Vlasic has been the most impressive youngster on the Hawks roster and has transitioned nicely to the league. Vlasic will likely see a $2-3 million rise in his AAV for next year.
Lukas Reichel
Reichel is the most intriguing name on this list. He has underachieved so far but still has a first-round pedigree. No other teams will be sending an offer sheet Reichel’s way so the Hawks will be able to get him back on a pretty small salary. The Hawks could also extend a qualifying offer to Reichel which would put his salary at $874,000 for 2024. Both of these are certainly possibilities, but Reichel will need to prove himself before the Hawks commit to him.
Louis Crevier and Isaak Phillips
Both of these young defencemen will likely be signing qualifying offers due to neither having arbitration rights. Neither Phillips nor Crevier has seen a lot of time in the NHL but have both been solid in their short stints. Both players are 22 years old and have a chance at making the main roster full-time next season depending on where guys like Nolan Allan are in their development. Both guys will undoubtedly be solid value players for next season.
The Other Names
Taylor Raddysh, Mackenzie Entwistle, Cole Guttman, Reese Johnson and Joey Anderson are all RFA’s after this season. The Hawks will likely bring back one of the enforcers like Entwistle or Guttman, but don’t have a big need to bring back anyone other than that. Raddysh has been a letdown after he came over from the Brandon Hagel trade. Joey Anderson was more of a throw-in for the Jake McCabe trade but he still hasn’t make a significant impact at the NHL level. This will be a very interesting offseason for the Hawks who are hoping to continue the development of younger players, while also having some of the most cap room in the NHL for next season.
Main photo: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
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