Will the Chicago Blackhawks look to make some big free agent signings this offseason?
Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic: Will this be the offseason where the Chicago Blackhawks look to sign a big named free agent?
Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson will be Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner. The second tier could include Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Boeser and Brock Nelson. Though they may be on the older side and not in their timeline, Brad Marchand and John Tavares could hit the open market.
The Blackhawks would like to bring in someone to take bit of heat of Connor Bedard, on and off the ice. Luring someone to come to Chicago won’t be easy and it could be costly. Both Rantanen and Marner may be thinking Leon Draisaitl money – eight years and $112 million – a $14 million cap hit.
Philipp Kurashev could walk after the season. It’s possible they look at buying out one or both of T.J. Brodie and Laurent Brossoit. It’s a long-shot that they can move Seth Jones and his $9.5 million cap hit.
Potential offer sheet candidates could be Wyatt Johnston (Dallas), Marco Rossi (Minnesota), or Matthew Knies (Toronto).
Quick hits on the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Carolina Hurricanes had been talking with the Vancouver Canucks about J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. Pettersson trade talks date back to before the Canucks extended him.
Will the New York Rangers make their third attempt to acquire Miller? The New Jersey Devils looked, but as of Saturday, they may not see how it fits contract and asset-wise.
The Chicago Blackhawks got a third-round pick for Taylor Hall and there wasn’t much interest and traction on him. Hall had the Hurricanes on his no-trade list and had to sign off on the trade.
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