The Chicago Blackhawks are throwing their hat in the PTO pool as it has been reported by Elliotte Friedman that Matt Grzelcyk is signing a PTO with Chicago. He added that he "was a bit surprised to still see him on the market after a 40-point season."
It is never a bad thing to bring in players on PTOs to create competition in training camp, but the Blackhawks are a rebuilding team, above the salary cap floor, and already have too many capable NHL defenseman to be adding another veteran to take the place of someone try to break in and establish themselves.
The Blackhawks have Connor Murphy, who will be traded this season, but also have Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, Ethan Del Mastro, and Louis Crevier.
Rinzel, Levshunov, and Murphy will be on the right side with Crevier as the fourth option in the depth chart on that side. On the left, where Grzelcyk typically plays, there's the rest. In the NHL, Vlasic, Kaiser, and one of Allan, Korchinski, or Del Mastro will get starts every game. There is just no room for Grzelcyk and even though 40 points is impressive for a season, it has all the makings of being a one-off.
Yes, Grzelcyk can move the puck and can be offensive, but he is small and not very physical as well. He is turning 32 years old this year and he had never recorded more than 26 points or played over 20 minutes per game on average in the NHL up until last season. A big part of this was getting the most time on the power play he has had in his career, by a big stretch of nearly 70 minutes.
The big change in his uptick in production was the 15 assists on the power play. If he makes the Blackhawks, that better power-play time just won't be there. Rinzel is going to be the go-to option on the man advantage while Levshunov, Vlasic, and Korchinski should all see time again this season. Grzelcyk will block shots, but it's not worth bringing in a veteran when there's already this many options on the back-end in a season where the Blackhawks are expected to grow, not win.
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