The Chicago Blackhawks' season has gone from good to bad in a hurry and they are without Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and have won two of their past 10 games. The depth is being tested and players are having to step up into unfamiliar roles. But with all of the bad, there is some good that came from strong offseason decisions.
Frank Nazar Contract Extension
After only playing 56 NHL games and having one full year of his entry-level deal remaining, Nazar was signed to a large seven-year deal at $6.599 million AAV on August 21. To see him break out nicely to start the season made this signing look good considering he's only 21 years old and has a place in the top-6 or as the permanent second-line center for a long time.
Nazar has six goals and 21 points in 33 games, and started much hotter than his overall stats would show. He doesn't have the type of wingers that he will in the coming years as well, and the cap is going up. Nazar is going to gain plenty of experience and he is signed at a deal he will easily outperform for seven prime years of the Blackhawks rising and being a playoff team.
Andre Burakovsky Acquisition
Given the Blackhawks have plenty of cap space, they were able to grab a skilled winger in Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Joe Veleno, who didn't even play a game for them. This was a one-for-one trade, no draft picks involved. Burakovsky has a cap hit of $5.5 million AAV for this season and next, and that's zero problem for a team with $26 million available.
Burakovsky has nine goals and 23 points in 33 games and has been a nice fit in the top-6, giving the Blackhawks another scoring option as goals haven't come all that easily for them trying to come out of this rebuild. It is much better to have a player like him for free than not to when Chicago is ready to start winning some more very soon with players like Bedard and Nazar taking their games to a new level.
Spencer Knight Contract Extension
Nazar wasn't the only one given big money this offseason. Spencer Knight got a three-year deal at $5.833 million AAV to continue being the starter for the Blackhawks as they grow. We can't be too hard on Knight's stats as the Blackhawks are 31st in the league, and by no doing of his.
For a starting goalie of a 31st place team to have a 2.65 GAA, .910 SV%, two shutouts, and a 14.44 GSAx is stellar and he should still be in the conversation for goaltender of the year. He has greatly outplayed Arvid Soderblom and Knight looks like the real deal. Compared to other goalies around the league and their production, Knight's deal looks stellar.
Keeping Louis Crevier
Louis Crevier looked to be one of the defenseman on the outside looking in before the season started. The team has Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Wyatt Kaiser, Connor Murphy, Matt Grzelcyk, Ethan Del Mastro, Sam Rinzel, Nolan Allan, and Kevin Korchinski who could all be in the lineup, but Crevier has shown up to play and is on the top pairing.
It took two months of convincing, but Crevier stepped into a larger role at the start of December, where his average ice time went from 14:50 per game to 17:14 over the past 13 games. It is a big jump and he logs more than two minutes per game on the penalty kill, but his time should go further up now that seven defensemen aren't being dressed every night. Crevier is very large, in the first of a two-year, $900,000 AAV deal, and seems to be a staple in the lineup. Defense could always use size. At this point, it is a great move not to trade him too early.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game day coverage, player features, and more.