Hawks stay mostly quiet on Day 2 of free agency
Zzzzzzz.
That pretty much sums up Day 2 of NHL free agency from a Blackhawks perspective after the team made two minor signings but otherwise stayed quiet.
The biggest deal of the day saw the Blues send T.J. Oshie to the Capitals in exchange for former Hawk Troy Brouwer. Oshie, a 28-year-old center has 115 points (40 goals) the last two seasons, while Brouwer piled up 46 goals over the same time span.
As for the Hawks, they are still hoping to re-sign Andrew Desjardins, Marcus Kruger and Johnny Oduya.
A quick take on each player:
• Oduya, one of the Hawks' Big Four defensemen who played a big part in this year's Stanley Cup title run, made $2.825 million last season and the 33-year-old figures to command a similar salary on his next deal. Retaining him is going to be awfully, awfully tough.
• Kruger, a big part of the penalty kill who also goes up against other teams' top centers, made $1.4 million last season. General manager Stan Bowman was effusive in his praise of the 24-year-old just days after the Hawks won it all. "If you talk to (coach) Joel (Quenneville) and ask him what he thinks of Marcus, he would tell you he's a big part of why we win," Bowman said. "So, absolutely, we want to bring him back and make it know he'll be a part of this going forward."
• Desjardins, a pleasant surprise after coming over from San Jose at the trade deadline, made just $750,000 each of the last two years. He was impressive on the Hawks' fourth line with Kruger and Andrew Shaw.
The ability to bring any or all of these players back basically hinges on how soon Bowman can unload a high-salaried player like Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell or Kris Versteeg. And as we've seen, that hasn't been easy.
In Kruger's case, the Hawks are at an advantage in that he is a restricted free agent and they can match any offer thrown at him.
As for Desjardins and Oduya, they may soon follow Brad Richards' lead, which was to basically sign early in the free-agent process so they're not in limbo for half the summer.
Or they can wait it out and come back to an Original Six franchise that has been on top of the hockey world for much of the last six seasons. Oduya, though, would probably have to accept a significant hometown discount if he wants to return.
It's an interesting game of musical chairs that figures to settle itself out in the coming days.
Signings:
The Blackhawks came to terms with two 26-year-old defensemen Thursday on the second day of free agency.
Cameron Schilling, who has been in the Washington Capitals system for three seasons, agreed on a two-year contract. Schilling, a native of Carmel, Ind., had 10 goals and 22 assists in 140 games over the last two seasons with the Hersey Bears of the AHL. He has played in six NHL games.
Michael Liambas, who played with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals last season, agreed to a one-year contract. Liambas, a native of Woodbridge, Ontario, had 5 goals, 3 assists and 154 penalty minutes in 54 games.