For Desjardins, staying with Blackhawks an easy call
It's not every day an athlete chooses a city, a franchise and a fan base over more lucrative contract offers.
But that's what Andrew Desjardins did Friday when the 28-year-old forward agreed to a two-year contract worth a reported $1.6 million.
"Obviously the key thing is we loved it there, the entire family," said Desjardins, who became a new dad when his wife Mandy gave birth to a son just weeks before being traded to the Blackhawks on March 1. "It came down to just that, you know? How much we enjoyed the city, how much we enjoyed the organization.
"It was a great experience. That kind of made it an easy decision for us."
Desjardins' agent told ESPN.com his client had higher offers from four teams.
In the end, though, the Hawks won out.
Desjardins, who spent most of his first five seasons in the NHL with San Jose, played an important role on the fourth line with Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw during the 2015 playoffs. The trio worked well together and did an admirable job shutting down other top lines and generating good scoring opportunities.
"It's still one of those things where you never really know exactly why it works so well," Desjardins said. "Being on the same page, I think we all understood what we had to do.
"We pushed each other to do the right things. We always had each other's backs - not even meaning in the physical sense, but just in the game. We always supported each other really well. All those things really helped with the chemistry."
Desjardins was a healthy scratch in the first two playoff games in Nashville but was in the lineup from then on. He notched 2 assists against the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, a 5-2 Hawks win. The first one gave the Hawks a 4-2 lead as Shaw scored after a perfect feed from Desjardins.
Desjardins has 15 goals and 33 assists with 248 penalty minutes in 272 regular-season games.
The Hawks are still trying to re-sign Kruger and defenseman Johnny Oduya. To do so, they must shed some salary, mostly likely by trading a higher-salaried player such as Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell, Kris Versteeg … or maybe even Shaw.
Six-year deal for Saad:
Brandon Saad, according to multiple reports, came to terms on a six-year, $36 million contract with the Blue Jackets on Friday. The Hawks traded the 22-year-old Saad to Columbus on Tuesday.
Tweeted Saad on Friday afternoon: "Thanks @NHLBlackhawks organization for an incredible start to my career and for all the great memories! Happy to have played with world class teammates in front of dedicated fans! Excited to join the @Col_BlueJackets and get the season started!"
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