Agent: Oduya won't return to Chicago Blackhawks
Go ahead and chalk up another salary cap casualty for the Blackhawks.
Johnny Oduya, part of Joel Quenneville's Big Four defensemen that the coach relied so heavily on this past postseason, will not be returning to the team according to his agent.
The news shouldn't come as a shock to Hawks fans, especially after the team acquired defenseman Trevor Daley from Dallas as part of the Patrick Sharp deal on Friday. Oduya, who made $2.825 million last year and counted $3.375 million against the cap, will certainly be missed. The 33-year-old veteran wasn't known for his goal-scoring (he had only 8 over the last three regular seasons), but his consistent play on the back end was a big reason the Hawks have been so tough to score on.
Oduya missed just 11 games over the past three years and he had a combined plus-28 rating over that time.
The defensive core is now made up of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Daley. Trevor van Riemsdyk and David Rundblad are in line to grab the fifth and sixth spots, but it wouldn't be surprising to see GM Stan Bowman attempt to acquire a cheap, veteran defenseman by trading another mainstay such as Bryan Bickell, Kris Versteeg or even Andrew Shaw. Bowman is also still working to re-sign restricted free agent Marcus Kruger.
Oduya joins Brad Richards, Antoine Vermette, Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp as prominent names from last season's title team that will not be with the Hawks next season.
Asked in early May for his most memorable playoff moment, Oduya told the Daily Herald that it came on June 12, 2013, when he scored the game-tying goal in Game 1 of the NHL Final against Boston to tie the game at 3-3 with 7:46 remaining. Shaw scored the eventual game-winner in triple overtime.
“To score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final was pretty cool and obviously the feeling of (making) it 3-3 late in the third,” Oduya said. “Probably one of the more important goals I've scored. I don't usually score that many, so I tend to remember the ones I do (laughs).”