Teammates laud signing of Duncan, Toews, Kane

Brent Seabrook was happy to see longtime defense partner Duncan Keith finally rewarded with a new contract.

Keith has been one of the NHL's biggest bargains with a salary of $1.9 million and is the Blackhawks' fifth highest paid defenseman this season.

That will change next year when Keith's new 13-year, $72 million contract kicks in. Keith's salary for the first three years of the deal will be $8 million, making him the highest paid player on the team ahead of Marian Hossa ($7.9 million).

"I know Dunc's been here for four years and this is his fifth, and he's been battling hard and is one of the top defensemen in the league," Seabrook said. "He definitely deserves it. He's pretty excited and we all are for him. It's something he's earned."

The news of the new deals for Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane was good news for their teammates.

"It's three important players to the team and to the organization," Patrick Sharp said. "It's tough to say a player is deserving of that much money, but in hockey terms I guess they're as deserving as anyone else. Congratulations to them and it's good for the team.

"This really isn't news to anyone in here. Duncan and Patrick and Jonathan are three players that the Hawks wanted to keep. We know that and I think all the fans knew that as well."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville is excited he'll have three of his key go-to players for a lot of years.

"As an organization we should be very excited about the future and these guys and what they bring to the team and their upside of improving their game as well," Quenneville said. "It's an exciting time and these guys all have bright futures ahead of them."

Proud father: Patrick Kane's dad attended Thursday's news conference announcing his son's new contract.

The first thing Kane did after leaving the podium was find his dad and give him a hug.

"I worked hard my whole life since I was a little kid to get to this day, so I feel it is well deserved," Kane said.

Tip-ins: Defensemen Shawn Lalonde and Dylan Olsen, two of the Hawks' best prospects, have been invited to Team Canada's Dec. 12-16 tryout camp for the World Junior Championships - Joel Quenneville said Cristobal Huet would start in goal Friday night against Nashville but left open Saturday's starter at Pittsburgh.