Scott knows his role with Blackhawks
At 6-feet-8 and 260 pounds, newly acquired defenseman John Scott was hard to miss Friday at the start of the third annual Blackhawks convention.
Scott is well aware he's joining the NHL's quickest and most mobile defense featuring Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson, but that's not why he was signed as a free agent from the Minnesota Wild.
"I don't think I'll be in the top two pairings," Scott joked. "I don't know if I'll be able to keep up. It's a bunch of fast, little guys flying around the ice. It will be good challenge for me."
Scott won't need coach Joel Quenneville to explain his role. He knows he must be a physical presence and drop the gloves at the right times.
"I'm not going to score a ton of goals," Scott said. "I'll keep them out of our net and keep the guys honest on the other team. I'm a big guy. I can throw my body around and that's what I plan to do out there.
"Coming into free agency this was my No. 1 team to come to - this or Minnesota, and when Chicago called I was super excited."
Scott prefers to play defense, but the Wild used him at forward on occasion last season.
Tough spot: When the San Jose Sharks gave Niklas Hjalmarsson a four-year, $14 million offer sheet earlier this month, the defenseman signed it with mixed emotions.
Hjalmarsson later got the news he wanted when the Hawks matched the offer, deciding to keep the 23-year-old Swede with the star potential.
"I just came home from a vacation and my agent called and said San Jose has a great deal for you, and it was a great deal," Hjalmarsson said. "I signed it, but obviously Chicago matched and I'm very happy about that. I love this city and I love the fans.
"I was pretty torn because that was a hard decision, but it worked out well."
Leddy signed: Not only did the Hawks formally announce the signing of Nick Leddy on Friday, the 19-year-old defenseman was among those players introduced at the convention's opening ceremonies.
While Leddy and Shawn Lalonde were the only defense prospects brought to the convention, general manager Stan Bowman said it was likely Leddy would start the season in the minors at Rockford.
"It really impressed us the way he played at (prospects) camp," Bowman said. "He was one of the top conditioned guys of all the testing, and when you saw his talent we just thought we wanted to get him acclimated to the pro game. The sooner you can get him acclimated to that, the sooner he'll be ready to help the Blackhawks."
Leddy got a three-year, $2.7 million deal to leave the University of Minnesota before starting his sophomore year.
Stuff happens: Remember the championship wrestling belt Brent Seabrook bought for $500 late last season to hand out to the Hawks' star of the game after wins?
Patrick Kane said Friday he lost it the night the Hawks won the Stanley Cup. Kane got the belt for scoring the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6 of the Finals at Philadelphia.
Numbers game: Wondering what to do with those No 32 Kris Versteeg jerseys? John Scott will wear 32 while Viktor Stalberg gets No. 25.