Mayers, Oduya agree to new deals with Hawks

The Blackhawks on Tuesday announced two contract extensions and one note of organizational disappointment.

Defenseman Johnny Oduya received a three-year extension and forward Jamal Mayers was re-upped for another year, but it was the party pictures of Patrick Kane from his well-publicized sojourn to Madison that were front and center in a conference call featuring Hawks general manager Stan Bowman.

“We discussed it with Patrick; we’ve handled that internally,” Bowman said, addressing the issue publicly for the first time. “We’re obviously disappointed with how it played out and Patrick is aware of that fact.

“At this point, it’s a private matter. Out of respect for Patrick, we’re not going to comment further. We’re going to look forward.”

Oduya, 30, paced Hawks defensemen with 3 assists in the playoffs and had 5 points and a plus-3 plus/minus rating in 18 regular-season games after being acquired on Feb. 27 from the Winnipeg Jets.

“We brought Johnny in to try to solidify things down the stretch here and I think he played a big role in the turnaround of our team,” Bowman said. “It was pretty evident that his style of hockey complemented our style.”

Oduya’s deal is rumored to be worth just upwards of $3 million per season.

”I knew I wanted to come back,” Oduya said. “I felt that Chicago was a good place for me and I’m really happy about this chance.”

The return of Mayers, 37, is a slight surprise considering that after playing the first three playoff games against Phoenix, he was on the sidelines spectating as the Hawks were eliminated by the Coyotes.

Mayers had 6 goals, 9 assists and a team-high 91 penalty minutes in 81 regular-season games.

“You look at the whole season and try not to look at the way things ended,” said Mayers, whose deal is rumored to be in the $650,000-range. “I thought I still had a lot to give.”

More signings:

The Hawks also announced three-year deals for four of their prospects: goaltenders Mac Carruth and Kent Simpson, forward Joakim Nordstrom and defenseman Klas Dahlbeck.