Cue up the dumb "Bread Man gets his bread" puns.
Artemi Panarin got paid yesterday, which is good news all the way around for everyone (except maybe the St. Louis Blues, who a source told me a while back were watching and waiting on his contract situation in order to possibly pry him away from Chicago via an offer sheet this summer).
While a lot of Hawk fans are breathing a sigh of relief at the two-year bridge deal. They might want to keep the oxygen handy. At a reported $6 million a season, it does nothing to relieve the cap stricture the Hawks find themselves in. And in the end, it is a big investment in retaining a current asset—but not acquiring new ones.
Or is it?
One angle to this that I think should not be overlooked is Panarin still has a lot of friends playing in the KHL, friends who are also good players, like Vadim Shipachyov, who would look great in a Hawk sweater. These type of free agent signings to entry level NHL deals might be the continuing for mull for competitiveness, if not improvement, for the Blackhawk front office.
Regardless, Stan Bowman has his man for two more years. Now he has the job of figuring out how to pay for it and still ice a solid roster next season. However, at $6 million a season versus Panarin's market value which would have likely pushed north of $7 million a season, with some cap growth and little fancy footwork between now and July 1, Bowman has a bit more wiggle room.
And, there's a hockey game tonight, too.
Chicago Blackhawks (22-10-5) at Nashville Predators (15-13-6) 7PM Central WGN/CSN Philadelphia
STARTING GOALIES:
Chicago: Corey Crawford Nashville: Pekka Rinne
STATS:
GOALS PER GAME: Chicago 2.73 Nashville 2.79
GOALS AGAINST: Chicago 2.38 Nashville 2.78
POWER PLAY: Chicago 18.3% Nashville 19.5%
PENALTY KILL: Chicago 74.7% Nashville 81.6%
SHOTS F/A: Chicago 29.1/31.1 Nashville 32.2/30
NOTES: The Hawks start a pretty important 3-game road trip tonight, which begins and ends against teams who love to hate the Indianhead. Tonight, it's the Nashville Predators, a well-coached team with a deep defense, also a team that can bring the tight forecheck and energy that has given Chicago problems in the past, and especially this season.
The Panarin singing was a bit of good news, and an eliminated distraction for a Chicago team that needs to rediscover its swagger, riding a three-game losing streak, and still looking for consistent production on more than one line.
Statistically, the Hawks started the season scoring at a high rate, but those numbers have steadily sunk, while the defense has tightened and the penalty kill slowly ascends from the basement of the league.
I'll recap tomorrow.
JJ