Petr Mrázek has signed a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

He's been solid this year! 2 year contract, good for CHI and Mrazek.

he's been better but $4+ mil good?

While I understand the idea that Chicago was likely going to be riding a goalie carousel in the near future, I don't really understand why committing to an asset now (when there isn't a clear-cut #1 prospect in the system) took precedent over cashing in on what's going to be an expensive goalie market this deadline.

At that AAV, Mrazek couldn't have had many suitors. Should have prioritized the additional asset, even if it was ultimately used in trade for a ready-now player.

I feel like Chicago could have a lot more assets if they traded all these guys and threw this type of cash at them in the offseason.

I’m happy to see Davidson is looking for stability and rewarding players for their play instead of having the team be a revolving door over the next few years. Building the culture is just as important as gaining assets.

The biggest loser here is Kyle Dubas....

Why? Signing Mrazek makes sense but not when you're paying him over 4mil, what is it with Chicago overpaying veterans

I understand that he's been better this year, but it's yet another contract that's simply too much money and Mrazek specifically is consistently inconsistent. KD's very much setting a precedent for his own longer-term players to be asking for much higher values than they deserve. I agree these past 3 players have played well for the Hawks this year, but have they been great? Not really, no. So what happens now with Vlasic who's been better than Mrazek/Foligno/Dickinson? All of a sudden tough guy Davidson shows up? Just need to be careful. This was not a good signing imo.

Careful what type of culture you're building. A losing one can be very tough to break.

Signed,
A Sabres Fan

Why not get a 1st + and get Campbell? Still can I guess

Chicago continues to make their guys untradable

Terrible NHL Starter that should be struggling to get an NHL contract, let alone being paid over 4 million over multiple years. KD continues to go "0 for" when it comes to signing contracts.

Because they are going to have to hit the cap floor next season (and the 2025-26 season apparently) and looking for some form of stability with veteran guys to set the culture for the young players coming up. Plus these contracts for Mrazek, Dickinson, and Foligno are all for the next 2 years, just in time for when Bedard and Korchinski need their next deals. Literally no risk.

It could lead to the expectation of overpaying everybody which can be very difficult to break... just ask Toronto

Davidson so lazy with his job just like me.

Just use the same contract over and over and swap the name

Yet the same Hawks fans get emotional while saying Dvorak and Anderson are cap dumps at the same cap hits as guys like Dickisnon whom are older. Make it, make sense.

You never have anything nice to say. Ever.

About KD? Nope I do not. He's easily a bottom 5 GM in a league IMO, it's still way early and he can change that around, but these contracts are not good.

I think most of his trades and seemingly a lot of his top 3 round draft picks (not including Bedard) have been top 10 in league compared to peers. These veteran, lockerroom, depth signings I could not care less about. I’m much more concerned with and will judge him on his extensions of Vlasic, Reichel, and Raddysh. One is beyond expectations and two are having worse years than anticipated. This is how to better judge him, IMO. He’s very clear and transparent on his plan and he’s stuck with it.

Not sure how he makes a bottom 5 GM list. Seems you’re not including the facts of his asset accumulation, quality of drafted players, building one of the best prospect pools in the league and still having 5 1sts and 8 2nd round picks to go in next 3 years.

After next season, Hawks only have 2 forwards, 2 Dmen, and a goalie signed. He has a complete clean slate to build his team. Judge him then but now is too early.

What would be your master plan?

I’ve always had a soft spot for Mrazek but this feels hefty.

Nobody on CapFriendly is a goalie expert, but I remember the knock on Mrazek early in his career being that he had some bad tendencies (not squaring up effectively against shooters, too aggressive, etc). That made for some fun games to watch, but not sure I want my starter to be that exciting.

It's a different approach but I'm interested to see how it pans out for KD. For a team like this, cap space is at a surplus and that won't be changing between now and the next two seasons. Once Bedard is due for his mega-deal that he will ultimately get at the end of his ELC, these deals will be coming off the books. I think there's something understated about stability in a teams personnel. Being a bad team team is one thing, but being a bad team destined to be a revolving doors of players likely doesnt build much in the way of team culture or commitment. I honestly could see Chicago taking some big steps forward in the next 1-2 seasons.

He's actually been okay this year, but It's obviously a bad contract, but it keeps the hawks bad and keeps vets around.

I guess over paying your own guys now is better than picking through July 1st leftovers just hoping to get to the cap floor

You think they’d want to return to this ****show?