The Chicago Blackhawks swooped in and signed the second ranked unrestricted free agent from under the noses of the 29 other teams. Cristobel Huet signed a 4-year, $22.5 million deal in Chicago and he'll now likely take over the job of starting goaltender from the overpaid and underachieving Nikolai Khabibulin.Khabibulin is now on the last year of his huge deal that he signed after winning the Cup with Tampa in 2004.
Huet finished the season with the Washington Capitals after being dealt from Montreal at the trade deadline. He finished the season with 32 wins, 4 shutouts and 2 assists for 74 pool points in the Sherpa's draft & sheet pools. That makes him the highest scoring Hawk for the time being, heading into next season. Those numbers would suggest him having the number one job.
| Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
| Patrick Kane | Duncan Keith | Cristobel Huet |
| Patrick Sharp | Dustin Byfuglien | Nikolai Khabibulin |
| Jonathan Toews | Brent Seabrook | |
| Robert Lang | James Wisniewski | |
| Andrew Ladd | Brent Sopel | |
| Martin Havlat | Cam Barker | |
| Craig Adams | ||
| Adam Burish |
This now brings the Blackhawks totals to 16 players @ $49.6 million. It's a steep price to pay when you have two goalies, both making over $5 million each.
The signing gives the Blackhawks a lot more stability in goal with a younger team. Khabibulin was privvy to having a good team in front of him for the Cup run, which did make him a better goalie. Enough to win the Cup, that is. Now, with Huet, the team has a goalie who has played behind some young teams already and has flourished in the role. Chicago's push for a playoff spot has a little more weight behind it now.
No comments:
Post a Comment