The Chicago Blackhawks took care of some restricted free agents-to-be on Friday, signing both Vinnie Hinostroza and John Hayden to 2-year deals, Hinostroza's reportedly worth $3 million and Hayden's in the $1.5 million range. The Blackhawks are going to have to rely on some of these cost-efficient contracts to help them stay competitive, while hoping that these guys can be huge bargains, by the time they hit the ice next season.Hinostroza played in 50 games for the Blackhawks last season, registering 25 points and was 254th among all forwards in scoring, according to my rankings. With some more ice-time, he can certainly creep his way up into the conversation as a late round forward.
Hayden played in 47 games, scoring 4 goals and 13 points, not quite the scoring record as above, but he'll be looked upon to fill in a lot of those minutes as well, providing depth to the team and hopefully a bit more scoring.
Chicago remains reasonably flexible in its cap situation, but it's still going to be about saving those pennies and maybe making a better run at some better players at the trade deadline.
No comments:
Post a Comment