As expected, Jordan Hendry re-signed with the Hawks to a one-year deal worth $600,000, which is a $25,000 pay-cut from his salary last season. Getting Hendry inked to a lower cap-hit was possible because the Blackhawks didn’t tender him to a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, and became an unrestricted free agent as a result. If they didn’t take the roundabout process to re-sign the 26-year-old defenseman, he would have been owed a 10% raise.
The blue line picture is starting to come together. The top-four defensemen were locked up when Stan Bowman opted to match Niklas Hjalmarsson’s offer sheet from San Jose. Hendry will play upward of 60 games on the third pairing. John Scott will be a healthy scratch on most nights, but will intimidate opponents when he is in the lineup.
Seabrook – Keith
Campbell – Hjalmarsson
??? – Hendry
Scott
Bowman will either hit up the free agent market for the final spot on defense, or let a few prospects duke it out at training camp. Jay McKee’s name has been thrown around as a possible target, but I would rather see Ivan Vishnevskiy (acquired in the Ladd trade) get a shot.
Changes have been reflected on our In the Organization page above.
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