Chicago Blackhawks Best Contracts (2005-2020)

The following is a condensed preview of the Chicago Blackhawks chapter of my new book, Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World. If you purchase the book, you will receive a much more in-depth analysis of all these contracts, including year-by-year statistics, a customized “basket of comparables”, and memorable quotes from players, GMs, and coaches. Below is just a tiny sample of what’s in the book, with a few sentences clipped from the summaries. The eBook file size was abnormally large because of all the custom graphics (previewed below), so my royalty is small relative to the price. 

Entry level contracts not included.

Chicago Blackhawks

 

 

Dale Tallon had spent 4 years building the Chicago Blackhawks roster into a championship contender when he was fired after the 2009 season. One year later, his replacement Stan Bowman took control of the team and reaped the ultimate glory, completing a run of 3 Stanley Cups over a 5-year period. The three most important players in this dynasty have been Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith, but it’s plausible that none of those titles happen without Marian Hossa. This list you’re about to read is a celebration of the dynasty, and how the pieces came together.

 

Few investments have yielded better results, producing 2 Stanley Cups, a playoff MVP, a Selke trophy, and a regular season stat line of 343 GP, 315 PTS (75 PTS per 82 GP), 946 shots, 4002 face-off wins, 16 short handed PTS, and +126 rating. That’s awesome. Captain Serious also scored 60 PTS in 78 playoff GP.

 

 

Kane might have had a case that he’s worth more money than Toews, given a much higher offensive ceiling. But centers (and captains for that matter) tend to be worth more than wingers, which does help balance their worth. The first 2 years of this deal were unspectacular, producing 73 and 66-point seasons, but in 2013 Patty was incredible, potting 55 PTS in 47 GP in the regular season, adding 19 PTS in the playoffs, winning another Cup and being named playoff MVP.

 

 

Duncan Keith’s career trajectory was on the verge of blasting off into orbit when his ELC expired, and saw an immediate increase in his production. By year three he was playing over 25 minutes per game, generating 44 PTS. Keith saved his best performance for the final year, scoring 69 PTS in the regular season, 17 PTS in the playoffs, winning the Stanley Cup and the Norris trophy. He finished this contract +84.

 

 

The investment could not have gone better for Chicago, winning 3 Stanley Cups, the only contract in the salary cap era that won 3 Cups over its duration. Hossa was a very consistent point generator (415 in the regular season and 73 more in the playoffs) on top of being one of the best defensive players in the league, who some have argued should have received more Selke trophy consideration in his career.

 

 

Keith had already proved to be a great skater who could handle an extremely heavy work load. It’s normally an enormous risk to sign anyone to age 39, but Keith had already displayed athleticism at the high end of the human endurance scale. He sustained an elite level of play and enormous workload well past his 30th birthday. This contract won 2 Stanley Cups and another Norris trophy. Keith played an obscene number of minutes in the 2015 playoffs, logging over an hour of ice time more than any other player, and was named playoff MVP.

 

 

Once again, Toews and Kane inked identical deals, but fortunately for Chicago, Kane has aged more gracefully than Toews, registering a career high 110 PTS in 2019 after his 30th birthday. While Patty was a point-per-game player on his previous ticket when he should have been at his peak output, he’s actually been far better than that on this treaty, scoring 96 PTS per 82 GP through the first 5 years.

 

 

The Blackhawks got 2 Stanley Cups with a regular season stat line of 370 GP, 175 PTS (39 PTS per 82 GP), 718 Shots, 731 Hits, and a +59. Seabrook also averaged 22.8 minutes of ice time and contributed 35 PTS in 75 playoff GP. The next contract however would prove to be one of the worst signed in the entire salary cap era.

 

 

By year two he blossomed into a shot generating machine, who scored 66 regular season PTS and 22 more in the playoffs on the road to winning the Stanley Cup. He finished this contract with a regular season stat line of 291 GP, 118 snipes, 250 PTS (70 PTS per 82 GP), and 1000 shots.

 

 

In year one of this contract, Corey recorded another outstanding year, winning another Cup with a .924 SV%. He provided steady reliable top tier goaltending for the first half of the deal before concussion issues derailed the back half. For the most part, he was very effective when healthy; in 277 GP he notched 145 wins, 103 losses, with a 2.51 GAA, .920 SV%, and 61 goals saved above average.

 

 

The Russian winger quickly established himself as a dynamic offensive player from the day he arrived in North America, helping to unlock a new level of Patrick Kane. He was traded to Columbus for Brandon Saad before this contract had even started. Panarin took his game to an even higher level in Columbus, scoring 169 PTS in 160 GP, plus an addition 18 PTS in 16 playoff GP.

 

 

It quickly became clear that Erik Gustafsson had sold himself short, showing an astonishing improvement in year one, scoring 60 PTS (with 17 tucks), playing 22.6 minutes per game. The Blackhawks got an $8M defenseman for $1.2M. This would rank higher up the list for most teams, but the franchise has produced so many Cup winners that he’s stuck at 11th. 

 

 

Patrick Sharp produced one solid regular season with 34 goals and 78 PTS at age 31 in 2014, substantially underperforming his pay grade in the other 4 regular seasons. But this contract did not crack the list because of what happened in the regular season. This investment produced maximum dividends in the playoffs, with 2 Stanley Cups (Patty contributed 15 playoff goals and 31 PTS on those 2 runs). 

 

 

Seabrook established himself as a 2-way force, averaging close to 30-points per season on his ELC. Once this contract started, the 6’3 220 lb defenseman’s ice time climbed over 23 minutes per game, also dishing out his 3 highest annual hit totals during this span (the only 3 times he surpassed 200 hits). In year two the team won the Stanley Cup, by year 3 Seabrook popped 48 PTS.

 

 

Antti Niemi won a roster spot by opening night and would eventually supplant Cristobal Huet as the primary starter when Huet’s quality of play plummeted. Niemi finished the regular season with 26 wins, only 7 losses, and a .912 SV%. He finished the playoffs with 16 wins and a .910 SV%, going into arbitration as a Stanley Cup champion.

 

 

On one hand, Bolland had just a single healthy-ish season on this contract, playing only 234 out of a possible 376 regular season games (62%). On the other hand, he was more than worth this price when healthy (scoring 41 PTS per 82 GP), but more importantly, he helped the Hawks win 2 Stanley Cups over this span (scoring the Cup winning goal in 2013).