The Chicago Blackhawks announced a few contracts this morning, giving out a two-year extension to Erik Gustafsson, while signing Tyler Sikura to a one-year contract. Sikura had been playing under an AHL deal with the Rockford IceHogs, while Gustafsson was likely going to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
If the last name rings a bell, it’s important to note that Sikura is not the well-regarded prospect currently playing at Northeastern. That’s his younger brother Dylan Sikura, who should also join the Blackhawks organization after his season is over. No, this is Tyler, the 25-year old minor league veteran who went undrafted before attending (and captaining) Dartmouth College. With 25 points in 57 games for the IceHogs this season, Sikura has earned himself an NHL contract and a chance to potentially play with his brother next season.
Gustafsson on the other hand has played 19 games for the Blackhawks this season, which wasn’t enough to eclipse the 80 (total) he needs to avoid hitting Group VI free agency. The 25-year old defenseman has shown enough ability to contribute to the NHL team, at least in a depth role, and will now be with them through 2019-20. He was making the league minimum this season on a two-way deal, and will see a slight raise as the extension carries a $1.2MM average annual value. According to Scott Powers of The Athletic the breakdown for Gustafsson is as follows:
- 2018-19: $800K salary + $200K signing bonus
- 2019-20: $1.0MM salary + $400K signing bonus
How exciting from a team that is a gigantic failure this year.
I feel like all their moves right now are just for some coat certainty in the short term, they traded pokka for nothing basically a contract off the books next year, if Gustafson stays pretty close to what he’s being paid he’s a solid 7th or 8th dman at that price…I hope they move Anisimov and Murphy this summer so badly
You forgot seabrook whose contract makes that impossible to move
Seabrook is on the hawks for the remainder of his contract, so I don’t even think about them moving it, it’s brutal
Good old substandard Stan.