August 2nd: The Blackhawks have now made the signing of Luypen official.
August 1st: The Blackhawks have agreed to terms with one of their prospects as John Matisz of The Score reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Jalen Luypen to a three-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports (via Twitter) that the deal will carry an AAV of $925K including signing and performance bonuses.
The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Chicago (216th overall) in 2021 following a pandemic-shortened season that saw him put up more than a point per game with WHL Edmonton. While he didn’t quite get back to that level in 2021-22, Luypen collected 29 goals and 35 assists in 66 games with the Oil Kings, the WHL champions; his 64 points ranked fourth on the team.
Chicago will now have a decision to make with Luypen. He’s eligible to return to Edmonton for his overage season where he’d stand to play a bigger role in the lineup with two of the three scorers that were ahead of him last year now moving on; he’d still burn the first year of his contract if that happened. However, he can also go to the minors with AHL Rockford where he’d have a limited role but could begin making adjustments to adapt to the professional game. Either way, he has an NHL contract under his belt which is a good outcome for someone who originally went undrafted in his first year of eligibility before being snagged by the Blackhawks a year later.