Kevin Lankinen Contract Signed, Goalie Carousel Spins Again

What This Means for the Future

The Blackhawks still own plenty of cap space, and will need to hit the free agent market to shore up the goaltending position. Only Petr Mrazek has NHL experience amongst the Hawks goaltenders under contract. The other two likely need more time before a call-up too, at 22 and 23 years of age, apiece. Despite owning cap space, the Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane contracts till loom very, very large. That being said, after 2022-23, those deals expire and return a whopping $21 million in flexibility. Considering the team’s trajectory for “full rebuild mode”, don’t expect them to sign big-names quite yet. As long as they’re at the cap floor, Chicago should be content to just “get through” 2022-23.

If anything, the Hawks should be very active in the trade market. Kane and Toews could very well return more future assets between now and the trade deadline, and Chicago can retain plenty of their salary to facilitate those moves. Of course, that depends on both individuals and their willingness to waive their no-trade clauses. They can also acquire other contracts to help teams out, in exchange for even more future assets.

Lankinen has an opportunity to prove himself and move on from Chicago. Meanwhile, Chicago enters the most pivotal season in their existence since 2006 when they first drafted Toews. The Hawks will simply never look the same, as this era winds down.

Kevin Lankinen not fazed by Marc-Andre Fleury acquisition: ‘I still want to be No. 1.’ https://t.co/ehZqM7Qlbh pic.twitter.com/7MbfBwSK5H

— theScore (@theScore) September 28, 2021