Amidst all of the action leading up to Wednesday’s Trade Deadline, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they did not make a trade, but rather extended the contracts of two of its players. The Hawks signed both Jordin Tootoo and Michal Rozsival to one year contract deals. Tootoo’s deal is worth $700,000 and Rozsival’s is worth $650,000. Both contracts will run through the end of the 2017-18 National Hockey League season.
Rozsival's deal is for $650,000; Tootoo for $700,000 https://t.co/PwLeASjjD4
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 28, 2017
Chicago Blackhawks Announce Contract Extensions for Jordin Tootoo, Michal Rozsival
Michal Rozsival, 38, has played 51 games this season with the Blackhawks. In those games, the defenseman has tallied a single goal and a lone assist. This season is his fifth with Chicago, after in 2012, he signed as a free agent. In his 201 games played with the Hawks, he has scored four goals and 40 assists. Rozsival was a member of the 2013 and 2015 Blackhawk teams that went on to win the Stanley Cup. Prior to his time in Chicago, Rozsival has played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Rangers, and the Phoenix (Now Arizona) Coyotes. In his career, he has skated in a total of 957 NHL games, scoring 308 points.
Jordin Tootoo, 34, arrived in Chicago this past summer, signing a one year contract with the Hawks as a free agent. He has skated in 36 games this season, having notched no points thus far. Beforehand, he played for the Nashville Predators, the Detroit Red Wings, and the New Jersey Devils. In his career, the 2001 98th overall pick has tallied 63 goals, and 95 assists in 709 games played.
These two signings bring back two bottom line veteran players who are respected and looked up to by the Blackhawks team in the locker room. This move also now assures that the Hawks have fully covered the 40/70 rule regarding the upcoming Expansion Draft. That rule being that each NHL team has to expose at least two forwards and a defenseman whom are under contract for the 2017-18 season and have skated in at least 40 games in the 2016-17 season or 70 total games since the start of the 2015-16 campaign. So by signing both Tootoo (70 played) and Rozsival (67 played), the Hawks have made sure that this rule is met.
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