UPDATE 4:38 PM CST: Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston gives us details on the contract amount. It’s a one-year deal worth $875,000, which is actually less than he earned last season.
2:00 PM CST: The official team account has confirmed the signing.
1:35 PM CST: According to TSN’s James Mirtle, among other sources, the Chicago Blackhawks have re-signed forward Richard Panik to a one year contract. Panik came to Chicago in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in January that saw Jeremy Morin head the other way. After the deal Panik, who had been playing for the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, was put on the top line with Jonathan Toews for long stretches.
A common linemate of Teuvo Teravainen who was dealt earlier today along with Bryan Bickell, Panik will give the Blackhawks an inexpensive skilled forward capable of playing anywhere on the top three lines. His performance in the playoffs this year was exceptional, and really cemented his place on this Blackhawk team going forward.
While the details of the contract are not yet known, Panik should come in with a relatively low cap-hit, somewhere in the $1MM range. That helps the Blackhawks, who without Panik have $62MM allocated to just 15 players. With Andrew Shaw still to be signed, and Artemi Panarin next season, this is a good follow-up move after losing Teravainen this morning.