While the Blackhawks will undoubtedly look to extend winger Alex DeBrincat’s contract this summer when they can do so starting in July, John Dietz of the Daily Herald details the more challenging decision they’ll face with center Dylan Strome who is in a similar situation. The soon-to-be 22-year-old has been quite productive since joining Chicago with 40 points in 42 games but his struggles in Arizona would also play a factor in negotiations as well. Accordingly, it may make sense for both sides to hold off on pursuing an early extension with an eye on seeing if his success alongside DeBrincat extends over into next season and is sustainable.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- The Blues have converted winger Sammy Blais’ recall from an emergency one to a regular one, using the first of their four non-emergency post-deadline call-ups, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With St. Louis heading out on their California road trip and David Perron’s uncertain injury situation (he has been skating with the team for a little while now but is not with the team), they’ve decided that having Blais around as insurance is the best move for the time being.
- Par Lindholm told Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe that he gave strong consideration towards signing with Winnipeg last offseason, calling them a close second to Toronto who he ultimately signed with. As it turns out, he wound up with the Jets after all after being acquired late on trade deadline day. The 27-year-old center will once again be an unrestricted free agent this summer and with only one goal and a dozen points in 62 games, he may be hard-pressed to beat his current $925K deal.
- Predators defenseman Yannick Weber is dealing with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link) which resulted in him being a late scratch on Tuesday night. There’s no word on when the injury occurred as he suited up in their previous game against Minnesota while playing close to his season average in ice time.
You can’t just replicate the chemistry between Strome and Cat. It takes years. The Hawks are lucky to have had both after years of them developing it before they arrived in Chicago.
Also, lame take on the Arizona situation factoring in to a new deal. Strome was clearly a victim of circumstance. There’s a reason he went no. 3 overall in his draft class.
Domi, Skinner, Lindholm, etc. the list is deep of players that are excellent when they aren’t in awful scenarios. Strome should be paid fairly not lowballed because of being a Coyote.