The Blackhawks have signed center Ryan Greene to a three-year, entry-level contract, a source tells Scott Powers of The Athletic. The deal begins immediately and he’s expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Canadiens. Chicago quickly confirmed the deal, which carries a $950K cap hit.
Greene, 21, turns pro after three seasons at Boston University. A second-round pick by Chicago in 2022, he captained the Terriers to a berth in the national championship game but lost 6-2 to Western Michigan last night. The 6’2″ pivot finished his junior season with a career-best 13 goals, 25 assists, and 38 points in 40 games to rank third on the team in scoring.
The Newfoundland native is the No. 12 prospect in Chicago’s system, as ranked by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, but that’s more a testament to the Blackhawks’ exceedingly deep talent pool. A good two-way piece, it’s unclear if he has the offensive ceiling to develop past a third-line role, but he should get an early audition in that spot here. This comes in advance of the Blackhawks anticipating Greene on their opening night roster next fall, Powers reports.
That puts him as Chicago’s third-line pivot for the foreseeable future behind Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who are both ending the season playing their natural center position while anchoring the Hawks’ first and second lines. Despite just signing his first NHL contract, Greene’s October 2003 birthday already makes him the oldest of the bunch. As for captain Nick Foligno, who’s played center for much of the year and is currently anchoring Chicago’s third line, he could shift to a fourth-line role in the final season of his contract next year or slide back over to the wing. There’s also 2023 first-rounder Oliver Moore as an option down the middle, but he’s taken frequent reps on the wing since making his NHL debut late last month.
Greene will remain bound by his entry-level contract through the 2026-27 season. He’ll be a restricted free agent the following summer, the same year Chicago will need to negotiate extensions for fellow RFAs Moore, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Landon Slaggert.
Wait until they add Marone to this mix.
hopefully its Misa, but Misa, Hagens, Schaefer, Martone are all supposedly #1 worthy picks and Frondell might be good enough to be in that group as well, we’ll see if the top 5 prospects in this draft are all as good as people say, a lot of lucky teams at the bottom, Chicago and San Jose are both guaranteed one of those names
Hawks have all the pieces, just need a coach to put it all together.
Reminds me of Jimmy Piersall saying about a prospect. He said” He has all the tools but no toolbox”. That’s the Hawks. A lot of tools but no toolbox.
Agreed. And if they don’t hire a defense first coach, all the tools mean nothing.
Last time I looked only two teams have given up more goals. There’s a reason why the Hawks are outshot almost every night.
Don’t forget Sasha Boisvert..
You can forget about him for 2 years at least probably. He committed to Boston U for at least next year and probably 2.
i was hoping they would’ve picked Eiserman instead
Actually I was POSITIVE the Hawks were going to take Michael Hage. But after seeing Boisvert highlights he should be NHL ready after 2 years. He already has an NHL build. I’m willing to let it play out.
I know that but that’s what’s coming down the pipeline. Lardis/ Vanacher/Spellacy as well.