The Chicago Blackhawks are preparing for a potential split with veteran winger Ilya Mikheyev. Speaking on the May 18th edition of the 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Chicago has made the pending unrestricted free agent’s negotiating rights available for trade after the two sides failed to make meaningful progress on a contract extension.
Mikheyev, 31, is coming off a highly productive two-year stint in Chicago after being acquired from Vancouver. He followed up a 20-goal debut campaign with the Blackhawks by posting 18 goals and a career-high 36 points in 77 games during the 2025-26 season. Beyond his offensive contributions, Mikheyev served as a heavily relied upon, speedy defensive forward and a core penalty-kill specialist for head coach Jeff Blashill, helping lift Chicago’s short-handed unit to a surprising second-place finish in the league.
With the Blackhawks still navigating their rebuilding process and focusing heavily on a looming extension for superstar Connor Bedard, general manager Kyle Davidson is looking to secure a late-round draft asset rather than losing the Russian winger for nothing on July 1.
As Mikheyev approaches what will likely be the final major contract of his career, several pathways lie ahead for the veteran forward. A Stanley Cup contender looking to bypass the open-market bidding war could surrender a late-round draft pick to secure his exclusive negotiating rights early, locking him into a multi-year extension before July.
Should he reach July 1st, Mikheyev’s combination of elite 5-on-5 defense, penalty-killing utility, and secondary scoring support will make him a highly coveted middle-six target in a relatively thin free-agent class. Alternatively, teams with abundant salary cap space looking to transition from rebuilding to competing could offer him a premium, short-term average annual value to inject crucial veteran structure and speed into a developing lineup.
I wonder if he’s looking to get more term than Chicago is willing to give him at the moment. I feel like they would love him back on a 2-3 year deal whereas I can see him wanting 4-5 years and lock in a big contract before his career likely is winding down. It’s a shame because Mikheyev has been one of the better players for the Hawks the last few years
Spot on.
Hawks need a late round draft pick like the American Cancer Society Bldg. Needs a cigarette machine. What’s more possible question. Someone trading for Mikheyev’s rights or trading for Darnell Nurse? I’ll wait.
I’d be more than fine even at 4-5 assuming the AAV isn’t crazy. I am curious if this is an actual gap or just negotiating tactics. Would be quite sad to lose him and what he brings and think it’s not as easy to replace as some might think.
The issue is eventually you are going to run out of roster spots with all the young players who are going to be taking a step in the near future. Mikheyev helps this team right now but long-term, maybe not. He’ll be 32 in October so a four year deal takes him to 36. Five takes him to 37. Do you wanna be paying 6M to a 35/36 year old forward when you’re expecting your team to be in their prime? Probably not. I think in a perfect scenario for the Hawks, you’re good with 3 years MAYBE 4 years as the max depending on the AAV. He’s the kind of guy teams want/need to win but ultimately he’s a depth forward. In 2-3 years all these draft picks should be solidifying themselves as pieces on this roster and you don’t wanna have guys locked into long-term deals because you felt you needed to overpay to keep them now. I can see them thinking Oli Moore can replicate the what Mikheyev does for a fraction of the price and one less roster spot. Mikheyev understands this is his last chance to cash on a big deal and in a weak FA market he should be trying to get every dollar and as much length as a GM will give him. It’s a tough spot to be in right now. You need help now but you have to balance the future as well. Still time to find a middle ground and bring him back but I’m not holding my breath
I also wonder if him wanting to play for a contender at this stage in his career also is a factor. Sure, if the Hawks wanted to give him a 5 years, but for 3.. why can’t he go to contender for 3.. and have a better shot at a cup.
I don’t believe any team will trade for Ilya Mikheyev’s negotiating rights, considering he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. If a team does pursue him, it’s more likely to happen closer to that date, but I remain doubtful.
Back in February, you said no team would claim Jack Finley. The next day he was claimed by St. Louis.
There is a significant difference between acquiring a player off waivers at no cost and trading for a player’s rights. Additionally, I mentioned that I doubted Jack Finley would be claimed, but I never said it was impossible for him to be claimed. I find it oddly curious that you remember a comment I made several months ago. Are you keeping notes or something?
Moreover, everyone here is expressing the same viewpoint practically as I am on this matter, yet you seem to be singling me out for criticism for some unexplained reason. It feels spiteful on your part.
I could see it happening. Like the article says a 6-7 round pick is nothing. Gets the early rights to a guy you would hope gives you a solid 3rd line winger, top PK unit and score somewhere between 15-20 goals while also being one of the faster skaters out there. Could see it happening for a cup contender like Dallas, Wild or even a team like the Sharks
@bigdaddyt – I’m not saying it can’t happen, but I believe teams are more likely to wait to acquire him in the open market instead of sacrificing a late-round pick without a compelling reason. We’ll see how it turns out.
He led the team in +/- and was at the top in oiSV%. On the open market, he’ll get what he wants and more.
Chicago has zero leverage here, Mikheyev will be free to move about the cabin on July 1st, He would be a great addition for somebody, But, I don’t see a big raise from his 4.750.
Considering how thin the market is and the rising cap, I’d expect 6 years at 5-6M. In the last year of such a deal, that will be well below the average salary.
He’s good but I would never trade a pick for his negotiating rights. He’s not THAT good.
That’s disappointing. I was hoping this would go smoothly and he would be back. He’s very valuable and dependable. Can’t blame him for wanting more years than the Hawks probably are comfortable going. Can’t have everything I guess. Kyle’s off season just got a little harder. He deserved a raise and would have got them closer to the floor. Still with what they need it shouldn’t be hard to get 13 million more on the books and the Bedard extension just got closer I’m thinking.
Bedard max term at $13M i would love to see, and get the C
I dont see Bedard as a captain at this point. I dont see 13mil either. Dont get me wrong, Chicago might have no choice but to overpay on this one, but that doesnt mean he’s a 13mil player.
“Teams with abundant cap space looking to transition from rebuilding to competing could offer him a premium short-term AAV to inject veteran defensive structure and speed into their young lineups.”
Isn’t that the Hawks?
We’re on the verge of making the playoffs, and we’re going to let a reliable, contributing player just walk away?
All true but they also don’t want to be in a situation where they have a young player who needs an extension and have an older player eating up that money that they have to dump. KD has it pretty well set up right now where he has Bertuzzi and Tuevo coming off the books at the right time he’ll have to give out raises. Now that Murphy, Dickinson and Foligno are gone and the Weber and Ellis contracts are gone just because you can toss money around with a 104 million dollar cap it can get away pretty fast. Hopefully KD won’t have to take on any more salary dumps to make it work. They already have all heir own 1st rounders plus Florida and Edmontons for next year, I mean how many do ya want? I’d rather they went for a big fish than take on more garbage for more picks.
Sorry Ellis still owed for this year , But in 27 they lose Mangiapane, Ellis and Tuevo which is around 15 million they need to replace. Then the only bad deal is Donato’s 4 million which they can keep to help with the floor.
You bring up a good question……I think Frondell has put KD in a tough spot. I can easily see a scenario where Frondell’s next contract is 8 figures AAV. KD can’t pay him more than Bedard. Is that why it’s taken so long to sign Bedard?
Frondell still has 2 years left on his ELC. Levshunov and Crevier come up first after this year. But I don’t see anyone tossing them big FA money that they would have a problem matching. Like I said there are first things first. So Frondell is the least of KD’s problems but the others contracts end 1st. With Vlasic signed long term and better than the rest I don’t see a major problem and with Kantserov now signed for 3 years. There is still plenty of money to go around. Nestrasil, Mustard, West and VanAcker are all on the verge which is why I say they are deep in forwards but low on D men. With Murphy gone the Defense could use a leader. Bedard is waiting on his own terms. I’m sure he’ll be done this summer because he’s a RFA and the Hawks won’t let other teams make an offer if they can help it. Unless it’s lip service Bedard says he wants to be here and the Hawks say they want him here so when that happens a deal usually gets done. Korchinski and Bedard this year, Rinzel and Crevier next year, Just have to wait their turn. Like I said the Cap will dry out quick so you don’t want bad contracts in the way. If Mikheyev wants more years the Hawks will probably pass.
Every team will trade for rights in exchange for certainty. Does not matter the player, so long as the player is wanted by a team.
Why not secure what you want and check off a box, vs rolling the dice. Free Agency is a game of Dominos. Once they start tumbling, you could be left with nothing very fast.
If the Hawks wanted to keep him they would have signed him during the season. Priorities and plans are to sign the young guns and hope for the best. I’m not sold and they will have issues getting the right ones signed
Mikheyev is 31 so how many years does he expect he can get ? Donato got 4 yrs but he was 28.
Davidson loves to hoard 7th rd picks which are mostly useless (Crevier being an exception). Maybe he’ll accept an 8th rd pick in 2030 and petition the NHL to expand the draft.