The Chicago Blackhawks are going to be a very bad team in 2022-23. They have stripped down a lot of their roster so that they can get future assets that can help them build. With all of that in mind, they still need some veterans to help any young kids trying to make their way.
They haven’t traded Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, or Seth Jones yet so that is nice but they might want a few more good players to try and help them grow as an organization. In order to do that, they made a very nice signing on Tuesday night.
It came out that the Chicago Blackhawks were in agreement with Jack Johnson on a one-year deal worth $950,000. He is going to play a very specific role with this team during the season.
For one, he proved that he has some value in 2021-22. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche as a depth defenseman. He was in the lineup on that night when Colorado played an amazing game to win the whole thing.
The Chicago Blackhawks are going to get something good out of Jack Johnson.
Johnson is clearly someone that has been a good player in his career. He has had stops with multiple teams but he was the third overall pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2005 NHL Draft where Sidney Crosby famously went first to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the Blackhawks, if he has a good season, he is someone that can be traded at the deadline to a team that needs a cheap veteran. If he doesn’t have a good year, that means that the Blackhawks will have that much better of a chance at the Draft Lottery.
There is a good chance that another defenseman or two is traded away before the start of the season. That will mean that Johnson serves a purpose besides blocking some of the young kids from playing.
He will be able to help them because there will be plenty of ice to go around after these potential trades. No matter how you look at it, the Blackhawks are going to get something (if not multiple things) out of this signing.
Hopefully, he has a good year, mentors the kids while he is there, and gets them something of value in a trade. If he gets sent to a team at the deadline, you’d assume that he’s off to a good situation in terms of chances to win. This is a smart move.
