The Blackhawks opened NHL free agency Monday with a barrage of signings, per numerous reports, backing up their intentions to take a step forward next season.
Beloved former forward Teuvo Teravainen inked a three-year deal with a $5.4 million salary-cap hit and scrappy playmaking forward Tyler Bertuzzi agreed to a four-year deal with a $5.5 million cap hit, adding a significant influx of talent to the Hawks’ top-six forward group.
Journeyman goaltender Laurent Broissoit signed a two-year deal with a $3.3 million cap hit, giving Petr Mrazek a more experienced partner and presumably bumping struggling youngster Arvid Soderblom back to the AHL.
The Hawks also signed three veterans to one-year contracts: defenseman Alec Martinez at $4 million, forward Pat Maroon at $1.3 million and forward Craig Smith at $1 million.
Although general manager Kyle Davidson wasn’t a player (as expected) in the sweepstakes for the top free agents of the summer, he was one of the most active GMs in the league after letting the vast majority of the team’s own pending free agents walk away.
Teravainen, 29, tallied 53 points — 25 goals and 28 assists — in 76 games for the Hurricanes last season. He spent the vast majority of his eight years in Carolina operating as a complementary winger to star center Sebastian Aho, making him a perfect candidate to fill the same role for Bedard.
His return should be immensely popular among fans, who loved him during his early-career stint in Chicago — winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 as a 20-year-old — and have lamented his departure for nearly a decade.
Bertuzzi, also 29, tallied 43 points — 21 goals and 22 assists — in 80 games for the Maple Leafs last season, and he should be able to improve upon those numbers with a larger role in Chicago than he had in Toronto (where he averaged 16 minutes of ice time per game).
Back in 2021-22, his final season with the Red Wings, he averaged nearly 20 minutes of ice time and erupted for a career-best 62 points — 30 goals and 32 assists — in 68 games. He does have an injury history, however, having missed most of 2020-21 with a back injury and a sizable chunk of 2022-23 with a wrist injury.
This story will be updated.