Blackhawks sign six NHL free agents including Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Laurent Brossoit
The Blackhawks opened NHL free agency Monday with a barrage of signings, 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 Brossoit 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 added 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.
And finally, the Hawks re-signed forward Joey Anderson to a two-year contract with an $800,000 cap hit, keeping him in the fold despite not issuing him a qualifying offer Sunday.
Although general manager Kyle Davidson unsurprisingly wasn't a player in the sweepstakes surrounding the top free agents of the summer, he was one of the most active GMs in the league in terms of total transactions. Coach Luke Richardson said the phones in the Hawks' front offices were ringing off the hook Monday morning.
"[We're] excited to start trying to move this organization forward now," Richardson said. "It was a tough two years at times, but there were times we saw some really good signs. So now take those small signs and put some execution around them to make sure we can start moving forward."
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.
"He just thrived with a good skating team in Carolina," Richardson said. "We hope he brings that mentality here. The way that Carolina plays is great."
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.
"Bertuzzi is that guy who’s around the net," Richardson said. "He’s hard to handle and he scores greasy goals there. He’s one of those guys you think you have knocked to the ice and, even then, he’s going to score a goal."
Brossoit, 31, has never played more than 24 games in a single season — due to being buried behind some excellent goalies during previous stops with the Golden Knights and Jets — but has delivered excellent results each of the last two seasons, posting a .927 save percentage in both.
"It's going to be two veteran guys that are solid," Richardson said of the goaltending duo, mentioning how Brossoit and Mrazek's communication skills should help the Hawks' young defensemen in front of them.
Martinez, who turns 37 later this month, is nearing the end of a stellar career with the Kings and Knights but still has some gas left in the tank, having averaged more than 19 minutes per game last season (while tallying 17 points in 55 games).
Forever known for his Cup-clinching overtime goal in Los Angeles in 2014, Martinez could help stabilize the second pairing next to Kevin Korchinski. Martinez spent a good amount of time in Vegas with Shea Theodore, who just happens to be one of Korchinski's longtime role models.
Maroon, 36, and Smith, 34, are also well past their primes but provide some experienced, grizzled fourth-line depth — replacing the likes of Taylor Raddysh (who signed with the Capitals), MacKenzie Entwistle and Reese Johnson.
Maroon, who has basically become a toughness mercenary in recent years, tallied 16 points in 51 games for the Wild and Bruins last season. Smith chipped in 20 points in 75 games with the Stars but is only two years removed from a 36-point campaign in Boston.
"[Maroon is] old-school tough," Richardson said. "Sometimes the guys that don't have to get into fights or physical altercations because of their reputation are even more valuable because it just settles everything down. I can send him on the ice at any time if things are getting out of control."
This story will be updated.