The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Monday afternoon that they had come to an agreement with forward Ryan Carpenter on a three-year deal worth $3 million dollars over the course of the deal. Quickly following Carpenter, the Blackhawks announced a two-year, $2 million dollar extension with David Kampf.
Blackhawks sign Carpenter, Kampf to multi-year deals
With the Blackhawks making a number of trades leading up to the beginning of the NHL free agency window opening, the holes that were glaring on the roster were beginning to be filled. With Calvin de Haan, Olli Maatta and Andrew Shaw coming into the fold, there was little left for Stan Bowman and the front office to do besides shore-up deals with Kampf and Brendan Perlini. With the bottom-six forward position still a question mark for Chicago, the Blackhawks signed forward Ryan Carpenter to a three-year deal just over a half hour into the opening of the free agency period and followed it up with a two-year extension for Kampf.
Carpenter took the fifth most faceoffs for Vegas last year. He had a 52.61 overall winning percentage (306 faceoffs taken), 53.05 percentage in 5-on-5 (262 faceoffs) and 50 percent on the PK (30 faceoffs). The Blackhawks will likely be looking for him to take more next season.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) July 1, 2019
Carpenter has skated in 132 career NHL games, tallying 16 goals and 37 points in parts of five seasons with the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights. He holds a 50.6 percent mark at the faceoff circle, winning 52.6 percent of faceoffs last year with the Golden Knights. He averaged 12:37 of ice-time per game with Vegas last season, with an average of 1:15 of shorthanded ice time per game.
Chicago could have been a playoff contender had they not had the league’s worst penalty killing units last season. Carpenter is expected to fill a bottom-six centerman role with the Blackhawks and is a player who is known to win faceoffs and be an asset on the penalty-kill. At a $1 million dollar annual value, Carpenter can be a cheap, depth option for the Blackhawks to improve on their awful penalty kill and their 19th-ranked faceoff percentage (49.5) in the NHL last season.
Nov 23, 2018; Tampa, FL, USA: Chicago Blackhawks center David Kampf chases the puck during the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. (Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)
As for Kampf, the Blackhawks did not extend a qualifying offer to him, but remained in contract talks. Kampf ended up with a two-year deal worth $2 million dollars over the length of the contract. In 109 NHL games with the Blackhawks, Kampf has eight goals and 30 points. He averaged 13:55 of ice-time last season with Chicago in a fourth-line role. He is expected to return to that role in the bottom six with Chicago, along with newly acquired Carpenter.
While there is still work to be done for the Blackhawks’ front office, the major moves have been made. With the money being thrown around in free agency, Bowman decided to go the trade route for major moves and smart, budgeted moves with restricted and unrestricted free agency.