The Chicago Blackhawks kicked off a pivotal offseason by keeping forward Ryan Donato from reaching free agency by agreeing to an extension. He was the only pending unrestricted free agent worth keeping.
The Blackhawks do have a couple of pending restricted free agents worth keeping around. Three to be exact, and they are reportedly going to be extended a qualifying offer.
The Athletic's Blackhawks beat writers, Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus, reported (subscription required) that Louis Crevier, Wyatt Kaiser, and Arvid Soderblom will get a qualifying offer. They also noted that forward Philipp Kurashev will not receive one.
Bringing Crevier, Kaiser, and Soderblom back is the right call.
Although determining how long to keep both will be an interesting decision. Crevier should be brought back on a one-year deal as he has shown he is the ideal seventh defenseman on the roster. He has good size, but is not as talented as the other young defenders.
Crevier is the perfect player to have as the healthy scratch on most nights. He can provide some solid minutes if needed in case of injury.
Kaiser might be worth giving a two-year deal, much like what the Hawks gave Lukas Reichel last offseason. Kaiser still has not shown enough to prove he is a long-term piece. He will be 23 next season, so just in case he does break out next season, it would be nice to avoid being pressed into making a long-term commitment after just one season.
Even if he has an inconsistent season, it would be good business to give him one more prove-it season in 2026-27, since he is still so early in his NHL career. That is what it looks like the team is doing with Reichel. Although having that extra year also allows the Hawks to still keep his trade asset status since another team could make an offer, thinking a change of scenery is needed.
The same plan should be followed with Kaiser. Make no mistake about it, Kaiser must show something consistently next season.
Soderblom did that in goal this season after it was expected he would be spending the entire season in Rockford. If Laurent Brossoit's late offseason knee surgery had not happened, Soderblom would not have gotten one last opportunity to be an NHL goalie after having such a terrible 2023-24 season.
He took advantage of the second chance and proved he is a capable No. 2 NHL netminder. If Brossoit has fully recovered from the two knee operations that kept him out for the season, it will be interesting to see what the Hawks do with their backup goaltender situation.
Maybe the team could deal Brossoit, considering he was one of the better backup goalies before last season. It was one reason the Blackhawks signed him to replace Soderblom in the first place.
Coming off a knee issue could lessen his market, so maybe the Hawks could choose to trade Soderblom for a better return, since he will be 26 next season. Soderblom should be signed for two years to provide some short-term stability behind Spencer Knight if the front office decides to go with him as the backup goalie.
Either way, Soderblom has to be officially signed to go with those options.
Time to move on from Philipp Kurashev.
No player regressed more than Kurashev this past season. He went from an emerging young player with 18 goals and 36 assists in 2023-24 to being healthy scratched regularly.
He went from skating on the top line with Connor Bedard last season to being lucky to get ice time on the fourth line during this recent campaign.
It was such a disappointment. Even if last season was a career year, the hope was that he would provide some speed and scoring on the third line. Instead, he scored just seven goals and seven assists.
The Blackhawks have plenty of young forwards in the farm system to easily replace Kurashev. That is why if he does rediscover what made him so good in 2023-24 with another team, it will be fine. Save some money and go with a young player who has a clean slate, not some forward with a now documented history of severe regression.
