Alexander Salak gets new deal
The Chicago Blackhawks have signed goalie prospect Alexander Salak to a two-year deal worth about $600,000 per year, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The Blackhawks have yet to make an official announcement regarding the deal.
Salak, 24, was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers in February for Jack Skille and other prospects. The Hawks also acquired Michael Frolik in the trade.
Salak made his NHL debut in 2009, appearing in two games for the Panthers. He was loaned to Färjestad BK of the Swedish Elite League for the 2010-11 season.
The deal is a one-way contract, according to the source. It makes Salak the front runner to be Corey Crawford's back-up. Crawford signed a new three-year contract extension on Thursday.
Salak's cap hit was $1.3, so now that frees up another $700k and gives a good estimation into who may be backing up Crawford for the next two years.
I'm also fooling around with CapGeek right now, and I set the Cap at $62, even though I think it will go higher than that. Got rid of Hjalmarsson, brought in somebody for $1.5 mil (just used Sopel
), gave Campoli $1.7, Frolik $1.5, and Brouwer $1.2. That leaves me 20 players and I still have $4,931,966 in cap space. My point is that if the Cap goes higher than 62, which a lot of people are saying it will, and the Hawks can get rid of Hjalmarsson and bring in somebody cheaper to do his job (safety net for Campbell) then I think the Hawks can have a lot of space to sign a real good second line center or some wingers.