Chicago Blackhawks 2022 Free Agent Signings to Help Rebuild

The Hawks are 26th in team defense giving up 3.50 goals a game, while only scoring 2.63. While the porous defense cannot be completely Lankinen's fault, his contract is expiring and it's time to look for an improvement.

A good journeyman goalie is Scott Wedgewood. He has a career 22-32-11 record with a .905 save percentage and a 3.12 goals-against-average. Lankinen has similar stats with a 21-24-11 record, carrying a .902 SV%, and a 3.23 GAA.

There's just something about Wedgewood's play that should be seen in a starter's role. He got traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Dallas Stars recently. His salary is just $825,000 and he would be a reasonable addition to the Hawks.

Depending on what may happen with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dylan Strome, and Dominik Kubalik, the team may need some free agent forwards additionally. How do you replace Toews and Kane? You don't, but some free agents who could help in that regard could be:

Max Domi - $5.3 million cap hit. 99 goals, 211 assists in 489 career NHL games.

Evander Kane - $2.11 million cap hit. 16 goals, 12 assists in 32 games this season.

Or if the they want to swing for the fences, there's always Johnny Gaudreau.
His $6.75 million contract, plus whatever increase he deserves may be too steep, but he's out there.

Gaudreau has 204 goals, 385 assists in 589 games. He's fast, and would definitely fit right in with the young prospects like Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach.

Without knowing the outcome of Toews and Kane's future over the summer, freeing up $21 million between the two would definitely give them the cap space to give Gaudreau whatever he wants. In free agency, the highest bidder usually wins out.

Even without the senario of losing Toews and Kane's enormous contracts, the Hawks will have about $22 million in cap space but also have six unrestricted free agents and six restricted free agents to think about.

Let's just say the Blackhawks' roster will look completely different next season.

The summer will be a time of change for the Windy City boys... whether it's for the good or not, is yet to be determined.