The Blackhawks signed goaltender Collin Delia to a three-year contract extension worth $3 million that runs through the 2021-22 season, the team announced Monday morning. The first two years of the contract are worth $750,000 per year then $1.1 million in the final year, with a $400,000 signing bonus.
Delia is 6-2-3 with a 2.98 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 12 games this season since being called up to the NHL in December. The 24-year-old undrafted free agent was in the final year of a two-year, $1.85 million deal and was set to become a restricted free agent this summer.
Prior to his call up, Delia was 7-5-4 with a 2.34 GAA and .933 save percentage in 17 AHL games. At the time of his promotion, he ranked among the top five of AHL goalies in save percentage (first), saves (second, 540) and GAA (third).
Delia is the only goalie in the Blackhawks’ system locked in after the 2019-20 season. As of now, the Blackhawks will need to protect him in the 2021 expansion draft so he’s not eligible to be selected by the yet-to-be named Seattle franchise.
Corey Crawford’s six-year deal worth $6 million annually that carries modified no-movement and -trade clauses expires in 2020, and 34-year-old veteran Cam Ward is on a one-year deal worth $3 million. AHL goalies Anton Forsberg and Kevin Lankinen are set to become RFAs this year and in 2020, respectively.
Chicago now has five roster players with RFA status: defensemen Carl Dahlstrom, Gustav Forsling and Slater Koekkoek and forwards David Kampf and Brendan Perlini. With Forsberg, the non-roster players with RFA status is at eight: Victor Ejdsell, Luke Johnson, Anthony Louis, Matheson Iacopelli, Jacob Nilsson, Dylan Sikura and defenseman Blake Hillman.