The Chicago Blackhawks continued making moves on Thursday night, sending a second-round pick (No. 38 overall) pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek and a first-round pick (No. 25 overall).
aaaaaaand we’re back on the clock pic.twitter.com/etHUgQpX8D
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 8, 2022
This trade had been speculated for weeks, with the Maple Leafs needing to shed salary cap space and the Blackhawks, prior to this trade, not having an NHL goaltender under contract for next season. Mrazek just finished the first season of a three-year deal worth $3.8 million annually that was signed on July 28, 2021. He struggled during his lone season in Toronto, though, posting a 12-6-0 record, .888 save percentage and 3.34 goals-against average. Mrazek also posted a minus-9.6 goals-saved above average mark last season, a statistic from the Hockey Reference website which attempts to quantify how above — or, in Mrazek’s case, below — league average a goaltender performed during a season.
This transaction seems to fill needs for both teams. The Maple Leafs get some much-needed cap relief while the Blackhawks add a goaltender and jump up 13 spots in the 2022 NHL Draft. They later used that pick to select defenseman Sam Rinzel, who most recently played with the USHL’s Waerloo Black Hawks.