The Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Michal Rozsival and forward Brandon Mashinter to one-year contracts, the team announced Thursday. The moves come before the opening of NHL free agency on Friday, which should be a wild day as teams scramble to get players locked up.
Rozsival’s cap hit is $600,000 and Mashinter’s comes in at $575,000, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
There are two ways to view this move. On the one side, the Hawks desperately need to fill the back end of their rosters with the smallest salaries possible. Rozsival and Mashinter making just $1.175 million combined does potentially open up a little extra money for GM Stan Bowman to offer to free agents. On the flip side, the savings would mean Rozsival and Mashinter are on the roster for another season, and they didn’t exactly do a ton to inspire confidence in 2015-16. Depth isn’t the worst thing to have, but you don’t really want to see guys like this getting playing time over intriguing young players.
Last season, Rozsival recorded one goal and 12 assists in 51 regular season games. He looked gassed by the playoffs, when he failed to record a point in four games. Mashinter, a longtime journeyman, had four goals and one assist in 41 regular season games. He also appeared in two playoff games and failed to record a point.