The Chicago Blackhawks took care of Connor Bedard already, which was their biggest to-do list item of the summer. He was one of four restricted free agents in the organization heading into the summer. Bedard’s contract was complicated due to injury and offer-sheet drama from around the league, but they settled on a five-year deal with an average annual value of $15 million.
Another one of Chicago’s free agents, Drew Commesso, signed his extension to avoid arbitration. Commesso’s deal is a bit more complicated. The first year of this two-year extension is a two-way contract. The salary is $800K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL. The second year is a one-way deal with a salary of $900K. His cap hit is $875K. When this deal expires, Commesso will be an RFA again with arbitration rights.
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This deal sets it up so that the Blackhawks could make Commesso the full-time backup for Spencer Knight after the 2026-27 season ends, which lines up with Arvid Soderblom’s expiring contract.
The other two RFA’s that the Blackhawks entered the summer with are Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro. They are both defensemen with up-and-down NHL experience.
In 2023-24, Korchinski played his entire age-19 season in the NHL, which accounted for 76 games. In those games, he had 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points, while dealing with the development curve that comes with being a teenager playing defense in the NHL.
Having him play in the NHL at that time was a mistake made by the Blackhawks. Since then, they’ve tried to correct that mistake by mostly using him in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. Korchinski has only played in 29 NHL games over the two seasons since.
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In the AHL, he has been mostly great, including an All-Star Game MVP. Due to the interesting start that he has had to his career, Korchinski is a hard player to place a financial value on. There will likely be a two-way deal coming for this 22-year-old, but for how much and how long remains to be seen.
As for Del Mastro, he was a 4th-round pick (105th overall), which lowers the pressure on him compared to a first-round pick like Korchinski. It shouldn’t matter, but it’s natural. He has been a slightly better defender at the NHL level, but his skating and puck skills don’t match those of Korchinski.
Del Mastro has a higher floor in the NHL, which makes him a valuable young defenseman at the age of 23, but other young players at the position have passed him by in recent years, similarly to Korchinski.
Neither player is going to command a ton of money over a long period of time. There is no leverage there because of their slower development path. There is plenty of money to be made down the road; they just have a lot of work to do.
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