Over the last couple of weeks, there has been speculation about the future of forward Ilya Mikheyev. His contract with the Chicago Blackhawks is set to expire on July 1st.
Mikheyev is a candidate to be re-signed because he was a solid middle-six forward for Chicago during some tough days. However, his earned rate and term may be something that the Blackhawks don’t want to hand a player in his 30s at this stage of the rebuild.
Report: Chicago Blackhawks Have Ilya Mikheyev’s Negotiating Rights On Trade Block
Report: Chicago Blackhawks Have Ilya Mikheyev’s Negotiating Rights On Trade Block Ilya Mikheyev’s negotiating rights have been put on the trade block by the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Last week, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on “32 Thoughts: The Podcast” that the Blackhawks were shopping his rights.
“I guess it was let known across the league that Chicago probably isn’t going to be able to sign Ilya Mikheyev,” Friedman said. “His rights are available if any team wants to talk to him in advance of free agency.”
On Friday, Friedman had another report to attach to this story. According to him, on the latest episode of the podcast, the NHL does not want teams doing that.
Friedman said that allowing an upcoming UFA to speak with other teams without first trading their rights is against the rules. He also reported that a memo was sent out reminding all 32 teams that doing so can result in a penalty of up to $5 million, suspension, and the loss of draft picks.
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“The league’s like, no, that’s not allowed,” Friedman said on letting Mikheyev speak to other teams before trading his rights. “If you want to straight-up trade his rights to another team for a pick, you do that. You can’t just give him permission to talk to everybody.”
There used to be a “tampering period” before free agency, during which players were allowed to speak with other organizations, but that is gone. Friedman did say that the league wants it back, but the player’s organization isn’t a fan.
“Now, I haven’t seen this memo, but I’ll tell you one other thing that was interesting about it: that it was hinted in that memo that the league would like to bring back that interview period, but the Players Association is against it.”
The Blackhawks certainly don’t want any fines, suspensions, or loss of draft picks, so one should expect them to comply with this memo sent out by the league. They either need to blindly trade Mikheyev to a team willing to take the chance or re-sign him themselves.
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Mikheyev fit in perfectly with the Blackhawks as a penalty killing winger who is solid defensively at even strength, and is good for 15-20 goals per season with absolutely no power play time. Someone like him is perfect for what they are trying to do.
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