IT’S SIGNING DAY FOR HAWKS
Team announces contracts for Highmore, Lankinen, 2 prospects
The uncertain timeline for the rest of the 2019-20 NHL season and the offseason didn’t stop the Blackhawks from announcing four deals Thursday.
Fourth-line forward Matthew Highmore and AHL goalie prospect Kevin Lankinen were signed to affordable two-year deals — with cap hits under $1 million — and prospects Evan Barratt and Andrei Altybarmakyan signed entry-level contracts.
Barratt is the most exciting portion of the announcement.
A 2017 third-round pick, Barratt was one of the best players in Penn State’s elite program the last three years and had moved up to No. 7 in the Chicago Sun-Times’ midseason Hawks prospect rankings.
The 6-foot center is a playmaking wizard who produced highlight goals at every turn in college and had 77 points in 66 games during the last two seasons.
“What separates him is his ability to make very unique plays at game speed,” Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky said in January. “A lot of players can, when no one’s around and no one’s hitting you, do different things with the puck. But he’s able to do it at game speed, and that’s what is really amazing about him.”
Skating ability has long been the knock on Barratt, but he recognized the weakness and worked hard to improve that aspect of his game. He has the skill and vision to become a productive top-nine center at the NHL level.
His entry-level contract is a standard three-year deal with an $870,000 cap hit. He’ll probably start next season in Rockford to transition to the pro game.
Altybarmakyan, 13-character surname and all, also was a 2017 third-round selection — actually chosen 20 picks before Barratt — whose development slowed after his draft year, then bounced back in 2019-20.
The 5-11 winger finally established himself this past season with Sochi of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), tallying 17 points in 49 games. His odds of eventually cementing a role on the Hawks’ roster are not as good as Barratt’s, but his move to North America — on a two-year deal with an $817,500 cap hit — will nonetheless help.
For Highmore and Lankinen, who spent time with the Hawks this season (although Lankinen did not appear in a regular-season game), the news is less surprising but still notable.
Highmore was a quiet breakout player in 2019-20 after missing almost all of 2018-19 recovering from shoulder surgery, cementing himself as a regular in the Hawks’ lineup beginning in mid-December.
Despite his unremarkable stat line of six points in 36 games, his combination of quickness and toughness made him an ideal fourth-line grinder in the speedfocused NHL. Like Lankinen’s, his new contract technically is twoway for 2020-21, but he’s a good bet to retain a role in the NHL.
Lankinen, meanwhile, also will contend for an NHL job, although his fellow competitors are unclear right now.
Collin Delia, Lankinen’s counterpart in Rockford this past season, surely will be in the mix, but he’s the only certainty. Corey Crawford is no guarantee to re-sign as an unrestricted free agent; current backup Malcolm Subban may end up with the shortest Hawks career ever; Robin Lehner could theoretically be brought back as a UFA; another UFA (or two) also could be added.
In other words, Lankinen has no way of knowing whether he’ll be battling Delia for the NHL starter job, battling Delia for the vacant NHL backup job or battling Delia and a new addition for a crowded backup job.
Still, the re-signing means the Hawks — as expected — see Lankinen as part of the puzzle.