Blackhawks Sign Five Players Including Finnish Goalie Not Named Niemi
On the heals on signing 2006 second round pick Igor Makarov, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed five more players to contracts. The Hawks announced that forwards Evan Brophey, Nathan Davis and Hugh Jessiman, defenseman Jassen Cullimore and goaltender Hannu Toivonen to one-year contracts.
While Brophey, Davis and Cullimore all played their full 2010 seasons for the Hawks AHL affiliate team the Rockford Ice Hogs, Jessiman and Toivonen have come in from outside the organization. Jessiman played for the Milwaukee Admirals and had career best marks in goals (20) and points (42). Toivonen, the Finnish goalie, was acquired form the St. Louis Blues on March 1st and played in 5 games for the Ice Hogs before signing with the organization today.
The big news from the Blackhawks during NHL free agency had been players leaving the organization. However, today's signings are very indicative of the prospect focused, salary cap crunch mindset for GM Stan Bowman and the rest of the front office.
