In his first full season as a Blackhawk, Richard Panik had a season he will always remember. It’s a season that put him on the map in the NHL. He was well awarded with a two year extension from the Blackhawks worth 2.8 million dollars a year in the next two seasons. Most likely he would of gotten way more if he became a free agent but he wants to be a Blackhawk and the team wants the left winger to stay in Chicago.

This is the Third move the Blackhawks had made since they were swept out of the first round by the Nashville Predators. The front office of the Hawks promised a huge shake up this off season and they started off by firing Joel Quenneville’s long time assistant coach and long time friend Mike Kitchen. Then they traded Darling to the Hurricanes. Now they have extended Richard Panik to an extension that is generous but the Hawks salary cap does not have much wiggle room as they are fully invested in their Stanley cup champion core and some of the youngsters that have been blossoming. Most likely the new expansion team the Las Vegas Golden Knights will probably select Marcus Kruger which will take three million off the cap. We probably will see other moves in which Stan Bowman will want to improve his roster.

The defense did not look well in the playoffs against Nashville. Brent Seabrook could be on the trading block as he struggled in the playoffs and at the end of regular season. I like the way the young guys are coming around but I do think they need a few guys that have net presence and are able to take the rebound and put the puck in the net. Panik is one of those types of guys. They need more guys that bring their lunch box to work. I think this hurt them in the playoffs. Guys like Andrew Shaw, Bickell and Byfuglien were guys that had like 17 goals during the regular season and then rose up in the playoffs. We did not have that this year. I think Andrew Shaw was missed because he did all the dirty grunt work. He rebound for his shots while taking punishment. He would take hits to get his team the power play. He would give hits to protect his Captain or any other guy on the ice that wore the indian head. He was like a grinder like Killer in Slap shot. He even dropped the gloves and went Blades of Steel on the opponent. For Christ sakes he took a puck to the head and still played and finished the game. You need more of those guys to go along with all the other talent they have.

I hope they have some one like a killer or Shaw in the minors that is ready. If they don’t, I hope they make a trade and land someone that has a big body to camp out in front of the net and block the goalie’s view. Push away the defenders and slap the biscuit in the basket.

The Panik move is far the best move of the off season for Stan Bowman. Yes Darling was going to be a free agent and no way we could of afforded him anymore. But some skeptics believed Crawford should of been traded and Darling should of been kept. The jury will still be out on that decision in the next few years. Richard Panik was by far one of the best trades Bowman has made in the recent years. He Gave the Maple leaves Jeremy Morin for Panik as the leaves at the time did not think he was very talented. Panik is a tough physical player that does a lot of different things to make the team better. He can do the dirty work and work the trenches of the battlefield to get some of his goals. Glad to have him on the team for a few more years. I know he will continue to get better as he is only 26 years old. He will grow with the established core and help the team win by doing a little of everything. Let’s improve that defense and add another guy that can be the new killer on the team. Stan Bowman has his work cut out for him this off season. I believe he will rise to the challenge and find a way to make some key moves to get the Hawks back deep into the playoffs and beyond.