What Does Michal Rozsival Signing Mean for Chicago Blackhawks?

This just in. The Chicago Blackhawks have just signed former Phoenix Coyote Defenseman Michal Rozsival to a one-year deal that looks to be in the $2 million range.

My initial action to this inking was to simply yawn.  I mean, the thought of signing a 34-year-old, depth defenseman to a one-year deal seems like another dull move in a lackluster summer for Stan Bowman. And maybe it’s,”hey spend all the cap space you can before the lockout.”

But on second thought, there are three defenseman that make up the the “big” signings for the ‘Hawks this summer: Johnny Oduya, Sheldon Brookbank and now Rozsival.  Add one more to the mix and someone who was a regular for the Phoenix Coyotes in their postseason run, and now there may be some more shifting along the ‘Hawks' blue line.

To play the guessing game or devil’s advocate or what have you, I would imagine Niklas Hjalmarsson is still being shopped and I would not discount Nick Leddy or Dylan Olsen being moved for some juice up front.

This could make way for young puck moving defenseman Adam Clendening, who is not far away from being an NHL regular. While he is a different defenseman than Leddy and brings a unique dynamic, he’ll be a gamer in the not-so-distant future. Plus the return you could get right now on trading a player like Leddy is significant.

Of course, this could be similar to the Sami Lepisto signing of a year ago (yuck), but don’t be so quick to overlook the fact that this does create somewhat of a crowded defensive corps.

Thanks for reading.

Article originally published on www.insiderrumors.com

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