The Chicago Blackhawks made a very nice signing on Friday

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a weird spot. Nobody knows what the direction of the team is right now and we won’t until the draft is done and moves are made for the 2022-23 season. With a new general manager in Kyle Davidson, it is going to be interesting to see what he does.

Earlier in the week, the Blackhawks made an interesting move as they signed Jeff Greenberg to be the associate general manager. He has spent the last 11 years in the front office with the Chicago Cubs, most recently serving as the assistant GM to Jed Hoyer. He was an initial candidate to be hired for the complete general manager job but Davidson was ultimately the guy.

On Friday, they made another signing as they extended Sam Lafferty for another two years. It is a two-year contract with a $1.15 million dollar cap hit. It is a really nice deal for him as he has proven to be a very valuable bottom-six forward on this team.

Back in January, the Hawks acquired Lafferty in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens took Alexander Nylander in the deal. So far, it has worked out for Chicago as Lafferty has a new jump to his game right now.

Sam Lafferty deserves a contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks.

With the Penguins, he only had two assists for two points in 10 games played. He was an okay role player for them before this year but just couldn’t find his game in 2021-22. However, the numbers have swayed back in the right direction with the Hawks.

In 45 games played since the trade, he has five goals and six assists. There is one more game to go at the time of his signing but the Hawks saw enough to bring him back for more in the coming years. It won’t be a bad idea as long as the coaching staff uses him the right way.

He isn’t going to be a star or anything like that but he can be a solid forward playing bottom-six minutes on this team as they try to retool. He deserves this opportunity after the way he has played in the recent weeks.