Blackhawks add goaltending help on free agency day one

The Chicago Blackhawks have had some good goaltending in the past. With guys like Corey Crawford and Marc-Andre Fleury in the net for various amounts of time, there wasn’t much of an issue for a while. However, that is going to be a problem going forward.

There are some nice young goalies in the system but it is going to take a long time for them to get into the NHL and be impactful players. There is a lot of development that needs to happen if they are ever going to become NHL goalies to some compacity.

Well, the Hawks have been bringing in some players to be stop gaps for that position lately. During the 2022 NHL Draft, Petr Mrazek came in via a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is probably going to be the starter for right now unless something crazy happens.

On day one of the 2022 free agent frenzy, the Chicago Blackhawks brought in another goalie. They announced that they have signed Alex Stalock to a one-year deal worth 750k. This is a good move for a team just looking to add some players for cheap.

They aren’t trying to win with Stalock. In fact, they are trying to lose. It isn’t a lock that he sees much NHL action but there is a good chance that he plays at least a little bit. He has had a pretty nice NHL career but was never able to become a legit full-time starter.

The Chicago Blackhawks added some goalie depth on Wednesday afternoon.

Stalock spent the first year of his career as the backup for the San Jose Sharks. He then spent the next four with the Minnesota Wild where he was mostly a really good backup goalie. Unfortunately, he only played in one game in 2021-22 as he rejoined the Sharks and it didn’t go well.

Now, for the first time in his career that he hasn’t been with Minnesota (his hometown, where he went to college, and where he played for the Wild) or San Jose (the team that drafted and developed him before playing there). He can only hope that this new organization helps him.

At 34 years old, he certainly isn’t going to be the savior of anyone but he should be able to play some okay games in the NHL and AHL this year. With the Blackhawks going in the direction that they are going in, this is a move that could be smart for them.