Blackhawks News: Philipp Kurashev’s arbitration case is settled

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team in transition. After drafting Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, things are looking much better in terms of their future.

They do need to fill out the rest of their roster as well. Bedard is the new face of the franchise but they still need to build around him. They have already made sure to add talent for him to hit the ground running once he reaches the NHL.

The team also needs good players to help them create some depth. One of those players is going to be Philipp Kurashev. Of course, Kurashev is not a star or anything like that but he is a solid middle-six forward.

He is best suited on a good third line which is what he’ll likely be doing in 2023-24. The thing is that we didn’t know what his contract was going to look like because it was taken to arbitration.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a very interesting player in Philipp Kurashev.

It was hard to determine what Kurashev was worth in terms of dollars and terms. He was a fourth-round pick (120th overall) by the Blackhawks in 2018 after playing his junior career with the Quebec Remparts.

In 2022-23, his third in the NHL, he set a career-high in goals (9), assists (16), and points (25). He also played in 70 games out of 82. Those aren’t blistering numbers but they show improvement. It also didn’t help that he played a depth role on one of the worst teams in the league.

He should actually have some decent linemates this year which means his production will be even better. All of that has to play into how much he is worth.

Well, a decision was announced on Sunday. Kurashev is going to be making 2.25 million dollars on a two-year deal.

That is something that is in favor of the player over the team. The Hawks got to decide the term of the contract because it went to arbitration but the average annual value looks more like what Kurashev wanted than what the team wanted.

This is good for the Hawks still because they are getting a good player for some depth over the next two years. We’ll see what his career becomes beyond that.