Jan Rutta has signed a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

decent trade bait if things don't work out next year and they decide to retool and be sellers.

The Hawks giving $3.45 million to Gus and Rutta is nuts. Trying the same thing and expecting the same results is insanity. Stan can find talent like none other, but he is terrible with the salary cap. 6th and 7th D-men can be had for the league minimum, so this is simply a waste of limited cap space.

I was not really thrilled with this move. Rutta mainly has been a 3rd pair defenseman and his role is a top 6. I don’t like that a top 6 defenseman is getting Matt Hunwick, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller type money

Was it a good signing? not for 2.25 per.

I was open to bringing him back but at $1,500,000 as a #5 defenseman.

I mean he is a .50 ppg defenseman.

It's really hard to gauge a lot of the Hawks defenseman because the defense is absolutely terrible.

Yeah, these are (2) tough ones to judge. Gustaffson was probably a bit expensive, but he really isn't much higher than an ELC. This $2.25M is probably what Rutta would have gotten on the open market. he is a .5 ppg player in his rookie year. Sure he's 27, but there is still an adjustment to the NHL. Someone would have taken a flyer on him over the summer to this amount. He and Forsling had a stretch of games that looked really REALLY good. Just as @HockeyWise mentioned...a .5ppg player next year @ the TDL when Kempny and Holden got 3rds...easily a low 2nd. I'm fine with it. BUT yes @ianhanseter That is 100% Bowman's drug...giving away too much money... With that said this signing is still better than the Panik signing...so maybe it's a slow process to get better.

don't understand what the fuss is about. it's a one year deal and CHI won't contend next year - at 50% (retained salary as added selling point) his cap hit will be around what? 300k? at the deadline. if he plays a solid year, he could fetch a decent return. this contract won't hurt anyone.

€: alright, looked at the Hawks cap situation. this will definitely hurt. how are they going to get a full roster?

Well, Gustafsson can be burred for cap relief. I think what Gustafsson got was the minimum of what he could be offered, he is an RFA, but RFA's are still guaranteed raises in every contract schedule until they become UFA's. Obviously Rutta is a UFA, he has put up near .50 ppg which is good for a defenseman obviously, and he plays 20 minutes a night. I think he should have got 1.75 or 2 per.... I mean it's kind of difficult to rationalize those 2 signings BUT just as long as Bowman signs experienced vets this summer I'm fine with a #6 like Gustafsson being resigned.... Gustafsson does have plenty of potential and a decent ceiling.. I think Gustafsson could be a legitimate #4 at some point down the road but for right now he's better off, improving his game, playing sheltered minutes and learning from legitimate NHL'ers... Obviously Rutta is Rutta - he's not going to get any better... Rutta is an adequate #5 that can step in to play top 4 minutes if needed, but I would really like to see Bowman sign (or trade for) a guy this summer to fill that role.

The Hawks have plenty of cap space.... They have 17 players signed with 20 million remaining in cap... All they have left are Hinostroza, Duclair & Hayden to re-sign - those guys are RFA's and the 3 should only cost Bowman 6-7 combined... Then Bowman has to sign Sikura, but he will get a 925k ELC....... 17+4 =21.

So Bowman will have 11-12 million to spend on 4 UFA's come July 1st, which isn't bad at all - Bowman can get the depth he needs to drastically improve this team with 12 million.

Of course you can pretty much count on Bowman trading Anisimov this summer.

The Hawks will be fine...

I think that is a horrible signing?? Not for 2,300,000. I don't even really like the guy to be honest. But what way to spend some cap.