The Blackhawks are signing beginning goalie Petr Mrázek to a two-year extension, The Athletic’s Scott Powers confirmed Wednesday. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report the information and added the deal is anticipated to return in simply north of $8M ($4M AAV). The ultimate contract will are available with an $8.5M whole worth and $4.25M AAV, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Mrázek, 31, is having fun with his greatest season in fairly a while. He first joined the Blackhawks in a 2022 draft-day cope with the Maple Leafs. Toronto moved down 13 picks from the late first to the early second spherical to shed Mrázek’s three-year, $11.4M ($3.8M AAV) contract after his first season with the Maple Leafs was hampered by accidents and poor play.
On the time, it was rightfully considered as a cap-dump transfer. He made solely 20 appearances (18 begins) with Toronto in 2021-22, posting a subpar .888 SV% and -9.6 targets saved above common after a three-year run of first rate play with the Hurricanes. Mrázek had proven the power to be an inconsistent however high-ceiling starter earlier in his profession with the Pink Wings, although, and if he might stay wholesome, he had the potential to return to kind.
Final season’s preliminary exhibiting in Chicago was a marginal enchancment however nonetheless disappointing. Nobody anticipated Mrázek to avoid wasting a workforce with Max Domi as their main point-getter, however his .894 SV% and -6.3 targets saved above anticipated (MoneyPuck) had been nonetheless decrease than a league-average goalie would have posted in his state of affairs. That’s improved starkly this season, although, as his SV% has jumped to .907, and he’s saving extra targets than common for the primary time since his injury-shortened 2020-21 marketing campaign, his last season with Carolina. His 3.7 targets saved above anticipated in 32 video games doesn’t put him within the Vezina Trophy dialog, however it’s a formidable turnaround for a veteran goalie on a bottom-five defensive workforce.