It’s been a long two years between the Chicago Blackhawks drafting forward Nick Schmaltz and the Blackhawks signing Schmaltz. June 27, 2014, to June 20, 2016, was a long “if and when” time period for the Blackhawks organization, its fans and Schmaltz’s camp to wait for an entry-level deal to be put together.
The deal that the Blackhawks and Schmaltz agreed to is the top-end entry-level deal, three years at $925,000 AAV, and it looks as if the straw that broke the camel’s back to get the deal done was the Teuvo Teravainen trade to the Carolina Hurricanes.