After the negligible contribution that a player like Chris Kunitz had on the Blackhawks just last season, I would have thought that younger would have been the direction they chose.
However, when reports of Erik Karlsson’s 8-year, $92 million deal came out and that it might come at the cost of their captain, Joe Pavelski, immediately there was rumbling that the Blackhawks could be interested in the 34-year-old (turns 35 this offseason) Pavelski. He, along with other Sharks, could be something that the Blackhawks pursue after the Karlsson extension.
In Mark Lazerus’ column in The Athletic, he points out that if Pavelski were to go to the open market, there would be interest between Chicago and Pavelski, who played his college hockey at the University of Wisconsin.