Blackhawks look to KHL to fill salary cap holes with Tikhonov
The Chicago Blackhawks have needed to think differently about the free agency period than most teams. See the trade of Brandon Saad to Columbus as a prime example.
Tasked with keeping a highly-priced championship-level core together, the salary cap strapped Hawks went to Russia to sign 2008 Phoenix Coyotes first-round draft pick Viktor Tikhonov, who has been in the Kontinental Hockey League since 2011-12. Last season he had 24 points in 49 games for SKA St. Petersburg.
The contract is for one year at $1.04 million
And if the name sounds familiar, it should – because he is the grandson of legendary USSR hockey coach Viktor Tikhonov.
In the NHL, he had 16 points in 61 games in 2008-09 with the Coyotes. His last North American season with the San Antonio Rampage he had 33 points in 60 games.
The Blackhawks have to spend their money wisely this summer. At one year and $1.04 million that’s a decent deal for a 27-year-old who has played pro hockey before.
What’s his overall potential in the NHL?
Per Today’s Slapshot
What has to be considered, of course, is that Tikhonov is likely a role player at the NHL level.
Eh, when you have Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews, what more do you really need?
According to Slava Malamud, Tikhonov was making $3.3 million in the Kontinental Hockey League, so he left some money on the table to come back to the NHL.
Tikhonov wasn’t the only KHL player to sign an NHL deal. Pittsburgh signed forward Sergei Plotnikov to an entry-level contract. Also, Winnipeg brought back Alexander Burmistrov.
Nashville signed KHL scoring wizard Steve Moses in April.
Especially with the salary cap going up just a smidge to $71.4 million, if you can get one of these guys into the lineup cheaply, why not do so?
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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