Hawks Deal Holdout Wilson, Sign Trio of Free Agents

Another busy week in Chicago as the team continued to shape its roster ahead of training camp. The biggest move was the first one, in which young winger Tom Wilson was sent to San Jose along with Ryan Sproul in exchange for promising prospects John Hayden and Vili Saarijarvi. It is rumoured contract talks with Wilson had turned sour and expedited him being shipped out. GM Semonick would not go into detail however noted "We will not negotiate with a gun to our head, we hope he enjoys watching the playoffs on TV the next few years". The team managed to net a solid haul for the winger however adding two high end prospects to the system.

John Hayden brings a lot of the same elements to the table as Wilson did, minus the pugilistic talents, but with perhaps more offensive upside to his game. A physically mature(6'3 220lb) defensively polished forward with the versatility to play anywhere up front he could among the players to make a very strong push at camp. More likely he will spend a year in the minors before becoming an invaluable swiss army type forward for Chicago. 

The other prospect added, Saarijarvi, could end up being the real prize of this deal. While very much undersized he is also very much a modern day NHL defenceman. He has outstanding offensive upside and plays a very heady game defensively. There are a lot of parallels between his game and that of countryman Sami Vatanen. He may also be closer to NHL ready than some may think.

As for the signings GM Semonick was busy shoring up the Hawks biggest need on the pro team signing two goaltenders. Antti Niemi comes in on a 2 year deal and barring further acquisitions will serve as the primary backup for Martin Jones. A long time starter with a cup ring, Niemi is a perfect fit to backup an upcoming star like Jones, and a great security blanket to have if something goes wrong. He is not expected to handle a heavy workload behind a 65+ game horse like Jones, however adding a player with his experience is a great move for the team. The Hawks also bolstered their depth signing Alex Lyon to a 1 year deal. Coming off a strong rookie pro season and decorated college career Lyon has late bloomer upside and could prove to be a valuable asset down the road.

The final move was signing Sean Kuraly, a player who had long been on the teams radar. "Sean was a player we identifed several years ago as a potential draft target, we are extremely thrilled to add him to our organization via free agency and believe he has considerable upside" said a team source. Kuraly projects to be a bottom-6 player at the NHL level, and should compete for a spot in the near future. He has NHL size as well as excellent skating ability, two things key in the up-tempo style the team plays.