The Blackhawks announced late Monday afternoon that they had acquired aging 36 year old Center Michal Handzus and his formerly flowing mop from the San Jose Sharks for a 4th round draft pick, which is basically nothing but a bag of pucks and dirty jock straps. The pick was originally acquired from San Jose with the pick that became Brandon Whitney, in exchange for a 4th round pick in last summer's draft. Handzus was a member of the Blackhawks in 2006/07 for 8 games, before injury took him out for the year. He had 3 goals and 5 assists in his 8 games, but he was never seen in a Hawks uniform again.
Ladies and Gents, welcome to this year's Brendan Morrison. He's bigger and slower than Morrison but the guy does two things well, penalty kill and win faceoffs. You can expect him to be shifted up and down the lineup, when he's not scratched, but I'd expect to see him mostly on the fourth line. He's just not better than Bolland, Shaw or Kruger on a regular basis.
The 6'5' 220 lb Handzus came with a whopping 1 goal and 1 assist, in 28 Sharks games and a brutal minus 9. Clearly his best days are far behind him. This is a minor move in the grand scheme. Almost a waiver pickup.
