Shortly after the draft wrapped up yesterday afternoon the Blackhawks finally announced a trade. Unfortunately for the fanbase, it was nowhere near the one they were expecting.
The #Blackhawks have acquired forward Ryan Haggerty from the Rangers in exchange for goaltender Antti Raanta. Info: http://t.co/ARg59eM6ae
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 27, 2015Not exactly the thrilling move that we all expected, but a bit of a surprising development. I thought the Blackhawks would hang onto Raanta in case of an injury to Crawford or Darling. He has a year left on his contract, at a low cap hit. Raanta's waiver status had expired and he would have to pass through waivers, if he was called up. This could have been a big reason for the move.
The Blackhawks now have no goalies signed, beyond Crawford and Darling. Mac Carruth is a restricted free agent, and will probably be qualified. Swedish netminder Anders Nilsson, acquired in the Nick Leddy trade, is in the KHL but it has been reported that he is uninterested in playing any further in the AHL. The Blackhawks also have the rights to Russian Goalie Ivan Nalimov, but he has a year remaining on his KHL deal. Ohio State Goalie, and 2012 7th round draft pick Matt Tomkins doesn't seem to figure in the mix, and is still unsigned.
This means the Blackhawks will have to make a move, or two, to sign a goaltender. Previously, the Blackhawks signed low risk and "under-the-radar" players like Raants, Antti Niemi, Carter Hutton, Michael Leighton, Scott Darling, and Ray Emery. All of which have worked out in some capacity.
In the deal, the Blackhawks acquired forward Ryan Haggerty. Haggerty is a 22 year old, 6'0" 200 lb, righthanded, Right Wing. He was signed as a college free agent in 2014, and played last season with the Rangers AHL affiliate, Hartford. These are his career stats:
Not bad for a first year player in the AHL. Could be some depth in Rockford to take the place of the players moving up to the Blackhawks. Honestly, he sounds a lot like Kyle Baun to me.
Here is a college highlight reel of some of his goals. Enjoy:
