Let’s start with some thoughts about Philipp Kurashev winning his arbitration case with the Blackhawks on Sunday. In case you missed it, Kurashev was awarded a two-year contract with a $2.25 million AAV yesterday. Because Kurashev asked for arbitration, 🃏the Blackhawks chose the term; the arbitrator determined the value.
My initial reaction was that the dollars are high for what he’s produced in his career thus far. Kurashev, who will turn 24 in October, posted a career-high 25 points last season. He has yet to break into double digits in goals. As I’ve written before, to me he’s established himself as a skilled player with a bottom-six ceiling. So tripling his $750,000 salary from last season felt incredibly generous. For the sake of comparison, the Blackhawks gave Ryan Donato a two-year deal with a $2 million AAV after he sc🐷ored 30 go𓃲als in 145 games over the past two seasons.
After giving it some time, while I still think the number is high, this is a good thing for both sides. Kurashev has two years to show he can be a more valuable NHL player, and now has a salary to support with his production. On the flip side, the Blackhawks have a young player entering his prime at a manageable cap number who could ꦉbecome either a piece of the next generation or a nice trade chip.
Last year when I wrote my bold predictions for the season, I thought Kurashev would lead the team in goals. He wasn’t close to doing that, but if he can marry his skill to production with some better talent around him this season this contract could work out very well.
“As a parent, even watching the (WHL) playoffs, there were a couple of times Tom and I would look at each other — you see that level, the speed, the physicality, and as a mom, you worry,” Melanie said. “Even just standing at the rinks, whether it’s at the world juniors or Regina or on the road in the WHL, people come to the games when Connor’s playing and they’re sort of expecting something amazing every time. Being in the stands, I do feel a bit of that pressure for him. But I really don’t think he pays attention to that outside noise — the good or the bad. He doesn’t pay attention to it, doesn’t get wrapped up in it, and we really follow that example. If we did start paying attention to it, 𒊎it’d be overwhelming. He’s just 18.”
