Hawks re-sign Edler, Recchi, others.

The Chicago Blackhawks held a presser this afternoon to announce a plethora of resignings. Headlining the group is emerging standout defenceman Alexander Edler. It was evident coming into the offseason that locking up Alexander Edler was going to be one of the more important offseason moves on the plate of GM Todd Semonick. That was taken care of today as the two sides put pen to paper on a 4 year, 10 million dollar deal that will see Edler remain with the Hawks for the forseeable future. "This was a good deal for both sides, each season Alex has risen on our depth chart and he continues to show improvement on an almost game to game basis." said GM Semonick. Edler could potentially form one half of a very talented all swede pair for the Hawks as the arrival of top prospect Victor Hedman seems imminent.

The next most notable signing of the day for the Hawks was the surprise return of Mark Recchi. Many speculated he would retire, however after a very strong season he deemed himself able to play another year, and the Hawks were no doubt very happy to have the savvy veteran back on board. "Mark was a model citizen for us, coming in willing to play any role we needed him to. As it turned out he was a much bigger contributor than we or him imagined hed be, and we are very happy to have him back another year.". The Recchi deal is believed to be for the same money and term he played for last season.

The Hawks also inked most of their remaining minor league RFA's. Colin Fraser is the most notable, and is expected to push for the 4th line center job with the big club next year. Also signing deals were forwards Trevor Smith, Dick Axelsson, and defenceman Joe Piskula. The team announced they would not be returning Aaron Downey, Darcy Campbell, or Matt Foy next year. Their spots will be filled by maturing prospects.

The team still has a few notable RFA's that they are working on signing. Milan Michalek again heads into the offseason an RFA, and like last year it is believed it could drag into the summer as trade rumours swirl. The team is reportedly close to agreeing on a deal with Brandon Dubinsky, and continues to work towards a deal with Clarke Macarthur.