The Chicago Blackhawks do not intend to give Dylan Strome a qualifying offer, which will allow the center to walk as an unrestricted free agent, reports Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.
Strome, 25, was eligible for a $ 3.6 million qualified offer after completing a two-year, $ 6 million contract.
Strome should be one of the most desirable centers in a thin free agent market that is headed by veteran stars Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux and Patrice Bergeron. In fact, of all the strikers expected to hit the open market, only Bergeron, David Perron and Phil Kessel had more points than Strome last season.
The 2021-22 campaign was one of Strome’s ups and downs that saw him scratched at times at the start of the campaign. He struggled to get on the board long before the All-Star break, scoring just 18 points in 33 games, but a change of role in the second half created more opportunities and lifted the challenge, scoring 30 points in his last 36 games. .
In the end, Strome finished the season with 48 points, including 22 goals, the highest of his career, while playing in line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane.
However, the Blackhawks are in the midst of a major elimination from the roster and it is clear that Strome was not part of the long-term plan. The decision not to offer him a contract comes just days after DeBrincat was handed over to the Senators and Kirby Dach was traded to the Canadians for draft capital, including the seventh and 13th picks in last week’s NHL Draft. The Blackhawks used this election to defender Kevin Korchinski and striker Frank Nazar.
With so many important players leaving the Blackhawks this summer, the next natural question to ask is what does this mean for the cornerstones, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews? Lazerus reported Thursday that Kane and Toews, who have no-move clauses, are “both in a standby and voice mode” after the DeBrincat and Dach exchanges.
“It’s valuable to have guys like this who can help shape and set the bar and set an example for younger players to come,” Davidson said of the two future Hall of Fame members Thursday night. “But this is a two-way street and they must want to be a part of it. But you know what, so far we haven’t felt the opposite.”