{"id":654757,"date":"2026-05-20T16:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654757\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T16:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:53:12","slug":"where-things-stand-between-blackhawks-ilya-mikheyev-interest-and-pragmatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654757\/","title":{"rendered":"Where things stand between Blackhawks, Ilya Mikheyev: Interest and pragmatism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks want to re-sign forward Ilya Mikheyev. There\u2019s no mistaking that: Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said it at the trade deadline. He said it again after the Blackhawks\u2019 season. That remains the case today.<\/p>\n

Mikheyev, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, has also said he\u2019s open to re-signing with the Blackhawks. He\u2019s enjoyed his time on and off the ice with them over two seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d Mikheyev said on April 16. \u201cI like Chicago. I like the city. I love playing for the Blackhawks.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s stopping the Blackhawks and Mikheyev from agreeing to a new contract? Like all contract negotiations, it comes down to money and term. The Blackhawks offered Mikheyev a new contract at the deadline. It was believed to be in the two- to three-year range with a cap hit in the vicinity of his current one, which is at $4.75 million. The Blackhawks had him at $4,037,500 cap hit because the Vancouver Canucks retained some of it.<\/p>\n

Mikheyev declined the contract offer around the trade deadline, wasn\u2019t traded and still has an offer on the table from the Blackhawks. With Mikheyev turning 32 in October and the NHL salary cap increasing, you can\u2019t blame him for holding out for more and potentially seeing what\u2019s available to him on the open market. This could be his final NHL contract and last chance to get really paid.<\/p>\n

Davidson understands that, too. It\u2019s why he has given Mikheyev and his agent permission to see what other teams would be willing to offer if Mikheyev hit the open market. If someone offers more years and\/or more money than the Blackhawks, Davidson can choose to increase his offer or walk away. There\u2019s also the chance Mikheyev doesn\u2019t receive anything better.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely the Blackhawks would trade Mikheyev\u2019s rights to another team before free agency. Mikheyev would just sign with that team when free agency begins.<\/p>\n

Mikheyev\u2019s agent, Dan Milstein, declined to comment on his client\u2019s negotiations on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In AFP Analytics\u2019<\/a> latest contract projections, which were published on Monday, Mikheyev was projected to receive a three-year contract with a $3,456,960 cap hit. Based on The Athletic\u2019s analytics, Mikheyev has a $3.8 million market value over the next three seasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Mikheyev\u2019s worth to the Blackhawks is multifold. They like his two-way game. He\u2019s been one of the league\u2019s best penalty killers. His even-strength defensive analytics weren\u2019t nearly as good this past season, but that\u2019s often been a strength to his game. He scored 20 goals in his first season in Chicago and nearly got there again last season despite a slow start. He can also play up and down the lineup. According to Evolving Hockey, he was seventh on the Blackhawks in goals above replacement.<\/p>\n

Mikheyev finished the season playing on the wing alongside Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi. In about 97 minutes of five-on-five ice time together, the line showed some promise, outscoring opponents 8-3. It could be a line Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill could return to if Mikheyev re-signs.<\/p>\n

Blashill didn\u2019t hold back his praise for Mikheyev late in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning hockey player,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWins pucks, really good on our penalty kill, really good two-way player. Gets a lot of chances. Probably he\u2019d like to score more, we\u2019d like him to score more on some of those, but overall I\u2019d take Ilya Mikheyev on any team I\u2019ve ever coached.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks also think Mikheyev can help along Roman Kantserov, a fellow Russian who will be entering the NHL next season<\/a>. Mikheyev was someone Artyom Levshunov, who is from Belarus, has been able to turn to in the last few seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just try to help these guys,\u201d Mikheyev said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the same way when I came in the league \u2014 a lot of guys helped me too because they understand. It\u2019s like in kindergarten, I can take these guys by the hands and just, I try to just help. Doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s young guys or older guys, we just have communication between each other. But of course, when you come in the league, NHL, and first time in the U.S., you try to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levshunov certainly hoped Mikheyev would return: \u201cI like him as a player, like him as a human \u2026 But it\u2019s not my decision. It\u2019s his decision and the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that decision likely depends on July 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks want to re-sign forward Ilya Mikheyev. There\u2019s no mistaking that: Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4824,385,99],"class_list":["post-654757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}