Chicago Blackhawks Sign Jan Rutta To A 1-Year Deal

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed Jan Rutta to a 1 year deal. It was first reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

He has been a big target of the organization all off-season. The move fills a need for the

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Blackhawks, who are short on Blue liners. They could be even shorter if the rumor of Trevor van Riemsdyk and Marcus Kruger to the Vegas Golden Knights turns out to be true.

He is a 6’3 and 198 lbs, giving the Hawks another big defenseman. He also fills the hole of a right handed shot from the Blue line.

As we stated previously, he played well at World Championships this year and garnered attention of several NHL teams. Rutta has been described as an offensive defensemen, similarly to former Blackhawks Nick Leddy. He could give the team some much needed scoring from the Blue line.

How they Got Him:

The Blackhawks got Rutta because of three reasons.

1. Playing time: Rutta is  guaranteed to play in the NHL. The Hawks are going to walk away from Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya this off-season. They also might lose TVR to Vegas. They are a desperate need of d-men.
2. David Kampf- remember when the Blackhawks signed David Kampf? Kampf was a teammate of Rutta on the Czech Republic World Championship team. This could have weighted heavy in his decision making process.
3. Michal Kempny-Kempny has played with Czech Republic in the World Cup of Hockey and also is a defenseman. It is a not far leap to think that Kempny reached out to Rutta or vice versa.

Analysis:

The Rutta signing could help the Blackhawks in the short term by adding another experienced defenseman to their depleted blue line. It also makes the trade of TVR seem more inevitable.

It also points to the fact that the Blackhawks do not have any NHL ready prospects. Gustav Forsling might be one prospecy who will get a shot at the NHL this year. We saw last year that he was hit or miss at times. He seemed to be very inexperienced and needed time adjusting to the NHL style of play.

Keep your phones ready folks, the Blackhawks are not done making moves this off-season. They still need to get under the salary cap.