Blackhawks: 3 Bad Contracts That Still Haunt Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed some bad deals with players over the last 10 seasons. At the time, the deal might have looked great, but they haven’t panned out.

1. Duncan Keith

Duncan Keith signed a 13 year, $5,538,462 AAV deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, which started during the 2010-11 season. At the time, the deal looked smart. The Blackhawks were losing players due to a salary-cap crunch. To avoid that in the future, it was important to sign the core group when they could.

What Stan Bowman could have been thinking the cap will grow as the years go on, $5,538,462 AAV won’t seem like much in five years. He wasn’t wrong. Keith was a solid player for the Blackhawks up until 2017.

As he’s aged, he hasn’t played as well. With a no-movement-clause in his contract, he’s going to be paid by the Blackhawks no matter what.

Keith still has three years left on his deal. At 36, he could be nearing retirement. If the Blackhawks are successful and make the playoffs this year or next, Keith might stick around and see if he can win one more Stanley Cup.

This contract ended up poorly for the Blackhawks. I understand wanting to sign a player for his entire career, but I’m not a fan of the no-movement clause. The only benefit that gives the team is during expansion drafts. They’re protected automatically.