Blackhawks: Acquiring Mikey Dipietro

The Blackhawks acquired goaltender Petr Mrazek earlier this summer, and have lost both Lankinen and Delia to other teams this off-season. As I’ve mentioned before time and time again, and as many fans already know full well, the Blackhawks are fully embracing the rebuild. They have no choice but to do so, and bringing in cheaper contracts, or players that want to prove themselves and become full time NHL players is ideal for the team this upcoming season. One name that comes to mind as a player that’s a cheap addition, while wanting to earn his shot as an NHL mainstay, is goaltender Michael Dipietro from the Vancouver Canucks. 

Dipietro is 22, and only has 3 games of NHL experience. In those 3 games, he has not looked good at all. But, in his AHL stint, he has looked rather strong, posting over a .900 save percentage while having just below a 3.00 goals against average. The Canucks have granted Dipietro and his agent permission to speak to other clubs in order to try and facilitate a trade, so the rumors have begun to fly about where he may end up. 

Now, Dipietro isn’t the saving grace the Blackhawks need. But, taking on a guy who makes less than $1M AAV and wants to prove himself, while willing to put in the work on and off the ice to become the best version of himself is a great idea. Running a tandem of Mrazek/Dipietro probably won’t run the team to the playoffs, and it definitely won’t win them more games than already expected. But a cheap player, who would cost almost nothing to bring in, that is still young and could put together a solid career as a backup goaltender, would be a fun project to take on. 

A projected trade would look like this: 

Blackhawks Receive: Mikey Dipietro

Canucks Receive: 2024 5th Round Pick. 

As I said, Dipietro won’t cost much, and I think a 5th rounder is the MOST he would cost. This is a no brainer if he is interested in joining the team. He’s on a one year deal and he’s young. It’s a win-win situation for the Blackhawks.