Andreas Athanasiou: Contract Was A Complete Overpay By Chicago

Andreas Athanasiou: Contract Was A Complete Overpay By Chicago

The eagle has been landed. Connor Bedard has been given to the Blackhawks thanks in part to the lottery gods. Now the task for Chicago is to put talent around him. The offseason hasn’t really even started and the Blackhawks are failing at this task. Can we just acknowledge that the Andreas Athanasiou contract was a complete overpay?

Athanasiou, 28, was extended prior to the end of the season by Chicago. The new contract will pay Athanasiou an AAV of $4.25 million for the next two seasons. What I don’t understand is why the Blackhawks think Athanasiou is worth this.

Across 16 minutes of ice time per night, Athanasiou posted a -29 rating with 40 total points in 81 games. Yes, this Blackhawks team is terrible but Athanasiou’s defensive acumen didn’t exactly help things. If you take a look at the player card here, you will notice it isn’t exactly encouraging.

Andreas Athanasiou, signed 2x$4.25M by CHI, is a middle six winger who creates chances with his speed, scores with his speed, draws penalties with his speed, and that's about it. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/FjqBXDKsKY

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 7, 2023

If Chicago wanted to bring Athanasiou back, they could have gotten him for a lot less than this.

Furthermore, what’s the point? So few teams have functional cap space given how much the cap has flatten in recent years. Why not weaponize that cap space in a smarter fashion? Take on deals that teams otherwise would have bought out the player. Take on other bad deals for picks. Chicago should be looking to collect assets on bad deals and they just flushed $4.25 million down the toilet.

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Don’t get it even a little. Kyle Davidson should be monitored closely this offseason because if he blows this, now is the time to fire him. Don’t wait until Bedard progresses to a point where it’s too late.

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