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Blackhawks sign defenseman Steve Montador for four years, $11M

Buffalo Sabres v New York Islanders

at the Nassau Coliseum on January 23, 2011 in Uniondale, New York.

Bruce Bennett

While the Buffalo Sabres try to convince Christian Ehrhoff to join their team after trading a fourth rounder for his negotiating rights, the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t hesitate to lock down Steve Montador after acquiring his rights from Buffalo for a seventh round pick. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman gave Montador a four-year, $11 million contract (amounting to a $2.75 million annual cap hit).

That’s a hefty cap hit for a journeyman defenseman such as Montador. He bounced around the league following the lockout, going from Calgary to Florida to Anaheim to Boston and finally Buffalo before parking in Chicago now.

Chicago’s rivals were worried about all the cap space created by the Brian Campbell trade, yet it’s been pointed out that the takeaway really might just be Montador, mediocre forward Rostislav Olesz and $1 million in cap space. To be fair, the Blackhawks’ savings are still better in the long term since Olesz’s deal runs out in 2013-14 and Montador’s does in 14-15 while Campbell’s lingers until 15-16. Still, it’s tough to argue that Chicago didn’t exactly maximize the benefits of their opportunity.

Of course, the Blackhawks won’t really care what we think if Montador ends up being the dependable defenseman they’re hoping for. The versatile but limited blueliner averaged a career-high 19:43 minutes per game in 2010-11 and can score a little bit (four seasons with 20+ points), so he’s not a total waste of space. It just seems like he’ll take more cap room than he should.