The Blackhawks went big on the first day of NHL free agency. They got their number one target in free agency by signing defenseman Brian Campbell to an 8-year contract on Tuesday. The Hawks also signed former Washington goalie Cristobal Huet to a 4-year deal.

The Huet signing is somewhat of a surprise. Some first thought that the Hawks would be looking to trade Nikolai Khabibulin after signing Huet. The Blackhawks don’t seem to be considering this idea because GM Dave Tallon believes the Blackhawks may now have the best goalie tandem in the NHL. Huet had a 32-14-6 record last season with a 2.32 goals-against average and .920 save percentage for the Canadians and Capitols.

Brian Campbell was the main target of free agency for the Hawks. He played for the Sabres before he was traded to the Sharks at the trade deadline last season. Campbell was the third highest scoring defenseman with 8 goals and 54 assists last season for Buffalo and San Jose. He is similar to Hawks D man Duncan Keith in that he is a great skater and can run the offense and power play from the back. He will also get a lot of minutes on the ice like Duncan Keith.

The additions of Campbell and Huet address a big problem from last year’s team. The Blackhawks were in the top 10 in goals scored, despite the injuries they dealt with. The problem was that they gave up too many goals. Adding Campbell and Huet will hopefully solidify the defensive side of the puck.

These two signings make this writer a “happy human,” as Eddie Olczyk would say. As soon as the season ended I said to myself and fellow Hawks fans that the team needed to improve the defensive side of the puck. They wasted no time in doing this on the first day of free agency.

Don’t expect the Blackhawks to make anymore free agent signings, as they are around $3 million over the NHL salary cap. They have to do something about that so they can get under the cap.

Let’s go Hawks!

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