TSN broke an interesting story last night involving an investigation going on between the NHLPA and NHL on whether the Blackhawks sent out their offer sheets to restricted free agents in a timely enough fashion. The story grew even more legs when agent Allan Walsh twittered his little heart out about what buffoons the Hawks are. The players mentioned who did not receive them in time are Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Cam Barker, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, and Aaron Johnson.
Walsh is Aaron Johnson’s agent (He’s also Martin Havlat’s agent, for what it’s worth) and he claims that his client was one of the players to not receive an offer sheet. This is news to me because I have been under the impression since the season ended that Johnson was an unrestricted free agent. Maybe I’m mistaken, but guys that get signed as unrestricted free agents twice don’t suddenly become restricted free agents five years into their career.
Nevertheless, this story is an ice bath for the Blackhawks. It’s pretty embarassing and potenially dangerous as the worst case scenario would be the Hawks restricted free agents go out on the free market as unrestricted free agents. That’s putting the zamboni before the ice, though, as this is not an uncommon occurence within the league.
What will most likely end up happening is…nothing, except the Hawks get some unwanted egg on their face.
