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Entries with the tag: kris+versteeg

Money Won’t Change Versteeg

from Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times,

As a restricted free agent, Versteeg would have been given a 10 percent raise on his $490,000 salary from last season. But when the offers weren’t received in time—which eventually led to the ouster of former general manager Dale Tallon—Versteeg was paid millions more. He signed a three-year deal worth $9.25 million, meaning he’ll earn more than Patrick Kane ($875,000), captain Jonathan Toews ($850,000) and defenseman Duncan Keith ($1.9 million) this season.

‘’I still took less money,’’ Versteeg said. ‘’If I had gone onto the open market, I could have gotten much more. But I signed for less money to stay with the Hawks because I love the Hawks, I love my teammates, my fans and the city of Chicago.

‘’But I don’t see myself not working harder and taking this season serious just because I got more money. I’m here to win, and I want to win really bad. That’s why I’m going to continue to work as hard as I can.’’

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kris+Versteeg,

Versteeg Contract Finalized

via Tim Sassone of Between The Circles,

A source confirmed the Hawks and restricted free agent winger Kris Versteeg have finalized a three-year deal worth more than $9 million. The contract could be announced officially by the team on Wednesday.

Signing Versteeg for roughly $3 million puts the Hawks just about at the $56.8 million salary cap. A $3 million cap hit for Versteeg would put the Hawks’ payroll at approximately $55.578 million, not counting the salary for the backup goalie.

It’s looking more and more that a trade will need to be made to move out some salary, possibly Versteeg or Cam Barker or even Patrick Sharp.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kris+Versteeg,

Versteeg Negotiations Progressing

from Roman Modrowski of ESPN Chicago,

The agent for Kris Versteeg said he is in ongoing negotiations with the Chicago Blackhawks and hopes to get a deal done soon.

Versteeg is the last of the Hawks’ seven restricted free agents who received qualifying offers after the June 29 deadline. The Blackhawks re-signed the other six on Monday.

The National Hockey League Players Association filed a grievance Monday over the Hawks’ handling of the qualifying offers. If the NHL rejects the grievance, the matter will go to an arbitrator. At that point, it would be possible for Versteeg to be declared an unrestricted free agent, and the Hawks could lose the talented, young forward on the open market.

But Versteeg’s agent David Kaye said he doesn’t want it to get to that point.

“We’ve been negotiating with Chicago fairly regularly here, and I expect hopefully something will get done in the next few days,” Kaye said Tuesday.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kris+Versteeg,

Versteeg Knows Not To Talk Bad About Gretzky

from Tim Sassone of the Chicago Daily-Herald,

If anyone was waiting to hear Kris Versteeg fire back at Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky in response to the Great One’s comments following Sunday’s game at the United Center, it’s not going to happen.

For one thing, Versteeg said, it’s Wayne Gretzky.

And two, the Blackhawks rookie winger would never hear the end of it from his father.

“My dad’s got this big wall full of Wayne Gretzky stuff,” Versteeg said Tuesday. “So if I ever wanted to say something bad about Wayne Gretzky, he’d be the first guy here to give me a slap upside the head.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kris+Versteeg, Wayne+Gretzky,

Versteeg Awaits Suspension News

From TSN:

The Chicago Blackhawks are awaiting word from the NHL on whether rookie forward Kris Versteeg will be suspended for one game and head coach Joel Quenneville fined $10,000 for Versteeg being assessed an instigator penalty in the final seconds of last night’s 7-1 win over Phoenix.

NHL rules call for an automatic one-game suspension for the player and a $10,000 fine to his coach for any player who instigates a fight in the final five minutes of a game, but the league reviews each one case-by-case and, in some instances, rescinds the suspension and fine.

Update 3:52pm ET: From TSN, Versteeg suspended one game and Quenneville fined $10,000.

Here’s the video clip, via HockeyFights.com:

Continue Reading ยป

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: fighting, kris+versteeg, kyle+turris, suspensions,

Two Rookies On The Radar

from Jeff Hale of Slap Shot at the NYT,

Hands up out there if you had Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks as your candidate for the Calder Trophy this season.

Versteeg, 22, leads N.H.L. rookies in points (22), assists (15) and plus-minus (+13). Versteeg’s route to prominence was a long one. He has escaped major notice because he was drafted four years ago in the fifth round by Boston, who dealt him to Chicago for Brandon Bochenski in February 2007. The Bruins would probably love to redo that deal.

It’s possible that Versteeg’s main challenger could be just as unexpected. Steve Mason, 20, the goalie for the Columbus Blue Jackets, is 6-3-1 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average. He also has two shutouts.

continued with some WHC and Phaneuf talk included.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kris+Versteeg, Steve+Mason,

     

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