Fan favorite Bob Probert signed Tuesday with the Blackhawks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is believed to be a one-year contract at less than the $1.8 million Probert made last season.
Published reports indicated the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings were interested in Probert, 36, who was an unrestricted free agent.
“I talked to him at the end of the year and he wanted to stay in Chicago if we could get a contract worked out,” Hawks general manager Mike Smith said. “We wanted him to stay.”
Last season, Probert had seven goals, 19 points and 103 penalty minutes in 79 games. This season will be his eighth with the Hawks after spending the first eight seasons of his career in Detroit.
“I see him being a 12-, 14-minute-a-game guy,” Smith said.
That would likely have Probert on the third or fourth line. Last season, Probert saw some time on the top line.
Probert, who has 3,124 penalty minutes in his career, is not the quick-tempered player he was early in his career, but he still has no hesitation about coming to the defense of his teammates.
The Hawks also signed defenseman Jaroslav Spacek to a new contract. Spacek was acquired from Florida last season for Anders Eriksson. In 50 games with the Hawks, Spacek had five goals and 23 points and was a plus-seven.
The deals Tuesday leave the Hawks with three players unsigned–Eric Daze, Jocelyn Thibault and Igor Korolev.
Smith is still looking over the free-agent landscape and hopes to add more fresh bodies before training camp.
“We’ve said all along that we wanted four, possibly five, different types of players than we had last year,” he said. “We have two now, working on a third and still have time to get another one or two before the season starts.”
The one the Hawks are working on now may be Steve Thomas. Smith wouldn’t comment on specific players, but a report out of Toronto said the Hawks presented Thomas, 38, with an offer Monday that he and agent Larry Kelly are considering. He had eight goals last season.
