The Chicago Blackhawks agreed to terms with forward Lukas Reichel on a two-year contract Tuesday that keeps him as part of their young nucleus through 2025-26.
The contract carries a $1.2 million annual salary-cap hit, which represents a modest raise for the restricted free-agent forward, who will be entering his third season (and first full season) with the Hawks. His cap hit was $925,000.
By contrast, the Hawks rewarded defenseman Alex Vlasic with a bump from $916,667 to $4.6 million annually in a six-year deal signed April 25 after a breakout season.
Incidentally, Reichel’s fellow first-round picks Connor Bedard (age 18), Frank Nazar (20) and defenseman Kevin Korchinski (19) are also under contract through 2025-26.
Reichel, 21, finished a rocky season with five goals and 11 assists in 65 games. The 2020 first-round pick was scratched for one game in December and two straight in January. He then missed 13 games for the Hawks in late February and early March while playing for the Rockford IceHogs.
But he thrived in his return to Chicago, posting two goals and four assists in his final 15 games.
The Hawks sent Reichel back to Rockford to build on his progress in the Calder Cup playoffs. He recorded two goals and two assists in four games before the IceHogs were eliminated.
After the season, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson praised Reichel for rebounding from earlier struggles that included going without a point for his first nine games.
“The brief message to him when we sent him down was that we want him to go down and we want him to dominate, want him to help carry that team,” Davidson said on April 20.
