Franson was one of the better unrestricted free agents still available, and while there's no guarantee he sticks in the Windy City, he would help solidify the team's back end.
Franson spent the last two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. He began his NHL career with the Nashville Predators, one of the Blackhawks' biggest Central Division rivals, and also played parts of four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Nashville Predators were dealt a serious blow Thursday, as general manager David Poile announced defenseman Ryan Ellis will be sidelined several months as he recovers from offseason knee surgery.
Ellis underwent the procedure in June, and the team was initially optimistic he'd be ready for training camp, which is set to open next week. Now, Poile hopes the star blue-liner can return by the start of the new year.
The 26-year-old was an integral piece to the Preds' endearing run to the Stanley Cup Final in the spring, racking up 13 points in 22 playoff contests to build off a career-best regular season in which he scored 16 goals and added 22 assists.
Thankfully for Nashville, defensive depth is the organization's best asset. The Predators can still roll out a star-studded top three of P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm to help combat the absence of Ellis, while it appears newcomer Alexei Emelin and fellow defenders will see an increased role to start the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs named former defenseman Stephane Robidas as assistant director of player development, the team announced Thursday.
Robidas, a veteran of 937 games and 15 seasons in the NHL, suited up for the Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and Anaheim Ducks before ending his journey with the Maple Leafs.
Despite not being able to contribute on the ice for Toronto since 2015 due to multiple injuries, Robidas joined the Leafs' front office as a consultant last year when he was deemed physically unable to compete.
The veteran winger appears to have options on the table should he choose to suit up for another season.
"Gio has not made any final decision on his future," his agent, Steve Bartlett, wrote to John Vogl of the Buffalo News. "We have had a number of teams that have indicated they would sign him, but he is not sure right now which if any offer he would accept.
"He will continue to prepare as though he will play, and we will see how things play out here over the next couple weeks."
Gionta, 38, registered 15 goals and 35 assists in 82 games with the Buffalo Sabres last season. It's believed his first choice was to return, but his spot in the lineup was filled via the offseason acquisition of Jason Pominville, and he'd even admitted it was very unlikely he'd be able to re-sign.
Along with retaining the ability to chip in offensively, Gionta has served as captain of the Sabres and Montreal Canadiens over the past seven seasons, providing experience and leadership that teams covet.
Circle your calendars: The NHL's trade deadline has reportedly been set for Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
The wheeling and dealing will come to a close early this season, as last year's deadline was March 1.
Typically, the precise cutoff is 3 p.m. ET on the assigned day. Over the past couple of years, though, teams have gotten a jump on things by announcing meaningful trades days or weeks in advance of the deadline date, taking a bit of the drama out of the proceedings.
Safe to say it's worth paying close attention once Valentine's Day has come and gone.
The Ottawa Senators seem to have figured out how to rectify their low attendance issue.
According to team president Tom Anselmi, Canadian Tire Centre will have 1,500 less seats than it did for the 2016-17 regular season and playoffs. The reduction in seating capacity will attempt to make the arena easier for fans to fill, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun reports.
Despite being one of the top-eight teams in the Eastern Conference all season long, Ottawa struggled to put people in the seats, averaging just under 17,000 fans a game - the ninth-worst attendance in the NHL.
The Sens have eliminated about 1500 seats for the upcoming season. The top of both ends pic.twitter.com/nmIGgNrsHG
The low point for fan turnout was when Ottawa struggled to fill the building for a second-round playoff game against the New York Rangers in April. Not only was the rink not sold out, but thousands of tickets were left unsold for Game 1.
With less empty space and seats available, Senators executives will be hoping for a better atmosphere and more sellouts.
The Winnipeg Jets have announced contract extensions for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice, keeping the duo in the cockpit for the foreseeable future.
But is it prudent at this stage in the club's trajectory?
Assessing the merits
Cheveldayoff was named GM shortly after the team relocated from Atlanta, inheriting a roster that had not qualified for the playoffs in the previous four seasons. While Jets 2.0 have yet to produce a playoff win, Cheveldayoff can be credited for building a prospect base that seems capable of taking the club to new heights.
As the team was quick to point out in the extension announcement, Winnipeg's prospect group is seen as one of the best around the league.
Of Winnipeg's 44 draft picks made between 2011 and 2016, 38.6 percent of those players have already played in the NHL - second-most in the league. Nine of those picks (20.5 per cent) have played more than 70 games, also second in the NHL. Three of those players (Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, and Nikolaj Ehlers) have averaged at least 0.5 points per game since coming into the league, which leads the NHL.
In short, that's how you go about building a team in today's NHL.
For his part, Maurice - who joined the team in 2014 as Cheveldayoff's second coaching hire - has guided the team to a regular-season record of 136-112-33, with one playoff appearance that resulted in a four-game sweep.
His greatest accomplishment as a head coach was taking Carolina to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002, a five-game loss to a powerhouse Detroit club. Overall, he's earned 596 wins, putting him a tie with Toronto's Mike Babcock for 16th on the all-time list, albeit in 251 more games.
In Winnipeg, Maurice has been at the mercy of the roster given to him. And, all things considered, he's done an OK job with the team he's had to work with.
Question marks
The biggest knock, as has been mentioned, is the utter lack of tangible success achieved during Cheveldayoff's tenure.
Sure, the Jets have posted a winning record in five of his six seasons as GM, but careers are made and broken in the postseason, where Winnipeg is 0-4.
That's total games, not series wins and losses.
Cheveldayoff has been criticized for being too loyal to key pieces he inherited from Atlanta, seemingly reticent to part ways with a core group that had accomplished essentially nothing together.
His trade record, and his apparent reluctance to explore that side of player movement, has been the biggest knock on his performance as GM. He's kept the active roster in a state of neutrality while the prospect base was slowly but surely being reinforced.
Free agents have also proved reluctant to sign, but that could be more a function of location, location, location than a knock against Cheveldayoff.
As for Maurice, he's the GM's choice to take the team to the next level, and management is afforded only so many coaching changes before the accountability falls to the front office. For his career, he's got 595 losses, 120 overtime losses, and 11 ties to go along with his 596 wins, and a losing record in the playoffs (25-32).
Despite his career lengevity, whether he's a coach capable of getting the most out of this group remains to be seen, and any success or failure on his part will be a reflection of Cheveldayoff's faith in him, for better or worse.
Winnipeg's hashtag heading into 2017-18 is #RiseTogether, and that seems to be the plan off the ice with these twin extensions.
The pieces appear to be in place to get things off the ground, but failing wins when they matter most, this pilot project will go down as a poorly laid flight plan.
One year to the day removed from joining the NHL's Department of Player Safety, George Parros has reportedly been named the new head of the department Thursday, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
In addition to the year he's already spent in the league's front office handling disciplinary decisions, Parros knows a thing or two about getting physical. The longtime enforcer racked up 1,092 penalty minutes across 474 career regular-season NHL games.
Current vice-president of player safety and fellow former NHLer Stephane Quintal is expected to stay on in his current role to help ease the transition period for Parros, LeBrun reports.
