SALT LAKE CITY — Ilya Mikheyev’s teammates love him.
In our soon-to-be-released team poll, Chicago Blackhawks players were asked which player doesn’t get enough credit for their role on the team. It’s no surprise Mikheyev was at the top of the list.
As Arvid Söderblom put it, “He does a lot of the quiet work.”
That quiet work is largely Mikheyev’s play on the penalty kill. He’s one of the league’s top penalty killers, logging 2:48 minutes a game and allowing just 5.15 goals against per 60 minutes. Based on Evolving-Hockey’s model, he’s tied for fourth-most impactful forward while shorthanded in the league. He’s one of the primary reasons why the Blackhawks have the league’s best penalty kill percentage.
Even as Mikheyev’s offensive production has dropped off this season after he scored 20 goals last season, that defensive ability has made him one of Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill’s go-to forwards. After Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi, Mikheyev has played the third-most five-on-five minutes per game for the Blackhawks this season.
The Blackhawks hockey operations staff values that. They also think Mikheyev, who is Russian, has been a good mentor for 20-year-old Artyom Levshunov, who is from Belarus, and could have a similar influence on forward prospect Roman Kantserov if he comes over from Russia next season.
For all those reasons, the Blackhawks have sought to re-sign Mikheyev, who is on an expiring contract. The exact terms the team has offered are unknown, but it’s likely a bump on his current $4,037,500 cap hit on a short-term deal. The Blackhawks probably don’t mind giving Mikheyev a raise even if he’s a third- or fourth-liner for a couple more seasons. They have the cap space and they see a use for him on and off the ice.
So far, Mikheyev hasn’t agreed to what the Blackhawks have offered him. Mikheyev’s agent Dan Milstein officially gave a “no comment” when asked if Mikheyev could still sign.
Considering Mikheyev will be 32 at the start of the next season, it’s possible he and his agent are looking for something more long-term. This could be Mikheyev’s last shot at signing a multi-year deal. For the Blackhawks, that might be a non-negotiable as they want to eventually fill the entire roster with younger homegrown prospects.
The Blackhawks and Mikheyev could revisit negotiations this week, but time is running out before Friday’s trade deadline. If a team calls about Mikheyev, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson would likely listen if a deal isn’t in place. Of course, if Mikheyev doesn’t get traded by the deadline, that could give him and the Blackhawks more time to discuss an extension.
One Eastern Conference scout thought Mikheyev would draw some trade interest.
“I like Mikheyev’s game, his speed, ability to get on the forecheck,” the scout said. “He has a good willingness to engage and finish on the defensemen. He also has a good rush game and creates speed for him and his linemates.”
It’s been assumed Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson were the most likely Blackhawks to be traded before the deadline. The one possible hitch to Davidson trading all three players is whether teams ask the Blackhawks to retain cap space. The Blackhawks have only two retention spots remaining as they’re still responsible for part of Seth Jones’ cap hit. What is being offered in exchange for the players likely factors into how the Blackhawks would decide to use those retention spots.
As for what Mikheyev personally wants, he was asked after practice Friday about contract negotiations and the trade deadline.
“I’m not thinking about contract or trade,” Mikheyev said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t know. I told you before, I don’t really control this and I just want to focus on the game and the practice.”
Mikheyev was also asked specifically if he’d like to re-sign and stay with the Blackhawks.
“We’ll see,” he responded. “I told you before, I love Chicago. It’s a good city. My family like it here and a young team. We’ll see what’s going on. Because of right now, middle of the season, how hard to say something.”