Free agent forwards Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on identical one-year, $3 million deals, it was announced Wednesday.
Chicago has holes to fill up front after trading forward Alex DeBrincat to Ottawa last week and not extending qualifying offers to Dylan Strome or Dominik Kubalik.
Domi is joining his fifth team in five years. He was traded from Columbus to Carolina midway through last season and was a physical presence in the Hurricanes' top nine. Domi also had an impactful postseason, with three goals and six points in 14 games.
Domi, the son of former NHL enforcer Tie Domi, is a 5-foot-10, 192-pound grinder who isn't afraid to get into the corners to fight for loose pucks. In Carolina, he often drew defensive assignments against some of the opposition's top lines. He will enter the 2022-23 season having just passed the 100-goal threshold for his career (101) and has 314 career points.
Athanasiou spent the past two seasons in Los Angeles. His 2021-22 campaign was derailed by injuries and a long COVID-19 absence. The physical center appeared in just 28 games but had 11 goals and 17 points in limited action.
The Blackhawks on Wednesday also signed forward Colin Blackwell to a two-year, $2.4 million deal, goaltender Alex Stalock to a one-year, $750,000 deal and forwards Brett Seney and Luke Philp to one-year, two-way contracts.