Richard Panik has signed a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

While it is is a great deal for what he has produced. I feel Schmaltz, or Motte, or Hartman, or whoever is put into his spot in the lineup will succeed. The guy has been waived by two other teams previously for a reason. Chicago could just as easily tried to move him for a pick.

Look for Kruger/Hossa or both to be moved. Hossa would have to waive his full NMC though.

That is just simply not true.
Panik had many troubles trying to break into the league. The biggest one was consistency. Which he has finally found with the Hawks.
This is great for the Hawks. He will continue to play next to Toews and if the Schmaltz-Toews-Panik line continues how it played the second half of the regular season he will be a 50 point player.
Kruger will almost certainly be gone. Hossa will not be traded for several reasons.

I do believe however that this deal should have been somewhere around $2.25M -$2.5M per season. Bowman offered more than Panik anticipated right off the bat and accepted without negotiations. Absolutely absurd. Terrible managing by Bowman.

Agree with everything said here. If the Hawks were not under the cap crunch then 2.8 million is justified. But Bowman needs to be a bit more frugal. But if you compare this contract to what Bowman gave Bickell 4 years ago, 2.8 million is fair. Panik will likely produce at the same level as some of the better Bickell years and he can play with Toews.