THREE THINGS: Get to Know Matej Chalupa

The Blackhawks have signed 21-year-old forward Matej Chalupa (MAW-tay huh-LOO-puh) to a two-year contract that begins with the 2020-21 season ($925,000 AAV).

Here are three things you should know about the newest Blackhawks signing:

HELPING HAND

MATEJ CHALUPA

**RELEASE**: Blackhawks Agree to Terms with Chalupa

Over the last two seasons at HK Hradec Kralove in the Czech Extraliga, Chalupa played in 98 games and scored 38 points (11G, 27A).

Last season, his 17 assists tied for the team lead and 24 points in total placed him fourth in team scoring as the second-youngest regular on HK Hradec Kralove's roster. The team finished eighth in the Czech league standings with 24 wins, 21 losses and seven overtime losses. The team was tied one game apiece with HC Karlovy Vary in the opening round of the playoffs when the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CZECH CONNECTION

Chalupa spent time in the same organization with Blackhawks rookie sensation Dominik Kubalik from 2015-2018. Three years Kubalik's junior, Chalupa joined HC Plzen's U20 team in 2015-16, a season after Kubalik was promoted from the U20s to the senior roster full-time. Chalupa did play six games for the senior team during Kubalik's last full season with HC Plzen in 2016-17 and another 18 games in 2017-18 when Kubalik split the campaign between Plzen and HC Ambrì-Piotta.

BEYOND HIS YEARS

At just 18 years old, Chalupa led Czech U20 league in goals (31), points (62) and plus/minus (+41) during the 2016-17 season en route to the league title with HC Plzen's U20 squad. The next season, Chalupa spent the majority of the year with the senior HC Plzen team.