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Henrik Borgstrom

Brett Connolly, Henrik Borgstrom Clear Unconditional Waivers

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July 12: Both players have cleared waivers and will be bought out today, making them unrestricted free agents.

July 11: The Chicago Blackhawks have started the buyout process for two players, placing Henrik Borgstrom and Brett Connolly on unconditional waivers today. Because he is under the age of 25, the team will only be on the hook for one-third of Borgstrom’s remaining salary. As a result, they will receive the following cap penalties moving forward:

  • 2022-23: $1,166,667 (Connolly) + $83,334 (Borgstrom)
  • 2023-24: $1,166,667 (Connolly) + $183,334 (Borgstrom)

The two forwards actually arrived in Chicago the same way, through a trade with the Florida Panthers in 2021 that saw Lucas Wallmark and Lucas Carlsson go the other way. While Riley Stillman remains from that deal, it was Borgstrom that was considered a big part of the return, having been a first-round pick by the Panthers in 2016.

After just 52 games with Chicago he’ll hit the market as an unrestricted free agent, an interesting addition just before things open up on Wednesday. While he has just 26 points in 110 games, Borgstrom is still just 24 (he’ll turn 25 next month) and possesses an interesting skill/size mix that could intrigue some teams.

Connolly meanwhile has a much longer track record at the NHL level but not a very good one the last few years. He scored 19 goals and 33 points in 2019-20 but then was an absolute ghost during the 2020-21 season, registering just six points in 31 total games. This season, he spent most of the year at the minor league level with the Rockford IceHogs and although he performed well there, it’s not much of a platform for a free agent deal.

These buyouts continue general manager Kyle Davidson’s rapid house cleaning, and represent another head-scratching move for the young executive. Borgstrom’s contract, which had just one year left on it and carried a cap hit of $1MM, could have been buried entirely in the minor leagues. This buyout will save them around $733K in actual dollars, but now actually has a slightly negative effect on the cap situation.

In fact, it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to see a team claim Borgstrom before the buyout can be finalized tomorrow, given how little risk would be involved.

Central Notes: Dach, Beaudin, Borgstrom, Merrill

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It wasn’t a particularly good season for Blackhawks center Kirby Dach as he had just 26 points in 70 games, hardly what they were expecting from the third-overall pick in 2019 in his third NHL season.  However, as Scott Powers of The Athletic points out (subscription link), Chicago will at least benefit from some internal cap flexibility as his next contract will check in lower than the $5MM or so they were believed to be internally estimating.  Now, the 21-year-old is a prime candidate for a two-year bridge deal, one that will allow both sides more time to see if Dach can live up to his potential.  While his draft status will boost the price tag a little bit, that contract should be closer to the $3MM range, giving GM Kyle Davidson a bit more wiggle room this summer than he was anticipating at this time a year ago.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Still with Chicago, the Blackhawks could look to move a pair of youngsters in forward Henrik Borgstrom and defenseman Nicolas Beaudin, suggests Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Borgstrom underachieved in his first season back in the NHL, notching just seven points in 52 games while being a frequent scratch which will limit his value to a strict change of scenery swap for another underachiever.  Beaudin, however, is a bit more notable as it wasn’t long ago that he was viewed as a piece of Chicago’s future back end.  But he struggled considerably with AHL Rockford this season, notching just 16 points in 66 games (hardly ideal for someone that was an offensive blueliner in the QMJHL) while being scratched for all but one of their playoff games.  Both players have one year left on their contracts with Borgstrom making $1MM on a one-way deal and Beaudin $863K on his entry-level pact.
  • While Minnesota has provided injury updates on some of their players, they haven’t done so yet for defenseman Jon Merrill who has undergone surgery for an upper-body injury sustained during his first game (and shift) at the Worlds. However, Michael Russo of The Athletic believes (subscription link) that the blueliner is expected to be out longer than the six-week period given for winger Mats Zuccarello and defender Jared Spurgeon for their surgeries.  Merrill had a good first year for the Wild in a depth role, picking up 20 points in 69 games, earning himself a three-year extension midseason as a reward.

West Notes: Wild, Fowler, Blackhawks, Sharks

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Wild GM Bill Guerin provided an update on a pair of injured Wild players, telling reporters, including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, that defenseman Jared Spurgeon and center Joel Eriksson Ek will miss a couple more weeks.  Both had been listed as out indefinitely but it appears Minnesota won’t be without two of their top players for much longer.  Spurgeon is dealing with a recurrence of a lower-body injury from two weeks ago while Eriksson Ek suffered an upper-body injury a week and a half ago.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • While the Ducks were concerned that Cam Fowler’s upper-body injury in Wednesday’s game could be a long-term issue, it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case. Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register relays that the blueliner traveled with the team for their two-game road trip that opens up tonight in Vegas which suggests that the veteran may not be out for long.  Fowler is having a nice season with 17 points in 33 games while leading the team in ice time at just over 23 minutes a game.
  • The Blackhawks received a bit of relief on the injury front yesterday as they announced (Twitter link) the activation of winger Jujhar Khaira and center Henrik Borgstrom from injured reserve. Khaira had missed the last three weeks after being stretchered off the ice in a game against Dallas while Borgstrom had been out just as long with a non-COVID illness.
  • The Sharks had good news and bad news on the COVID front yesterday. The team announced that defenseman Mario Ferraro was placed into protocols while winger Jonathan Dahlen was activated.  Under the new NHL guidelines, Ferraro could return after five days instead of the ten it has been for most of the season.

West Notes: Wheeler, Canucks, Athanasiou, Borgstrom

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While the Jets will be without their captain Blake Wheeler for a while, head coach Paul Maurice recently provided a positive update to reporters including Postmedia’s Scott Billeck, indicating that the winger won’t need to undergo surgery:

This is a rehab situation. He’s going to get, I don’t even know if it’s a second opinion, enough people have looked at it, they all agree, they all have a very good handle on what it is. They’ll let the swelling come down for three or four days.

Wheeler had been off to a tough start to his season in the goal department having only scored his first of the year on Friday, the game he was injured in.  However, he had chipped in with a team-leading 16 assists in 21 games.  While Winnipeg will get some short-term cap relief by transferring Wheeler to LTIR which would allow them to at least carry a full 23-player roster, the fact that the 35-year-old will return this season will prevent the Jets from going outside the organization to add a more prominent veteran to take his place.

More from the West:

  • The Canucks have made another addition to their front office, announcing the hiring of Derek Clancey as an assistant GM. Clancey had been serving as a pro scout for Calgary until today.  New team president Jim Rutherford has plenty of familiarity with the 52-year-old having worked with him in Pittsburgh from 2014 through to his resignation last season.  Clancey will be responsible for both the professional and amateur scouting departments.  Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston adds that two more assistant GMs could be added as Rutherford rebuilds Vancouver’s front office.
  • The Kings will be without winger Andreas Athanasiou for the next three games as he has been ruled out for the rest of their road trip, relays Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. It has been a tough year for the 27-year-old as injuries and a positive COVID test have limited him to just 11 games so far.  This time, it’s a lower-body injury for Athanasiou, who has been relatively productive when he has played with six points this season.
  • The Blackhawks announced that they’ve placed center Henrik Borgstrom on injured reserve with a non-COVID illness. The placement is retroactive to December 10th which means he could return as soon as Friday against Nashville.  The 24-year-old has had a quiet year since returning from overseas, notching just two goals and an assist in 17 games so far this season.

MacKenzie Entwistle Out 4-6 Weeks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have placed MacKenzie Entwistle on long-term injured reserve and expect the young forward to miss between four and six weeks with an ankle injury. The team did not have an update on Brandon Hagel, but announced that Henrik Borgstrom is also out for tonight with a non-COVID illness.

Entwistle, 22, has played in 12 games this season for the Blackhawks, scoring two goals and three points in limited minutes. He’s averaged just 11 minutes a game as he tries to establish himself at the NHL level but will now have to deal with a long rehab before getting back on the ice.

Selected in the third round of the 2017 draft by the Arizona Coyotes, Entwistle was involved in the Marian Hossa trade in 2018 and signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks. That entry-level deal is set to expire after this season, but earlier this summer the team signed the young forward to a two-year extension. The one-way contract carries a cap hit of just $800K, but suggests that Chicago had plans of keeping Entwistle with the NHL club moving forward.

Still, that deal was signed by a different front office and with the different coaching staff, meaning there’s still plenty to prove Entwistle. Losing more than a month at this point is certainly not ideal for a prospect still looking to make his stamp, and will only open the door for other young players to receive additional ice time with the Blackhawks. He’ll have to work even harder upon his return to prove he belongs at the highest level.

Crosby, Others Added To COVID Protocol For Penguins, Blackhawks

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Nov 4: Head coach Mike Sullivan will not be behind the bench for the Penguins tonight, as he too has been added to the COVID protocol. Assistant coach Todd Reirden will take over head coaching duties while Sullivan is out. In better news, Letang has been officially activated and is in the lineup.

Nov 3: The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks have added several players to the COVID protocol. For Pittsburgh, it’s a worst-case scenario, as Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin have entered the protocol. Both are confirmed positives, and while Dumoulin is asymptomatic, Crosby is experiencing mild symptoms. That means the captain is out for at least ten days.

Crosby only just returned from injury, playing one game for the Penguins on Saturday. He managed over 19 minutes in his return, but certainly seemed to have a bit of rust after a long injury rehab. He was dominated in the faceoff circle and was on the ice for three of New Jersey’s four goals (the other was a penalty shot), failing to record a point. He’ll now be taken away from the rink for a while longer, certainly not helping him shake off that rust.

Losing Dumoulin though is just as defeating for the Penguins, if not more so. The veteran defenseman is averaging more than 21 minutes a night this season, helping to carry the load while Kris Letang was in the protocol and some of the younger options struggle. If he doesn’t experience any symptoms, there’s a chance he could return before Crosby, though it will depend on his test results in the coming days.

In Chicago, things aren’t much better. Though Henrik Borgstrom has been removed from the protocol, Tyler Johnson and Isaak Phillips have been added, meaning they’re unavailable for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Blackhawks have not confirmed whether either one is a confirmed positive case.

Chicago has dealt with quite a few COVID-related absences this season, but had recently been restored to full availability as players like Patrick Kane, Riley Stillman and Jujhar Khaira came out of the protocol. While Johnson and Phillips aren’t the team’s most important players, the group can ill afford to lose any depth while they try to climb out of the basement. The Blackhawks only just secured their first win of the season and are well behind the pack for the playoffs.

Jonathan Toews, Henrik Borgstrom Added To COVID Protocol

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been dealing with several COVID-related absences lately, and you can add a new pair of names to that list. Jonathan Toews and Henrik Borgstrom will not practice today as they have been added to the protocol. Patrick Kane, Ryan Carpenter, and Erik Gustafsson had previously missed practice, and while the latter two were cleared before Sunday night’s game, Riley Stillman, Jujhar Khaira and several assistant coaches all joined Kane.

Importantly, just because Toews and Borgstrom are in the protocol, it does not mean they have tested positive for coronavirus. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol.

Toews and Borgstrom will not be able to participate in practice today, but as we’ve seen several times this season already, there’s at least the potential of their return before Wednesday’s game if their test results come back negative. It is unclear at this point when that will be known. For now, Kane, Toews, Borgstrom, Stillman and Khaira are unavailable to head coach Jeremy Colliton as they prepare for the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.

Snapshots: Strome, Ekholm, Giroux

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The inevitable departure of Sabres star Jack Eichel? The sudden availability of young Ranger Vitali Kravtsov? A victim of one of a number of unresolved roster crunches? Any of these situations could provide the first trade of the 2021-22 season, but at least one insider believes the first deal of the year could come elsewhere. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Chicago Blackhawks are quietly shopping center Dylan Strome as they look to manage their surplus at center. With Jonathan Toews healthy and back in the lineup, the off-season acquisition of Tyler Johnson, and the presence down the middle of top prospect Kirby Dach as well as fellow youngsters Henrik Borgstrom and Mackenzie Entwistle, the Blackhawks suddenly find themselves with centers to spare and LeBrun notes that Strome appears to be the odd man out. At just 24 years old and still clinging to the draft pedigree of being the No. 3 overall pick in 2015, Strome has shown flashes of NHL greatness, but not enough consistency to establish himself as a concrete top-six player. Strome is on an expiring contract and will be a restricted free agent this summer and it looks as if his next contract will not be in Chicago. Interested teams have incentive to add Strome sooner rather than later to get a full-season look prior to negotiating that next deal, while LeBrun notes that the Blackhawks also want to make a move as soon as possible. The result could be a trade in a matter of days rather than weeks. The real question is whether Chicago will land a return commensurate with the Strome who recorded 51 points in 58 games in 2019-20 or if instead the lucky buyer can buy low on the skilled pivot given his 17 points in 40 games last year.

  • Who might be the first major impending UFA to sign a long-term extension this season? The Nashville Predators sure hope that the answer will be Mattias Ekholm. The Predators spurned trade offers for Ekholm last season and doubled down on their loyalty and reliance on the two-way defender when they moved Ryan Ellis this off-season, yet Ekholm is still playing on an expiring contract. Ekholm’s camp has stated that they will not negotiate a new deal during the season, so the clock is ticking for GM David Poile and company to come to terms on a critical contract. Fortunately for the Predators, LeBrun reports that both sides have been working hard over the past few days to hammer out the details of an extension. With Nashville beginning their season on Thursday, Ekholm will either re-sign in the next 48 hours or possibly not at all. It will be a long season for the Predators if the future of the top defender is in doubt all year.
  • Claude Giroux is in a similar situation with the Philadelphia Flyers as a career member of the franchise playing on an expiring deal. However, no contract is imminent for the Philly captain. LeBrun states that both sides have come to a mutual agreement to wait on extension talks until after the season, quite possibly setting up a separation between the veteran and his squad. It is hard to argue that Giroux is not still a star even at 33; he has scored at just about a point-per-game clip over the past four years and has only missed two games in that span as well. Yet, the Flyers could see his salary cap space as better used on younger assets as they continue to remake their roster. How both Giroux and Philadelphia perform this season will dictate their relationship moving forward.

Snapshots: Coyotes’ Coach Search, Nylander, Ak Bars

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With head coaches flying off the market and one of the top available names being the guy they just let go, the Arizona Coyotes’ hunt for a head coach is in an interesting spot. From the get-go, the word was that the ’Yotes and GM Bill Armstrong could be looking for a fresh voice, perhaps even a first-time NHL coach, so they may be unfazed by the recent run on big names. Yet, insider Craig Morgan reports that one of their top candidates is in fact a seasoned veteran. Morgan writes that Dallas Stars assistant Todd Nelson is scheduled to have his third interview for the vacancy, by all accounts the most of any candidate. Nelson has been in the NHL (or AHL) since 2006, including a brief stint as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has found great success in the minors, winning two Calder Cups, and never really got a fair shake as the bench boss in Edmonton, so in a way he would be somewhat of a first-time NHL head coach. He has picked up experience in Dallas over the past three years under Jim Montgomery and Rick Bowness and could be ready for another shot at the top job.

Morgan considers Nelson’s greatest competition to be Andre Tourigny, the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and most recently an assistant for Canada’s gold medal World Championship entry. Tourigny briefly coached in the NHL as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators over three years, but has mostly coached at the major junior level and has been the bench boss of Canada’s World Junior team the past two years. Tourigny has found immense success working with young players; he has been named OHL Coach of the Year (twice), QMJHL Coach of the Year, and the overall CHL Coach of the Year, not to mention medals at four World Juniors. Can he translate that ability to the pros and lead a Coyotes team that needs to take a step forward rather than continuing to tread water? That is the question that Armstrong must answer. According to Morgan, he has already decided that St. Louis Blues assistant Mike Van Ryn and AHL Providence head coach Jay Leach are not the men for the job.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks just gained some Expansion Draft flexibility. The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that Alexander Nylander has been declared exempt from the impending selection process. In order to be eligible for the draft, a player must have three pro service years. Nylander, who has been playing professionally in North America for five seasons, may seem like an impossibility to avoid that label, but somehow he does. Despite playing in 116 AHL games between 2016-17 and 2017-18, he played in only seven combined NHL games and his rookie contract underwent the entry-level slide each season, meaning service time did not accrue. He then played countable NHL season in each of the past two years. However, this season – in what was meant to be his third year of service – Nylander missed the entire campaign due to injury. This means that, again, his service time will not clock. After five years in and out of the NHL, Nylander will be considered a second-year pro and untouchable for the Seattle Kraken. As Powers notes, Nylander was expected to be protected by the Blackhawks next month. Now off the board, it will allow the team to protected another forward that they may not have expected. He suggests deadline addition Adam Gaudette or reliable fourth-liner David Kampf could be the pick, while young, high-upside assets Brandon Hagel and Henrik Borgstrom should now be locks.
  • The KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan has succeeded in keeping a pair of drafted prospects away from their NHL teams for a while longer. The team announced that they have re-signed Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov and Anaheim’s Artyom Galimov to multi-year extensions. At their age, this is not an NHL career death sentence for either player, but it is likely disheartening to their teams who would like to get them on North American ice as soon as possible. 20-year-old Voronkov, a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Blue Jackets, has signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars after setting career highs across the board in the KHL this season. The impressive youngster has already played two full seasons in the KHL and has been dominant for Russia on the World Junior stage as well. Voronkov’s name carries weight as a prospect and the Jackets undoubtedly hope that he will follow WJC teammate Yegor Chinakhov to Columbus as soon as his new contract expires. There is a bit more cause for pause when it comes to Galimov. The 21-year-old was an overage pick by the Ducks just last year and despite his age has signed a three-year extension with Ak Bars. Galimov is a grassroots product of Kazan and has loyalty to the club, as they do to him after two successful seasons to begin his KHL career. Galimov has actually outpaced Voronkov to this point, showing that he too is a serious NHL prospect. However, Galimov will be 25 years old before he could ever step onto Anaheim ice and will have that much more attachment to Ak Bars. His ability should keep him interested in the NHL and the Ducks in him, but it is not a guarantee.

Chicago Blackhawks Agree To Terms With Henrik Borgstrom

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When the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Henrik Borgstrom at the trade deadline, he came without a contract. The young forward was playing overseas and it wasn’t clear if the team would be able to convince him to come back to North America right away. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. The Blackhawks have agreed to terms with Borgstrom on a two-year contract, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1MM.

Borgstrom, 23, scored 21 points in 30 games for HIFK this season in Finland, after spending nearly the entire 2019-20 season in the minor leagues. Selected 23rd overall in 2016, it has been a rocky road for Borgstrom since he left the University of Denver. In 58 career NHL games, the rangy center has just 19 points, but could be getting a much bigger opportunity in Chicago next season.

The center depth that the Blackhawks have built is interesting. Jonathan Toews missed the whole season with a mysterious medical issue, and top prospect Kirby Dach was out for most of the year with a wrist injury. That left a huge hole for the team to fill down the middle, giving an opportunity to relatively unknown names like David Kampf and Pius Suter. The former struggled to create any offense, scoring just one goal in 56 games, but Suter took full advantage of the minutes and ended up scoring 14 goals and 27 points. Both are restricted free agents this summer and could be brought back, likely as direct competition with Borgstrom depending on what happens with Toews.

The big question mark is really Dylan Strome, who has one year left on his deal but never did step into that top-line center role this year. The 24-year-old ended up with just nine goals and 17 points in 40 games, a huge drop off from his previous numbers with Chicago. There were even whispers that Strome could be available come deadline time, meaning he is a player to key an eye on as the draft and offseason approach. If the Blackhawks believe Borgstrom can fill a third-line center role, perhaps Strome or others become expendable.

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