Chicago Blackhawks: New defenseman Philip Holm holds potential
The Chicago Blackhawks added another name to the defensive competition as they head into camp with lots of depth compared to a year ago.
On Tuesday, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they have signed defenseman Philip Holm to a one year, two-way deal. The deal runs through the 2019-20 season and is worth $700,000 in the NHL and $300,000 in the AHL. Holm is a 27-year-old left-shot defenseman from Sweden. He s going to come in and add to the depth on the blue line in the organization. It is unlikely that he sees that much time in the NHL, but you never know.
Holm has played in exactly one NHL game in his career and it came as a member of the Vancouver Caunucks and was a -2 in the game with one shot attempt. It didn’t exactly go as he planned but the Blackhawks feel they might have something in him. He has a year of North American experience under his belt. He is a former KHL All-Star and a long-standing member of Team Sweden.
His season with Vancouver was in 2017-18 but he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in March of that season. In 63 AHL games, that year split between the Utica Comets and Chicago Wolves, he scored 12 goals and had 26 assists for 38 points. As a member of Utica for 42 games, his 11 goals and 29 points led all defenseman on the team. He has shown at the AHL level he can give some production offensively, and the Blackhawks are hoping he can bring that to the Rockford Ice Hogs and potentially the NHL team.
His style matches that of a two-way defenseman. He is the type of guy who has a good first pass and can use his mobility to make plays. If he reached a certain level of play, he would be exactly what the Blackhawks need. In all likelihood, the Ice Hogs are his destiny for 2019-20 but it is important that they have a good year too so this is a win-win deal for the organization.
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The Blackhawks know that they had a problem with blue-line depth in 2018-19 and now they are going to bring in as much help as they can. They have added a few different guys to the mix this offseason. Whether or not this group will be the right group remains to be seen, but it doesn’t hurt to give this Holm kid a chance.