The Chicago Blackhawks are giving this player another chance

The Chicago Blackhawks have been filling out their roster in rather smart ways since the beginning of free agency. Some of their former best players are gone so they had to get lesser players to fill their roles as they rebuild in 2022-23.

Guys like Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou, Colin Blackwell, and Alex Stalock amongst others are coming to Chicago to try and make an impact. Some of them will help lead the younger kids and some of them might even fetch them a draft pick or prospect at the trade deadline.

The Hawks weren’t done there though. On Thursday morning, they announced the signing of Dylan Sikura. If that name sounds familiar, that is good. He was with the Chicago Blackhawks to start his career as they drafted him in the sixth round of the 2014 NHL Draft.

His ability to help his team generate shots more than the opponent has been obvious in the NHL as he has a career CorsiFor of 51.9 percent. In five NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche last year, it was 57.5 which is excellent. Unfortunately, he only recorded one assist in those games.

Dylan Sikura earned himself another contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

He did spend most of the year in the AHL with the Avalanche’s AHL squad in the Colorado Eagles. He took full advantage of that opportunity as he was one of the most productive players in the AHL. In 60 games, he had 33 goals and 40 assists for 73 points.

That earned him another contract. It is a two-way deal which means that he can play with both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Rockford Ice Hogs at any point in 2022-23. You’d think that he starts in the AHL but you never know how well he does in training camp.

It isn’t like the Hawks are this loaded squad that has limited ice time available. They are looking for people to play and this could be his best shot. He could get more NHL ice time than he ever has so it will be interesting to see what he does with it.

Putting up numbers like that in the AHL is no easy task and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If he can come into the NHL and produce a little bit, other teams might like what they see and give up assets to get him. That is something that would help both parties here.

The worst-case scenario is that he shows one last time that he isn’t an NHL player but still is really good in the AHL. That could help some of the kids down their grow their game as they will have a high-quality player to play with. This is another smart gamble for Kyle Davidson.