Blackhawks News: Chicago gets Nick Foligno signed right away

The Chicago Blackhawks made a huge trade on Monday. They sent Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula’s RFA rights to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno’s UFA rights.

Obviously, this is a deal that is centered around the Hawks getting Taylor Hall to play with Connor Bedard while the Bruins are freeing up some cap space.

Well, obviously, it was on Kyle Davidson’s mind to make sure they get Nick Foligno signed as well. They only had until July 1st before he could freely sign with anyone as a UFA.

Clearly, he was interested in staying with the team that acquired him as he signed a one-year deal worth four million dollars against the salary cap.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Nick Foligno have agreed to contract terms.

That is a lot for a player like Foligno but the Hawks have it to spend for a year. Some people think there is no such thing as a bad one-year deal.

For the early stages of Connor Bedard’s career, having someone like Foligno in the locker room is going to be very nice. He is a former NHL captain that has tons of experience in this league.

He isn’t going to wow you with his offense anymore but he still has a scoring touch combined with a good physical game. The Boston Bruins loved having him at this stage of his career.

As long as he is healthy, he will be a regular part of the Chicago Blackhawks lineup in the bottom six. Who knows, maybe he will even be on the top power-play unit with Bedard and Hall as a net-front presence.

Kyle Davidson is not messing around. He has to know that the Hawks aren’t going to be amazing in 2023-24 but he also knows that tanking again probably isn’t a good idea.

He wants Bedard to be in a good situation and see it only get better as the years go along. Adding someone like Nick Foligno is a great way to do that.

Losing a good player like Ian Mitchell is tough and we’ll see what happens with Regula but letting them go for these two guys is a very smart move. The organization is better today than it was yesterday.