For every Artemi Panarin- or Dominik Kubalik-esque star that the Blackhawks find in the European import market, there’s an equivalent situation of a player simply not clicking in North America.
Anton Wedin is a perfect example of that.
Wedin was mentioned in the same sentences as Kubalik last summer, when the two forwards were brought over to the Hawks organization after dominating the professional leagues in Sweden and Switzerland, respectively, in 2018-19.
But while Kubalik erupted for 30 goals and will likely fetch a hefty new contract this offseason, Wedin ultimately played in just four NHL games this past season. He didn’t record a point.
Seeing that his NHL career hadn’t taken off, Wedin left the Hawks on Sunday.
The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Wedin signed with HV71 in Jonkoping, Sweden. Wedin’s agent, Michael Deutsch, did not return a request for comment.
The 27-year-old wing was a useful body to have on the depth chart, and he was fairly productive — with 17 points in 31 games — in the AHL, but his departure won’t make much difference.
Wedin joins fellow former Swedish Hockey League stars Jacob Nilsson and Philip Holm in the group of European imports who have left the Hawks in 2020.
Nilsson, signed by the Hawks in 2018, was a solid role player for Rockford but played in only two NHL games over the past two years. He signed on April 26 with Farjestad BK in Sweden.
Holm, a late-summer defensive addition last year, showed promise in the preseason but never played in a regular-season Hawks game before terminating his contract in January and signing with Lausanne HC in Switzerland. Holm’s agent, Peter Wallen, said then that Holm had simply grown tired of waiting in the AHL.
The flame-outs and quiet disappointments are inevitable when taking chances on European stars in the primes of their career, though, and the Hawks have still established themselves as one of the NHL’s premier franchises in attracting and cultivating such talent.
They aren’t going to stop doing so soon, either. General manager Stan Bowman said in February that he planned this summer to look for more established pros to potentially bring over.
