PRAGUE — Carl Dahlstrom said at Blackhawks Convention in July that he was especially looking forward to the 2019-20 season in Chicago.
Alas, he won’t be in Chicago after all.
The 24-year-old defenseman was claimed off waivers by the Jets on Tuesday, one day after the Hawks had listed him in hopes of sending him to the AHL.
It’s a small blow to the Hawks’ defensive depth and competitiveness, which the front office sought to build up over the summer. Jeremy Colliton said earlier in camp that he expected impacts this season even out of the training-camp-battle losers.
“We [will] have guys, whether they’re a healthy scratch to begin or they’re in Rockford, who can come in and play minutes as the season goes on when there’s injuries or there’s a dip in performance,” Colliton said.
But losing someone on waivers was always a known risk, considering the team entered training camp with eight defensemen on one-way contracts. And as far as losses go, Dahlstrom is nonetheless not a major one.
Not only did Slater Koekkoek beat him out in camp for the seventh defenseman spot, but highly touted prospects Dennis Gilbert — who was also sent down, after a surprisingly long NHL stay, on Monday — and Adam Boqvist would likely have passed him on the depth chart soon.
Still, one has to feel for the Swedish blueliner, who was the Hawks’ second-round pick in 2013 and had developed a strong player-coach rapport with Jeremy Colliton, dating back to their 2017-18 IceHogs season together.
In each of his previous career stops — Linkopings of the Swedish league, Rockford of the AHL — Dahlstrom said he felt more comfortable in his second season and took a big step forward. After an inconsistent 38-game showing as an NHL rookie last season, he expected better things from himself this autumn.
“Throughout my career, my first year has always been a transition year — there’s new ways of playing at every team, everywhere you go,” he said at the convention. “My second year, I was a lot better. … I’m hoping to do the same thing here, continue on the same path.”
The Jets desperately needed more back-end depth after three of their top six defensemen (Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot) departed this summer and a fourth (former Hawks Cup winner Dustin Byfuglien) holds out while contemplating retirement.
Dahlstrom should immediately step into an NHL role in Manitoba and could play against the Hawks up to five times this season — the Hawks play one extra game versus the Jets and Stars this year.
