The Blackhawks officially announced Wednesday they signed prospect forward Henrik Borgstrom to a two-year contract.
Borgstrom’s rights were acquired in a multifaceted deadline trade with the Panthers, of which he was the centerpiece asset.
The 23rd overall pick in 2016, Borgstrom impressed Hawks general manager Stan Bowman while starring at the University of Denver. But he fizzled out in the Panthers’ organization after a decent 2018-19 NHL rookie year and spent this season playing for HIFK in Finland, scoring 21 points in 30 games.
The signing doesn’t come as a surprise. Borgstrom, now 23, was ranked the Hawks’ No. 2 prospect in the Sun-Times’ most recent rankings and will compete for an NHL spot in training camp this fall.
His new contract carries an affordable $1 million cap hit.
“He’s a big, tall kid [with] long arms, good reach,” Bowman said in April. “He’s got the frame, athletic body, skater, hands and he can do a lot of different things with the puck. There’s tremendous upside. Obviously he has to turn that potential into reality. But he’s the kind of player you get excited to work with, and we certainly want to do that next season.”
