The Blackhawks made another roster cut from training camp by re-assigning Adam Boqvist and Aleksi Saarela to the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL on Wednesday.
The roster cut leaves Chicago with 28 players: 16 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. The Blackhawks travel to Berlin, Germany, on Thursday to play in the NHL Global Series against Eisbären Berlin on Sunday. Rockford head coach Derek King will take the IceHogs to Boston to play the Bruins on Saturday.
Boqvist, who was selected eighth overall in the 2018 NHL draft, tallied 60 points (20 goals, 40 assists) in 54 games last season for the London Knights in the OHL during his first season in North America. The Swedish blue liner made a push for a NHL roster spot, but fell short and was pushed out due to the offseason acquisitions of Calvin de Haan and Olli Maatta.
The Blackhawks acquired the 22-year-old Saarela and de Haan from the Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Gustav Forsling and goaltender Anton Forsberg at the NHL draft. Saarela scored 54 points (30 goals, 24 assists) in 69 regular-season games and added 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 17 playoff games to help the Charlotte Checkers win the Calder Cup.
NHL camp
Forwards: Drake Caggiula, Ryan Carpenter, Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, David Kampf, Patrick Kane, Dominik Kubalik, Alex Nylander, Brendan Perlini, John Quenneville, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Zack Smith, Dylan Strome, Jonathan Toews, Anton Wedin
Defensemen: Carl Dahlstrom, Calvin de Haan, Dennis Gilbert, Erik Gustafsson, Duncan Keith, Slater Koekkoek, Olli Maatta, Connor Murphy, Brent Seabrook
Goaltenders: Corey Crawford, Collin Delia, Robin Lehner
AHL camp
Forwards: Liam Coughlin*, MacKenzie Entwistle, Alexandre Fortin, Brandon Hagel, Mikael Hakkarainen, Matthew Highmore, Reese Johnson, Graham Knott, Philipp Kurashev, Dylan McLaughlin*, Nathan Noel, Jacob Nilsson, Aleksi Saarela, Dylan Sikura, Tyler Sikura*, Tim Soderlund, Mathew Thompson*, Kris Versteeg*
Defensemen: Nicolas Beaudin, Adam Boqvist, Lucas Carlsson, Philip Holm, Chad Krys, Nick Moutrey*, Josh McArdle*, Dmitry Osipov*, Jack Ramsey*, Jake Ryczek*, Joni Tuulola
Goaltenders: Kevin Lankinen, Chase Marchand*, Matt Tomkins*
*AHL contract