The Blackhawks called up rookie defenseman Henri Jokiharju from the AHL on an “emergency basis” on Friday. Head coach Jeremy Colliton, however, did not commit to saying Jokiharju would play Friday against Colorado.
Seabrook is out tonight. Jokiharju is coming up. He could play depending on Dalhstrom’s health. Colliton wasn’t sure whether Jokiharju would just be a temporary call-up.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) February 22, 2019
The Avalanche, Coyotes and Blackhawks are all tied with 61 points, which is one point back of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Jokiharju, who is only 19, tallied one goal and eight assists in nine AHL games since being sent down to the IceHogs on Jan. 31. The blue liner had no goals and 12 assists and a team-high 54.1 Corsi For percentage in 37 NHL games prior to his AHL stint.
The 2017 first-rounder had two goals and three assists in seven games during the Finnish men’s national junior team’s gold-medal run at the World Junior Championship. After playing in the tournament, Jokiharju had one assist in five games and played only more than 16 minutes only once.
Colliton deployed Jokiharju on his off side to see if that could help shake out the blue line to give the group some more versatility going forward.