The Chicago Blackhawks assigned defenseman Carl Dahlstrom to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL on Friday. There has been no corresponding move announced.
Dahlstrom, 23, recorded three assists with a 52.9 Corsi For percentage in 11 games with Chicago since making his NHL debut Feb. 10 at Minnesota. The 6-foot-4, 231-pounder struggled and looked like a liability on the ice on the third line during his time on the main roster. He posted 23 points in 47 AHL games prior to his call up. It’s a drastic improvement from last season, when he posted 11 points in 70 games.
Dahlstrom is on the second year of his three-year contract with a $750,833 annual salary cap hit, according to CapFriendly.com. He’s expected to push for a roster spot in training camp next fall.
The Blackhawks now have seven defenseman on the main roster, including Michal Rozsival on injured reserve. Chicago only has one call up left for the season and they could bring up a defenseman with NHL experience or get their first look at top prospect. There are four defenseman in Rockford that have NHL experience that could be called up in Adam Clendening (24 points, 86 games) Gustav Forsling (18 points, 79 games) Cody Franson (212 points, 550 games) and Viktor Svedberg (4 points, 27 games), while young prospects Darren Raddysh and Luc Snuggerud could also be in the mix.