As expected, the Blackhawks opted not to sign wingers Radovan Bondra and John Dahlstrom, both members of the 2015 NHL draft class, and let their draft rights expire Saturday.
With only a few hours to go, here is an updated list of the players who must be signed by their respective clubs to an Entry Level contract no later than 5:00pm ET today, otherwise the drafting club will lose their signing rights to these players.https://t.co/nXfmDT1fO4 pic.twitter.com/k7ZfQ6HDoa
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 1, 2019
Bondra, a fifth rounder, did not score a point in seven AHL games the past two seasons after his junior career ended with the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League. The Slovak’s 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 66 games for the ECHL’s Indy Fuel ranked seventh on the team this past season. His future is unknown.
Dahlstrom, the last player selected in the 2015 draft, played one season in North America with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers in 2016-17 then returned home to Sweden. He has tallied 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 89 games the past two seasons in Sweden’s second division — Allsvenskan — between Almtuna IS and IK Oskarshamn. He’ll play next season for IK Oskarshamn in the Swedish Hockey League.
Bondra and Dahlstrom join forward Roy Radke (sixth rounder) as 2015 draftees no longer under team control. Radke, a Geneva native, left the organization in 2017 for Finland to play for SaiPa after Chicago didn’t offer him a contract.
Defenseman Dennis Gilbert (third), who skated in one NHL game in April, is the lone player from Chicago’s 2015 draft class to have skated in a NHL game.
Forward Graham Knott (second) and defenseman Joni Tuulola (sixth) each have one year left on their entry-level contracts. Both players skated for the IceHogs this past season. Defenseman Ryan Shea (fourth) will play his senior season at Northeastern University next fall.