The Blackhawks made it official Thursday when they signed Swedish winger Anton Wedin to a one-year deal worth $925,000.
Wedin’s agent, Michael Deutsch, confirmed to Scott Powers of The Athletic two weeks ago that the deal was agreed to.
The Avalanche, Blackhawks, Coyotes and Maple Leafs were reportedly among the finalists for Wedin, who cited Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton’s familiarity with him as the determining factor for picking the Blackhawks.
Wedin, who turned 26 in March, led Timrå IK in goals (14) and was third in points (27) in 32 SHL games this past season. The 5-foot-11, 194-pound winger spent the previous five seasons with Timrå IK in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second division. Wedin became a free agent when his SHL contact with Timrå IK was broken when the club was demoted to HockeyAllsvenskan last month.
Colliton is familiar with Wedin having coached against him from 2015-17 in HockeyAllsvenskan. Colliton coached Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan during that span before being named the Blackhawks’ AHL coach in 2017 and promoted to NHL job in November 2018.
Wedin, who is a left-handed shot, will likely compete for a bottom-six depth role during the Blackhawks’ training camp next fall but might see time in the AHL.