The Blackhawks signed prospects Mikael Hakkarainen and Tim Soderlund to three-year entry-level contracts that run through the 2021-22 season on Monday.
Hakkarainen, a 2018 fifth-round pick, scored 19 goals and 47 points in 42 regular-season games in the USHL for the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ top-line center after playing just one game for Providence College. The 6-foot, 183-pound center’s 1.12 points per game tied for 13th in the league. The 21-year-old was tied for third during the playoffs in points with nine (four goals, five assists).
Soderlund, a 2017 fourth-round pick, scored three goals and five points in 26 Swedish Hockey League games with Frolunda HC before joining his hometown team in Skelleftea AIK midseason. The 5-foot-9, 163-pound winger added three goals and nine points in 22 games for Skelleftea AIK.
Soderlund joins defenseman Henri Jokiharju as players from the Blackhawks’ 2017 draft class to sign. Hakkarainen, meanwhile, is the fourth player from the 2018 class to sign along with first-round defensemen Adam Boqvist and Nicolas Beaudin and fourth-round center Philipp Kurashev.