Ahead of their weekend back-to-back against the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins, the Chicago Blackhawks added another forward to the NHL roster. Landon Slaggert was recalled from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League on Saturday morning.
Slaggert, 23, has appeared in 10 NHL games for the Blackhawks this season, tallying one goal. In eight AHL games with the IceHogs, the 2020 third-round pick (No. 79 overall) has recorded four points (2G, 2A).
Both Slaggert and defenseman Sam Rinzel were assigned to Rockford by the Blackhawks back on Dec. 8. Slaggert picked up a point in three of five AHL games during his latest minor-league stint before getting called back up on Saturday.
With the Blackhawks currently down both Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar due to injuries, the team had a few roster spots available to make a transaction. However, one has to wonder if Slaggert’s call-up is a sign that captain Nick Foligno isn’t quite ready to return from his hand injury, which he suffered on Nov. 15. Foligno returned to practice last week for the first time since suffering the injury, but he’s yet to be activated off injured reserve.
If Foligno isn’t activated ahead of Saturday’s game against Dallas, the Blackhawks will only have 12 healthy forwards on the active roster. Perhaps Slaggert was recalled as a 13th-forward depth option for the weekend, as Chicago will also play again on Sunday versus the Penguins.
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