Before free agency opened up, the Blackhawks acquired the negotiating rights to winger Nick Foligno from Boston as part of the Taylor Hall trade. From there, they wasted little time signing him to a one-year, $4MM contract, one that many viewed as an overpayment but GM Kyle Davidson clearly valued his potential off-ice contributions as well.
To his credit, the 36-year-old has bounced back nicely this season, already notching eight goals and nine assists through 34 games, good for third on the team in scoring. One reason for the improvement is the fact that he’s logging more than five minutes per game extra compared to a year ago. Speaking with Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Kyle Davidson indicated that it’s not too early to be thinking about the possibility of an extension and that there’s no reason that they wouldn’t want to keep him around while Foligno himself stated that he’s open to discussing a new deal as well:
I’m definitely open to talking. We got to move this in the right direction, so I want to be a part of that and helping. It’s great to hear (Davidson has been thinking about that). I’ve really haven’t had a ton of conversation with Kyle on that. But I’m of the mindset right now, I’m just taking it day by day, kind of being in the moment. And if that presents itself, we’ll discuss it with my agent and see if there’s a way forward. But all signs from me right now are I’m really loving everything about this organization and the guys and, like I said, trying to help push this in the direction I expect it to go.
Since Foligno is playing on a one-year agreement, he is ineligible to sign an extension until January 1st; Davidson noted that the two sides aren’t even able to discuss a new deal until then.
Having said that, it certainly would make sense for this arrangement to last a little longer. Davidson noted how Foligno has shown his value off the ice with a very young roster while on it, he is certainly contributing as well. The Blackhawks also have the benefit of being able to pay an above-market rate as they are now to keep him around; per CapFriendly, they barely have $35MM in commitments for next season which means they’re looking at roughly $30MM in needed spending simply to get to next year’s cap floor.
On the other hand, an early extension would take away the possibility of moving him at the trade deadline. Chicago has two of its three remaining salary retention slots available (the other is being used on Jake McCabe) and Foligno at a prorated $2MM price tag (if they retained the maximum 50%) would likely be appealing to some playoff-bound teams. A contract before the deadline would then take that potential return off the table.
But if Chicago values Foligno as much as it appears they do, getting him to put pen to paper on a new deal in the near future is worth foregoing what would likely be a mid-to-late-round selection in the draft. Accordingly, it feels like there’s a good chance the two sides will be able to work something out, even if they have to wait a little longer to officially start discussions.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.