After one full season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, Blackhawks prospect Victor Ejdsell is returning to the Sweden Hockey League, where he signed a two-year deal with Farjestad BK. He's set to become a restricted free agent this summer, so the Blackhawks still own his NHL rights.
It became apparent that Ejdsell would probably be getting less ice time with the IceHogs going forward, given the moves they’ve made over the last week and how crowded the roster will be. Most recently, the Blackhawks signed forward prospects Mikael Hakkarainen and Tim Soderlund to entry-level contracts, both of whom could compete for spots in Rockford next season.
Ejdsell recorded 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 61 games for the IceHogs this past season after averaging nearly a point per game in their Western Conference Final run during the 2017-18 campaign. He played in six games with the Blackhawks before that, registering just one assist.
Ejdsell was acquired by the Blackhawks on Feb. 26, 2018 as part of a package that sent Ryan Hartman to the Nashville Predators in a trade deadline deal. The Blackhawks also received a first-round and third-round selection and turned those into Nicolas Beaudin and Philipp Kurashev.
Ejdsell turns 24 in June, and at this point it’s hard to see a path back to the Blackhawks. The organization was hoping he could build on his breakout Calder Cup Playoff campaign but Ejdsell struggled to take that next step in his development in North America and consistency was a big part of it.
The deadline for NHL teams to submit qualifying offers to RFAs is June 25.
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