When the Chicago Blackhawks dealt Adam Clendening to the Vancouver Canucks in 2015, a reunion at some point seemed far-fetched. After being selected by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2011 NHL Draft, Clendening’s professional career started in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. After two full seasons in the AHL, it seemed as if Clendening may be ready to make the jump to the NHL, but ultimately his NHL opportunity was not going to be with Chicago.
Landing with the Canucks organization, Clendening helped the Utica Comets reach the 2015 Calder Cup Final before falling to the Manchester Monarchs. From the beginning of the 2015-16 season until last January, Clendening spent time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Arizona Coyotes organizations before being traded back to the Blackhawks organization.
Adam Clendening Set Franchise Records In Return To IceHogs
In January, Clendening made his return to the Blackhawks organization, and subsequently, the Rockford IceHogs. In his previous stint with the IceHogs from 2012-2015, Clendening skated in a total of 185 games and racked up 118 points. Upon his return, Clendening would play in 38 regular season games, tallying 30 points (4G, 26A) and set the IceHogs AHL franchise records for most assists by a defenseman (122) and most points scored by a defenseman (148).
Adam Clendening defends against the Bakersfield Condors. (Courtesy: Greg Hamil)
Once he arrived in Rockford, Clendening was a force on the offensive-side of the ice and on the IceHogs powerplay. Other than Chris DiDomenico’s 23 points over 22 games and Vince Hinostroza’s 22 points over 23 games with Rockford, Clendening’s 30 points over 38 games ranked third-highest for point-per-game pace on the IceHogs at 0.79. Over a full 76 game schedule, Clendening was on pace for a 60-point season, which would have out-scored the highest AHL defenseman by five points.
Final Season Grade: A-
In the Calder Cup Playoffs, Clendening continued to pace the defensive scoring output with 14 points (1G, 13A) over the IceHogs’ 13-game run to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the Texas Stars. Clendening, long with DiDomenico and Cody Franson, formed a forceful trio on the Rockford powerplay unit and was a major factor in the success of the team during the Calder Cup Playoffs. After bouncing around to numerous organizations over the past six professional seasons, Clendening commented after the conclusion of the year that this IceHogs team was the most fun locker room he had been a part of.
Future Outlook
While it seems plausible that the Chicago Blackhawks could have given Clendening a qualifying offer at the end of the season, the organization decided not to do so by the restricted free agent offer deadline and thus Clendening becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. While it still could be possible that the Blackhawks offer Clendening a contract in July, it is unlikely that he factors into the organization’s future plans on the blue-line. He has the ability to play in the NHL, but will need to find the right opportunity for him to crack the big league roster.