On Thursday, it was announced that Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs forward Victor Ejdsell would not be returning to the organization, electing to go back to the Swedish professional league to play for Färjestad BK. Ejdsell becomes a restricted free agent this summer, so the Blackhawks still hold his rights.
Victor Ejdsell elects not to re-sign with Blackhawks, returns to SHL
When Victor Ejdsell was acquired by the Blackhawks for the Nashville Predators, there was a ton of optimism around him and his eventual jump to North America. Signed by the Predators in the spring of 2017, Ejdsell was a young, standout player in the Swedish Allsvenskan (Tier 2) out of BIK Karlskoga and was the league’s MVP for the 2016–17 season. In his only SHL season, Ejdsell tallied 34 points in 50 games for HV71 and was traded to Chicago at the 2018 NHL trade deadline.
– Magkänslan avgjorde, säger @victorejdsell som nu är tillbaka i Färjestad BK. https://t.co/S2MbIvhKkz #fbkse pic.twitter.com/pUKY4ljYDo
— Färjestad BK (@farjestad_bk) May 9, 2019
Ejdsell joined the organization in March, playing two games with the IceHogs before joining the Blackhawks for the final six games of the 2017–18 season. He tallied one assist in the AHL and one assist in the NHL before rejoining the IceHogs for the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.
It was there that Ejdsell made a name for himself within the organization. In 13 Calder Cup Playoff games with the IceHogs, Ejdsell tallied 12 points including two huge overtime goals, starting with this one in triple overtime of Game 3 against the Chicago Wolves.
Then, in the Calder Cup Western Conference Finals against the Texas Stars, Edjsell kept the IceHogs’ season alive.
Your @TheAHL Play of the Week is another overtime goal from Victor Ejdsell in a must-win Game 4. The must-win Game 5? The @goicehogs won that too. https://t.co/9bKWzO7h2J
— NHL (@NHL) May 27, 2018
Following his run in the Calder Cup Playoffs, expectations were high on Ejdsell to make the Blackhawks’ roster out of training camp for the 2018–19 season. While he did not make the NHL roster, it seemed he would have been one of the top options to come out of Rockford first when the Blackhawks made a call-up. Ejdsell ended up playing the entire season with the IceHogs, skating in 61 games and tallying 29 points, far under-performing what was expected of him by the fanbase and the organization. Late in the season, IceHogs head coach Derek King spoke about Ejdsell putting things together, finally, and doing the little things right to get more ice time as Rockford pushed for a Calder Cup Playoff spot this spring. Rockford fell short, and Ejdsell, a restricted free agent this summer, has decided that his future does not mesh with the Blackhawks, or with the NHL.
Rockford IceHogs forward Victor Ejdsell awaits a faceoff against the San Antonio Rampage. (Photograph courtesy of San Antonio Rampage)
Breaking down the Blackhawks-Predators trade that acquired Ejdsell, the only known quantities in the trade at the time were Ryan Hartman and Victor Ejdsell. Hartman was later traded from Nashville to the Philadelphia Flyers and the 2018 fifth-round pick the Blackhawks sent to Nashville in the deal turned into Spencer Stastney. For Chicago, aside from acquiring Ejdsell, they also picked up the 2018 first and fourth-round picks from the Predators. Those two picks became Nicolas Beaudin and Philipp Kurashev, respectively. The jury is still out on the deal, but from the return in draft picks, Chicago looks the beneficiary.
Ejdsell played a major role for the IceHogs’ most successful run in the Calder Cup Playoffs and for that at least, the organization and the fans can be grateful. It is unfortunate that his time with the Blackhawks organization was brief and underwhelming in the grand scheme.