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The Chicago Blackhawks traded forward Nick Foligno to the Minnesota Wild on Friday, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill confirmed.
The Blackhawks are receiving future considerations in the deal, a Wild team source said.
Foligno, 38, is in the final year of his contract with a $4.5 million cap hit. He has three goals and eight assists in 37 games this season.
Foligno had been torn about whether he wanted to finish the season with the Blackhawks or try to pursue a Stanley Cup ring, something that has eluded him in his 19-year NHL career. Now, he’ll get to pursue his first championship alongside his brother, Marcus, who is in his ninth season with the Wild.
Nick Foligno almost signed with the Wild in 2021 but chose Boston because he felt it would be too hard to play with his brother at that juncture. This is a gesture by the Blackhawks to give Foligno a chance to close his career playing with his younger brother and a chance to contend for the Cup. He will meet the Wild in Colorado on Saturday and could debut Sunday afternoon against the Avalanche.
Nick called Marcus a half hour before the news broke and said, “I’m going to a different team.”
“I go, ‘Oh, s—, but congrats. That’s awesome though,’” Marcus said. “And then he’s like, ‘I’ll see you in a few hours!’
“Just crazy. It’s a crazy moment in our family and just to know you’re going to play with your brother is a dream come true,” Marcus added. “I’ve got the shakes going right now.”
Marcus said his brother, who played center all year in Chicago and can play up and down the lineup, is willing to accept whatever role he’s given.
“He wants to be a part of this group and to play with me, obviously,” Marcus said. “He feels kind of invested in this group for a while now. He just wants to help out any way he can. And, hopefully it’s a long ride.”
Asked how his family took the news, Marcus said: “I think everyone’s crying right now. I think my dad’s bawling, everyone’s bawling. Everyone is excited; they can’t believe it. Our sisters are excited, our wives are going nuts right now. The kids can’t believe it. We’ve wanted this for four or five years now, and it’s exciting to see it come to fruition and then just have a reality of us playing together.”
Nick Foligno spoke on Thursday about his conversations with Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and weighing his future.
“It’s tough,” he said. “I’ve made it no (secret) how much I care about this group, especially as a guy who’s led this group for a few years. You feel weird when you have those hard conversations. But it’s the reality of where we’re sitting.”
“When you have expiring contracts or the age I’m at, there’s always a personal thing that you go through, too. You want to still compete and battle and win, and so that’s the fight that you have. I believe in this group so much, and it’s been an absolute honor to be the captain here. … But there’s a competitor inside you, too, that wants to be playing meaningful games.”
The Blackhawks were among the worst teams in the league during Foligno’s three seasons. Foligno played a pivotal role as a transitional captain between the Jonathan Toews era and the inevitable Connor Bedard captaincy. He threw himself into his role as everybody’s big brother — many of his younger teammates jokingly called him their hockey dad — and tried to prepare Bedard and the other young players to take over the team when veterans like himself, Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson were gone.
Foligno always skirted the line between earnest and corny, but nobody ever doubted his sincerity.
“The one thing is how much I care about this group,” he said. “That’s something that probably even surprised me, in a short time, about how much I’ve enjoyed being a Chicago Blackhawk and being here with this team and seeing the growth and maturation of a lot of guys and where we’re trying to get to.”
Blashill addressed the trade with the media on Friday: “Obviously, one I’m happy for him. … I wish we were 10 points in and none of this happens, but we’re not and for an opportunity to go and play with your brother, be part of something with your brother — I have a brother and it would be an unbelievable thing. So, I know that means a ton to him and his family. I know how important that is.
“And then for me personally, just he’s been awesome. Awesome for me, awesome for this organization, but for me personally, coming in this year, having a chance to try to create culture and with the help of (Connor) Murphy, ‘Dickey’ (Jason Dickinson), Bert (Todd Bertuzzi), all our vets, we had just great papa bears who have helped these guys along, and Nick certainly led us in that.
“He’s been a great sounding board for me, been around the league a long time, so when I had things that I wanted to discuss and get a feel for from a player’s perspective, I could always lean on him. He’s an outstanding human being, one of the best I’ve been around, so I’ll miss him personally and we’ll miss him as a group.”
