Meet the New Blackhawks: Nick Foligno

The Buffalo, New York native earned $3.8 million in his previous contract, so he received a slight bump in pay. As we know, the Blackhawks have a lot of money to work with to reach the cap floor, so they can afford to pay some veterans more than market value, while keeping them to short term contracts. This will give them cap flexibility down the road when they’re ready to take a step closer to contending.

Foligno’s Background

This veteran has already enjoyed a rather fruitful career. He was drafted in the first round (28^th overall) by the Ottawa Senators in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. After being drafted, he returned to his junior team for the 2006-07 season, the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. This was his third campaign with the team, and he broke out by notching a team-high 31 goals and 88 points in 66 games. He added 12 goals and 29 points in 21 playoff games, which was the second-highest point total in the league.

In Mar. 2007, Foligno agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Senators. While he spent the beginning of the 2007-08 season with their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, Foligno also appeared in 45 games for the big club, tallying six goals and nine points. He enjoyed four more solid seasons with the Senators, despite missing substantial time due to a broken leg in the 2009-10 campaign.

In the summer before the 2012-13 season, Foligno was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman Marc Methot. It was a situation where the Senators needed defensemen and had to sacrifice a forward get one. This was the beginning of a nine-year tenure with the Blue Jackets, Foligno’s longest with any team in his 16-year career.

In May 2015, Foligno was named captain of the team, becoming the sixth captain in franchise history. This was the season after he posted career-highs with 31 goals and 73 points in the 2014-15 season. He remained their captain for six more seasons. To get some further insight into Foligno’s tenure with the Blue Jackets, I reached out to my colleague, Mark Scheig, who covers the team for The Hockey Writers. He had high praise for this long-time Blue Jacket.

Nick Foligno’s contributions in Columbus will always be remembered by the Blue Jackets and their fans. From being their team captain to being a giant in the community, Foligno handled himself with class at all times. On the ice, he played an honest game and was hard to play against. He played in every key defensive situation but then when the opportunity came up, he scored timely goals, perhaps none bigger than in the 2019 Playoffs against Tampa Bay in Game 1. Down 3-0, Foligno beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to get the Blue Jackets on the board. Many look at that goal as the turning point of the series which led to the historic sweep.

Other accolades with the Blue Jackets include Foligno being named to the NHL All-Star Game in 2015, and winning both the Mark Messier Leadership Award and the King Clancy Trophy in the 2016-17 season.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets’ captain became a victim of a struggling team that needed to make changes. In Apr. 2021, Foligno was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the key factor in the trade being the Blue Jackets receiving a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Foligno would be a free agent at the end of the season, so it made sense to move him for draft capital.

The Maple Leafs felt the 6-foot-0, 210-pound winger would be a key depth player in their playoff push. Alas, they lost in the first round of the postseason in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens. Foligno only suited up for four contests in the series, registering one assist.

Needless to say, he was not re-signed with the Maple Leafs, but instead struck a two-year deal with the Bruins. In Boston, Foligno continued his solid play and leadership, but served in even more of a depth role on a stacked Bruins team.

He met a milestone by playing in his 1000^th game on Mar. 15 of 2022, coincidentally against the Blackhawks. As I did with my Taylor Hall introduction piece, I turned to Bruins’ writer Hannah Garfield for more on Foligno’s time with the Bruins.

Foligno’s two years in Boston were certainly the extremes of the highs and the lows. The 2021-22 season was a real low and easily the worst in his career. Many were expecting his contract to be bought out last summer, particularly with the decently high cap hit of his last contract.

But, in a testament to his skill and his character, he completely turned it around in 2022-23. While he was still very much a bottom-six player, he was an important contributor. He mainly played on the fourth line, but saw some minutes up on the third line as well. He went from being a guy fans were begging the front office to buy out, to a consistent presence on the ice who helped revitalize the team’s bottom six.

Foligno did put together a solid 2022-23 season, registering 10 goals and 26 points in 60 games. He also contributed a goal and three points in six playoff games.

Foligno’s Fit With the Blackhawks

This deal seems to be all about the incredible leadership Foligno can provide. While Hall mentors Bedard and perhaps Lukas Reichel among the top-six, Foligno will do the same for the younger depth in the bottom-six.

Here’s a quote from Foligno from a recent Zoom call with the media.

Gee, that sounds just like something head coach Luke Richardson would say, doesn’t it?! He preached all last season about bonding, and teammates playing for one other. Now Foligno seems to have that same mindset. He can essentially be another coach on the ice.

Another note of interest is that Foligno will now be reunited with his former Blue Jackets’ teammate, defenseman Seth Jones. They spent six seasons together in Columbus, with Foligno sporting the “C” on his sweater and Jones serving as an alternate captain. They both appear excited to work together again, as Foligno indicated.  

He’s (Jones) a guy that I really enjoyed playing with in the past and admire him as a person and as a leader and the player that he is. Talking to him, he was really excited that I was trying to come to the team as well. We’ve had a lot of success together. I know how badly he wants to win and compete. When I saw that this was a possibility, I reached out to him right away and I think he was looking forward to it.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Jones and Foligno have some previous history together. They’re already one step closer to the mindset and culture Richardson is trying to build, that of playing for each other and working together.

The Blackhawks have done an excellent job of adding veterans to mentor their younger core this coming season, Foligno being one of them. He is highly respected around the league, and should be a huge asset both on and off the ice. It’s going to be fun to watch all the pieces come together and see how the team gels in the 2023-24 campaign.