Yahoo Sports Does Foligno Chase a Stanley Cup or Stick It Out With Blackhawks?
Nick Foligno has been a great captain for the Chicago Blackhawks regardless of the lack of success that the team has had. Not only has he been a very good mentor for the young players, he's a veteran who has been around, played in meaningful games, and played different roles in his time in the NHL.
Foligno can relate to any player and while the young stars like Connor Bedard are still learning the league and developing more before getting a letter on their jersey, the veteran has it locked down. But for how long?
The 18-year veteran is now 37 years old and hasn't won a Stanley Cup. Many, if not all players who have been in the league a long time and have earned their money, want to hoist the Stanley Cup before their career is over. Foligno has a few good years left before he likely calls it a career. Sometimes it's not all about whether he can still play and a team signs him, but rather if he still wants to play after so many years of grinding.
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Foligno has appeared in the playoffs in 11 different seasons and has a total of 68 games played. He has gotten out of the first round just twice and played a maximum of 10 games in a single playoff run. His team has also been swept in the first round four times.
He won't be able to reach the playoffs or accomplish anything in the playoffs for at least another year if he sticks it out with the Blackhawks. So it makes me wonder whether his intention is to let things play out in Chicago for nearly two more years until he's 39, or reveal his intention to have at least one more run at winning it all.
Foligno is in the first of a two-year, $4.5 million AAV deal. I don't think he's going anywhere this season, but he may next season if he's still on his game. He is a third or fourth line player on a Stanley Cup contender and he has 11 goals and 20 points in 46 games.
His physicality is something that teams would look for when acquiring a depth forward with experience and great leadership, but unless a team is dealing with one or more injuries that clear up a good amount of cap space, the Blackhawks would definitely have to retain half of Foligno's contract. There's no clauses restricting the Blackhawks from moving him, but I still think it will happen next season, not this one, unless there's interest and a good enough return.
Foligno is valuable to the Blackhawks, but at a certain point, the team has to be handed over to the youth. The veteran has had a solid 1201-game career, scoring 243 goals, 582 points, and has a Mark Messier Leadership Award and King Clancy Memorial Trophy to go with it. The last thing he's missing that's still obtainable is the Stanley Cup.
I could see Foligno calling it a career after his two-year deal. His age and how much he has left restricts the chances he has left to win what every hockey player dreams of as a kid growing up. That means, even if he doesn't come out and say he wants to have one more go at a Cup and feel like he's abandoning the Blackhawks at their lowest, Chicago should still give him that opportunity.
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