I wondered yesterday if the Blackhawks were going to make a roster move when the IceHogs sent a player down to Indy in the ECHL. That move happened before the morning skate on Tuesday.
Filip Roos has been sent to Rockford.
Roos, 23, is Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson’s first European free agent signing. He appeared in 15 games with one goal and two assists thus far, but has been a healthy scratch a couple times this season with Ian Mitchell getting into the lineup. Based on the defensive pairs at practice on Monday, it appeared Tuesday night’s game would be another one of those instances.
There was a report back in October that Roos’ contract might have an opening for his team in Sweden to bring him back if the Blackhawks sent him to the AHL. Like Ben Pope (below), I have heard some conflicting things about whether or not that’s in play here.
The Blackhawks still have seven “healthy” defensemen on the NHL roster. The “healthy” is because Caleb Jones was yanked out of the starting lineup at the last minute on Friday night and Jarred Tinordi was activated (earlier than expected) because of Jones’ hip issue. And then Tinordi too a skate to the face on his first shift and missed a full period to get his face put back together. And Seth Jones is still wearing a brace on his thumb that limits his game.
This is interesting to me now, however, because the Blackhawks would need a roster spot open if they want to activate Tyler Johnson at some point and make him available for Tuesday night’s game. TJ looked like he was close to returning — finally — on Monday.