Viktor Svedberg inks two year extension with Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks signed defenseman Viktor Svedberg to his first free agent contract in North America back in the summer of 2013, but they’ve continued to like his services in the following seasons.

Last summer, the 6 foot 9, 238 lbs blue liner inked a one year extension with the Central Division club to carry him through the 2015-16 season; now, he’s on board for another two years.

#Blackhawks sign Viktor Svedberg to a two-year contract extension. Signed through the end of the 2017-18 season.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) March 14, 2016

The deal will carry Svedberg, who turns 25 in May, through the end of the 2017-18 season. At that point, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, and the club can opt to either keep him on board for a little bit longer on release him to find a home with another club around the league.

Undrafted at the NHL level, Svedberg got his first taste of NHL action this season, when he played in 19 games for the Blackhawks throughout the year. During that call-up, the oversized blue liner recorded two goals and four points, racking up just two penalty minutes in the process – but at the AHL level, he’s seen his production go up from 14 points in 41 games last year to 14 in 36 games this year. Although he’s unlikely to see higher pairing minutes at the NHL level at any point, he’s still a valuable depth piece for Chicago to hold on to.

With Svedberg signed on for the next two years, the Blackhawks how have two contracts crossed off for the upcoming 2015-16 season (they inked depth forward Marcus Kruger to a three year extension earlier last week). Now, they’ll need to focus on their myriad of pending RFA and UFA contracts with the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, but they also need to consider what kind of extension pending RFA Andrew Shaw will need over the summer.

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