Philip Holm is walking away from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Holm is walking away.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Philip Holm is walking away from the Chicago Blackhawks.
David Kirouac/CSM/Zuma

The Chicago Blackhawks have lost some of their depth and when you consider some of the struggles the team has had on the blue line as of late this could prove to me a costly loss for the organization.

In August of this year the Blackhawks announced that they had signed defenseman Philip Holm to a one year contract, a two way deal at the league minimum. The deal was clearly designed to bolster the organizations depth on the blue line, but now just a few months later and it sounds like Holm has had his fill of being a member of the Blackhawks organization.

The news first started to trickle out this morning when Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Holm had been placed on unconditional waivers by the Blackhawks organization, a move that will often come as the precursor to a player contract being terminated. There had been no rumblings about a potential departure from Holms prior to that announcement, but it would not be long after that many began to connect the dots. 

Chicago Blackhawks insider Scott Powers of The Athletic is now reporting that this move was motivated by the players desire to leave the organization and not the other way around, indicating that Holm has not been happy with the way he has been treated as a Blackhawk. Based in the comments from Powers it sounds like Holm came back with the NHL as his only goal, and with the Blackhawks now using him this season he has simply decided to pack up and go home. 

"Philip Holm's agent said because Holm hasn't been called up yet he's decided to return to Europe to play," said Powers. "Holm turned 28 in December. He played last season in the KHL after previous playing in the NHL and wanted to give the NHL one last chance this season."

Holm was being a very effective player at the AHL level for the Blackhawks but it seems clear now that he simply was not happy in that situation. Through 30 games with the IceHogs this season the defenseman had 4 goals and 11 assists for a combined total of 15 points and boasted a plus minus rating of +4 on the season.

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