Colin Blackwell
Blackwell with the Seattle Kraken in 2022
Born (1993-03-28) March 28, 1993
Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Center
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Chicago Blackhawks
Nashville Predators
New York Rangers
Seattle Kraken
Toronto Maple Leafs
National team  United States
NHL Draft 194th overall, 2011
San Jose Sharks
Playing career 2016–present

Colin Blackwell (born March 28, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey center for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Early life

Blackwell was born on March 28, 1993, to parents Jim and Carla Blackwell in North Andover, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was a fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, and Boston Bruins.[1] From 2004 until 2010, Blackwell played with the Valley Junior Warriors from Peewee minors through the U16 level.[2]

Playing career

Collegiate

Blackwell played high school hockey with St. John's Prep in Massachusetts from 2007 to 2011. A standout with St. John's, where he recorded 66 points in just 25 games, Blackwell was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round, 194th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Blackwell embarked on a collegiate career with Harvard University of the ECAC. During his tenure with the Crimson, Blackwell was affected by a concussion injury, forcing him to sit out the majority of his junior and senior seasons. He returned towards the end of his senior year in 2014–15, appearing in 11 games to help the team claim the ECAC Tournament Championship.[3]

Following his redshirt senior season, Blackwell began his professional career in the 2016–17 season, signing a one-year AHL contract with the San Jose Barracuda, primary affiliate to the San Jose Sharks. In a checking line role, Blackwell produced 11 points in 57 games before making 15 post-season appearances in the playoffs.

Professional

As a free agent, Blackwell left the Sharks organization to participate in the Buffalo Sabres rookie camp, before joining its AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, on a professional tryout to begin the 2017–18 season.[3] He produced 3 points in 8 games before securing an AHL contract with the Americans on November 2, 2017.[4] He continued to find an offensive role with the Americans, increasing his points totals to lead all forwards with 17 goals and 45 points in 61 games.

On July 3, 2018, Blackwell signed his first NHL contract as a free agent, agreeing to a two-year, two-way deal with the Nashville Predators.[5] After attending the Predators training camp, Blackwell was re-assigned to start the 2018–19 season with AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.[6] Despite missing 27 games through injury, Blackwell recorded 7 goals in 14 games to earn his first recall to the Predators on January 19, 2019.[7] He made his NHL debut the same day, playing on the fourth line, in a 4–2 defeat to the Florida Panthers at Bridgestone Arena.[8]

On October 9, 2020, Blackwell was signed as a free agent a two-year contract worth $725,000 annually with the New York Rangers, with the second year of his contract on a one-way basis.[9] In the pandemic delayed 2020–21 season, on January 24, 2021, Blackwell made his Rangers debut during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and scored his first goal with the team, despite a 3–2 loss. On March 28, which happened to be Blackwell's 28th birthday, Colin scored a career-high two goals against the Washington Capitals. He became the eighth Ranger to have a multi-goal game on his birthday, the first player since Ryan Callahan on March 21, 2009. In a break out season with the Rangers, Blackwell finished with 12 goals and 22 points through 47 regular season games.

On July 21, 2021, Blackwell was selected from the Rangers at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft by the Seattle Kraken.[10] Blackwell scored eight goals and 17 points in 38 games for Seattle.

On March 20, 2022, Blackwell was traded from Seattle at the NHL trade deadline to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Mark Giordano in exchange for a second-round pick in 2022 and 2023 and a third-round pick in 2024.[11] Blackwell scored two goals and three points in 19 games for Toronto to finish the regular season, then added one goal and two points in seven playoff games during the Leafs' first-round loss to the Lightning.

On July 13, Blackwell signed a two-year, $2.4 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent.[12][13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 St. John's Prep USHS 25 33 33 66 10 — — — — —
2011–12 Harvard University ECAC 34 5 14 19 46 — — — — —
2012–13 Harvard University ECAC 21 3 11 14 10 — — — — —
2014–15 Harvard University ECAC 11 5 1 6 6 — — — — —
2015–16 Harvard University ECAC 28 6 13 19 12 — — — — —
2016–17 San Jose Barracuda AHL 57 4 7 11 24 15 3 0 3 8
2017–18 Rochester Americans AHL 61 17 28 45 23 3 1 2 3 0
2018–19 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 43 14 12 26 22 5 1 0 1 4
2018–19 Nashville Predators NHL 6 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2019–20 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 26 6 17 23 21 — — — — —
2019–20 Nashville Predators NHL 27 3 7 10 10 — — — — —
2020–21 New York Rangers NHL 47 12 10 22 15 — — — — —
2021–22 Seattle Kraken NHL 39 8 9 17 4 — — — — —
2021–22 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 19 2 1 3 10 7 1 1 2 17
2022–23 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 53 2 8 10 6 — — — — —
NHL totals 191 27 35 62 47 7 1 1 2 0
Medal record
Representing  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2021 Latvia

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2021 United States WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 4 0 4 6
Senior totals 10 4 0 4 6

Awards and honors

Award Year
College
New England Unsung Hero Award 2016

References

  1. ↑ "COLIN BLACKWELL" (PDF). cms.nhl.bamgrid.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. ↑ "COLIN BLACKWELL MAKES NHL DEBUT WITH PREDATORS". jrwarriors.com. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Harvard graduate Colin Blackwell impressing Sabres". buffalohockeybeat.com. 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  4. ↑ "Amerks sign Colin Blackwell to AHL deal". Rochester Americans. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. ↑ "Predators sign Colin Blackwell to two-year contract". Nashville Predators. 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  6. ↑ "Predators assign Blackwell to Milwaukee". Nashville Predators. 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  7. ↑ "Predators recall forward Colin Blackwell from Milwaukee". 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  8. ↑ "Ekblad, Trochek lead Panthers over Predators". ESPN. 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  9. ↑ "Rangers announce six free agent signings". New York Rangers. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Seattle Kraken make their picks". Seattle Kraken. July 22, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Maple Leafs Acquire Giordano And Blackwell In Trade With Seattle". Toronto Maple Leafs. March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Blackhawks sign Colin Blackwell to two-year, $2.4M deal". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  13. ↑ "Athanasiou, Domi, Blackwell, Stalock, Philp and Seney signed". Chicago Blackhawks. July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
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