Dahlstrom glad to play for Winnipeg

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This article was published 03/10/2019 (2167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — You’ll excuse Carl Dahlstrom if he’s feeling some jet lag at the moment, not to mention being a bit unsure of where he is.

After all, the 24-year-old Swedish defenceman has logged more than 14,000 kilometres in the air this week — from Chicago, to Germany, to the Czech Republic and then a very unexpected flight to New York to meet his new NHL teammates for the first time on Wednesday evening.

“For Carl, he’s on the longest first-game road trip in the history of the NHL,” Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice cracked on Thursday.

Dahlstrom’s career took an unexpected detour when the Chicago Blackhawks placed him on waivers Monday, deciding he wouldn’t be part of the opening-night 23-man roster. That would be stressful enough, but Dahlstrom was already in Europe, as Chicago played an exhibition game in Berlin on Sunday, then moved on to Prague, where they’re set to play their first regular-season game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

After clearing waivers and being assigned to Chicago’s AHL team, the Jets came calling. A late pre-season injury to Nathan Beaulieu that’s expected to sideline him for at least a month, along with the continued absence of Dustin Byfuglien and Sami Niku’s nagging groin strain, meant there was a vacancy on the blue line.

The result was a truly long-distance waiver claim that Dahlstrom happened to find out about through Twitter. His phone wasn’t working, so calls from his agent and Chicago management went unanswered.

“To say the least, it was pretty hectic,” Dahlstrom said Thursday morning as he participated in an optional skate with the Jets at Madison Square Garden. 

“Obviously, there’s a lot going through your mind. I slept really well (Wednesday) night, slept on the plane, as well. To be honest, I’m just really looking forward to it a lot. I see this as a new opportunity for me. Really set up a name for myself. I’m just really excited right now.”

Not surprisingly, Dahlstrom was given the night off as the Jets played their season opener against the Rangers.

“He had to move through Europe to get here, so we’re telling him, ‘Get some rest and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.’ We’ll go through the video and bring him in kind of slowly,” Maurice said.

“This is truly a road trip. From Chicago to Europe and back. We’ll consider (getting him in the lineup today against the New Jersey Devils). The guys, the six, that will go (Thursday), they’ve all had good camps. They’ve all played well, worked hard and they deserve to be in the opening-day lineup.”

Dahlstrom admitted it’s a bit of an emotional roller-coaster to find out the organization that drafted you (second round, 51st overall in 2013) no longer sees a fit for you with the NHL club. He has 49 NHL games under his belt over the past two seasons, with no goals and nine assists.

“I’ve always believed in myself, but we had a bunch of guys over there and still cuts (to be made). So I knew there was always a chance. I’m trying not to think of the past right now, I’m just looking forward to this,” he said.

“I was really happy that another team wanted me. For a team to pick you up, they must really want you. I was really excited when I saw it on Twitter.”

Dahlstrom’s sister has been living in New York for the past month, so he got to spend a bit of time with her after flying in from Prague on Wednesday afternoon, waiting for the Jets to arrive a few hours later. 

“I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve been talking to a couple guys in Chicago, they know them and obviously around the league, you know players. It was different. I came in here early, got to walk around the city a little bit. Just kind of waiting for the players to get up here, we had a nice dinner and I got to meet all the guys,” he said.

As a Central Division rival in Chicago, he’s seen plenty of the Jets over the past two seasons but knows things have changed with some key departures and turnover.

“There’s a lot of new guys this year, and I don’t know a ton about them. I’m sure I’ll get familiar with them real quick. But I’m just going to try and bring my game. I thought I played well last year and will just try to bring that into this year,” Dahlstrom said.

“I see myself as a pretty defensive defenceman with some upside in the offence. But I definitely see my gap as probably my biggest strength, getting close to guys quickly, getting the puck from them and getting it to our forwards.”

Now he just needs a chance, and perhaps a little more rest.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg