Nick Foligno excited to embrace long-term mindset with Blackhawks

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Nick Foligno has thoroughly understood the Blackhawks’ long-term plans since the day he signed in Chicago last summer. He has wanted to be able to personally think long-term, too.

With a two-year contract extension through 2025-26 in hand, he now can.

“I really get to put some roots down, dig in here and put that investment into it,” Foligno said Saturday.

It’s unusual for a 36-year-old veteran to want to stay a while — and potentially finish his career — on a rebuilding team, so Foligno’s eagerness to do so speaks volumes about his dedication to general manager Kyle Davidson’s vision.

His friendship with Davidson (dating back to the mid-2000s in Sudbury, Ontario) and his extension’s $4.5 million salary-cap hit (well above his market value) definitely sweeten the deal, but his passion is genuine.

Since pre-training camp, when he started what has become a regular tradition of hosting younger Hawks for home-cooked dinners at his house, he has clearly functioned as the team’s de facto captain. Helping build something from the ground up fits his personality far better than chasing Stanley Cups would, after all.

“It’s going to take a process here,” Foligno said. “You want things to jump from one month or one day to the next and improve, but it [entails] ups and downs. You’ve seen it this year. [This extension] lets me know my voice and my impact will hopefully be around for long enough that it can really sustain and grab hold here. That’s what I get excited about.

“As much as you want to talk and say off the ice, you’ve got to go out and do it [on the ice]. I’ve enjoyed that part where I’ve really been able to do both, and I expect that from myself. ... [That’s] a big reason why two years has felt like the right number. I’m looking forward to seeing where we can get to at the end of it.”

Coach Luke Richardson said Friday there will be a conversation after the season about the captaincy moving forward. Connor Bedard will eventually assume it, but the organization has given serious consideration to the idea of Foligno wearing the “C” during this transitional period.

“Obviously, [Nick is] that type of player,” Richardson added. “He doesn’t even need an ‘A’ on his sweater; he’s going to be the same personality he always is, and everybody knows it.”

Foligno, when asked about the possibility, gave the right answer.

“Any guy would be honored to wear it, but that’s not why you’re coming here — you’re coming just to make a difference,” he said. “We’re still trying to find our leadership group and who’s going to make that push. It’s something that I take a lot of pride in, being a voice in that room, but so do a lot of other guys in there. There’s a lot of guys worthy of it.”

The immediate next order of business for Foligno is to get back in the Hawks’ lineup. He said doctors have declared him “week-to-week” due to the left ring finger fracture he suffered fighting Devils defenseman Brendan Smith to avenge Bedard on Dec. 5. He had tallied 17 points in 39 games before that.

Since Foligno and Bedard are sidelined together, the Hawks’ staff has relied on him to keep the kid half his age away from the rink — representing a perfect example of how important and trusted he has become.

“He’s dying [to get out there],” Foligno said. “The trainers were like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to help us. He’s not going to listen to us, so you’ve got to help us keep him at bay.’ So it has been pretty funny. He’s like, ‘I feel fine,’ I’m like, ‘Man, just pump the brakes.’”