CHICAGO -- Jason Dickinson signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. It has an average annual value of $4.25 million.
The 28-year-old forward has 21 points in 43 games, third on the Blackhawks behind injured rookie center Connor Bedard (33 points; 15 goals, 18 assists) and forward Philipp Kurashev (23; eight goals, 15 assists). His 14 goals are an NHL career high, five more than his previous best set last season with Chicago and the 2019-20 Dallas Stars.
He said he wanted to stay in Chicago to continue playing for a team he says is going in the right direction.
"Absolutely. I see something here. I'm not going to lie, I would've liked a few more years because I see what's down the line," he said Tuesday. "I see the potential, I see where things can go and I would love to be a part of that. I'm a building block right now as we move forward and who knows, in a couple years we could be talking another extension to really see things through."
Dickinson was traded to the Blackhawks by the Vancouver Canucks for Riley Stillman on Oct. 7, 2022. He said Monday he worked on his shot last offseason. He had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 62 games in his last season with Vancouver, and had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 78 games for Chicago last season.
"It's a huge transition. Things could've turned out much differently this year had I not been given the opportunity here. I could've been struggling there still; I could've turned things around there as well though," Dickinson said. "It's one of those situations where we'll never know what would've come of it had I not been given the chance here and turned things around."
He said the biggest reason for his turnaround is confidence.
"That is No. 1. And then opportunity. It’s coming together at the right time and it’s working and linemates that are clicking, we’re going really well together," Dickinson said. "It’s just a combination of everything coming together at once. It’s not one secret recipe that I can pinpoint for you, but it’s just everything coming together at the right time."
Selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (No. 29) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Dickinson has 125 points (53 goals, 72 assists) in 404 NHL games witht the Stars, Canucks and Blackhawks.
"Good news for sure for the organization and for the player," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "Happy for him. He’s worked really hard and really well here with our group and great leader here for some of the young guys coming in as well as a real good contributor in all aspects of our needs right now."
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report
