The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Ian Mitchell to a one-year contract worth $775,000. They were set to go to arbitration to determine his next contract but avoid it by coming to an agreement on a one-year deal. Mitchell was acquired by the Bruins in an offseason deal that sent Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno’s UFA rights to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Mitchell and Alec Regula.
Mitchell played the 2022-23 season split between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He played 35 games in Chicago, scoring one goal and eight points on the rebuilding squad, while playing just under 16 minutes per night. He also played five games for the IceHogs, scoring two goals and six points and a +6 rating.
The St. Albert, Alberta native was originally selected in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks. He had played the two seasons leading up to the draft for the Spruce Grove Saints, just down the road from his hometown. He committed to the University of Denver to further his playing career as well as his education. In the three years he spent there, he combined for 89 points in 114 games played.
Mitchell made his NHL debut during the shortened 2020-21 season, scoring three goals and seven points in 39 games. The following season he played nearly the entire year in Rockford, putting up 11 goals and 35 points in 57 games.
At 24 years old, Mitchell “has the ability to be a solid defenseman on the back end but he has not had a proper chance to show the organization what he can truly do, and with so many defensemen in the pipeline his time may be quickly running out,” according to Puneet Sharma of DobberHockey.
Mitchell will be a depth defenseman in the Bruins organization and will probably play most of the 2023-24 season for the Providence Bruins.
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