Meet the New Blackhawks: Andrew Mangiapane

But that production can be considered a bit of an anomaly for Mangiapane; in the rest of his time in Calgary he averaged right around 20 goals and 42 points. The left winger was traded to the Washington Capitals in the 2023-24 offseason, but his 14 goals and 28 points weren’t what the Capitals had in mind when they took on the three-year, $5.8 million contract Mangiapane cashed in on after that stand-out 2021-22 season. They didn’t re-sign him, and the Edmonton Oilers offered the Toronto native a two-year, $3.6 million deal in July of 2025.

“Tough Sledding” in Edmonton for Mangiapane

Things didn’t exactly work out the way they were supposed to with the Oilers. Mangiapane only played in 52 contests, registering seven goals and 14 points. He averaged just 11:49 minutes of ice time, and obviously wasn’t an integral player for the team.

So much so, on Mar. 1 the organization placed the almost 30-year-old on waivers. He cleared, and played one contest with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, before being acquired by the Blackhawks at the trade deadline.

I reached out to my THW colleague, Jesse Courville-Lynch, who writes for the Oilers, to get an idea of what went down with Mangiapane in Edmonton.

Mangiapane was brought in to be a complementary player and was known to be a solid two-way player. He started out well and kinda fell out of the order, but he was always willing to block shots, was always in the right position defensively, and seemed to make the smart decisions in terms of breaking the puck out the zone, and in the neutral zone.

Offensively, his finishing ability was good to start, but he seemed to have no luck whatsoever moving forward. He was always shooting in the right spots, always trying to drive the play, and always willing to drive the net.

His failures in Edmonton came simply from a lack of confidence. His analytics suffered as well, but he is a strong player that should earn trust as a two-way player right away. He doesn’t really play physical in terms of trying to hit guys through the boards, but he’s willing to finish his check and take hits to make plays. Mainly, he brings a two-way play style to Chicago, and should be able to establish himself as a solid middle-six forward.

In regards to being put on waivers, my colleague said it really didn’t have much to do with Mangiapane’s play; he just lost his role with younger guys proving to be better fits. On top of that, the organization was desperate to add at the trade deadline, so he was the casualty.

A Fresh Start With the Blackhawks

For his part, Mangiapane was pretty straightforward about his time in Edmonton. At his introduction interview in Chicago on Mar. 6, he said, “There was a little tough sledding there in Edmonton, so I just have to get out and have a nice restart and be with a good organization, good team here, (the) guys and group seems great. Everybody’s been welcoming.”

While Mangiapane’s $3.6 million cap hit was a salary dump for the Oilers, the Blackhawks can actually use it to help them reach the cap floor next season. With the organization having so many young forward prospects available next season, I could see this being a similar situation as Sam Lafferty was this season. He could just be an insurance measure that won’t see much playing time.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Blackhawks’ head coach Jeff Blashill made it clear he would give Mangiapane a fair shake to start things out in Chicago. Here were his thoughts right after the forward was acquired.

First off, he gets an opportunity to have a clean slate here, and you know he’s been a good player in this league. If I sit here and say that I know him in and out, I don’t think you ever do until you really coach somebody. And that’s the same thing I told every guy that was in that room at the beginning of the year. But what I’ve known about him is he’s been a guy who’s got kind of that really, really good work ethic and speed. So he’s kind of a dog on a bone. I think that fits into how we want to play. Then he’s got that with some offensive touch, and so that fits into how we want to play.

So far, Mangiapane has played in three games for the Blackhawks. He started on the fourth line, but has since been promoted to the third line alongside fellow veterans Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev. He’s registered two shots on goal, six shot attempts, five hits, and three blocked shots while averaging 12:02 minutes of ice time. He also potted his first goal as a Blackhawk against the Utah Mammoth on Mar. 9.

Blashill described Mangiapane as “bringing the team into the fight” with his competitive style of hockey. Here’s a few more words from Blashill on what Mangiapane has brought.

I thought they did a really good job there (on the third line). He competes hard. He plays North. He plays kind of straight-ahead hockey. Which, sometimes we can get a little too East-West with some of our young skill. And he plays a very direct North game. I think that helps our team a lot. So he’s been a good addition. Again, a lot of compete to him; somebody that we’re happy to have as part of our group.

Mangiapane has certainly been through his ups and downs in his NHL career. He might not be the player he once was in this prime with the Flames. But his experience and resilience, not to mention his tenacious style of play, could still be an asset.

Time will tell just where Mangiapane fits in with the Blackhawks, for the rest of this season and into the 2026-27 campaign. But for now, he’s off to a solid start with his new team.