Not really, but the gregarious Foligno worked the phones, welcomed players and pitched the Blackhawks to UFAs during the 2024 Upper Deck Draft and opening of free agency.
Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno apparently has the longest smartphone contact list in the NHL. Maybe even longer than most general managers.
And Chicago's gregarious 36-year-old de facto captain isn't afraid to hit the call button.
Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno celebrate game-winning OT goal versus Connor Hellebuyck and Winnipeg on Dec. 27, 2023.
USA Today Network, David Banks
Foligno is a high-energy hockey piece of work, which really means he's well-liked, respected and maybe loved by many people in the sport — even if in a backhanded kind of way. So it was no surprise when Foligno was among the first to contact Blackhawks draftees after their names were called at the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft is Las Vegas. It meant something to the kids.
Foligno also worked the phones during free agency, calling Tyler Bertuzzi to talk about coming to Chicago before the signing window opened on July 1. The two have history, both having played for Boston at the end of the 2022-23 season, and have roots in Sudbury, Ontario, the Northern Ontario nickel capital.
Full-Circle Family Help
Foligno's dad, Mike, is former third overall NHL draft pick (Detroit, 1979) who played 15 seasons in the league and put up 727 points in 1,018 games. Mike Foligno went on coach and run the OHL Sudbury Wolves, the junior team he starred with. Nick Foligno and bother Marcus also played for the Wolves before turning pro.
Dad's mad! Foligno fights Devils defenseman Brendan Smith in New Jersey on Jan. 5 after Smith broke Connor Bedard's jaw with a hit on .
USA Today Network, Ed Mulholland
And of course, current Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is from Sudbury. He got his start in a hockey front office helping Mike Foligno with the Wolves.
So Davidson doesn't mind getting off-ice support from Nick Foligno.
"Nick's got a lot of friends around the league and seems like a guy whose network is very, very large, and so it's kind of funny when we hear that," Davidson said. "We don't ask them to do these things, but I think Nick cares. He knows a lot of people and he loves the team and wants to push the thing forward.
"So I think you can see that with some of the discussions that's he's had with guys, both internally and obviously he's met a lot of people on the way externally that he's willing to tell how great he thinks the organization is. So it's much appreciated." See the following video.
No Blackhawks player wore a "C" on their sweater last season after longtime captain Jonathan Toews left. The team had alternates, including Foligno, a former captain in Columbus. He was informally anointed de facto captain in Chicago for his vocal and demonstrative leadership.
Foligno talked openly about the rebuilding team's issues and challenges at the end of the season. See video.
Davidson, the NHL's youngest GM who just turned 36, hopes to catch up with both Nick and Mike Foligno when he returns to Sudbury later this summer. Davidson's career has sort of come full circle already.
When Mike Foligno was coach and GM of the Wolves, Davidson cut his teeth assisting during the online OHL draft.
"Just kind of, whatever, running, getting information, anything they might need for the scouts or whatever to make a pick or just miscellaneous stuff," Davidson said. "I was just kind of hanging around and he game me that access. That was my first, I don't want to call it job, but my first ability to have a little insight into the hockey operations of a junior team." See the following video.
