Brian Connelly Rejoins Rockford

There was one minor move made by the Blackhawks earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the Blackhawks traded forward Brad Winchester to Minnesota for defenseman Brian Connelly. Both players have been in the AHL this entire season.

The IceHogs also announced that defenseman Zach Miskovic was traded by Rockford to Iowa for future considerations. Rockford has recalled rookie defenseman Bobby Shea from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.

Connelly, 27, spent the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons and the beginning of the 2011-12 season with Rockford before he was traded to Calgary for veteran Brendan Morrison in January 2012. He has not yet played an NHL game. He is the IceHogs all-time leading point producer among defenseman (126).

These moves were likely necessitated by the IceHogs’ loss of another defenseman to injury. On Wednesday afternoon, Viktor Svedberg tweeted that he was having shoulder surgery and implied that his season was over (“Hope to see you again next year!”)