Defenseman Davidson signs 1-year deal with Blackhawks

As the Blackhawks kept assigning players to Rockford over the past few days, Brandon Davidson said he never paid attention to how many defensemen were left in training camp.

That all changed Wednesday afternoon when his brother fired off a text that read: "THERE'S ONLY SEVEN D."

"I kind of looked at it and said, 'Huh. Maybe we should call my agent.' "

A day later, the 27-year-old Davidson signed a one-year, $650,000 deal with the Hawks. Injuries to Connor Murphy and Gustav Forsling certainly opened the door for Davidson, who was in camp on a professional tryout.

He ended up battling for the final spot with Adam Boqvist - the eighth overall pick of last June's draft - and when Boqvist was assigned to the OHL's London Knights on Wednesday, it all but secured Davidson's spot on the team.

Much like Cody Franson last year, Davidson took it upon himself to mentor and teach the younger D-men.

"The fact that he was trying to make the team and to be like that naturally, you can see the leadership qualities that he posses," said coach Joel Quenneville. "That's a good sign for our back end."

Said Davidson" "That's part of who I am. I'm a friendly guy and I like to help others. … Those young guys are trying to put their best foot forward, as am I. So we're working together at the same thing. Whoever comes out on top comes out on top, and it just happened to be me this time."

Davidson is a 6-foot-2, 209-pound native of Taber, Alberta. He was a sixth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2010 and has played in 152 NHL games. Fifty-one of those came in a bizarre 2017-18 campaign in which he played for the Canadiens, Oilers and Islanders.

After beginning the season in Montreal, Davidson was claimed off waivers by Edmonton on Dec. 3 and then traded to New York on Feb. 24.

"(It) was a whirlwind for sure," said Davidson, who has 9 goals and 13 assists in his career. "It's something I don't want to do again. I'd like to establish myself on this team from Game 1, and I kind of had that goal coming into the locker room.

"The guys have accepted me pretty well and I feel like my place is on this team. Can't wait to lead by example."