Hopefully, David Carle follows Aidan Thompson by joining the Chicago Blackhawks

Aidan Thompson is starting his professional career after the University of Denver lost to Western Michigan in the Frozen Four.

Maybe his college head coach will follow him.

The Chicago Blackhawks announced that one of their promising forward prospects has signed his entry-level contract.

The deal is for two years with a $895k cap hit. However, the contract will not start until next season. He will report to the team's AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, on an amateur tryout.

With only three games left in the Hawks' season, there was likely not enough practice time to get him ready to be on the regular roster, just to get a taste of the NHL game.

That was probably a big reason the team wanted his contract to start next season. This was the one drawback of Denver advancing to the Frozen Four.

Thompson will at least get some professional experience this season, although it could be brief, as the IceHogs have not qualified for Calder Cup playoffs. They have a shot, so there is a chance Thompson gets more pro games than the five games the IceHogs have left (if you include tonight's matchup). The Hawks only have three matchups remaining.

The Hawks drafted Thompson in the third round of the 2022 draft. He had two solid seasons at Denver before enjoying a breakout campaign during his junior season (a subscription is required to access content linked).

He fell just short of being listed among the Blackhawks' top 15 prospects according to the Athletic's Scott Wheeler (a subscription is required to access content linked).

He projects to have a solid NHL career, according to CHGO's Blackhawks beat writer and podcast host Mario Tirabassi.

The hope is head coach at the University of Denver follows Thompson to the Blackhawks.

David Carle is believed to be the ideal next head coach for the Blackhawks at this point in the rebuild.

He has won two NCAA National Championships and coached Team USA to a World Junior title. The belief is that he is the perfect leader to mentor the team's young talent while winning at the same time.

However, winning at the NCAA level and the juniors is much different than winning at the NHL level.

Although it would be worth seeing if he can replicate his championship success in the pro game.