News Blackhawks Team Notes

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Hockey’s Awesome, 4 Nations Wrap, Sprint to the Trade Deadline, Lardis’ 60th, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The 4 Nations Face-Off was a made-up event by the NHL that lots of people wondered about really getting buy-in from the players as recently as… moments before the puck dropped to start the first game. Once the rubber hit the ice, those questions were answered. All the way to the final horn last night, the drama was fabulous and the play on the ice was elite. The tournament was a massive success for hockey. I know some will point to a few significant injuries and ask if it was worth it… the players will likely tell you hell yeah it was. And now the game has been elevated to a whole other level on the sports landscape.

• I’m not running to get in line to join the PK Subban Fan Club, but he obliterated the NBA on multiple shows on ESPN yesterday talking about playing for the love of the game, big salary or not. With all of the talk about how the NFL and NBA all-star events have effectively died in recent years because the best players don’t care, this changed the entire script. Shout out to all four teams that played in the tournament for putting it out there. Here’s part of what Subban had to say on ESPN on Thursday.

This breakdown by @PKSubban1 on why the NHL has a better product than the NBA has me ready to die on the ice even tho I don’t know shit about hockey pic.twitter.com/ywg4MATpBm

— Will Compton (@_willcompton) February 20, 2025

• As an aside, ESPN talking about hockey for almost a full day was beautiful. Do they need to be better with how/who talks about hockey? Sure. But they’re still the elephant in the sports talk room and them leading with hockey is huge. It’s what I’ve been begging for since they became a rightsholder again. Throw in a new layer of intrigue: last night we learned ESPN and Major League Baseball are breaking up. The door is open for more hockey. Hopefully the NHL crushes this opportunity.

• Some guys had strong tournaments that could use this as a springboard to the end of the regular season. Fans and media crap on Jordan Binnington a lot and he was the pre-authorized scapegoat for Canada going into the tournament. He was incredible in overtime last night.

• The other guy for Canada that I thought really stood out last night was Mitch Marner. He had two assists, played good defensively and looked the part of a tier one superstar. He made a few extra dollars last night on the new contract he’ll sign somewhere this summer.

• For the United States, three guys jumped off the screen who weren’t Big Walt’s offspring in the tournament. I thought Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski — both Michigan men — were terrific. This might have been a huge step in Larkin’s career.

• Jaccob Slavin entered the Norris Trophy chat with authority last night. On a big stage, he was the best defensive player in the game — I would argue the entire tournament. He’s fabulous. And I’m absolutely here for a defensive defenseman winning the Norris.

Jaccob Slavin is an ELITE defenseman pic.twitter.com/y3JX1hSZfo

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 21, 2025

• Because it’s what. I. do. Here’s the NHL’s graphic for the championship clinching goals in international play. You might notice Blackhawks legend Steve Larmer in 1991 on there. Another reminder of how damn good he was — not just for the Blackhawks, but for the Rangers and Canada as well.

• The brutal reality this morning for NHL players in every market: the trade deadline is two weeks from today. It’s about to turn into a rumor mill and movement sprint for 14 crazy days. The Blackhawks will practice and fly this morning with a game in Columbus tomorrow before hosting Marner, Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs on Sunday. With the news that Seth Jones and the Hawks are discussing his future earlier this week, he might now be the biggest focus of those trade rumors in the coming days. Buckle up, Blackhawks fans! I offered four potential fits before the March 7 deadline earlier this morning.

Let's Chat About Some Potential Seth Jones Landing Spots (IF the #Blackhawks Can Move Him In Season) www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2…

[image or embed]

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@bn-blackhawks.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 7:52 AM

• As the sports world turned its collective attention to the game in Boston last night, Nick Lardis was at it once again for Brantford. He extended his personal streak to 18 straight games with a goal, and his hat trick gave him 60 goals for the season!

• Brantford has 12 games left. If Lardis can get to 70 goals, he would become the first player in the OHL to reach that benchmark since John Tavares in 2006-07. Before Tavares: Hall of Famer Eric Lindros in 1990-91. This is rare company, folks!

• In the same game — and not to be ignored — Marek Vanacker scored this goal in the second period. He’s up to 18 goals and 31 points in 33 games this season and has six goals and four assists during his current six-game point streak.

How about a from #Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker for @BulldogsOHL !!

pic.twitter.com/9OqrhnYCHo

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 21, 2025

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• The Cubs played their first Spring Training game yesterday and it included a frightening moment.

• The Bulls face a difficult road to the end of the regular season.

• The Bears finalized their 2025 coaching staff.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ine-lardis-60th-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks at Blue Jackets — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks are finally back in action after a full two-week break. They scored 14 goals in their final three games before the break (1-0-2) so the offense was humming before the layoff. Hopefully they can pick up where they were because the schedule turns into a sprint right now.

We’re also on hug watch with the NHL trade deadline on March 7. Columbus is fighting for a playoff berth with a young team, so they might be buyers if their next few games go the right way. The Blackhawks? Not so much.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: Chicago Sports Network+ (if/where available)
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Landon Slaggert — Connor Bedard — Ryan Donato
Philipp Kurashev — Frank Nazar — Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teräväinen — Nick Foligno — Ilya Mikheyev
Pat Maroon — Lukas Reichel — Craig Smith

Alec Martinez — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
TJ Brodie — Ethan Del Mastro

Petr Mrázek

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dmitri Voronkov — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner — Cole Sillinger — Kent Johnson
Zach Aston-Reese — Justin Danforth — Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk — Sean Kuraly — Joe Labate

Zach Werenski — Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk — Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen — Damon Severson

Elvis Merzlikins

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Laurent Brossoit (knee) and Jason Dickinson (ankle) are on IR.

Columbus Blue Jackets

• Erik Gudbranson, Sean Monahan, Yegor Chinakhov and Kevin Lebanc are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• Bedard and Donato were clicking before the break. Let’s see if they can pick up where they left off.

• Werenski, Columbus’ top defenseman and a legit Norris Trophy candidate, played heavy minutes for the US in the 4 Nations Face-Off. We’ll see how he feels coming off the overtime loss with a quick turnaround before this game.

• Without Dickinson available, the Blackhawks are going to roll Foligno as their third center. Faceoffs will continue to be important for this team.

• The Blue Jackets activated Jenner and Marchenko off IR on Friday. They’ll rejoin the Jackets’ lineup tonight.

Get Caught Up​

#Blackhawks announce:

Dickinson IR
Crevier Rockford pic.twitter.com/nKK5IkWe0k

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 22, 2025

PP1: Bedard, Donato, Bertuzzi, Teravainen, Jones
PP2: Nazar, Reichel, Smith, Maroon, Vlasic

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 21, 2025

#CBJ optional underway. Zach Werenski not out there but still expected to play tonight. Elvis Merzlikins also taking morning off but is projected to start against the Blackhawks tonight. Tarasov did his usual routine before the skate.

— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) February 22, 2025

CAP IS BACK!

Help us welcome him back by dropping a BOOOOONNNEEE in the comments! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/u7N6PA7hnK

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 21, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...jackets-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-2/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 1, Blue Jackets 5 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

You know how beautiful and glorious and all of the fun words the 4 Nations Face-Off was? The first period of this game was the polar opposite. The Blackhawks won 2 of 17 faceoffs. They out-shot the Blue Jackets 9-6. They trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Faceoffs remained a problem. Columbus started the second period on the power play and were able to make it count. Kent Johnson scored his second goal of the night 72 seconds into the middle frame. The Blackhawks were able to get on the board, but the Blue Jackets pushed the lead back to two before the end of the second.

Nick Foligno got mixed up in the faceoff circle and appeared to get stepped on/ankle rolled and went straight down the tunnel. Thankfully he was okay and returned quickly. Unfortunately, Foligno and his teammates looked like they were skating in quicksand and the Blue Jackets took advantage. The home side scored twice in 53 seconds at which point the Hawks probably started fueling the jet to get home.

Star 1: Craig Smith​

Talk about the motivated to be trade veteran stat line of the night! Team-leader in shots on goal (five), scored the first goal of the night and he was active the entire game.

#Blackhawks power play goal!

Craig Smith
Alex Vlasic, Frank Nazar

pic.twitter.com/hfy2oH6HeI

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 23, 2025

Star 2: Frank Nazar​

He had an assist on the Smith goal and was the Blackhawks’ best faceoff guy on the night (won 6 of 9). It was a pretty low bar to cross to make the three stars tonight because there was nothing coming from the white jerseys.

Star 3: Blue Jackets Fans​

There was very little to take away from this performance for the Blackhawks, but this one got me in the feels. Good on the fans and organization in Columbus.

Join us in wishing a very special boy a very special 1st birthday!

Happy birthday, Baby Johnny pic.twitter.com/nKYaKq94V1

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 23, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• The Blackhawks had what would have been a game-tying goal taken off the board immediately because of contact with the goaltender in the first period (would have been Connor Bedard‘s 17th of the year). The Blackhawks chose not to challenge the call. I wish they would have because it was a soft, quick whistle. Kevin Dean said they couldn’t get a good answer for whether it was interference or a kick in from the officials during his second intermission interview. Hopefully that isn’t the standard we’re setting for being aggressive behind the bench the rest of the way this year.

• Seth Jones, in his first game after acknowledging he wants out of Chicago, was a non-factor. Solid three giveaways and a minus-one for the night.

• The Blackhawks were credited with 28 shots on net in the game, with a team-leading five from Bedard and Smith. Every Blackhawks skater was credited with at least one shot on net except Landon Slaggert.

• Bedard led all Blackhawks in ice time, skating 23:12 in the game. He won half of his six faceoffs.

• I really liked how aggressive Ethan Del Mastro was in jumping into the offense. Yeah, he got burned once in the third period (Jones was at the end of a long shift on the Zach Werenski goal) but he was one of the more active offensive players for Chicago in the game.

• Here’s Foligno feeding Joseph LaBate his lunch late in the first period.

Nick Foligno drops the gloves with Joseph LaBate pic.twitter.com/JnR6TgGYaC

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 23, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...s-1-blue-jackets-5-three-stars-key-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks vs Maple Leafs — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

Ah, the second half of a back-to-back to start the post-4 Nations push. Exciting, isn’t it? And the Blackhawks are doing it at home against an Original Six opponent that had a few players at the 4 Nations Face-Off, including Auston Matthews. Toronto also played on Saturday — at home — so both teams are going to be pushing it this evening at the United Center.

Reminder: the Blackhawks will be in their Winter Classic sweaters this evening.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: ESPN+ / Hulu / Disney+
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Landon Slaggert — Connor Bedard — Ryan Donato
Philipp Kurashev — Frank Nazar — Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teräväinen — Nick Foligno — Ilya Mikheyev
Pat Maroon — Lukas Reichel — Craig Smith

Alec Martinez — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
TJ Brodie — Nolan Allan

Arvid Söderblom

Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann — John Tavares — William Nylander
Max Domi — Pontus Holmberg — Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz — David Kampf — Alex Steeves

Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Morgan Reilly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Simon Benoit — Conor Timmins

Joseph Woll

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Laurent Brossoit (knee) and Jason Dickinson (ankle) are on IR.

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Calle Jarnkrok and Jani Hakanpaa are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• Bedard vs. Matthews should be worth the price of admission. Hopefully.

• Let’s make Marner feel welcome at the United Center, eh? (wink)

• Remember: we want Seth Jones to be great. Need that trade value up up up!

Get Caught Up​

bringing back these classic uniforms pic.twitter.com/KBEAj77YwT

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 4, 2025

Connor Bedard currently has 72 career NHL assists, tying him with Bobby Carpenter and Brian Bellows for the tenth-most by a teenager in league history.

https://t.co/bFyIPiHcKa pic.twitter.com/jGYBf4Dzmm

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 22, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...e-leafs-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-2/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 2, Maple Leafs 5 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

If you were looking for a game that started at 7 PM instead of 6… this one was pretty close. There wasn’t much action on either end of the rink outside of a big hit by Ilya Mikheyev until Chris Tanev took a penalty for the Leafs inside the final two minutes. The Blackhawks were able to take a lead with 10.5 seconds on the clock in the first with a power play goal. Arvid Söderblom faced six shots in the first.

If Söderblom wasn’t tested much in the first period, he was dropped into a shooting range to start the second. The Leafs eventually got their first power play of the evening and made it count when both Connor Murphy and Alex Vlasic chased the puck into the corner, leaving Nicholas Robertson waiting for a Max Domi pass all by himself on the back door. Shots on goal were 11-5 in favor of the Leafs when Jake McCabe gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Both teams scored in the final 14 seconds of the second period and Toronto’s lead remained one at the break.

The Blackhawks were generating chances in the third and getting close but a shot thru traffic wasn’t controlled by Söderblom, bounced off TJ Brodie‘s skate and rolled helplessly into the net to give Toronto a two-goal lead again. The Blackhawks pulled the goalie with nearly four minutes left in regulation. The Leafs appeared to score into the empty cage with 92 seconds left to push the lead to three… but, unlike Saturday night, the Blackhawks challenged (this time that Toronto was offside). The officials left the goal on the board (a surprise) and the Blackhawks went short-handed down three with the 92 seconds on the clock.

Star 1: Frank Nazar​

The Blackhawks allowing a third goal — to give Toronto a two-goal lead — with 14 seconds left in the second period could have easily been deflating and a potential game-ender. But Nazar decided to win a faceoff, take the puck the the house and set up Philipp Kurashev for an easy tap-in goal. This was an effort play from a young player that you love to see at any time, but especially in that situation.

#Blackhawks pull back to within one

Philipp Kurashev
Frank Nazar, Seth Jones

pic.twitter.com/W4IGmPyOOF

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 24, 2025

Star 2: Teuvo Teräväinen​

Teräväinen’s power play goal inside the final 11 seconds of the first period gave him an even 500 regular season points in his NHL career. It also gave the Blackhawks a lead heading to the intermission.

#Blackhawks score first!

Teuvo Teräväinen PPG
Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Donato

500th career point for Teuvo!

pic.twitter.com/1nDCbmu1V3

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 24, 2025

Star 3: Frank Pellico​

His final night playing the organ at the United Center. He was fabulous tonight — and for 33 years.

#Blackhawks pay tribute to the legendary Frank Pellico pic.twitter.com/XvGgKRvVTs

— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) February 24, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• We’ve seen this frequently of late: Connor Bedard‘s line drawing a tough defensive assignment. He spent 3:25 at 5-on-5 against Auston Matthews in the first period and the Blackhawks had a 2-1 shot advantage while they were on the ice. Bedard won three of a team-high six faceoffs in the first period. At the end of two periods, Bedard had spent 5:49 on the ice at 5-on-5 against Matthews during which the Blackhawks had a 51.72 expected Goals For percentage.

• Tyler Bertuzzi had assists on both of the Blackhawks’ first two goals.

• There were lots of people yelling for the Blackhawks to shoot the puck by the time Teräväinen scored the first goal of the game. Too many passes and too much focus on the perimeter until they finally attacked.

• Ryan Donato‘s assist on the Teräväinen goal was his career-high 19th helper of the season.

• Seth Jones heard a few boos when he went to the box for the Blackhawks’ first penalty of the night.

• Domi had a lot of giddyup tonight. He beat Jones in a race to the puck to set up Robertson for the Leafs’ third goal of the second period after setting up Robertson for their first goal as well.

• Lukas Reichel didn’t take a shift after 12:30 into the second period…

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-2-maple-leafs-5-three-stars-key-takeaways-2/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

The Latest Seth Jones, Blackhawks Trade Speculation

The NHL Trade Deadline is less than two weeks out, and the Blackhawks have sprinted out of the break with all of the news. Seth Jones is stirring a lot of the conversation around the league at this point after making his trade request public last week. As the dust kinda sorta settles around that, the conversation around the how/where/why is adding layers by the day. And, now that it’s out there, Jones’ teammates are answering questions about his demand.

“Obviously, you wish he felt differently, but he has his reasons, and rightfully so,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said Saturday. “It’s how he feels.”

Here’s my best effort to bring a lot of the Jones-Blackhawks trade commentary together for consideration and discussion.

Friedman’s Latest​

On Monday morning, the latest edition of the “32 Thoughts” Podcast dropped and they spend a solid six minutes or so talking about the Jones situation. Elliotte Friedman had one comment that was particularly interesting, saying he feels this entire situation is being driven more by the player than the organ-I-zation. And, if the Blackhawks can’t make a move that’s satisfactory to their overall building plan, they won’t move him before the deadline.

As they shouldn’t.

Friedman mentions Columbus as a potential landing spot, which isn’t a shock after Jones had dinner with a few former teammates while the Blackhawks were there and talked glowingly about his time playing with Zach Werenski.

McKenzie Weighs In​

The Godfather, Bob McKenzie, was on the Canadian broadcast’s intermission last night and they talked about Jones (of course). Interestingly, he said the belief is the Blackhawks are looking for young players/prospects who are either in the NHL or ready for the NHL and not picks in a deal for Jones. That would be a slight change of course for the Blackhawks’ front office — but one that makes sense.

McKenzie includes Dallas and Florida as potential suitors. The Florida Panthers are a fascinating team for me in this entire mix because Aaron Eklbad, their top pair right-handed defenseman, is a free agent after this season. And they might have some LTIR space open up if Matthew Tkachuk is going to miss an extended period of time after suffering an injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off (and that seems to be a likely outcome at this point).

Weekes’ Take​

It was shared with me last night that apparently on ESPN’s intermission report Kevin Weekes jumped into the mix on the Jones talk and said the Blackhawks might need to find another team to help make the money work. I respect Weekes’ takes and sources and think he does a good job, but I can’t see a scenario where that happens at all. For a team to eat money as a third wheel until 2030 makes no sense to that team or the Blackhawks and Jones’ ultimate destination.

Chicago has plenty of cap space to waste on retained salary between now and the end of his contract and, frankly, nobody is saying the Blackhawks will even had to retain half of his cap hit (except fans that just irrationally hate Jones).

Chicago’s Finest​

If that’s what the league-wide folks are saying, what about the folks in the press box at the United Center every night? There are varying takes from the beat writers who cover the Blackhawks on a daily basis as well.

Mark Lazerus hit us with a really good column after the game last night at The Athletic. A few nuggets from it:

“If anyone on the Blackhawks has the right to say “get me out of here” during Year Whatever of a however-many-year rebuilding plan, it’s [Connor] Murphy, by far the team’s longest-serving player. His timeline and the Blackhawks’ timeline simply don’t line up. And surely some contender would be happy to acquire a steady second-pair defenseman who can play on either side, who’s not afraid to throw the body around and who’s great in the room. But Murphy hasn’t asked out. Not explicitly, anyway. …

“[It] still has to gnaw at [Nick] Foligno, who instead of chasing that elusive Stanley Cup in his late 30s is pouring his heart and his soul and the twilight of his career into trying to build a positive, winning culture in Chicago, planting crops he’ll likely never get to harvest. It has to eat at Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, who signed multi-year contracts to be part of the long-term solution here.”

That perspective from the guys in the room who aren’t bailing at this point is well stated. As is this nail on the head comment:

“This isn’t some franchise icon, a longtime legend by whom they have to do right. Davidson’s only obligation is to the Blackhawks, and if it takes him four months or four years to find the right taker for Jones, so be it.”

Kyle Davidson's obligation is to the Blackhawks, not Seth Jones. But will circumstances force the GM's hand? My column: www.nytimes.com/athletic/615…

[image or embed]

— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) February 24, 2025 at 7:41 AM

Similarly, Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times weighed in with a strong column this weekend.

Pope notes that, usually, when a player acknowledges the potential of being traded — as Taylor Hall did recently — it’s usually a player in the final year of their contract whose bags are half packed already. Not a guy with five years remaining on a massive contract, as is the case with Jones. Here’s some of what Pope wrote:

Jones added Friday that this trade idea has been “thrown around” for a while between him and his agent, Pat Brisson, but they recently decided to “push the needle a little bit.”

That probably explains some of his honesty about the subject. Making his wishes public puts more pressure on general manager Kyle Davidson to try to make something happen. It also alerts other teams around the league that he’s available, perhaps piquing their interest.

Pope’s spot on that, as long as this doesn’t become a distraction in the room, it’s kind of a whatever issue for the Blackhawks. This isn’t the first trade deadline at which Chicago is selling during this rebuild, so late-February and early-March departures have become part of the norm since Kyle Davidson became the general manager.

Even so, Pope and Lazerus both quote the Blackhawks’ captain answering questions about Jones before the game in Columbus. And Teräväinen answered as many questions about Jones’ trade demand as he did about hitting 500 career points after the game last night. So to think the most expensive player on the roster going public with a trade demand isn’t going to have an impact in the room might be shortsighted.

By making his trade desires so public, Seth Jones puts more pressure on Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson to try to make something happen — and also alerts other teams around the NHL that he’s available, perhaps piquing their interest.

Story: https://t.co/EIyEIGJ1Cs

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 23, 2025

I’ll close with something Lazerus pointed out and that I’ve continued to state here as Jones trade speculation has percolated in recent years: the Blackhawks actually need Jones right now. For a couple important reasons.

First, if/when Jones is traded, the Blackhawks will be left with Murphy and Louis Crevier as the only right-handed defensemen in the system with NHL experience. Artyom Levshunov isn’t ready, and we shouldn’t expect Sam Rinzel to jump straight into the NHL permanently when he signs his entry-level contract (presumably when his collegiate season ends).

The most likely scenario for Rinzel is that he follows the path of guys like Alex Vlasic, Landon Slaggert and Frank Nazar — sign, burn the first year of the contract getting a taste of the NHL and then report to Rockford in the fall to work on his game at the pro level until he shows he’s ready to contribute on a nightly basis. The Blackhawks shouldn’t shift course from their intentional development program with their top prospects just because Jones asked out. Don’t hurt the long-term because Jones isn’t happy.

The second and more immediate need for Jones in Chicago is the cap. As a reminder for Blackhawks fans: the NHL’s salary floor is going up to $70.6 million next season, $76.9 million in 2026-27 and $83.9 million in 2027-28. This goes back to my argument against Weekes’ assertion the Blackhawks might need a third team to eat salary to make a deal happen. With all of the money coming off the Blackhawks’ books in the next couple offseasons, they’re going to have to spend big money just to get to the floor. Removing most of Jones’ $9.5M just makes that task harder for the front office.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...test-seth-jones-blackhawks-trade-speculation/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Frank’s Finale, Reichel Sits, Deadline Distraction? Another Lardis Hat Trick, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Last night’s game sucked, so I’m going to open the new week with a little fresh air. The Blackhawks celebrated the career of organist Frank Pellico as he played for the final time. For more than three decades he handled the business end of making the music dance at the United Center (and the Chicago Stadium before that). For so many fans, the game experience truly started with Gene Honda asking us to please rise and remove your hats and join organist Frank Pellico and soloist Jim Cornelison in the singing of our national anthem. So, one last time, here it is. Frank on the keys, Jim with the booming voice.

The last United Center anthem with Frank Pellico on the organ. The crowd made it a loud one, for sure. pic.twitter.com/CuyMQZZ2sp

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 24, 2025

• So many people reached out to me via text message or social media yesterday expressing disappointment they didn’t know yesterday would be Frank’s last game further in advance. The Blackhawks shared the news with some media at 10 AM. It would have been nice for fans to be able to celebrate his career with a little more notice for sure.

Organist Frank Pellico was just filling in for a colleague when he first played a Blackhawks game, and a chance encounter after the game led to him landing the role for the next 33 years. pic.twitter.com/NKqwaxNpVQ

— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 23, 2025

• On the the travesty that is the on-ice product, it appears Lukas Reichel has taken his blanket and pillow and moved right back into the dog house. He skated only nine shifts (7:35 total) last night, lost all three of his faceoffs and was credited with one hit and one shot on net. When asked about Reichel’s disappearance from the lineup after his final shift (which came 12:30 into the second period), interim head coach Anders Sorensen confirmed it was a coach’s decision. “Didn’t like his game,” Sorensen said. When pressed if there was anything specific about his game the coach didn’t like, he shortly said he would take it up with the player. So… yeah.

• Sorensen also said they were going to “look at” the top line of Landon Slaggert, Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato. They haven’t been fabulous in the first two games after the break.

• The vibes around the team aren’t great right now. Lots of “wish we had answers.” Having covered the team thru the trade deadlines during the rebuild, the two weeks before the deadline have been uneasy times for guys who might be on the move. So I can appreciate some guys having a lot on their minds right now.

• I asked Sorensen about the possibility of the looming trade deadline being a distraction before the game last night. The guys at CHGO were kind enough to share his answer in video form.

Anders Sorensen on keeping the team focused with the trade deadline approaching
(Question from @The1Tab) pic.twitter.com/cQnEPQFIjG

— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) February 23, 2025

• Speaking of the trade deadline, I’m just gonna put this out there: the Edmonton Oilers allowed 13 goals in their two games this weekend (6 on Saturday, 7 on Sunday). They had a third different scout since Jan. 1 in Chicago to watch the Blackhawks on Sunday. The Minnesota Wild, who don’t face the Hawks or Leafs any time soon, also had a scout at the game.

• After not scoring on Saturday, Nick Lardis got back on his horse Sunday and scored the first two goals of the game for Brantford. The first goal — which came just 25 seconds into the game — gave him 100 points for the season. He completed his seventh(!) hat trick of the season (and had an assist), giving him 103 points on the season — a new franchise record for Brantford.

#Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis scores 25 seconds into the game to give him 100 points on the season for @BulldogsOHL

pic.twitter.com/3ZO77hWSCL

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 23, 2025

Could probably AI generate these highlights at this point#BFD | #Blackhawks | #OHL https://t.co/s2eQHkDVed pic.twitter.com/kxwZowFanx

— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) February 23, 2025

Yeah that’s a Sunday hat trick for #Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis for @BulldogsOHL

pic.twitter.com/jThR2ChB4s

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 23, 2025

• His name keeps coming up when I post highlights, but it’s buried under Lardis highlights so frequently this season. Jack Pridham might be one of the real steals from the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s headed to Boston University next season and took advantage of the NCAA allowing CHL players to go to college this season, jumping into the mix with Kitchener. He scored his 20th goal in his 39th game with the Rangers last night and added an assist later. Again, really good speed and good hands. He’s got a little size to him as well.

20th OF THE SEASON FOR PRIDS #RTown | #BattleBuilt | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/XWc0Ocdtdf

— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) February 23, 2025

• What Alexander Ovechkin is doing right now is simply ridiculous. Remember: he broke his leg this season. And now he’s within two touchdowns of tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record for the NHL. He had a hat trick on Sunday.

Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick to record the 882nd goal of his career, 200 of which have come since Jan. 1, 2020. He is now just 13 goals away from completing The #Gr8Chase and is on pace to pass Wayne Gretzky (894) at home versus Chicago on April 4.#NHLStats:… pic.twitter.com/On917qgarr

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 23, 2025

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs haven’t lost yet in Spring Training!

• The Sky traded for an all-star last night.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ardis-hat-trick-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks at Utah — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks begin a three-game trip with a game in Utah against a team that’s close enough to the playoff picture to be interesting. Chicago hasn’t been good since the 4 Nations Face-Off break and has some guys who might have a new address in the next 10 days. So keep your hug watch active tonight.

Colton Dach draws in at center tonight with Lukas Reichel heading back to the press box. And go ahead and schedule the parade because you’ll notice one name specifically missing from the blue line tonight as the coaches throw the whole thing in the ol’ blender.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 8:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: Chicago Sports Network (if/where available)
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Frank Nazar — Connor Bedard — Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teräväinen — Nick Foligno — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Colton Dach — Ryan Donato
Pat Maroon — Philipp Kurashev — Craig Smith

Alec Martinez — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
Nolan Allan — Ethan Del Mastro

Arvid Söderblom

Utah Hockey Club

Clayton Keller — Logan Cooley — Nick Schmaltz
Michael Carcone — Barrett Hayton — Dylan Guenther
Lawson Crouse — Jack McBain — Josh Doan
Alex Kerfoot — Kevin Stenlund — Nick Bjugstad

Mikhail Sergachev — John Marino
Olli Maatta — Sean Durzi
Ian Cole — Michael Kesselring

Karel Vejmelka

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Laurent Brossoit (knee) and Jason Dickinson (ankle) are on IR.

Utah Hockey Club

• Robert Bortuzzo is on IR

What to Watch For​

• Utah is only 10-12-6 on home ice this season. Can the Blackhawks take advantage of the home disadvantage?

• The second period has been awful for the Blackhawks a lot this season, but especially in the two games since the break. Will they find a way to fix it tonight?

• The Blackhawks running it back with the Nazar-Bedard-Bertuzzi line. Let’s see if they can find some magic. Bertuzzi hasn’t scored in his last 10 games and has only three assists in that span (two of which came against the Leafs on Sunday night).

Get Caught Up​

Brodie and Reichel are out for the Blackhawks. Söderblom starts in net.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) February 25, 2025

Schedule Does the #Blackhawks No Favors Before the Trade Deadline https://t.co/TsfYL3cjXh

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 25, 2025

the Dachtor is in@Enterprise | ➡︎ https://t.co/TlNll4HgDD pic.twitter.com/pRE9Trleky

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 24, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...at-utah-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-2/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Unhappy Seth Jones: “We Haven’t Made Any Strides” Since Game One

I checked my calendar and it doesn’t appear to be Festivus, but Seth Jones hosted an airing of grievances after the Blackhawks’ 2-1 loss in Utah on Tuesday night.

“We’re the exact same team right now as we were game 1. It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.”

Seth Jones shows his frustration after the Blackhawks loss to Utah tonight. pic.twitter.com/jsIXae3yxh

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 26, 2025

“We’re the exact same team right now as we were game one,” he said. “It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.”

“We had no business being in that game.”

Jones skated a team-high 25:27 — 2:38 more than anyone else on the Blackhawks’ roster — and scored Chicago’s only goal in the loss. He was credited with five hits and four blocked shots — both tied for the team lead — and was also credited with eight of the Hawks’ 39 shot attempts in the game.

There were 18 scouts at the game, including two from the Dallas Stars.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...es-we-havent-made-any-strides-since-game-one/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Moves I Would Make Before the Trade Deadline

On the various social media platforms, in my DMs and in person, I’ve had plenty of Blackhawks fans asking me lately one common question: if you were the general manager, what would you do before the trade deadline next week?

So here’s where I start this exercise: the Blackhawks will likely sign three college forwards — Boston University’s Ryan Greene, Minnesota’s Oliver Moore and Minnesota-Duluth’s Dominic James — when their respective collegiate seasons end. I also anticipate they’ll sign Minnesota defenseman Sam Rinzel to his entry-level contract.

If those four skaters follow the previous paths of Frank Nazar, Landon Slaggert, Wyatt Kaiser, Alex Vlasic and others, they’ll burn the first year of their ELCs in the NHL at the end of this season before heading to Rockford in the fall.

If those three forwards are going to skate NHL minutes down the stretch, the Blackhawks need spots in the lineup for them to use. Same with Rinzel on the blue line. Which means we need to make room for them to get those minutes in the coming week.

I will also say my preference isn’t that these young players necessarily come in and push a guy like Colton Dach back down to the AHL. If he’s earned an NHL job, let him skate with the big club. Let’s get the whole youth movement out there in front of us for a few weeks, eh?

With that foundation in mind, here’s what I would do before the trade deadline if I were making the calls as the Blackhawks’ general manager:

Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Trade 1: Alec Martinez to the New York Rangers​

• The Trade:
  to NYR — Alec Martinez, 2027 5th round pick
  to CHI — Brody Lamb (signing rights), 2027 3rd round pick

Why the Rangers make the trade: everything I’ve heard and read out of New York is that the Rangers need a steady left-handed defenseman to skate with Adam Fox. Well, how about a guy with multiple Stanley Cup rings at home for the low, low price of an intriguing forward (who isn’t among the Rangers’ top prospects) and a two-round shift in the draft two years from now? The Rangers saw both Fox and K’Andre Miller leave last night’s game with injuries so they might need to add a defenseman… Oh, and Martinez is off their books at the end of this season.

Why the Blackhawks make the trade: the Blackhawks have undoubtedly seen plenty of Lamb at the University of Minnesota, where he plays with Moore and Rinzel. He’s a Cole Guttman-like player; likely a fringe NHL guy who works hard and can put the puck in the net. Having three Gophers in Rockford isn’t a terrible idea. This is more about making room to promote Korchinski for the final six weeks of the regular season.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Trade 2: Lukas Reichel to the New York Islanders​

• The Trade:
  to NYI — Lukas Reichel, Wyatt Kaiser, CHI 2026 4th round pick, NYR 2027 3rd round pick
  to CHI — Anders Lee

Why the Islanders make the trade: there are two good reasons for the Isles to do this. First, swapping Lee for Reichel saves them almost $6M in cap space. That’s significant for a franchise that’s been stuck in neutral for a decade. Second, the Isles need to get faster as a team. Reichel skating with one of Bo Horvat or Mat Barzal would be a nice situation for him and the Islanders’ offense.

Why the Blackhawks make the trade: they’ve wanted Lee for years and have the cap space to absorb his $7M cap hit next season without batting an eye. He’s a valuable leader who can still produce. On the payment part, it looks like Kaiser is buried on the depth chart at this point and I think we’d all agree Reichel needs a change of scenery. The Blackhawks have multiple picks in both of those rounds/years.

Trade 3: Seth Jones to the Dallas Stars​

• The Trade:
  to DAL — Seth Jones ($2M retained), Craig Smith, NYR 2025 4th round pick, CHI 2028 4th round pick
  to CHI — Mavrique Bourque, Matt Dumba, 2027 1st round pick, 2028 second round pick

Why the Stars make the trade: their blue line is really banged up right now, and they want to make a run this year while Jamie Benn is still there. With $2M retained on Jones, the cost to the Stars next year (with Dumba in Chicago) would only be $3.2M — which is tremendous value. For that, they give up Bourque (and pending RFA) and a couple nice picks with mid-round picks coming back. The first rounder would be top-ten protected.

Why the Blackhawks make the trade: first, move on from Jones. He wants out, get him out. Smith is a known guy in Dallas and would help their postseason depth. Dumba buys the Blackhawks next season on the right side of the blue line while Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov mature. And the picks down the road help later.

Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Trade 4: Ryan Donato to the New Jersey Devils​

• The Trade:
  to NJD — Ryan Donato, Martin Misiak, 2025 3rd round pick
  to CHI — 2025 2nd round pick, 2026 2nd round pick, Tyler Brennan, Daniil Karpovich (signing rights)

Why the Devils make the trade: Donato is the kind of guy they need to go for it. The Blackhawks send Misiak over as a depth piece to help the Devils’ minors next year; I’m not sure how/where he fits into the Blackhawks’ long term plans at this point.

Why the Blackhawks make the trade: Brennan is an AHL goalie with one more year under contact who would be able to back up Drew Commesso next year. Karpovich has decent size (6-3, 209) and is from Belarus — another flyer on a guy who might help Levshunov until he comes to the NHL.

Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Trade 5: Pat Maroon to the Tampa Bay Lightning​

• The Trade:
  to TB — Pat Maroon, 2025 4th round pick
  to CHI — 2026 3rd round pick

Why the Lightning make the trade: low cost rental on a guy who knows the room and knows how to win.

Why the Blackhawks make the trade: make room for a kid down the stretch, move a pick down the road and improve it slightly.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Blackhawks Lineup: Post-Deadline​

Here’s the lineup I would put on the ice when the Blackhawks once all of the college players have signed and the dust is settled:

Tyler Bertuzzi — Connor Bedard — Frank Nazar
Anders Lee — Oliver Moore — Mavrik Bourque
Teuvo Teräväinen — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Ryan Greene — Nick Foligno
Extras: Colton Dach, Philipp Kurashev, Dominic James

Kevin Korchinski — Connor Murphy
Alex Vlasic — Sam Rinzel
Nolan Allan / Ethan Del Mastro — Matt Dumba
Extras: TJ Brodie, Allan/Del Mastro

I would put Vlasic back on the top power play unit and let Korchinski run the second unit thru the end of the season. James and Greene could alternate games (James will likely sign sooner). Dach could tap in for Mikheyev at some point as well.

Here’s what the Blackhawks’ draft picture would look like after all of these moves:

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...for-the-blackhawks-before-the-trade-deadline/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Missing Dickinson, Trade Chips, Draft Thoughts, Minor Trades, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

While we’re all desperately searching for answers for what’s ailing the Blackhawks right now, I want to take a moment to throw some praise at a guy who isn’t in the lineup: Jason Dickinson. Tonight’s game against Jack Eichel will be one of those nights where his willingness and ability to play against big, strong centers will be noticeably absent.

Since Dickinson got hurt on Feb. 5, the Blackhawks have played five games. They’re 1-3-1, allowing 3.80 goals per game, allowing 32.2 shots on net per game and winning 41.4 percent of their faceoffs as a team. In the 52 games before the one in which Dickinson skated only seven minutes because of the injury, the Blackhawks allowed 3.42 goals per game, allowed 31.5 shots per game and won 45.2 percent of their faceoffs.

The two skaters who have picked up the workload at the dot without Dickinson in the lineup: Nick Foligno (83 faceoffs) and Ryan Donato (53 faceoffs). They’ve won 43.4 and 47.2 percent of their faceoffs, respectively, during the five games.

Hopefully Dickinson is able to return soon after the trade deadline, which is around where his timeline was when we learned it was an ankle sprain. The Blackhawks need him.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

• After the loss on Tuesday night and with all of the other stuff swirling around the Blackhawks I didn’t want some conversation about this article to get lost so I kept it until this morning. Jeremy Rutherford and Max Bultman at The Athletic put together a fantastic piece titled ‘Innovate or die’: How NHL teams prepare top prospects with the latest technology in which they look at how coaches are helping the next generation better prepare. There are some insightful comments from University of Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko included. It’s a really good read — highly recommend.

ICYMI: ‘Innovate or die’: How NHL teams prepare top prospects with the latest technology. #stlblues https://t.co/E8f0h1vslp

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 26, 2025

• I brought up the poll of NHL agents that The Athletic published yesterday to specifically talk about Blackhawks-specific points. There were a few other questions/answers that got my attention, however.

• 18 of the 19 agents were in favor of the NHL expanding.

• Where should the NHL expand? 14 agents said Houston, 9 said Arizona (again) and 5 actually said Atlanta.

• Finally, one of the four agents who received multiple votes regarding who could be a future NHL general manager was Toronto’s Brandon Pridham — the father of Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham.

• Just a quick comment on Lukas Reichel since my mentions were hot yesterday: according to Natural Stat Trick, he’s been on the ice with Connor Bedard for 74:39 at 5-on-5 this season. During that time, the Blackhawks Corsi For is 44-83 (34.65 percent) and their Shots For is 18-39 (31.58 percent). The only players with whom Bedard has a lower Corsi For rate: Joey Anderson and Isaak Phillips. Maybe let’s top forcing the “needs better teammates” part of the conversation…

• Ben Pope dropped some good thoughts about the 2025 NHL Draft for the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks have some connections to projected #1 pick Matthew Schaefer, but they have a much greater need for another elite forward prospect.

New story looking ahead to the Hawks' options in the 2025 NHL Draft: https://t.co/auid7ICorA

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 26, 2025

• On their latest episode of “The Latest,” Kate Pettersen and David Pagnotta discussed what he qualified as a “relatively quiet” trade market — for now. When discussing the Dallas Stars going big game hunting with Miro Heiskanen out for what Pagnotta says is at least the end of the regular season, if not until the second round of the playoffs, Seth Jones‘ name did come up. Pagnotta notes Jones would love to go to Dallas and they are interested — if they can make the money work. But he notes the Blackhawks have other interested teams. He also links the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche to Jones.

It's quiet across the NHL right now, but trade talk is about to pick up. In today's edition of “The Latest” presented by @CCMHockey, I join @KatePettersen_ to touch on:
– #SeaKraken & Gourde
– #TexasHockey targets (not Karlsson)
– #NHLBruins options
– #GoSensGo fishing pic.twitter.com/VAGG6NibA8

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 27, 2025

• Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus had some thoughts on which Blackhawks might be in play between now and the NHL Trade Deadline next Friday afternoon.

Seth Jones wants out. Can he be moved by March 7, though?@ByScottPowers and I put together the suddenly significant Blackhawks trade board, version 1.0:https://t.co/kYA6BKiuJn

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 26, 2025

• The Edmonton Oilers “saved” their blue line yesterday, claiming defenseman Travis Dermott off waivers from the Minnesota Wild. Game changer!

• A couple massive, playoff-changing trades happened last night while you were enjoying a night without the Blackhawks on the ice. The Minnesota Wild acquired forward Tyler Madden from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenseman Joseph Cecconi. And the Nashville Predators acquired forward Jesse Ylonen from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Anthony Angello. Go ahead and schedule your parade plans accordingly.

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• The Cubs made their first cuts at camp on Wednesday.

• Will the Bears find their next left tackle at the combine this week?

• Josh Giddey has been incredible recently for the Bulls.

Hey #Blackhawks fans – if you're looking for something other than a jersey for St. Patrick's Day, Fanatics has some great green stuff available + there's free shipping today.

I might pick up this hoodie todayhttps://t.co/EG86o79lxb#ad pic.twitter.com/XaMZzrEPbF

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 27, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ts-minor-trades-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks at Golden Knights — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks’ last game of the month of February comes with an extra ask for some caffeine. The late night start in Vegas closes the books on a month and gets us one night closer to the March 7 trade deadline. So we’re still on hug watch, folks.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 9:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: Chicago Sports Network (if/where available)
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Tyler Bertuzzi — Connor Bedard — Ryan Donato
Teuvo Teräväinen — Nick Foligno — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Frank Nazar — Colton Dach
Pat Maroon — Philipp Kurashev — Craig Smith

Alec Martinez — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
Ethan Del Mastro — TJ Brodie

Petr Mrázek

Vegas Golden Knights

Brandon Saad — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Pavel Dorofeyev — Tomas Hertl — Victor Olofsson
Ivan Barbashev — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Tanner Pearson — Nicolas Roy — Rafael Lavoie

Nicolas Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb — Kaedan Korczak

Ilya Samsonov

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Laurent Brossoit (knee) and Jason Dickinson (ankle) are on IR.

Vegas Golden Knights

• William Karlsson and Cole Schwindt are on IR. Shea Theodore is out.

What to Watch For​

• Bedard put zero shots on net in 21:51 in Utah. Let’s see if he bounces back with a stronger performance.

• Jones played a strong game and scored a power play goal on Tuesday night with 18 scouts watching him. This is another opportunity against a legit contender for him to make an impression before the trade deadline.

• The Blackhawks’ penalty kill has been terrific. They’ll be tested tonight if they’re short-handed. Hopefully they don’t go to the box five times like they did in Utah.

Get Caught Up​

Unhappy Seth Jones: "We Haven't Made Any Strides" Since Game One#Blackhawks https://t.co/8NQ0iiHCms

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 26, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...knights-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-3/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Foligno Hurt, Del Mastro’s First, Good Murphy, Bad Brodie, Prospect Talk, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks tried desperately to come all the way back from a dumpster fire of the first period in Vegas last night, out-scoring the Golden Knights 4-2 over the final 40 minutes. The concern this morning — other than the Blackhawks remaining winless since the break — is captain Nick Foligno leaving the game after the first period.

Nick Foligno is day to day with a lower body injury, Sorensen said

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 28, 2025

• The Blackhawks have allowed 19 goals in their four games since the break. That number includes only two in Utah… not good.

• The Blackhawks reportedly had a scout in Boston to watch the Bruins vs. Islanders last night. The Blackhawks also reportedly had two representatives in Detroit to watch the Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets as well. Note to self…

• I’m going to put this here again this morning: Connor Murphy was on the ice for all five of the Blackhawks’ goals last night and had three assists. He was really good.

• Ethan Del Mastro saw a nice increase in ice time last night and responded with a good game. The 18:22 he skated is tied for his high this season. The other time he skated that exact number: he had his other NHL point this season (vs. Minnesota on Jan. 26).

Ethan Del Mastro's first career NHL goal! pic.twitter.com/rZI5F5a0CE

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 28, 2025

• I cannot think of a good reason to dress TJ Brodie again this season if the Blackhawks have six other healthy defensemen available. After the game, here’s what interim head coach Anders Sorensen said about Brodie’s game after once again dressing him instead of Nolan Allan:

“He’s been in and out of the lineup a little bit. He knows that he hasn’t played well. We’ve talked about it. I think you put extra weight on your own shoulders at times, and it goes the wrong way.”

• If this is sincerely the take of the interim head coach of the team right now, I have a serious problem. I have done my best to somehow rationalize Brodie’s spot on the roster — much less in the lineup — as him being a veteran left-handed defenseman who can play the right side and could show the younger defensemen how to handle pressure. If his confidence is gone and he’s doing all of the things that you desperately want young players not to do… as the great Jon Miller used to say, ¡Adióóós Pelotaaa! His play has been atrocious. If the mental side of the game is this far off, too, he cannot skate again for the Blackhawks. And no, do not send him to Rockford. Send him to the press box until Game 82 and then get out your favorite buyout calculator.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-02-27: pic.twitter.com/0Eq51Hyhs3

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) February 28, 2025

• From a late night written edition of “32 Thoughts” from Elliotte Friedman:

Whenever the time comes for Seth Jones, the Blackhawks are not interested in a futures deal. They need youngish players ready to make an impact now.

• On Friday morning’s “32 Thoughts” podcast, the guys talk about how the players around Jones in the room likely reacted to his comments after the loss in Utah. Foligno’s pregame interview with Darren Pang felt… chilly. Friedman says Jones’ teammates felt “probably not great” and went on to say “It was interesting, there were some people who were really upset about it. And they said that it didn’t come out until after he had indicated he wanted to leave.” Friedman says he believes the Blackhawks would have a case to tell Jones to can it while they try to make a complicated deal.

• Something Friedman said that got my attention more than the comments on Jones: he said the Blackhawks are on “heightened sensitivity” since the Winter Classic, especially around comments about Connor Bedard. “The Blackhawks are just sitting there saying ‘We’re down. Can’t kick us any more.'”

• I will say again here: the Blackhawks trading both of their veteran right-handed defensemen complicates their roster construction now and into next season as they try their best to avoid rushing Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel to the NHL. Murphy’s been a great leader in the room and would be missed if he’s moved. But it sounds like he could have a pretty strong market — especially at his cap number with term beyond this season.

We are ONE WEEK from the NHL Trade Deadline, #Blackhawks fans! pic.twitter.com/GoSTCnU0qS

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 28, 2025

• Interesting read here from Ben Pope. I’ve cited the number of people in/around the Blackhawks organization who have compared Landon Slaggert to Brandon Hagel over the last year or so. He’s been watching Hagel film to help tune his game.

Anders Sorensen sees some similarities between Landon Slaggert and Brandon Hagel.

And as it turns out, Slaggert has actually been studying Hagel for years.

New story: https://t.co/EwZ0q47kMe

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 27, 2025

• Corey Pronman at The Athletic ranked the top prospects from the 2020-23 NHL Drafts who were selected with picks that were traded. It’s a fascinating consideration set at this point for the Blackhawks because they’ve moved so many players for picks and moved up/down the draft board.

• I will note that he hasn’t been as high on some Blackhawks prospects as other — especially Frank Nazar. He lists 22 players, some of which have little/no NHL experience. The only two Blackhawks on his list: Oliver Moore at No. 6 and Allan at No. 11 (though he doesn’t adequately note that the Hawks got that pick from Columbus in the Jones trade).

• I would personally put Nazar, Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel on this list with confidence. But that’s me…

• Frank Seravalli was on the CHSN pregame show and talked about Nick Lardis.

"He's a guy that you get excited about if you're a Hawks fan." @frank_seravalli joined #Blackhawks Countdown Live to talk about Nick Lardis and the special year he's having in the OHL. pic.twitter.com/Mq9ZS6rEHb

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) February 28, 2025

• In the OHL last night, Windsor hammered Peterborough 7-1. AJ Spellacy scored the third goal of the night for the Spitfires. And then, late in the third period, all hell broke lose and he got involved in what sounded like a bit of a line brawl. Spellacy picked up a misconduct penalty for the effort.

• Martin Misiak scored twice for Erie in a 5-4 win over Niagara. He’s now up to 18 goals this season. Here’s the first of his two scores:

The first of two goals on Thursday night for #Blackhawks prospect Martin Misiak for @ErieOtters

pic.twitter.com/NACSHacjTF

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 28, 2025

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• Here’s an updated list of potential free agents to help the Bears’ offensive line.

• The Bulls have a big(s) problem.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...e-prospect-talk-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Blackhawks Recall Athanasiou and Kaiser, Assign Allan to Rockford

Before practicing in Anaheim on Friday afternoon, the Blackhawks made a few roster moves. Forward Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Wyatt Kaiser are joining the team from Rockford, and defenseman Nolan Allan is headed to the IceHogs.

roster moves alert@Enterprise | ➡︎ https://t.co/CqOviQ7k7k pic.twitter.com/1cRAKP71Xg

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 28, 2025

Athanasiou has done what he should do in the AHL: he’s scored eight goals with eight assists for 16 points in 16 games since finally returning from injury. With Nick Foligno leaving Thursday night’s game after the first period because of a lower-body injury, the Blackhawks didn’t necessarily need to bring up a forward; they had Lukas Reichel in the press box and there’s only one game left on the road trip. But maybe Reichel isn’t leaving the dog house just yet…

Swapping Kaiser and Allan is interesting. Allan has not been back and forth from Rockford this season while Kaiser, Louis Crevier and Ethan Del Mastro have made the drive. He was a healthy scratch on Thursday night and we all know how Blackhawks fans feel about TJ Brodie getting that ice time instead… Kaiser has appeared in 17 games with Rockford and posted three assists.

With the NHL trade deadline one week away, perhaps this is a showcase move for one/both of Athanasiou and Kaiser?

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...hanasiou-and-kaiser-assign-allan-to-rockford/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Recalls, New Lines (Again), More Trade Talk, Prospect Highlights, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Welcome to March, Blackhawks fans! Since we’re now six days away from the trade deadline, let’s start with some more conversation about the Blackhawks’ market. On Friday, both The Fourth Period and Daily Faceoff updated their massive trade boards. TFP lists 40 players; DF ranks 45. The big difference between the boards is TFP includes teams that have reported interest in each player.

Here’s where Blackhawks players fell in their respective lists:

• Seth Jones: TFP – 5; DF – 5
• Ryan Donato: TFP – 21; DF – 13
• Connor Murphy: TFP – n/a; DF – 21
• Lukas Reichel: TFP – n/a; DF – 27

• On Donato, TFP lists Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Toronto, New Jersey, Carolina as the interested teams.

• TFP lists the Blackhawks among the interested parties for Buffalo center Dylan Cozens and Anaheim forward Trevor Zegras. Zegras won’t face the Blackhawks tonight; he’ll be serving the third and final game of his suspension.

• Here’s what DF said about Reichel:

“A mostly miserable season is winding down for Reichel, who has been a healthy scratch at both ends of it, most recently on this Blackhawks road trip. What will Chicago do with the 2020 No. 17 overall pick? They obviously don’t have to move him. They’d prefer a hockey trade. But there’s enough teams intrigued by his high-end speed and talent that will overlook his lack of consistency and compete, thinking they can turn him into a more complete player.”

• For all of the stories that have been written and comments and quotes from Jones about his desire to be traded and how unhappy he has been in Chicago for the past three years, I present this: Connor Murphy‘s polar opposite attitude (good story from Ben Pope).

While Seth Jones seeks an escape from the Blackhawks' losing, Connor Murphy is following a different approach: focusing on the positives.

"I’ve been blessed, big-time, and given a ton of opportunity."

New story: https://t.co/2MU4e13RiN

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 1, 2025

• Captain Nick Foligno (back) and Philipp Kurashev (hand) did not practice yesterday. If they don’t go tonight in Anaheim, Lukas Reichel gets out of the dog house for a night. The Blackhawks won’t have a morning skate today so the lines look like what we saw yesterday until they warm up on the ice tonight. Stay tuned…

• Andreas Athanasiou and Wyatt Kaiser were called up yesterday. And then the Blackhawks practiced and AA was… on the wing on the top line with Connor Bedard. And interim head coach Anders Sorensen is apparently liking that idea.

Sorensen said he believes Athanasiou will be a “good injection pace-wise” on Bedard’s line. He described both Foligno (back) and Kurashev (hand) as day-to-day. https://t.co/9IosDuABs2

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 28, 2025

• Love the first goal puck photos. Here’s Ethan Del Mastro‘s from Thursday night.

everyone say congrats Delly pic.twitter.com/i0FPAYofhR

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 28, 2025

• Another year coming to a premature end for Kirby Dach.

L’attaquant Kirby Dach a subi une opération au genou droit. L'opération a été réalisée avec succès par le Dr Thierry Pauyo à Montréal et une guérison complète est attendue avant le début de la prochaine saison.

Forward Kirby Dach underwent successful surgery to his right knee.… pic.twitter.com/BRiYQRfpWb

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 28, 2025

Hey how about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?​

• As we have done so many times this season when we dig into prospect highlights, let’s lead if off with Nick Lardis. He had two assists for Brantford last night. He also scored two more goals, giving him 65 for the season!

WHO ELSE BUT NICK LARDIS @NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis comes up clutch for the @BulldogsOHL as he puts in the go ahead goal on the power play for his 64th of the season!#OHL | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/lWHOOXaG5A

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 1, 2025

Second of the night for #Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis



pic.twitter.com/IfNoqnLZtB

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 1, 2025

• AJ Spellacy had an assist for Windsor in a 4-2 loss to Kingston.

• Jack Pridham scored a game-tying goal in the third period for Kitchener last night. He added an assist on the overtime game-winner.

THE RANGERS TIE THE GAME @NHLBlackhawks prospect Jack Pridham puts home the rebound for his 23rd of the season and evens the score late in the game for the @OHLRangers!#OHL | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/kvSuKq6W36

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 1, 2025

• And Alex Pharand scored this goal for Sudbury in a 7-2 loss to potential future Blackhawk Michael Misa (who scored twice) and Saginaw.

Friday night for #Blackhawks prospect Alex Pharand for @Sudbury_Wolves

pic.twitter.com/8py8qSsQ1y

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 1, 2025

• Oliver Moore had one assist for Minnesota last night.

• John Mustard was credited with one assist for Providence last night.

• Sacha Boisvert scored again for North Dakota. He now has 13 goals as a true freshman, which leads the team.

How about a Friday night from #Blackhawks prospect Sacha Boisvert for @UNDmhockey

pic.twitter.com/GVsScqu9n2

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 1, 2025

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• Poor Nick Madrigal.

• Could Ben Johnson bring one of his former players in Detroit in to help the Bears’ O-line?

• Coby White was the hero for the Bulls last night, forcing overtime with a crazy 4-point play.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...pect-highlights-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

DONE DEAL: Blackhawks Trade Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers

The Blackhawks’ game in Anaheim doesn’t start until 9 PM CT, but Seth Jones won’t be there. He’s on his way to south Florida.

The Blackhawks have traded Seth Jones and a fourth-round pick in 2026 to the Florida Panthers for goaltender Spencer Knight and a first-round pick from the Panthers. The Blackhawks are retaining $2.5M of Jones’ salary.

The draft pick the Blackhawks will get from Florida will either be in 2026 or 2027; Florida may still move their pick in 2026 between now and that draft.

trade alert

➡︎ https://t.co/gjN0lotc2c pic.twitter.com/c2Bkza5FTG

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 2, 2025

In Knight, the Blackhawks get a potential future starting goaltender. What that means between now and Friday’s trade deadline for Petr Mrázek — who has one more year on his contract — or Arvid Söderblom — who is an RFA this summer — now becomes something to watch.

According to MoneyPuck, Knight’s 6.0 Goals Saved Above Expected ranks 27th in the NHL entering Saturday night. Söderblom (5.3) ranks 32nd. In 23 appearances this season, Knight has a .907 save percentage and two shutouts with a 2.40 goals against average.

Knight, 23, has one more year of term on a contract that has a $4.5M cap hit.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...wks-trade-seth-jones-to-the-florida-panthers/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Jones Out, Knight In, Goaltending Impact? What’s Next? Prospect Highlights, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

So, before the puck dropped in Anaheim last night, the Blackhawks made a big, bold trade. Six days before the trade deadline, Chicago traded Seth Jones and a fourth-round pick in 2026 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers for a future first round pick and 23-year-old goaltender Spencer Knight.

Davidson was on the pregame show on CHSN (for those who are able to watch) to talk about the trade. He had some strong comments about Knight coming in. GMKD admitted that he felt more urgency to get a deal done after Jones blasted the team after the loss in Utah. Here’s the video:

"We are getting a very exciting young talent."

Kyle Davidson joined @PatBoyle__ and @TonyGranato on #Blackhawks Countdown Live and talked about what he believes Chicago is getting in goaltender Spencer Knight. pic.twitter.com/lTq8RSedoy

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• I mentioned this when I wrote about the trade last night but it bears repeating here: Knight being only 23 and with one year of term left on his contract opens up a world of options for the Blackhawks’ front office with their goaltending position. Petr Mrázek has one more year remaining on his contract after this with a $4.25M cap hit. Arvid Söderblom, who is 25 and has arguably been the Blackhawks’ best goaltender this season, is an RFA this summer. The Blackhawks could now entertain offers for either of them with Knight immediately becoming the No.1 guy on the organizational depth chart.

• I think this deal also tells us Laurent Brossoit is not back with the organization next year. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the Blackhawks bought out Brossoit.

• What the Blackhawks do on the right side of the blue line will be interesting moving forward. As I’ve said before, it’s hard to imaging the Hawks would move both Jones and Connor Murphy — especially without bringing a right-handed defenseman back in one of the deals (they obviously didn’t in the Jones trade). The Blackhawks started last night’s game with Murphy, Alec Martinez and TJ Brodie skating on the right side and three youngsters — Alex Vlasic, Ethan Del Mastro and Wyatt Kaiser — on the left. They might consider bringing Louis Crevier back up from Rockford to have a second right-handed shot back there before they play four games in six nights in the coming week.

• According to Ben Pope, there were scouts on the list for last night’s game from the Kings, Oilers, Islanders, Wild, Avalanche, Blues and Panthers. My guess is the Panthers saw what the needed before the game last night but the rest are intriguing.

• Ryan Donato‘s trade value got a boost from a two-goal, three-point performance last night. We’ll see if the Blackhawks decide to let it ride and keep him around thru the end of the year (or beyond) or max the value out before Friday afternoon.

#Blackhawks 6, Ducks 3 — Three Stars, Key Takeawayshttps://t.co/Q9Yy5RgyGO

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• We got a fairly interesting trade on Saturday morning. The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Ryan Lindgren, forward Jimmy Vesey and the rights to defenseman Hank Kempf from the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman (and former Blackhawk) Calvin de Haan, forward Juuso Parssinen, and second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. New York will receive the best picks Colorado owns in the second and fourth rounds when the draft takes begins.

• There was a second non-Blackhawks trade on Saturday that got my attention as well. The Minnesota Wild acquired forward Gustav Nyquist from Nashville for a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Predators retained 50 percent of Nyquist’s cap hit, putting him on the books for $1,592,500 in Minnesota.

• Before we get into the highlights, congrats to the Golden Gophers (and their two Blackhawks prospects) for clinching a share of the Big Ten regular season title last night!

Minnesota clinches a share of the Big Ten Championship #B1GHockey pic.twitter.com/5Dwop35jEt

— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) March 2, 2025

Hey how about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?​

• In the final game of their regular season, Minnesota and Penn State battled in a close game. Oliver Moore had two assists and this empty net insurance goal in the game. Sam Rinzel had two blocked shots.

Lovely insurance into the empty cage for #Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore helps the @GopherHockey clinch a share of the regular season title in the @B1GHockey

pic.twitter.com/hqxxK8qphl

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• Sacha Boisvert put on on the board last night for North Dakota — and it was important. Boisvert’s goal tied the game with 36 seconds left in regulation. North Dakota went on to win the game in OT.

How about a Saturday night from #Blackhawks prospect Sacha Boisvert for @UNDmhockey

pic.twitter.com/93Tb4N6xUb

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• Dominic James scored the first goal of the night for Minnesota-Duluth. Adam Gajan, who has struggled at times for the Bulldogs this season, stopped 26 of 27 in regulation and overtime to earn the tie for UMD.

Saturday night from #Blackhawks prospect Dominic James for @UMDMensHockey

pic.twitter.com/R1CcaZdM8G

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• Aidan Thompson put a team-high seven shots on net and collected an assist on Denver’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to St. Cloud State.

• Martin Misiak had one assist in Erie’s 6-3 loss to Flint.

• No goals in regulation for Nick Lardis last night. He was just waiting for a little drama, apparently. He scored the overtime game-winner for his 66th of the season!

WHO ELSE BUT NICK LARDIS?!@NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis' 66th of the season stands as the overtime game-winner for the @BulldogsOHL on Saturday!#OHL | @CHLHockey | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/fHfFNsAo5d

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 2, 2025

MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter

• The Cubs made a second round of cuts.

• Deebo Samuel got traded to Washington.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...pect-highlights-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 6, Ducks 3 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

I’m not going to throw a bunch of words out there about how this game played out period by period because the first period was a snoozer, the second period was a hot mess and the third saw the Blackhawks take control in a physical game.

But I will say: the Blackhawks traded the guy who was skating the most minutes on their blue line a couple hours before the puck dropped and then proceeded to get a point on the first five goals from defensemen tonight. Think that makes a statement?

Star 1: Ryan Donato​

If you’re on the side of improving trade value, Donato scoring twice tonight helps. If you want him to stick around, him looking good doesn’t hurt. He’s got a career-best 21 goals now and had three points tonight.

#Blackhawks lead by three

Ryan Donato PPG
Tyler Bertuzzi, Alex Vlasic

pic.twitter.com/3sQgjAXAGs

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

#Blackhawks lead 6-2

Ryan Donato (again)
Teuvo Teravainen

3 points each for Donato + Teravainen tonight

pic.twitter.com/Xcgwf43HOl

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

Star 2: Wyatt Kaiser​

You get called back up to the NHL, get ready to make your return to the lineup and… the team trades its No. 1 defenseman a couple hours before the puck drops. So why not go have a strong performance and score the first goal of the night? Loved seeing Kaiser attack the net aggressively here. He was really good the entire night.

#Blackhawks take the lead

Wyatt Kaiser
Teuvo Teravainen, Ilya Mikheyev

pic.twitter.com/N67Rc4MX0o

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

Star 3: Lukas Reichel​

It might have taken two forwards being unable to play tonight for him to draw in but he made it count. Reichel had an assist on a power play goal and finished this breakaway for a two-point night.

#Blackhawks lead 4-2

Lukas Reichel
Craig Smith, Alec Martinez

pic.twitter.com/SKC2k9g9t5

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• I know the Blackhawks traded for a goalie earlier in the night but Arvid Söderblom was really good again tonight.

• So who’s going to take up the ice time after the big trade? Ethan Del Mastro skated a team-leading 13:15 at even strength in the first two periods, during which the Blackhawks had a 10-0 scoring chance advantage (per Natural Stat Trick). He finished the night with two blocked shots and one takeaway in 19:23 — all at even strength.

• With Seth Jones gone and Nick Foligno not available, Connor Murphy was joined by Alec Martinez and Pat Maroon in wearing an A for this game.

• Teuvo Teräväinen had an assist on Kaiser’s goal to start the party and then scored the Blackhawks’ third goal to give him two points in the second period. He picked up an assist on Donato’s second goal to give him three points in the game as well.

#Blackhawks lead 3-1

Teuvo Teravainen
Ryan Donato, TJ Brodie

pic.twitter.com/RETXhejxW8

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• Here’s Maroon’s goal from the second period:

#Blackhawks PPG to take the lead again

Pat Maroon
Lukas Reichel, Alec Martinez

pic.twitter.com/BS9IlVfePT

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 2, 2025

• Martinez collected his 200th career assist on the Maroon goal. TJ Brodie collected his 300th career assist on the Teräväinen goal. Brodie was initially going to be a healthy scratch but then got to dress because Jones got traded.

• Landon Slaggert (three) was the only Blackhawks skater with more than one hit at the end of a physical second period. He finished the night with a team-leading four hits. His line with Frank Nazar and Colton Dach got chippy frequently in the final 40 minutes.

• Craig Smith went to the room in the middle of the third period after taking a cheap shot from Alex Killorn. Hopefully he’s okay because he’s dealt with back issues for half of the year.

• Andreas Athanasiou can go back to Rockford for the rest of his contract.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/03/01/blackhawks-6-ducks-3-three-stars-key-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

The Capitals Just Helped the Blackhawks’ Trade Market

On Monday morning, the Washington Capitals announced an extension with goaltender Charlie Lindgren. It’s a three-year deal with a $3M AAV, which is a nice deal for both parties. Washington previously extended their other netminder, Logan Thompson, in January. He got a six-year deal with a cap hit of $5.85M.

The Capitals, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference, were looking at the potential of both of their goalies hitting the free agent market this summer. Now, they’re both re-signed and not available.

Which is a good thing for the Chicago Blackhawks.

When the Blackhawks acquired Spencer Knight from the Panthers over the weekend, they suddenly had some decisions staring them in the face sooner than anticipated at the position.

Arvid Söderblom has been marvelous for the Blackhawks this season after getting seemingly buried over the summer. He’s played much better than his $962,500 cap hit suggests, which led many to believe he would get an extension this summer.

Because the veteran free agent the Blackhawks added via free agency last summer after being underwhelmed by Söderblom’s play, Laurent Brossoit, has been a ghost. He injured his knee getting ready for training camp and hasn’t appeared in even a full team practice yet. The acquisition of Knight leads me to believe he may never do that; a buyout this summer would make sense there. He signed a two-year deal with a $3.3M cap hit.

Söderblom wound up becoming the 1b (1a?) with Petr Mrázek this season. Mrázek has one more year of term after this at a $4.25M cap hit.

I would think the Blackhawks would look to move one of their healthy NHL goalies before the trade deadline on Friday. And, though most point to Mrázek as the guy they would trade, I will note that Washington taking both of their netminders off the market might suddenly make Söderblom one of the more intriguing trade pieces in the league.

Söderblom has a .906 save percentage behind a team that has not been great defensively this season. At less than one million dollars against the cap? There may be a line around the block if he is available.

Why would the Blackhawks move Söderblom at the deadline? They would, in theory, stay on the plan they had last summer with Mrázek working with the younger goalie (now being Knight) until Drew Commesso is ready for NHL ice time. What’s changed now is Commesso is likely looking at being the backup in Chicago for a bit longer with a younger, better goalie in the mix.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...tals-just-helped-the-blackhawks-trade-market/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 5, Kings 1 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

This game should have been at least 5-1 after 20 minutes but the Blackhawks’ new goaltender stood on his head. To say the ice was slanted in the first period is like thinking the sides of the Devils Tower are slight downhills. According to Natural Stat Trick, high danger chances were 7-1 in favor of the Kings in the first and that feels fairly conservative after watching it live. But the games was tied at one when the teams went to their rooms.

The Blackhawks came out of the room with a much better effort to start the second and took the lead back only 45 seconds into the period. This lead lasted the rest of the period — and the Blackhawks extended it to two. They continued to get great goaltending and the offense took a hard 180 and played a really good period.

The Blackhawks pushed the lead to three just 80 seconds into the third period and then they started hitting everything in reach. After a dreaded double-doink cost him a would-be goal earlier in the third period, Ryan Donato scored into the empty net to put the final nail n the coffin.

Star 1: Spencer Knight​

Welcome to Chicago, Spencer. Here are 17 shots on net in the first period! What I really liked about Knight’s first performance was watching how he plays the puck and understands angles already. There were a couple times the Kings tried to shoot one hard and wide and play the rebound and Knight knew better and directed the puck into the corner on its way back to the front of the net. He was also so noticeably calm around the net. He finished the night with 41 saves. Amazing night!

Ladies and gentlemen, Spencer Knight. pic.twitter.com/SvCfw4pKT2

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) March 4, 2025

Star 2: Ethan Del Mastro​

The more ice time he gets, the better Del Mastro looks at the NHL level. Right before he scored the Blackhawks’ third goal of the night he blew up Trevor Lewis with a howitzer of a shot. He had a team-high four shot attempts in 11:41 thru two periods.

#Blackhawks lead 3-1

Ethan Del Mastro
Pat Maroon, Lukas Reichel

pic.twitter.com/hopYLKN97B

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 4, 2025

Star 3: Colton Dach​

Dach has a team-leading three hits thru two periods. He stepped up his physical play in the second and was more noticeable. He made a really nice play to steal the puck and set up Andreas Athanasiou for his goal early in the third period.

#Blackhawks lead 4-1

Andreas Athanasiou
Colton Dach

pic.twitter.com/yA4UNyibKq

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 4, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• Ilya Mikheyev is quietly having a really good season after the Blackhawks grabbed him in another salary dump trade from Vancouver this summer. He was flying again tonight and scored the Blackhawks’ second goal of the night 45 seconds into the middle period — his 12th of the season.

#Blackhawks lead 2-1

Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen, Ryan Donato

pic.twitter.com/Frl5HicvRe

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 4, 2025

• Here’s Alec Martinez‘s goal from the first period — his fifth of the year against his former team.

#Blackhawks lead 1-0

Alec Martinez
Tyler Bertuzzi

pic.twitter.com/JK0PDJNXDH

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 4, 2025

• The Blackhawks’ most active line in the first period was the kid line of Landon Slaggert, Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. Bedard was grinding and fighting in board battles and Slaggert and Nazar were buzzing as well. Bedard (team-high two) and Nazar (one) had three of the Hawks’ seven shots on net in the first; Slaggert had one of the Hawks’ five blocked shots (and only by a forward) in the first.

• I know I know I know… don’t talk about how the Blackhawks are supposed to fill ice time on the right side of the blue line. But… Louis Crevier was on the ice for an 8-2 shot attempt differential favoring the wrong team in 5:01 at even strength in the first period. That has to be better. I need them to stop putting Crevier and Alex Vlasic together like… 17 months ago…

• All six Blackhawks defensemen had a blocked shot thru two periods. Crevier had two.

• It took the Blackhawks until their first shot in the third period to catch up with the 17 shots on net the Kings were credited with in the first period.

xx

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/03/03/blackhawks-5-kings-1-three-stars-key-takeaways/