News Blackhawks Team Notes

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 4, Blues 2 — Preseason Takeaways

Spencer Knight got the start between the pipes for the Blackhawks in St. Louis on Saturday evening. The Blackhawks fielded more NHL players for the second game of their preseason than they did in the first in Detroit on Tuesday night. The Blues also had a nice list of NHL players on the ice.

The Blackhawks looked tired in their first preseason game in Detroit. They also looked young and, at times, like they were thinking too much. With more NHL players in this lineup, the hope was to see better play. At the end of the day, it was the young Blackhawks who made the big impacts in the third period.

First Period: 1-0 St. Louis​

• Oliver Moore absolutely exploded up the ice on his first shift, flying past a defender to get to a loose puck and getting a shot on net. That speed will play on any line the Blackhawks put out there.

• The Blackhawks were out-shot 14-5 in the first period (19-9 in shot attempts). Breakouts were still a hot mess. Whatever they’re working on needs more practice at full speed. I’ll hit a hard pause button here and remind all of us that this was the fourth period of the preseason and the first for a lot of the guys on the ice tonight. And a lot of the more offensive guys on the roster weren’t dressed tonight. But they need to find some flow to generate offense at some point.

• Ethan Del Mastro skated a team-high 8:15 in the first period — 94 seconds more than the second-highest total on the Blackhawks (6:41 for Kevin Korchinski and Connor Murphy). He was tied for the team lead with Colton Dach with two hits. I thought he had a strong period.

• Roughly six minutes into the first period it appeared Dalibor Dvorsky rifled a shot between the legs of Louis Crevier that beat Knight for the game’s first goal. Knight would probably want that one back.

• Lukas Reichel skated 5:37 (seven shifts) in the first period. I didn’t hear his name called or see him on the ice. He got the start in the top six again tonight.

• Nick Lardis wasn’t noticeable in the first period of his first preseason game.

• Ryan Greene won 7 of 9 faceoffs in the first.

Second Period: 2-0 St. Louis​

• Everybody lost Brayden Schenn only 52 seconds into the second period and the Blues doubled their lead. A nice pass from Jake Neighbours set up him but he was all alone. Somebody has to either communicate or check a forward like Schenn who’s skating all by himself there. Knight had no chance.

• Gavin Hayes had a a really good second period. He got to the blue paint and mixed it up with a few Blues on one shift and then stood up Cam Fowler in the neutral zone and forced a turnover a couple minutes later. He’s going to need to be a grinder in a bottom-six role at the next level and those were a couple good moments from him.

• Knight didn’t have much of a chance on the second goal of the game, but he made some really impressive saves later in the period to keep the lead at two.

Spencer Knight's been pretty good early — though the team in front of him has been struggling. He stretches for a nice save here: pic.twitter.com/SmdGmRLlkg

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• Korchinski made a few nice, long outlets passes in the second period. He also skated fairly well with the puck. At least he appeared to be more comfortable with what the coaches were asking of him tonight. He did a nice job on the second powerplay in the period.

• The Blues almost scored a third goal about 11 minutes into the second period because a trailing forward was left all alone again. That’s going to have to be something they address between now and Oct. 7 because it’s been a problem in both preseason games.

• Dach dropped the gloves with Logan Mailloux. Decent scrap.

Colton Dach drops the gloves with Logan Mailloux pic.twitter.com/6VMz2cTBLo

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• I liked Del Mastro’s game again in the second period. He carried the puck into the offensive zone a couple times, he stayed physical and continued to move the puck well. He had a big blocked shot early on the Blackhawks’ first penalty kill. Was he perfect? No. But he was solid and once again skating big minutes (14:38 thru two periods to lead Blackhawks defensemen). Del Mastro was credited with two blocked shots in the second period.

• The Blackhawks got two power plays in the second period. The first was meh. The second was better, especially from the second unit. The third, which started inside the final two minutes of the period, was easily their best. Lardis and Lukas Reichel were good with the puck, there were good, quick passes and shots on net — unfortunately, nothing that cut the Blues’ lead in half.

• Greene won 9 of 15 faceoffs thru two periods, and Moore led the team with three shots on goal (tied with Martin Misiak).

• After appearing to get slower as the game went on in the first preseason game, the Blackhawks looked stronger/faster as this game progressed. They had the same number of shots on net as the Blues in the second period (11), had a 19-17 shot attempt advantage and were able to control the flow over the second half of the second period; of course, two power plays helps.

Third Period: 4-2 Blackhawks​

• Sam Lafferty created a potential scoring chance while the Blackhawks were short-handed early in the third period. His shot was off Jordan Binnington and wide but he’s going to help that unit a lot.

• It appeared the strong power play late in the second period gave some energy to both Reichel and Lardis. They had a couple good shifts at even strength early in the third.

• Dominic Toninato got the Blackhawks on the board 11 minutes into the third period (assists to Lafferty and Murphy).

Toninato's shot finds its way through to get the Blackhawks on the board in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/sbyrmCOBFM

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• Toninato added a second point to his ledger 27 seconds later, setting up Hayes for the game-tying goal!

Oh my, the Blackhawks have tied the game as Toninato finds Gavin Hayes in front off a strong forecheck pic.twitter.com/kInKdHEQup

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• With three minutes left in regulation, Dach lowered the boom on a Blues skater trying to cross the neutral zone. The Blues decided collectively to try to jump Dach even though it was a clean hit, and Moore took the puck the other way and gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead. Huge hit, good finish. Two young guys making good things happen. Love to see it.

Oliver Moore has apparently given the Blackhawks the lead on one of the stranger sequences you'll see: pic.twitter.com/yP7t99u5vn

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• Jason Dickinson finished the night with an empty net goal. That’s four unanswered goals in the final ten minutes of regulation. After the Blackhawks appeared to run out of gas in Detroit, they slowly took this game over and controlled the third period.

• Knight was really good tonight. The first 35 minutes had some sloppy moments and he made a few big saves.

• Dach was the big story for me tonight. The fight, the big hit in the neutral zone. He played physical again — and, this time, it was against more NHL players. If there are 3-4 guys fighting for a couple spots on the Blackhawks’ NHL roster to start the regular season, thru two games Dach has done what he’s needed to earn one of them.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/09/27/blackhawks-4-blues-2-preseason-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Dach’s Strong Night, IceHogs Camp, Commesso’s Future, Frondell’s First, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Let’s get our Blackhawks Sunday rolling with a few thoughts about last night’s 4-2 win in St. Louis — before the Hawks are back on the ice tonight in Minnesota.

Colton Dach did exactly what you want/need to see from him to show he’s ready to be in the lineup in Florida on Oct. 7. The Blackhawks’ energy picked up after his fight, and his huge (clean) hit in the neutral zone late in the third period turned into the game-winning goal (from Oliver Moore). He’s had a good camp and is showing he’s ready. Another few check marks in the right columns for Dach.

As the game progressed, I thought Lukas Reichel and Nick Lardis were showing better chemistry and speed on the ice. Gavin Hayes had a really good night as well. And I liked what I saw from both Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro. Del Mastro skated a team-leading 23:25 in the game.

The #Blackhawks scoring four goals in the third period in St Louis was a direct result of the Cardinals intentionally walking Michael Busch this afternoon when he wanted a chance for the cycle

That’s how these things work, right @BleacherNation ? pic.twitter.com/pi1h6huj1y

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

• A reminder for your viewing questions/concerns this evening:

A weekend full of #Blackhawks hockey

Stream ALL #Blackhawks preseason games at NO CHARGE with login on CHSN

Just sign up with your email. No subscription required!

Watch tonight vs. the Blues: https://t.co/NJoiKPn1gl
Watch tomorrow vs. the Wild: https://t.co/TmucJXqNRW pic.twitter.com/5pOQCGt75g

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) September 27, 2025

• Ben Pope wrote a couple solid pieces late this week at the Chicago Sun-Times and I thought I’d share them both on Sunday. The first was about how Alex Vlasic spent time this summer learning to take better care of his body so he has gas left in the tank late in an 82-game regular season.

• The second good story from Ben was on Drew Commesso, whose trajectory to top of the goaltending depth chart in Chicago took a hard left turn last year — and not because of anything he did personally. Just 12 months ago, his path to the crease in the NHL felt pretty easy: Petr Mrazek’s contract runs it’s course and he fights an underwhelming Arvid Söderblom for the starting job. Fast forward one year and Spencer Knight is now the starter, Söderblom figured it out and established himself as a trustworthy NHL goaltender, and Commesso is now in a very different spot despite having a good year with Rockford and getting his first taste of NHL action. Solid read here from Ben as well.

Drew Commesso: "I feel like I’m NHL-ready."

There's just one problem: the Blackhawks don't have a goalie roster spot for him right now.

What's his mindset? What's Blashill's message to him? New story: https://t.co/BD8j3rztH0

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) September 26, 2025

• Mark Lazerus at The Athletic wrote a nice piece on Connor Murphy, the longest-tenured Blackhawks player (by a decent margin at this point).

Connor Murphy, by far the longest-tenured Blackhawk, desperately wants to get his team back in the playoffs.

Not for him. For 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

My column on perhaps the easiest guy to root for in all of Chicago sports:https://t.co/4gm6SDBbSh

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) September 27, 2025

• The Rockford IceHogs announced their training camp schedule and initial roster on Saturday afternoon. And the first practice of the 2025-26 season will take place at 11 AM today! The initial roster is lengthy, and seven skaters were added to it when the Blackhawks sent those guys to join the IceHogs to start camp after practices on Saturday in Chicago.

Almost training camp time!!

See schedule and initial roster: https://t.co/W9CIETCHy5 pic.twitter.com/qhCgTZH7Gj

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) September 27, 2025

• Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell scored his first goal in the SHL on Saturday!

First SHL goal for #Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell

pic.twitter.com/czHF6veQ44

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

• Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov scored a goal in his KHL game on Saturday (morning, our time).

How about a Saturday morning (our time) from #Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov

pic.twitter.com/nAidhoUSmq

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

• Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham scored for the Kitchener Rangers again last night.

Saturday night from #Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham for @OHLRangers

That’s goals two nights in a row for Pridham

pic.twitter.com/Xc5sEpcVud

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

• Marek Vanacker scored his first of the season for Brantford last night. It was the Bulldogs’ fifth of the night in what ended up being a 7-2 blowout.

Saturday night from #Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker for @BulldogsOHL

pic.twitter.com/OxQUNPcB3j

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

• During the second intermission last night the Blues announced a three-year extension for defenseman Cam Fowler. The deal has a $6.1M AAV.

• I’m not sure it has anything to do with the stupid “6-7” trend, but the Ducks finally got a deal done with forward Mason McTavish. The team got the somewhat shorter term they wanted (six year), and the player got the AAV he wants ($7M). Now, about Luke Hughes in Jersey…

MAC-T IS SIGNED!

It's a 6-year deal for Mason McTavish.

Details https://t.co/SfDNTm1A8v

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) September 27, 2025

• The Buffalo Sabres announced an extension on their current lease with Erie County at the KeyBank Center through September 2031.

• Marc-André Fleury is still in camp with the Penguins, and they dropped two minutes of him with a hot mic during practice. It’s as amazing as you would expect from an all-time beauty. So good!

Volume for Flower. pic.twitter.com/sfIaTNkO1f

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

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• The Cubs had to put Cade Horton in the IL

• No Colston Loveland for the Bears today?

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...frondells-first-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 4, Wild 1 — Preseason Takeaways

After skating lineups that were mostly prospects in their first two preseason games, the Blackhawks sent a group that was largely NHL players to Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. The hope — expectation — was that a lot of the game would look cleaner with players who will be playing in Florida making up the majority of the lineup.

This game felt a lot like a regular season battle with Minnesota. The Blackhawks’ speed was evident all over the ice. The young defense played well. And one of the young Blackhawks stars started his first full NHL season with a bang (three times).

First Period: 1-0 Blackhawks​

• Drew Commesso got the start and didn’t have to do much early on. He didn’t face a shot for the first ten full minutes.

• Almost eight minutes into the first period, Frank Nazar set up Wyatt Kaiser all alone on the doorstep for a glorious opportunity that, unfortunately, handcuffed Kaiser. It was a pretty backhand pass from Nazar. The Blackhawks got the game’s first power play moments later.

• The first Blackhawks power play unit came on mid-way thru the advantage and made it happen. Tyler Bertuzzi made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and found Teuvo Teräväinen, who made a gorgeous pass to Nazar on the backdoor for an easy goal. And, yes, that’s a 6-7 goal celebration from 91.

Teuvo Teravainen finds Frank Nazar backdoor to open the scoring on the power play. Peep the Nazar celly too pic.twitter.com/D9sKAg5rAF

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• Nolan Allan came out hitting hard! He had a couple big hits in the first period.

• We got our first look at a top line of Ryan Donato, Connor Bedard and André Burakovsky and I thought they were good — and dangerous. They had a few terrific scoring chances, including one shot from Donato that hit the post so hard it bounced all the way back to him by the faceoff dot. He caught it and continued the play.

• Ryan Greene stayed hot at the dot. He won both of his draws in the first period after winning 13 of 22 on Saturday night.

• Artyom Levshunov led all Blackhawks with 8:18 of ice time in the first. He had a good period.

• If you’re one of those fans who’s wanted to see a stronger start, the more veteran lineup did that. Commesso faced only six shots in the first period and stopped them all. The Blackhawks were 1-1 on the power play and the penalty kill. The Blackhawks had an 18-8 shot attempt advantage. A strong opening 20 minutes.

Second Period: 2-1 Blackhawks​

• Nazar took a nice pass from Bertuzzi at full speed and unloaded a shot that found the back of the net for an even strength goal 80 seconds into the middle period.

Frank Nazar again! 2-0 Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/nV80zW4iVe

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 28, 2025

• Allan kept hitting people. I like it.

• In the middle of the period, a sky-high clear bounced a few times, found Tyler Pitlick and he set up Hunter Haight for a quick tap-in goal to cut the lead in half.

• I thought both Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski were solid in the second period. Levshunov (14:49) and Kaiser (14:40) were the Blackhawks’ ice time leaders after 40 minutes. Korchinski was only at 9:57 but he was skating well and made some good outlet passes. Allan had a team-high five hits on the pair with Korchinski. The young blue line looked good; the Blackhawks allowed 13 shots thru two periods.

Third Period: 4-1 Blackhawks​

• The Blackhawks spent most of the first seven minutes of the third period stuck in their own defensive zone. Their issues were amplified by Alex Vlasic leaving the bench; he skated one shift early in the third and went to the room. Vlasic appeared to tap his leg on the way to the bench.

• In any one-goal game, the next one is huge. The Blackhawks sent Bedard’s line over the boards after the TV timeout at the 13-minute mark and they created that next goal. Donato with the finish off a pretty backhand dish from Bedard. Kaiser with the second assist.

Connor Bedard with a spinning backhand pass to Ryan Donato who scores to extend the lead! pic.twitter.com/mahk45IpUo

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 29, 2025

• In the second half of the third period, the Wild turned up their physical play. That should have been expected; Minnesota always hits, and they were chasing two goals at home.

• Kaiser saved a goal with Commesso scrambling on a late penalty kill. Incredibly smart play by Kaiser and Rinzel to keep the puck out of the net in a big spot. The puck hit Rinzel’s skate and then Kaiser swatted it away.

• Just inside the final minute of regulation, Nazar finished his hat trick into the empty net.

Frank Nazar with an empty netter for the HAT TRICK pic.twitter.com/3zY938bABa

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) September 29, 2025

• Kaiser was magnificent — especially with Vlasic out of the lineup in the third period. He skated a heavy workload (more than half of the third period) and was terrific. Kaiser finished skating 25:30 and had assists on the final two goals of the game. Helluva night for Kaiser.

• I once again really liked Ryan Greene‘s game. He isn’t flashy, but he’s always in the right spot and he’s smart with the puck.

• Commesso was really good tonight. He was pressured a lot late; he faced 16 shots in a third period without Vlasic available and didn’t allow any of them to go in.

• We didn’t see as much of the physically aggressive versions of Samuel Savoie and AJ Spellacy that I expected. Spellacy was a missile last year in the preseason; Savoie has been a constant attacker in his pro career. Spellacy is coming off a shoulder issue he picked up during the prospect showcase, so I understand if he wasn’t looking to initiate as much. I would have liked to see more from Savoie tonight.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-09-28: pic.twitter.com/nKk5du5AW6

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) September 29, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/09/28/blackhawks-4-wild-1-preseason-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Remaining Forward Roster Battle Breakdown

With the Blackhawks sending seven more skaters out on Monday morning, the roster battles are becoming more real in the final week of training camp. Chicago now has 17 forwards in camp, with 12 spots obviously available to play when the regular season begins in Florida next Tuesday afternoon.

I will note that the 17 forwards that are still on the Blackhawks’ roster include Dominic Toninato, who was on waivers Sunday for purposes of sending him to Rockford. That also includes an injured Joey Anderson as well. So the real number is 15. Assuming the Blackhawks keep 13 forwards, that means two guys have to go to Rockford to start the season.

There are four players who are fighting for those two remaining roster spots: Colton Dach, Lukas Reichel, Oliver Moore and Ryan Greene. So let’s break down their performances thus far in the preseason.

Before we get into the breakdown, a couple notes. First, I am not including Landon Slaggert here because he hasn’t played in a preseason game yet, and Blashill has said he would like to see Slaggert on his third line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev to start the season. Obviously, that’s dependent on him being healthy for the start of the regular season.

Secondly, the analytics I’m using for the comparisons are at 5-on-5 from Natural Stat Trick.

Let’s dig into some numbers from the four guys who are still with the Blackhawks who are battling for ice time.

[IMG width="746px" alt="Colton Dach
Chicago Blackhawks"]https://www.bleachernation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Colton-Dach_USATSI_25685170.jpg[/IMG]
Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Colton Dach​

• Preseason Games Played: 2
• Expected Goals For (xGF): 0.88
• xGF Percentage: 41.71
• Scoring Chances For Percentage: 53.33
• High Danger Chances: 5
• Corsi For Percentage: 43.24
• Shots For Percentage: 42.31
• Goals For/Against: 1 / 2

The Blackhawks have plenty of speed coming in the waves of prospects on their way to the NHL. What they need are guys who can score and more size up front. Dach brings something the other three we’re discussing here do not: a physical edge.

The numbers that stick out most to me are Dach ranks second on the team in xGF and high danger chances in the preseason behind only Connor Bedard. Dach had six hits in both of his preseason appearances thus far, including a big one in open ice that led to the game-winning goal in St. Louis. He also dropped the gloves against the Blues.

Lukas Reichel​

• Preseason Games Played: 2
• Expected Goals For (xGF): 0.82
• xGF Percentage: 50.92
• Scoring Chances For Percentage: 66.67
• High Danger Chances: 3
• Corsi For Percentage: 50.00
• Shots For Percentage: 47.37
• Goals For/Against: 0 / 1

Reichel can fly, we knew that coming into camp. The task for him was to prove that he can establish himself as a top-six capable player. His job in doing that has become tougher with the Blackhawks adding André Burakovsky this summer and putting him with Bedard and Ryan Donato on the top line. Reichel isn’t physical enough to win a spot on the third line (which, again, appears to be Slaggert-Dickinson-Mikheyev), which brings us back to how he can elevate a fourth line.

Reichel has had an okay preseason. He’s needed to do more than that to prove he’s worthy of a spot in the lineup over Dach, especially against a team like Florida in the regular season opener. The fact that the Blackhawks have scored a goal at even strength while the other three have been on the ice but haven’t with Reichel skating is the elephant in the room: finishing needs to happen for him to separate himself. The underlying numbers like his preseason, however.

Oliver Moore​

• Preseason Games Played: 3
• Expected Goals For (xGF): 0.71
• xGF Percentage: 31.32
• Scoring Chances For Percentage: 30.43
• High Danger Chances: 3
• Corsi For Percentage: 28.57
• Shots For Percentage: 31.03
• Goals For/Against: 2 / 1

Moore scored one of the most awkward goals you’ll ever see in the win in St. Louis. His speed is elite. The question has been whether or not he can finish enough to warrant a top-six role, or if he becomes a fast checking line forward to start his career. The goal in the preseason coupled with the goal he scored at the Prospect Showcase are good signs that he’s can score.

A difference between Reichel and Moore: Moore has been used in a checking-line role by both Minnesota and USA Hockey previously; he’s been successful in those roles. His ability to slide up and down the lineup makes him potentially more versatile than Reichel with the same speed element that makes him dangerous. And, again, he’s scored twice since arriving in Chicago.

Ryan Greene​

• Preseason Games Played: 3
• Expected Goals For (xGF): 0.72
• xGF Percentage: 30.47
• Scoring Chances For Percentage: 20.83
• High Danger Chances: 3
• Corsi For Percentage: 31.03
• Shots For Percentage: 29.03
• Goals For/Against: 1 / 1

After appearing in only two NHL games at the conclusion of last year, Greene came into camp as a mature player after spending three years at Boston University — but needing experience at the pro levels. He profiles as a checking-line center and has been used in that role in his three preseason appearances thus far. We should keep that in mind when considering his numbers above.

What’s been most impressive about his game is Greene has won 23 of 44 faceoffs (52.3 percent) in his three games. As is the case with most of the players coming up, there’s speed there. Greene has decent size as well.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ks-remaining-forward-roster-battle-breakdown/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Announce Roster Cuts, Send (Update) Eight More Players Out

After a strong 2-0 weekend, the Blackhawks announced another round of cuts on Monday morning. The Blackhawks sent AJ Spellacy back to Windsor in the OHL.

Additionally, the Blackhawks assigned the following six players to the Rockford IceHogs:

• Drew Commesso, G
• Nick Lardis, F
• Samuel Savoie, F
• Aidan Thompson, F
• Ashton Cumby, D
• Mitchell Weeks, G – Released from PTO, assigned to Rockford (AHL)

UPDATE: Dominic Toninato cleared waivers on Monday and was also assigned to Rockford.

Weeks was released from his PTO. Cumby, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, has not yet signed an NHL contract. He is 20 already, so he can play in the AHL this season; the Blackhawks did that with Marcel Marcel previously.

More roster moves this morning

: https://t.co/TQvzIAcKhl pic.twitter.com/8nivqFthgJ

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) September 29, 2025

The Blackhawks training camp roster is now at 30 players: 16 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...unce-roster-cuts-send-seven-more-players-out/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Kirill Kaprizov Just Got PAID!

According to a flurry of reports on Tuesday morning, the Minnesota Wild finally got a deal done with their best player. And it’s a big one — historic in fact!

Superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov has agreed to an eight-year deal that has a record-setting $17M AAV. That’s $3M per more than Leon Draisaitl, who signed his extension with the Oilers just one year ago. It’s $5M more than the deal Mitch Marner got from Vegas this summer.



It’s not only the highest AAV in league history, it’s also the biggest gross dollars committed to a single player.

Richest by Total Dollars
Kirill Kaprizov 2026-2034 – $136m
Alex Ovechkin 2008-2021 – $124m
Leon Draisaitl 2025-2033 – $112m
Shea Weber 2012-2026 – $110m
Sidney Crosby 2013-2025 – $104.4m
Nathan MacKinnon 2023-2031 – $100.8m
Connor McDavid 2018-2026 – $100m

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 30, 2025

AND it’s a Bowman special! A full no-move clause for the duration, and it’s almost all signing bonuses.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/09/30/kirill-kaprizov-just-got-paid/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 1, Red Wings 3 — Preseason Takeaways

A couple short hours after the Cubs won a preseason game at Wrigley Field, the Blackhawks took the ice for their first home preseason game.

The game didn’t exactly get off the best start. The 300 level was closed. The bottom two levels were only ever about 75 percent filled. When the anthem started, Jim Cornelison’s mic wasn’t on until the third word. And then the live time on ice tracker on the scoreboard told us No. 6 was… not Sam Rinzel…

According to the preseason scoreboard, HUGE return to the ice from Hall of Famer and, now, certified #Blackhawks legend Shea Weber pic.twitter.com/3zHE1uEct0

— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) October 1, 2025

First Period: 2-0 Red Wings​

• I actually liked the Blackhawks start, but it was Detroit getting on the board first. JT Compher found the back of the net at 3:35. Connor Bedard got his pocket picked and a couple guys were changing at a bad time, leaving André Burakovsky and Ethan Del Mastro defending a 3-on-2. It didn’t end well.

• Less than six minutes (of mediocre, turnover-filled hockey from the Blackhawks) later, Detroit doubled their lead. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård was left all alone about five feet in front of Spencer Knight.

• Frank Nazar won 5 of 7 faceoffs in the first period.

• The Blackhawks out-hit the Red Wings 19-7 in the first…

Second Period: 3-0 Red Wings​

• Jason Dickinson was called for slashing. The Blackhawks killed the penalty.

• The Blackhawks got a power play with under six minutes left in the second period. They weren’t able to get a shot thru, and then Rinzel got out-muscled on a rush and the Red Wings scored quickly after the advantage ended.

• Later in the second period, Colton Dach started ramping up his physical play. He had a big hit behind the Detroit net that got the entire Red Wings bench barking at him as he left the ice at the end of his shift. Thru two periods, Dach was credited with five hits and four shot attempts (three on net).

• Chicago was 0-4 on the power play with nine shots on goal while on the advantage at the end of two periods. The quality of play started to improve in the second half of the second period, but the only score in the period was by the bad guys.

• With the four power plays, ice time on the blue line was heavily in favor of Rinzel (16:45) and Artyom Levshunov (14:14); they were the only Blackhawks defensemen to skate more than Ethan Del Mastro‘s 10:48.

• At 5-on-5 at the end of 40 minutes, Del Mastro led Blackhawks defensemen in expected Goals For (0.28) and was on the ice for five Blackhawks’ shots on net (second behind six for Levshunov). Among Chicago defensemen, only Rinzel and Kaiser had a better expected Goals For Percentage. Unfortunately, Del Mastro was on the ice for all three Red Wings goals.

• Nazar won 9 of 15 faceoffs thru two periods. No other Blackhawks skater had taken more than six (by Dickinson).

• The first “Detroit sucks” chant of the night didn’t start until there were 90 seconds left in the second period.

Third Period:​

• Less than three minutes into the third period, Del Mastro had a big hit in the defensive zone and got the puck up to Nick Foligno, who got it to Dach. Dach showed some wheels and good hands and boom! The Blackhawks were on the board! Foligno and Del Mastro got the assists.

COLTON DACH WOW pic.twitter.com/5iydEVq679

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 1, 2025

• The Blackhawks got a fifth power play before the mid-way mark of the third period that came up empty.

• The Blackhawks got a sixth power play with seven minutes left in regulation that came up empty.

• The Blackhawks pulled Spencer Knight with 2:40 left. They tried to pull him 20 seconds earlier, but Bedard and Teuvo Teräväinen both passed on open shots to give the puck to someone else and it got kicked into the Hawks’ defensive zone.

• Dach and Kaiser were the best players in the game for the Blackhawks.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/09/30/blackhawks-1-red-wings-3-preseason-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Around the NHL: Luke Hughes Signs, Ingram to Edmonton, Injuries, a Goalie Fight! and More

We are now less than one full week away from the start of the 2025-26 NHL regular season, which is exciting. Teams are making cuts to their rosters daily, we’re starting to see more highlights of drafted players in CHL games and college hockey is right around the corner. It’s simply the best time of year!

There have been a few notable pieces of news this week, including another huge contract for a young player on Wednesday morning. So let’s take a quick lap around the league and get caught up with some NHL — and IIHF and NCAA — news and notes.

Luke’s Staying​

The biggest name on the remaining unsigned RFA list was Luke Hughes. Was. Because the New Jersey Devils announced a seven-year, $63M deal ($9M AAV) for the 22-year-old defenseman and former Michigan Wolverine.

With Luke signed for the next seven years and his brother, Jack, under contract until 2030, the big — maybe $18M? — question is if the Devils can successfully get Quinn to join them in New Jersey. Quinn Hughes, currently the captain of the Vancouver Canucks, has two years remaining on his current contract.

Greetings from Hughes Jersey. Our boy is here to stay.#NJDevils | #MadeInJersey pic.twitter.com/Dw4kJIfhhh

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 1, 2025

Ingram to Edmonton​

We heard at the start of training camps that the Utah Mammoth were looking to get Connor Ingram a fresh start somewhere else in the NHL. They were able to make that happen on Wednesday morning, sending him to the Edmonton Oilers for… nothing.

Ingram had already been placed on and cleared waivers. The Mammoth are retaining $800 of his $1.95M AAV, and the Oilers have already indicated he’ll start the year with their AHL affiliate. We’ll see how long it takes him to get a look at the crease in the NHL for the Oilers.

TRADE ALERT

The #Oilers have acquired Connor Ingram from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for future considerations. The goaltender will report to the @Condors & Utah is retaining $800,000 of his $1.95 million AAV. pic.twitter.com/N08J34WdBu

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 1, 2025

Barkov injury Olympic impact​

When it was announced that Aleksander Barkov’s season is likely over before it begins, the focus was primarily on the impact his absence would have on the Florida Panthers trying to defend their back-to-back championships. But there’s another roster that’s going to feel the loss significantly: Finland.

Barkov was one of the first six players named to Finland’s roster already and was likely going to be its captain. Now, there’s a huge void in leadership and on the ice for them to fill. The injury might open the door for a more important role for Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teräväinen on their roster, but (respectfully) he ain’t Barkov.

Finns heartbroken after Aleksander Barkov injury — but remain confident in shot at Olympic medal. Chatted with Jere Lehtinen and Mikko Rantanen in my latest for ⁦@TheAthletic⁩ https://t.co/KK2vrl5J7K

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 1, 2025

Odds & Ends​

• Erik Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft (two spots before the Blackhawks selected Jonathan Toews), has announced his retirement. One helluva career for a good guy. Congrats!

Erik Johnson, you are one of a kind.

Thank you for all that you've done in burgundy and blue, and congrats on your retirement. pic.twitter.com/eePT6ox09G

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 1, 2025

• The Kraken announced defenseman Ryker Evans will miss 6-8 weeks because of an upper-body injury. The Blackhawks are in Seattle Nov. 3 and host the Kraken on Nov. 20.

• Predators forward Matthew Wood is out “week to week” with an upper body injury. The Blackhawks don’t see the Preds until the day after Thanksgiving at the United Center.

• Patrick Roy told the media on Wednesday morning the Islanders might keep eight defensemen on their roster to start the season. One of those would likely be No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer, who has been as good as advertised thus far in NHL preseason games.

• Since I brought up Roy, how about a goalie fight?!? This is from the KHL.

GOALIE FIGHT

Andrei Mishurov vs Adam Huska#KHLFight pic.twitter.com/yLgT89U5MZ

— KHL (@khl_eng) October 1, 2025

• The NCAA is changing how they determine the field for their men’s hockey tournament. Starting with the 2025-26 season, PairWise will no longer be the metric by which the field is set. This week, the NCAA Men’s Ice Committee formally approved the move to NPI (NCAA Percentage Index). We’ve been hearing this change might happen since the end of the previous school year, and now it’s a reality.

• If you want to go see the 2026 World Junior Championship in Minnesota, tickets are on sale now!

Big news!! Single-game tickets for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship are on sale NOW!

Schedule and tickets: https://t.co/1reslMW0th pic.twitter.com/dbgXIYn5jV

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) October 1, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...to-edmonton-injuries-a-goalie-fight-and-more/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Franchise Value Goes Up, NHL Rank Goes Down

On Wednesday morning, Sportico published their annual NHL franchise valuations. The Chicago Blackhawks are still among the most valuable in the NHL, but they slid down one on the list to No. 7 in the league. The Edmonton Oilers, fresh off back-to-back Stanley Cup Final losses, jumped just ahead of the Blackhawks.

Here are the top ten in their rankings:

Source: Sportico

The big winners based on these rankings are the Carolina Hurricanes, now ranked 15th (up 10 spots) with a 49 percent improvement and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, now ranked 17th (up 9 spots) with a 51 percent increase.

The Lightning, Canucks and Sharks all went down by five spots — the most in the league this year.

The franchises values that went up by the lowest percentage over the past year are:

• San Jose — 5%
• Tampa Bay — 6%
• Vancouver — 8%
• Minnesota — 12%
• Boston — 12%
• NY Rangers — 12%
• Chicago Blackhawks — 12%

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...s-franchise-value-goes-up-nhl-rank-goes-down/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Nazar Wants to Score, Allan’s Training, Slaggert’s Return, Reichel Rumors, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

With a couple days without games between the loss to Detroit and two games to close the preseason, the Blackhawks got in a longer workout than expected the day after a game on Wednesday. Head coach jeff Blashill wants to get the breakouts thru the neutral zone sorted out and looking good before the regular season starts. He wants to weaponize the Blackhawks’ team speed from the jump this season.

#Blackhawks Nick Foligno, Frank Nazar & Connor Bedard (and Chris Chelios) at the Cubs playoff game today

pic.twitter.com/S3XVr68TCU

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

• Speaking of those fast players, and if you love run-thru-a-brick-wall quotes from young players, Frank Nazar gave one to Mark Lazerus in this piece at The Athletic.

“I want to score. I want to score on every breakaway. I hate the goalie being able to look at me and say, ‘I stopped you.’ That’s what I think about. … In my view, I’m still trying to make this team and prove that I should be played in the spot that I’m in. I don’t think, ‘Oh, I’m here, I made it.’ I still need to prove myself each and every day. I want to earn everything I get.”

"I hate the goalie being able to look at me and say, 'I stopped you.'"

Frank Nazar on his goals for the upcoming year, and why he still feels it's a "prove-it year" even after getting the big contract:https://t.co/LxWoidJkcd

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 1, 2025

• On the defensive roster battle front, an interesting note from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times on Nolan Allan working on his skating and mobility this summer. He’s in a battle with Ethan Del Mastro and camp invite Matt Grzelcyk for the sixth spot on the Blackhawks’ blue line. Allan used DriBlades, skate blades designed to be worn on rubber gym floors, to skate without needing to get on ice this summer.

Nolan Allan's mobility is his biggest question mark from an NHL perspective.

This summer, he used something new — DriBlades — that might help with that.

That's part 3 of this Blackhawks notebook: https://t.co/LeMFF7r6Q9

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 1, 2025

• If you read the entire stories above from Lazerus and Pope, there’s a fair amount of dumping on Del Mastro at the moment. He’s certainly in a battle for the final spot on the Blackhawks’ blue line and having a less-than-ideal performance on Tuesday night didn’t help his case. On Wednesday, Blashill was asked about Del Mastro at this point in camp. The Blackhawks’ new head coach said he loves Del Mastro’s swagger and his compete. He went as far as to say he’s a guy coaches and teammates love having in the room and he has a lot of value to the organization long term. He said the young defenseman needs to not think as much and just play — even with new systems and new coaches coming in. Blashill also pointed out that bigger defensemen take longer than the quicker, puck-moving defensemen.

• Landon Slaggert talked to us after being a full participant in practice yesterday. He said he doesn’t feel like he’s “behind” in any part of the game. Being on a line with Jason Dickinson, someone who Slaggert said has helped him from the minute he arrived after his career at Notre Dame ended, certainly helps.

• Slaggert also dismissed the idea that him starting the season on a third line could mean his identity becomes more as a defensive forward. He sees it as defense turns into offense, and being hard to play against can become offensive chances.

• Other B1G news in the Slaggert family: Landon’s father, Andy, is leaving Notre Dame after 32 years to pursue a pro opportunity.

Truly the end of an era. Slags is moving on to another opportunity after spending the last 32 years with @NDHockey. https://t.co/3VMUPB7fMv

— Pete Byrne WSBT (@PeteByrneSports) October 1, 2025

• Lyle Richardson at Bleacher Report shared their new season-opening trade big board. Lukas Reichel checks in at No. 5. The rest of the list is mostly Pittsburgh Penguins.

• David Pagnotta at The Fourth Period reported “The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks are among the teams believed to have interest in Reichel.”

• A note for those wondering how the Blackhawks would line up for an unpopular back-to-back to close out their preseason schedule. Blashill said Wednesday that they’ll skate a lineup closer to their regular season opening lineup on Friday night, which means there will be plenty of IceHogs at the United Center on Saturday.

• Speaking of the IceHogs, they play the Chicago Wolves in their preseason opener THIS MORNING!

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• The Cubs lost yesterday. Find a television around 4 PM CT today for win-or-go-home.

• How about some appreciation for Bears safety Kevin Byard

• New Bull Isaac Okoro is already drawing tons of praise

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-reichel-rumors-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Power Play Thoughts, Dach’s Strong Performance, Del Mastro Stuggles, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Let’s start our Wednesday with some talk about last night’s power play because the Blackhawks didn’t score on six advantages last night. That not only sucks, but it’s clearly not good enough and they need to work on that and only that for the next five days so they aren’t terrible in Florida when the game counts. Am I doing this right? That’s how I’m supposed to react to an 0-for-6 on the power play, right?

The Blackhawks’ passing wasn’t as crisp as they would probably like on the power play last night. I’m going to chalk at least a little of that up to it being 88 degrees outside and the United Center having notoriously soft ice in the preseason because of the weather. With that excuse in the back pocket, the Blackhawks generated 15 scoring chances (four of which were of the high danger variety) on the power play last night (according to Natural Stat Trick). They attempted 27 shots on goal while they were skating 5-on-4. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the guy in the other goal because the Blackhawks going 0-for-6 wasn’t for lack of trying.

If the Blackhawks’ speed continues to get teams to make mistakes and send someone to the box, those chances will start paying off. After re-watching some things, I’m frustrated they didn’t score on the power play last night but that doesn’t mean they were bad.

Talked to the longest tenured #Blackhawks Connor Murphy & captain Nick Foligno about the Cubs being in the playoffs. Both said it’s great for the city and they’re excited to have some elevated emotion with fans.

Foligno said “we’re next”

— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) September 30, 2025

• Colton Dach had himself a night. And what I loved about the performance was not only what he said after the game, but how his head coach talked about him — again. After the game, Dach was asked about his scoring play — a legit power move from a big young player.

“The last two games, I thought I did pretty good showcasing my physical side. I wanted to come over here tonight and showcase some other aspects of my game.”

• When I asked head coach Jeff Blashill about Dach’s performance last night and in camp, he talked about how he’s shown different elements of his game that show he’s ready to be an NHL player, but now it’s about stringing together performances like that consistently. If Dach wasn’t already a lock for the opening night lineup before last night’s game, he is now. He was the best Blackhawks forward on the ice last night.

• A few more thoughts on roster moves/updates before the game yesterday. As I noted in the news story, Kevin Korchinski getting sent to Rockford after the morning skate was a bit of a surprise. Especially with Alex Vlasic not skating in any of the three remaining preseason games (including last night). I think we can assume he’ll be back in Chicago this weekend for whichever of the two games is primarily IceHogs. But having Nolan Allan — with whom Korchinski skated the majority of camp — remain in Chicago is a clear indication the Blackhawks are deciding between him and Ethan Del Mastro for the final spot. They’re both physical defensemen, and I think they’re both NHL ready right now. We’ll have to wait and see who gets the frequent flyer miles to Florida next week.

• Del Mastro didn’t have a great night last night. His pairing with Connor Murphy struggled. They were also victims of other players not doing their jobs. For example, Blashill said the winger needed to have the shooter on the Red Wings’ second goal last night. Blashill said after the game he thinks Del Mastro has had a “good” camp and he’ll get one more preseason game to confirm he’s worthy of a roster spot.

• This is really a fantastic read that I cannot recommend highly enough. Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun at The Athletic talked to agents about the impact Kirill Kaprizov’s record-breaking new contract will have on other future star free agents, not-star free agents and the hockey economy as a whole. This quote from an agent really got my attention:

“It’s a noteworthy contract. It cannot be ignored by either side in negotiations. For all these players, we’ll see how it plays out, but I believe the players that are still unsigned really have no pressure on them to get anything finalized at this point. The pressure builds on the teams. It’s not on the player in these situations, particularly when all of these players have already made significant amounts of money in their careers. The pressure just continues to move toward the teams every day that these players aren’t signed.”

• Staying at The Athletic, this is a magnificent all around story from Scott Powers on Blackhawks first-round pick center/quarterback Mason West. Nice video in there as well. Highly recommend this one as well.

Mason West and the Blackhawks have high hopes in time about his hockey future. For now, he’s putting the finishing touches on his high school football career https://t.co/OiJoo7xMUX

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) September 30, 2025

• For those keeping track of the Blackhawks players with hopes of playing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, Seravalli tweeted the key dates to circle on your calendars. New Year’s Eve is a big one.

Key Olympic roster dates for #NHL:

Oct. 15: Deadline for federations to submit list of 42 skaters and 5 goalies.

Dec. 31: Deadline for provisional roster submission of 22 skaters and 3 goalies.

Feb. 6-24: Olympic break.
Feb. 11-22: Olympic Games in Milan.
Feb. 25: NHL resumes.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 30, 2025

• A really nice read here from Adam Kimelman of NHL.com here on Penn State freshman forward Gavin McKenna, the consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft class. Mark Divver tweeted earlier this week that NHL Network will air McKenna’s first two games at Penn State — at Arizona State — this weekend.

"He does think the game differently. He's a different animal when it comes to that, not only compared to any other freshman, just compared to anybody. He thinks the game in a very unique, quite amazing way.” https://t.co/EzgERBzu1X

— Adam Kimelman (@NHLAdamK) September 30, 2025

• Seravalli also tweeted that players and teams that want to sign a contract extension that includes deferred money must be registered on or before Oct. 6

• The Minnesota Wild announced forward Mats Zuccarello will miss up to two months with a lower-body injury that required surgery. The Blackhawks first face the Wild in the regular season the night before Thanksgiving, so we’ll see if he’s back by then.

• The Vancouver Canucks announced forward Nils Höglander also underwent surgery and will miss 8-10 weeks. The Blackhawks host the Canucks on Oct. 17 and visit Vancouver — a homecoming for Connor Bedard — on Nov. 5. Höglander figures to miss both of those games.

• David Pagnotta at The Fourth Period reported the Maple Leafs are shopping Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf and Nick Robertson in an effort to create a little more cap flexibility.

• After a long, good career, Max Pacioretty officially called it as a player on Tuesday — and immediately got a new job on the staff at his alma mater in Ann Arbor. Nice name for Michigan to bring back into the program in a full-time capacity.

NHL Veteran Max Pacioretty Joins Michigan Hockey Staff

Read >> https://t.co/oc2xbmgdel#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/oz4Z8yJG7p

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) September 30, 2025

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• The Cubs beat the Padres 3-1 in Game 1 of their Wild Card series.

• It sounds like the Bears are going to have a new starting tackle when they come back from the bye

• Matas Buzelis (aka The Hinsdale Hammer) had the quote of Bulls Media Day

Let’s gooooo!! pic.twitter.com/QrHT2GJ3s7

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 30, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...mastro-stuggles-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks vs Wild — Preseason Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The penultimate game of the preseason is finally here! A Friday night tilt with the Minnesota Wild in town. The Blackhawks are skating what could be their lineup for the regular season opener in Florida — with the exception of Alex Vlasic. With games back-to-back days to close the preseason (which sucks), the Hawks will skate fewer NHL guys tomorrow.

With the hype surrounding the Cubs’ playoff run, here’s hoping some of the excitement carries over to the rink in the coming week. We’re only eight days away from the Blackhawks’ home opener to begin their Centennial season.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: Chicago Sports Network
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Donato — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky
Teuvo Teräväinen — Frank Nazar — Tyler Bertuzzi
Landon Slaggert — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach — Sam Lafferty — Nick Foligno

Matt Grzelcyk — Sam Rinzel
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Nolan Allan — Connor Murphy

Spencer Knight (starter)
Arvid Söderblom

Minnesota Wild

#mnwild lines
Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy
Yurov-Eriksson Ek-Tarasenko
Johansson-Hartman-Ohgren
Foligno-Sturm-Trenin

Middleton-Faber
Buium-Spurgeon
Bogosian-Jiricek
(Haight on the fifth line)

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 2, 2025

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Alex Vlasic and Joey Anderson are not skating this weekend. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Ty Henry (knee) are out long term.

Minnesota Wild

• n/a

What to Watch For​

• This is almost the full opening night lineup. They’ve been working hard on breakouts the past couple days. Let’s see how they perform tonight.

• This is a huge game for Grzelcyk, who’s still on a PTO and needs to impress anyone with an available roster spot — whether that’s the Blackhawks or somewhere else.

• This is also a huge game for Allan, who gets his shot at winning the sixth defensive spot to start the season for the Blackhawks. He started the season in Chicago and played the first half of the season last year. I like him paired with Murphy.

Get Caught Up​

"This kid's going to be a special player." @CRoumeliotis & @PatBoyle__ with high praise for Sam Rinzel after watching him work during camp and preseason action on Blackhawks Breakaway pic.twitter.com/dFZ9G22HOh

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

second to last preseason game
@mnwild
7:00PM CT
@CHSN__ https://t.co/3io3UBwW49 pic.twitter.com/86HygMs1r5

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2025

Ohgren, Yurov and Jiricek get last shot to impress as Wild roster starts to look locked

Our #mnwild notebook heading into final preseason game. On roster/lineup decisions, Brodin “stagnated” + an interesting name on waivers https://t.co/gwbG2PbL8v

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) October 2, 2025

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 2, Wild 3 — Preseason Takeaways

The Blackhawks put out what appeared to be pretty close to their opening night roster on Friday night. The Minnesota Wild did as well. So this figured to be a pretty good test to show us how the Blackhawks’ regulars are picking up the systems the new coaching staff are trying to install. And how the Blackhawks stack up against a division rival.

If you wanted to discount the win in Minnesota from last week because of the rosters, that excuse was out the window. If you wanted to see the Blackhawks start faster… they did that. But special teams in the second period was the sum of the night.

First Period: 2-0 Blackhawks​

• Frank Nazar wants to impress USA Hockey early this year to help his chances of making the Olympic roster. Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin is in charge of putting that roster together. So what did Nazar do in Minnesota earlier in the preseason? A hat trick. And what did he do to start the game tonight? Picked up right where he left off last week!

Frank Nazar opens the scoring! pic.twitter.com/bk537cAdy0

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 4, 2025

• Less than four minutes later, one of the other young Blackhawks — Sam Rinzel — unloaded a shot that was nicely redirected into the net by Nick Foligno. The Blackhawks work on tipping point shots a lot in practice, and with the shots that could come from Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov this year there could be plenty of opportunities. Levshunov led the Blackhawks with three shot attempts (one on net) in the first period.

Nick Foligno gets a stick on the shot from Sam Rinzel to make it a 2-0 game pic.twitter.com/WnSGeLPrrZ

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 4, 2025

• Nolan Allan, looking to make a good impression and win a spot on the blue line to start the regular season, had the second assist on the Foligno goal. He was also credited with one hit in 5:04 on the ice. A solid first period for Allan.

• Once the Blackhawks got their two-goal lead, the shots started to favor Minnesota. The Wild were credited with seven of the last eight that were on net in the first period.

• One negative: the Blackhawks only won 4 of 18 faceoffs in the first period. Other than that? Good stuff.

Second Period: 3-2 Wild​

• The trend of the Wild controlling the puck and dominating the shots continued in the second period — aided by a parade of Blackhawks to the penalty box.

• Unfortunately the Blackhawks went short-handed when André Burakovsky was caught tripping Ryan Hartman less than two minutes into the second period. And — surprise! — Vladimir Tarasenko scored a power play goal on a pretty shot to cut the lead in half early in the advantage.

• Unfortunately, less than two minutes after Tarasenko scored a power play goal the Blackhawks were short-handed again. Allan was battling with Kirill Kaprizov in front of the net and was called for a high stick. The Blackhawks were able to kill that penalty.

• Soon after that penalty ended, Connor Murphy got a big piece of Matt Boldy. Joel Eriksson Ek came in and hit Murphy had, and we had all ten skaters exchanging holiday recipes against the board. What impressed me was seeing Wyatt Kaiser come flying in to grab Eriksson Ek and get him off the elder defenseman. Good leadership from a young guy who’s going to have a big role in the coming years. Love to see that. The teams went to 4-on-4 after the hug session in the corner.

• Unfortunately the Blackhawks got pinched for having too many men on the ice with 45 seconds remaining in the 4-on-4 and had to kill a 4-on-3 against a dangerous team. Murphy, Kaiser and Jason Dickinson handled it, though.

• Buuuut the Blackhawks were still short-handed when the 4-on-4 ended for another 75 seconds. They couldn’t keep the puck out of the net, as Boldy exacted revenge for the big hit from Murphy and tied the game.

• Murphy kept hammering people. He got a big piece of Nico Sturm a few moments after the game was tied and Yakov Trenin came in for a small bit of extracurriculars. Trenin was called for a penalty on the play, giving the Blackhawks a desperately needed power play. The shots on goal were 9-2 in the period and 19-7 in the game when the Blackhawks went on the advantage. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks did not score on the power play.

• Less than one minute after that power play ended, Landon Slaggert earned another power play with a pure effort play, forcing Zeev Buium to hold him as he attacked the puck into the offensive zone.

• The Blackhawks didn’t score on that power play, and Rinzel went to the box to give Minnesota another power play. Hartman scored the third power play goal of the period for the Wild and the Blackhawks found themselves trailing with less than two minutes left in the middle frame.

• Special teams was the story of the second period. Minnesota was 3-for-4 on the power play. The Blackhawks were 0-for-3 thru 40 minutes. And the score was 3-2 bad guys going to the third.

• At 5-on-5, the shot attempts were only 21-15 in favor of the Wild thru two periods. But when the teams only played 8:50 of 5-on-5 in the second period, it was hard to get any kind of flow. And, for the Blackhawks, more short-handed ice time meant less ice time for Connor Bedard.

• The Blackhawks won only 12 of 39 faceoffs thru two periods. Nazar was the best for Chicago, winning 5 of 13. Dickinson only won 1 of 10.

Third Period: 3-2 Wild​

• The Blackhawks were better defensively to start the third period. Kaiser and Rinzel were especially noticeable with and without the puck. They limited the Wild to nine total shot attempts in the entire third period. Allan also had a strong showing in his audition for the roster, skating 15:50 with two hits and two shot attempts with his assist. He was plus-one in the game.

• Kaiser continued to get chippy. He and Eriksson Ek got into it again with 8:27 left in regulation and both went to the box for a 4-on-4 with the Blackhawks still chasing one.

• The Blackhawks pulled Spencer Knight with just under three minutes left in regulation, still down one.

• With the empty net behind them, the Blackhawks put on a flurry of shots but Filip Gustavsson had every answer. The Wild committed to blocking shots and their goaltender stood on his head to earn the win.

• The Blackhawks had a 27-9 shot attempt advantage in the third period and finished the night out-chancing the Wild 52-42.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-10-03: pic.twitter.com/sCdnceSrJY

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 4, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/10/03/blackhawks-2-wild-3-preseason-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 0, Blues 4 — Preseason Takeaways

The Blues brought what appeared to be a mostly NHL roster — maybe their season opening group? — to the United Center to face a bunch of IceHogs and guys in roster battles for the Blackhawks. On paper, this one felt like it was pretty stacked in the Blues’ favor.

But sometimes young guys getting some run at the United Center for the first time gives them a little extra giddyup. And the younger players are adapting to some of the new systems quicker in some ways because they haven’t spent multiple years with other NHL coach(es). That’s why they play the games, Blackhawks fans.

The young Hawks did a nice job to start but, eventually, the team with more NHL players took over.

First Period: 0-0​

• Just for fun, the Blackhawks took a penalty early. They killed it successfully, which was a nice change of pace after last night’s second period. They killed a second penalty later in the period, which was neat.

• I thought Landon Slaggert, Ryan Greene and Nolan Allan had a good first period. The Blackhawks only won 5 of 18 faceoffs in the first period; Greene won 4 of 10.

• The official shots on goal showed a 9-7 advantage for the Blues. The Blackhawks had a 10-7 advantage in scoring chances.

Second Period: 3-0 Blues​

• Yes, the Blackhawks skated a mostly different roster on Saturday night than they did on Friday night. But with many players in the game(s) being drafted/signed by Kyle Davidson’s front office, the attributes they talk about are something to watch. On both Friday and Saturday night, the overall team speed of the Blackhawks was a problem for a division opponent. The lineup on Saturday night didn’t have a lot of offensive flash but they flipped the ice pretty quickly.

• Four minutes into the second period, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (you better believe I cut & pasted that name) threw a simple shot on net that somehow got into and thru Arvid Söderblom to end the shutout bid. Not a good goal to give up in a close game. The game didn’t stay close, though…

• The first goal wasn’t a good one. I’m not sure Söderblom had much of a chance on the second. Milan Lucic doubled the lead at 13:13 on a shot that was thru a really good screen. Yup, Lucic is in camp with the Blues on a PTO still.

• Robert Thomas scored the Blues’ third goal of the period.

• The Hawks hung around in the first. They looked like overwhelmed IceHogs for a lot of the second period. Shots on goal were 20-8 in favor of the Blues after two periods. The Blackhawks won 15 of 35 faceoffs in the opening 40 minutes. Greene won 7 of 14 thru two.

• A positive: the Blackhawks stayed out of the penalty box in the second. So we’ve got that going for us… which is nice.

Third Period: 4-0 Blues​

• The Blackhawks took a penalty early in the third period and Otto Stenberg scored to make the lead four. The rest of the third period was played. I promise it was. I was there.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/10/04/blackhawks-0-blues-4-preseason-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Frondell’s Heater, Roster Decisions, Slaggert OK? Prospect Highlights, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks played their final preseason game last night. It did not go well, with the Hawks skating a lineup of mostly prospects and the Blues bringing many of their NHL regulars to town. Even before last night’s game, I think the roster decisions should be pretty simple at this point.

The questions that the front office and coaches have to answer are:

1. Is Lukas Reichel still a Blackhawk on Monday afternoon? If he isn’t, who is the 13th forward?
2. Would you rather have Nolan Allan to potentially help the PK as your third left-handed defenseman, or does Matt Grzelcyk get a contract?

I wonder if Grzelcyk has enough value without any available power play time as an undersized left-handed defenseman that it’s worth signing him to a contract for one year. I would keep Allan in that spot.

When asked about whether or not the Blackhawks had made a decision on signing Grzelcyk, Blashill said he would “know more tomorrow.” He then smiled and chuckled, saying “I’m not gonna say shit.” Solid sense of humor starting to show from the new bench boss.

• Of all the young player that I think will thrive in Blashill’s systems this season, Landon Slaggert is one we’re not talking about enough. Blashill clearly has a ton of confidence in him and he talks about Slaggert playing the game precisely the way they want the entire lineup to play. I’m not projecting Slaggert to be a 20-goal guy this year, but I think he’s going to make an impact in the roles he’s give this year. That is, of course, if he’s healthy. He left the Blackhawks’ bench after his first shift in the third period and did not return. After the game, Blashill said he didn’t think it was anything serious but he would know more tomorrow.

This was the end of Landon Slaggert's last shift before exiting the game pic.twitter.com/iIdIBK6XR6

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 5, 2025

• Louis Crevier will be on the roster as the seventh defenseman and Connor Murphy insurance. The four forward lines are set. The top two defensive pairs are set — assuming Alex Vlasic is available to start the regular season. After Saturday night’s game, Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that Vlasic will be on the charter flight to Florida on Sunday. Which is a good sign — but not a guarantee he’ll be 100 percent for the start of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon. Stay tuned…

• The hype is really starting to build around Anton Frondell, the Blackhawks’ pick at No. 3 overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Frondell scored two goals on Friday night — including a “Michigan” goal — and came back with a hat trick on Saturday! He became the second-youngest player in the history of the SHL to record a hat trick. Five games in about 27 hours of work? Yeah, that’ll do!

Djurgårdens supertalang, Anton Frondell, blir med sina 18 år och 150 dagar den näst yngsta hattrick-skytten i SHL-historien – endast Patrik Erickson var yngre

Streama SHL på TV4 Play pic.twitter.com/rsKZ2XX8Pz

— TV4 Hockey (@TV4_Hockey) October 4, 2025

• You know how the Blackhawks couldn’t stay out of the penalty box in the second period on Friday night and it cost them the game? It took them less than five minutes to be short-handed on Saturday night. Again, for the millionth time, I will remind everyone that young players are going to make mistakes — and penalties are the result of mistakes. The PK is going to need to be sharp this year (better than it’s been in the preseason). It was better on Saturday night in the IceHogs’ game at the UC.

• Anders Sorensen was named an assistant coach for Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. A well-deserved honor.

congratulations to Anders Sorensen on being named an Assistant Coach of Team Sweden for the 2026 Olympics pic.twitter.com/1SA9nDq1MV

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2025

Hey, how about some other Blackhawks prospect updates? ​

• Late Friday night, Blackhawks prospect Adam Gajan got the start in net for Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs beat Alaska-Fairbanks 5-1. Gajan stopped 14 of 15 to pick up a win in his first start of the new year.

• Saturday night, Sacha Boisvert made his Boston University debut as the top-line center. He scored his first career BU goal and added an assist in the game. Strong start!

MIH: BU leads 2-1 after two periods thanks to Sacha Boisvert's first goal as a Terrier.

Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/iD31ym5AJ5@hockey_east | @espn#GoBU pic.twitter.com/fVDqhK3cl1

— BU Game Day (@BUGameDay) October 5, 2025

• Václav Nestrašil made his NCAA debut for UMass last night. He scored his first career collegiate goal and was credited with a team-high eight shots on goal in a 5-3 win over Northern Michigan.

First of many, we're sure @NHLBlackhawks #NewMass X #Flagship pic.twitter.com/7hN7EnO0b9

— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) October 5, 2025

• In the OHL, the Blackhawks likely had their eyes on one game more than most: AJ Spellacy and Windsor visiting Marek Vanacker, Parker Holmes and Brantford. One of the top prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft class, Ethan Belchetz, scored twice in a 78-second span early in the first period for Windsor (I wrote about him before ICYMI). The game was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation; Spellacy won 11 of 26 faceoffs in regulation. Windsor won 4-3 in a shootout to stay undefeated.

• Vanacker scored the second goal of the night for Brantford:

Marek Vanacker (#78) scores his third of the season #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/4ZzfvxhrAY

— Chicago Prospects (@Chi_Prospects) October 4, 2025

• In the WHL, Blackhawks forward Nathan Behm scored the first goal of the night for the Kamloops Blazers.

Hurlbert with the setup, Behm with the finish pic.twitter.com/zGb9ekk7hA

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) October 5, 2025

Around the NHL​

• The Dallas Stars might make a move — literally, not for their roster. Front Office Sports reported this week that they are exploring a move to Plano. Their current barn, the American Airlines Center, opened before the 2001-02 seasons. The Stars share the arena with the Mavericks. That would be another arena younger than the United Center being replaced.

EXCLUSIVE: The Dallas Stars are exploring a possible move to Plano when their lease ends in 2031.

Sources tell FOS the team is eyeing land there, with Plano emerging as a lead candidate in ownership talks.

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 3, 2025

• The Minnesota Wild announced they signed goaltender Filip Gustavsson to a five-year, $34 million contract extension ($6.8M AAV) that begins in the 2026-27 season.

• The Nashville Predators announced that they signed forward Luke Evangelista to a two-year, $6 million contract ($3M AAV).

• Apparently Gavin McKenna already has a trading card deal with Topps (which is owned by Fanatics for those keeping track at home). Connor Bedard has an exclusive memorabilia deal with Upper Deck. I don’t know or care who has a deal with Macklin Celebrini.

Projected No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna has signed a trading card and autograph deal with @Topps

The 17-year-old forward makes his college debut Friday night pic.twitter.com/RlRm1YJhEX

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 3, 2025

BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter

• The Cubs lost Game 1 of the NLDS in Milwaukee

• The Bears are off today, but these players have the best PFF grades thus far

• The Bulls officially picked up Matas Buzelis’ third-year option

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Announce Mass Roster Moves (One Name Interestingly NOT Going to Rockford)

On Sunday, the Blackhawks announced the bus was headed back to Rockford. We expected that bus to be fairly full. But one the names of the defensemen who are — and aren’t — going is what makes the moves on Sunday interesting.

The following players were sent back to Rockford by the Blackhawks on Sunday:

• Kevin Korchinski, LHD
• Nolan Allan, LHD
• Oliver Moore, F
• Ryan Greene, F
• Samuel Savoie, F
• Aidan Thompson, F
• Martin Misiak, F
• Gavin Hayes, F
• Paul Ludwinski, F
• Dominic Toninato, F
• Taige Harding, LHD
• Cavan Fitzgerald, D
• Brett Seney, F
• Mitchell Weeks, G

Fitzgerald, Seney and Weeks were released from their PTOs and assigned to Rockford.

• The Blackhawks also assigned injured defenseman Ty Henry to Erie in the OHL.

Who isn’t mentioned as being assigned to Rockford? Ethan Del Mastro.

I think many assumed Del Mastro, Allan and Korchinski were all headed to Rockford to start the season after the Blackhawks announced the signing of Matt Grzelcyk on Sunday morning. The Blackhawks have eight defensemen — also including Louis Crevier — on the active NHL roster at the moment.

Keep in mind that Alex Vlasic has not skated with the team since he was cut last week in preseason action. Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said Vlasic would be with the team on the plane to Florida on Sunday, but wouldn’t confirm anyone’s availability for the start of the season against the Panthers on Tuesday afternoon.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...one-name-interestingly-not-going-to-rockford/