News Blackhawks Team Notes

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Olympics Buzz, Bedard’s Heater, No Nazar, PP Change, Matthews Hurt, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

We’ll start with the biggest question from Tuesday’s practice right out of the gate this morning. Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said Jason Dickinson will not play tonight and Frank Nazar is doubtful. Dickinson skated before the rest of the team in a no-contact jersey. Nazar did not skate and is considered day-to-day. Blashill, when asked if Nazar’s issue was upper or lower-body, replied “mid.” Nazar is questionable for Toronto on Saturday night at this point as well.

"This is the best city in the league."

Connor Bedard shares his perspective on representing the city of Chicago.#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/6G5bHQIQ3I

— OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) November 11, 2025

• I shared a couple tweets from Pierre LeBrun in my bullets on Tuesday regarding the management groups for the United States and Canada meeting. He shared an update on the Canadian side of that equation on Tuesday after a conversation with Canada general manager Doug Armstrong. According to Armstrong, Canada has narrowed its list of players from around 90 to 35-40. That list does still include Blackhawks Connor Bedard and Sharks Macklin Celebrini. Here’s what Armstrong told LeBrun about the two young stars:

“There’s no age limit, at the high end or the low end, but I’m going to say some of the guys at the low end (youngsters) have really … they’ve found us,” Armstrong said Monday. “And now we’re going to really home in on those guys. There’s so many good young players in this game. Connor Bedard has been playing some great hockey right now. He’s taken his game up to a level it wasn’t at last year. Celebrini has continued what he showed last year.

“Those are just two young players that are really pushing. We’re excited to watch them play now.”

"I would do anything to be on the team."

Connor Bedard discusses his aspirations to play for Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/ji93mD7hU1

— OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) November 11, 2025

• Hockey Canada’s management team’s next meeting will be first week of December. Armstrong added:

“I’d say, 80 percent of the team pencilled in and then you use that last month to round out that roster and use January for potential replacement players.”

Team Canada still watching Celebrini, Bedard as it cuts list of potential Olympians to 35-40. My latest for ⁦@TheAthletic⁩ https://t.co/LdCw0Amh2N

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) November 11, 2025

• Jack Hughes hasn’t been able to stay healthy much over the past few years for the Devils. New Jersey and Bedard don’t have a great history; Brendan Smith was responsible for Bedard’s broken jaw during his rookie season. Tonight will only be the third time both players are healthy in a game, including the night Bedard got hurt. Jack Hughes is 2-0-0 against the Blackhawks when Bedard at least starts the game in the lineup.

• Scott Powers at The Athletic did a deep dive into the specific elements of Bedard’s game that have helped him take a huge step forward this season.

Why Connor Bedard is taking flight in his third NHL season with the Blackhawks https://t.co/rIJmiMD1re

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 11, 2025

• Some good notes here from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times on the Blackhawks’ power play turning a significant corner since they made a few personnel changes.

The Blackhawks' decisions to move Bedard to the right flank and promote Burakovsky and Levshunov onto the top unit of the power play have worked wonders.

The PP is 5-for-7 over the last three games, climbing up to 7th in the NHL.

Story: https://t.co/hrfUBDwX6x

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 10, 2025

• ICYMI I shared a terrific conversation I had with Ryan Greene yesterday. He talked about being more comfortable in the NHL, his changing roles and how the young players are bonding — and having a good time — as they turn the Blackhawks around.

Ryan Greene Talks Young Blackhawks Camaraderie, Comfort Level, Chirping in the Room #blackhawkshttps://t.co/FrJpVe4jTu

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 11, 2025

• Nathan Behm was back in action with Kamloops early on Tuesday night. He opened the scoring with this beauty — his 13th goal of the year — and added an assist on the Blazers’ second goal of the game.

Lucky number 13 for Nathan Behm!@blazerhockey | @NHLBlackhawks | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3A6o8uSaaF

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) November 11, 2025

• Corey Pronman put together his first top ten list of prospects for the 2027 NHL Draft. Yes, I said 2027! The way-too-early list (I love it) tells us we should be keeping an eye on Alexis Joseph, Landon DuPont and Russian forward Nazar Privalov. Personally, I hope the Blackhawks are a good distance away from a top-three pick… but the thought of a guy named Nazar Privalov potentially skating with Frank Nazar is certainly something.

• Yesterday — Veterans Day — the Blackhawks announced a multi-year partnership agreement with GOVX, an eCommerce platform and membership program that provides savings for military and first responders. GOVX is the new presenting partner of the Blackhawks’ Hero Salute program.

• The Carolina Hurricanes announced Tuesday that defenseman Charles Alexis Legault had surgery on Monday to repair multiple torn extensor tendons on his right hand. He is expected to miss three to four months.

• The Colorado Avalanche signed forward Gavin Brindley to two-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season. It’s a two-way deal at $850K for 2026-27 and $900K, one-way for 2027-28.

• Something to watch in the coming days: Auston Matthews took this hit from Nikita Zadorov last night in the middle of the second period and did not return to the game. After the game, Toronto coach Craig Berube did not give a timeline for Matthews’ return to the lineup. “I don’t know exactly. I really can’t give you guys a timeline or how serious it is right now. And I’m not sure when he hurt it, to be honest with you.” The Maple Leafs are visit the Blackhawks on Saturday evening.

Auston Matthews went to the Leafs dressing room after taking this hit from Zadorov pic.twitter.com/MxVL6cyPNH

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 12, 2025

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• It sounds like Luther Burden III is earning Ben Johnson’s trust

• The Dallas Mavericks finally fired GM Nico Harrison

• Things continue to sound awful for Kris Bryant

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...l-teams-working-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks vs Devils — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks return to the United Center ice for the first time in two weeks coming off a successful road trip. Connor Bedard is one of the hottest skaters in the entire NHL at the moment, and the Blackhawks have been showing steady improvement in a number of areas.

Waiting for them will be the New Jersey Devils, who enter Wednesday’s action with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Nothing comes easy in the NHL, and this should be a fun, tough test against a really good Devils squad that is also playing quite well.

One lineup note: André Burakovsky was not on the ice at the morning skate and is a game-time decision, according to head coach Jeff Blashill. The Blackhawks will recall Landon Slaggert to take Burakovsky’s spot in the lineup if he can’t go tonight. So the forward lines below have a huge asterisk next to them and could change when the game begins.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 8:50 PM CT
TV / Streaming: TNT / TruTV / HBO MAX
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Tyler Bertuzzi — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky??
Teuvo Teräväinen — Ryan Greene — Ilya Mikheyev
Oliver Moore — Ryan Donato — Nick Foligno
Colton Dach — Sam Lafferty

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight

New Jersey Devils

Arseny Gritsyuk – Jack Hughes – Dawson Mercer
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat – Cody Glass – Stefan Noesen
Paul Cotter – Luke Glendening – Zack MacEwen

Jonas Siegenthaler – Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon – Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski – Colton White

Jacob Markstrom

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Burakovsky is a game-time decision. Frank Nazar is day-to-day and out tonight. Jason Dickinson is still on IR. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Shea Weber (retired) are out long term.

New Jersey Devils

• Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, Marc McLaughlin and Brett Pesce are on IR. Connor Brown and Dougie Hamilton are out.

What to Watch For​

• Connor Bedard.

• Jack Hughes.

• Those are the two headline names, but these are two young teams that could put a couple big numbers on the board tonight. It sucks that this game starts as late as it will because hockey fans from coast to coast should get to watch these two teams get after it.

Get Caught Up​

Blackhawks Recalling Landon Slaggert #blackhawkshttps://t.co/zMvUNUYltN

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 12, 2025

Jacob Markstrom is in the #NJDevils starters net. Look for him to get the nod tonight against the Blackhawks.

That would set up a Markstrom/Knight goaltending battle.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 12, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-devils-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-4/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Working to Get a Better Sam Rinzel

I’m not sure how many people saw it and/or took note when the pregame lines went up yesterday, but Sam Rinzel went from skating on the Blackhawks’ top defensive pair to being the seventh defenseman. Louis Crevier was up with Alex Vlasic in rushes at the morning skate.

Then the game happened. The Devils needed overtime to beat the Blackhawks 4-3. And, when the dust settled, Rinzel had skated only 11:29 — the lowest ice time among Hawks defensemen by almost three minutes.

When Rinzel got on the ice during a power play, I found myself mentally comparing him to how Kevin Korchinski looked at times a couple years ago when he was tasked with running that unit as a young NHL player. There was a lot of scanning and reacting instead of skating and directing. And, when that happens, it’s usually followed by turnovers.

Natural Stat Trick had Rinzel down for a 29.26 expected Goals For percentage at 5-on-5 last night — not a good number. In 10:16 on the ice at even strength, Rinzel had a 2-6 Shots For rate — also not great.

Over his last ten games, Rinzel has skated more than 15 minutes at 5-on-5 only three times: against Ottawa, in Edmonton and in Vancouver. In that game in Vancouver, Rinzel was on the ice for 18 scoring chances against to just 6 for the Blackhawks in 16:07 of 5-on-5 ice time. Rinzel’s even strength ice time has been 14:12, 13:40 and 10:16 in the three subsequent games.

Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

Rinzel is fighting it a little right now, which we should expect. He’s a young defenseman. And (you guessed it) defensemen take time to develop. I’ve been telling y’all there will be ups and downs from the young defensemen since July when it became apparent the Blackhawks were going to roll with a very young group on the back end, and right now Rinzel is experiencing his share of learning moments.

“Rinzel has gone through a cycle where he’s given up a lot of chances,” Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said after the Devils game. “Crevier been a really good defender for us. Going into the game, we were looking at potentially having Vlasic-Crevier vs. Hughes and/or Hischier, and that happened a lot. We have to get Rinz back going.”

The Blackhawks skating seven defensemen has helped the coaches find better situations for Rinzel. Last night was the first time in ten games that Rinzel didn’t start a single shift in the defensive zone; he started the majority of his shifts (8 of 11) on the fly.

There are comments after most games asking me to justify Connor Murphy being on the roster/on the ice. My response has consistently been that his role this year is to kill penalties and eat minutes when the coaches don’t like what they’re seeing from one of Rinzel and/or Artyom Levshunov. Blashill told us from the jump that he was going to employ seven defensemen while the young guys got more comfortable in more situations. And, right now, that’s still a work in progress.

How quickly the Blackhawks coaches can help Rinzel reset and get back into playing on instinct and skating freely will be something to watch in the coming days and games. The good news is the Blackhawks are at home for most of the rest of November; they have eight games in the next 17 days and seven of them at at the United Center.

Defensemen a work in progress until they’re not. That’s how hockey works. Right now, Rinzel and the Blackhawks are working to make him a better NHL player.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/11/13/blackhawks-working-to-get-a-better-sam-rinzel/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Progress in a Flat Loss, Hot Bedard, Kantserov Scores, Buy Cheli’s House, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks lost a game last night. They were out-shot again. In the words of their captain, Nick Foligno, the Blackhawks didn’t have their legs and didn’t play their best game. Their head coach agreed with that assessment. The Blackhawks came home from a long road trip and had a fairly flat performance.

The Blackhawks didn’t have André Burakovsky, Frank Nazar or Jason Dickinson available. Landon Slaggert got into Chicago a couple hours before the game. Sam Lafferty was skating in only his fifth game of the season (and third appearance since Oct. 11).

And the Blackhawks lost, by one, in overtime, to the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

I, like Foligno, am not a subscriber to moral victories. But I do believe there are times when we need to take a step back from burying a team because they lost and consider the performance in a larger context.

Last year and the year before, if the Blackhawks came home from a long road trip — that they most certainly wouldn’t have finished with three straight wins — and came out flat against a team playing as well as New Jersey, the scoreboard was probably showing a five or six-goal deficit in the third period for the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks came out flat, without their legs or best energy. The effort was subpar. They got out-played for a lot of the night. And they still got the game to overtime and had two leads in the third period. That shows me the amount of progress the program has shown since last year.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-11-12: pic.twitter.com/YQUw4qxdxp

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 13, 2025

• Ryan Greene really impressed me last night. He spent most of the night skating against Nico Hischier’s line and held his own.

• Head coach Jeff Blashill said he liked Landon Slaggert‘s game after the loss. Slaggert was recalled because Burakovsky was out sick. Slaggert scored a goal in the third period.

• Blashill said he hopes Burakovsky can return to the lineup on Saturday with the Maple Leafs in town. We’re still in wait-and-see mode with Nazar and Dickinson for this weekend.

• So much more Connor Bedard buzz all over the media landscape yesterday before he scored a power play goal to extend his point streak to nine games in the first period. I enjoyed the comments from Bill Lindsay on NHL Network that were then supported with this chart telling us all of the ways other than goals and assists and plus-minus that Bedard has been better thus far this season.

Connor Bedard has upped his game this season! https://t.co/GVUdnOoIGM pic.twitter.com/sfyoejuBmc

— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) November 12, 2025

• No big deal here… just 99 talking about 98 “earning his way” onto Canada’s Olympic team on the TNT pregame show (before the game before the Blackhawks and Devils).

Just the greatest of all time talking about the next-gen @WayneGretzky on Connor Bedard pic.twitter.com/6ZuFNlEbZG

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) November 12, 2025

• Here’s Bedard’s full 13-minute interview with the guys on the Overdrive show on TSN 1050.

.@NHLBlackhawks star Connor Bedard live on TSN Overdrive Tuesday. Full 13 minute interview with Bedsy

: TSN#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/FWV7W9szQL

— Nick McCardell (@UKhoops1_BBN) November 12, 2025

• File this one away somewhere: there were 11 teams with someone from their scouting/front office staff at the United Center last night. Included: a Maple Leafs assistant general manager and four others whose title is either head of or director of pro scouting. That’s odd enough that it’s worth mentioning — especially after GMs met in Toronto around the Hall of Fame induction ceremony this week.

• Tuesday night I had some fun joining the guys on the Chicago Rinkcast podcast to chat about the start of the Blackhawks season.

• Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov scored his KHL-leading 17th goal on Wednesday. He added an assist and ranks second in the KHL with 29 points. Here’s the empty net goal:

#Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov scores into the empty net for his league leading 17th goal of the season. #MMG #KHL pic.twitter.com/WNyX9ubQ8U

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) November 12, 2025

• Apparently Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton talked about Spencer Knight’s chances of making the U.S. Men’s Olympic roster on Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE. ICYMI: I made the case for Knight to be on the USA roster a couple weeks ago (and re-shared it on Twitter on Wednesday morning.)

Is Spencer Knight playing himself onto Team USA? https://t.co/NqbPWPJQo4

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) November 12, 2025

• Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff took a run at projecting the USA lineup for the World Junior Championship. He’s got Blackhawks prospect AJ Spellacy on the wing on the fourth line to “bring the boom.”

2026 World Junior Championship: Projecting USA’s roster https://t.co/OiVkpsIREV

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) November 12, 2025

• Nice read here from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times on how Louis Crevier continues to improve and establish himself as an NHL defenseman.

Louis Crevier will never be confused with an offensive defenseman.

But he does have the 8th-hardest shot measured in the NHL this season. And he's also working on making more short passes to jumpstart breakouts.

Blackhawks story: https://t.co/NIEmPYxZsv

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 11, 2025

• An interesting discussion here from Chris Peters on the perceived slow start to Gavin McKenna’s collegiate career at Penn State. The presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft isn’t lighting the world on fire like many expected. I appreciate Peters’ thought here.

When is it OK to start worrying about Gavin McKenna's No. 1 status? Not yet. In context with similarly-heralded players, however, there's plenty of reason to start asking some pointed questions. https://t.co/spf2jmTT6e

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) November 11, 2025

• Hey, if y’all win the Powerball or Mega…

NHL legend Chris Chelios has listed his Malibu Beach mansion for $59.9 million!

Take a look inside: https://t.co/yrWUCIGCzr pic.twitter.com/O3BtGzwAHI

— TMZ (@TMZ) November 11, 2025

• On Thursday morning the Ottawa Senators and center Shane Pinto agreed on a four-year extension. The new deal reportedly has a $7.5M cap hit.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning placed defenseman Ryan McDonagh and (former Blackhawks prospect) forward Dominic James on injured reserve Wednesday.

• The Washington Capitals named Patrick Wellar an assistant coach. In late October the Capitals fired assistant coach Mitch Love after the NHL suspended him for the entire 2025-26 season, reportedly for accusations of domestic abuse.

• The CHL announced on Wednesday that Caleb Malhotra of the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) will be the captain of Team CHL for the upcoming 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge, which will take place November 25 in Calgary and November 26 in Lethbridge. Malhotra could be in play for the Blackhawks to draft a Brantford player for a fourth straight year in June, joining: Nick Lardis (1st round – 2023), Marek Vanacker (1st round – 2024) and Parker Holmes (4th round – 2025).

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• Joakim Noah’s new travel show is a reminder of what makes him special

• Ben Johnson is looking forward to the current Bears facing the Vikings

• Super agent Scott Boras said things about clients in front of microphones

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...uy-chelis-house-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blashill’s Impact, Bertuzzi’s Bounce, Bedard and Celebrini, Hurting Leafs, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Shayna Goldman at The Athletic did a deep dive on the impact we’ve seen from the nine new head coaches around the NHL thru the first month of the season, a list that obviously includes Jeff Blashill with the Blackhawks. Here’s part of what she wrote about Blashill’s impact:

The process is far from perfect in Chicago through the first month of play. The team is still allowing a high rate of shots and chances, even with the shift from zone defense to a hybrid system. The difference now, compared to last season, is that as the defenders and forwards learn to push opponents to the outside, the goaltending has provided them with more leeway, thanks to some really strong play in net. Ahead of Wednesday’s matchup, Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom only allowed 1.98 goals against per 60 at five-on-five.

And unlike last season, the team has been scoring at a higher clip, too. Similar to the Ducks, some of that is thanks to the progression of up-and-coming players such as Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. But the new emphasis on speed — which some players feel is becoming a part of their identity — has also contributed. The team is averaging more 22-plus mile-per-hour speed bursts per game compared to last year, according to NHL EDGE data, which has helped this team create more rush chances. As a result, their xG creation has jumped from 2.17 per 60 to 2.67.

checking the vibes around the 9 NHL teams with a new head coach to spot early differences, directions, and trends this season https://t.co/LXqFQgeRq0

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) November 13, 2025

• One of the players who is clearly benefitting from Blashill’s arrival — maybe more than anyone on the roster — is Tyler Bertuzzi. I’ve shared quotes from Blashill talking about Bertuzzi being a “winner” and a “warrior” and a “foxhole guy” before; the Blackhawks’ head coach speaks so highly of the player, and with good reason. Blashill coached Bertuzzi when he turned pro in Grand Rapids and the start of his NHL career in Detroit. The two have a long relationship, and Blashill has been able to find the best of Bertuzzi consistently thru the first month of the season. A good read here from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times on the early results from Bertuzzi.

Tyler Bertuzzi went to Jeff Blashill during training camp and asked for his help.

Last season, he knew he was too streaky. This season, he wanted to smooth out his production. So far, he has.

New Blackhawks story: https://t.co/meXKXC2f8N

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 12, 2025

• Speaking of Bertuzzi, he got hit awkwardly on Wednesday night that got the Blackhawks a power play (they scored during the 5-on-3). Brenden Dillon’s wallet is a little lighter for his effort on the play.

New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for boarding Chicago’s Tyler Bertuzzi.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 13, 2025

• Greg Wyshynski at ESPN wrote about the most shockingly good and bad performances from players thru the first month of the 2025-26 season. He included Blackhawks netminder Spencer Knight in his shockingly good list. Here’s part of what he wrote about Knight:

He was fine last season in 15 starts for Chicago, going 5-8-1. He’s been a revelation through 12 games so far this season for the improved Blackhawks, with a .923 save percentage and a 2.46 goals-against average. Entering Wednesday night, Knight led the NHL with 13.3 goals saved above expected.

While new coach Jeff Blashill is trying to improve his young team with an aggressive system in the defensive zone, the results aren’t quite there yet. But Knight has been there every time they’ve needed him, dramatically decreasing the average number of high-danger goals the Blackhawks have given up compared to last season.

• I would argue that saying “the results aren’t quite there yet” isn’t wholly accurate. I think the Blackhawks have exceeded the expectations of most onlookers early this season, and are higher in the standings than most thought they would be this season. Are the Blackhawks a playoff team yet? No. But the results in the standings have been better than expected thus far.

The most shocking NHL player performances so far this season — 10 good starts and 5 absolutely terrible ones.

My latest on ESPN. Who else do you think should be on these lists?https://t.co/vo82C7vzzX

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) November 13, 2025

• Scoring is up all over the NHL this season. How much? Connor Bedard and former Blackhawks Nick Schmaltz each scored their 10th goal of the season on Wednesday night. That brought number of players with a double-digit goal total to 20 (as of Wednesday night). The 20 players with 10-plus goals are the most at this stage of a season (268 GP) in nearly 30 years (21 through 268 GP in 1996-97).

• Oh snap! Macklin Celebrini confirmed that he and Bedard are actually friends! And they enjoy watching each other play. The thing Celebrini didn’t know about Bedard: the degree to which he’s a Bears fan. Let’s go!

"We're great friends."

Celebrini is also enjoying Connor Bedard's success, and he shares something that he learned about Bedard this summer. pic.twitter.com/zJ3AbgbMup

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 13, 2025

• Here’s when and where the Blackhawks’ prospects on North America are playing tonight:

NCAA​

• Merrimack at No. 15 Providence — 6 PM
• No. 12 UMass at No. 18 Boston College — 6 PM
• Omaha at No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth — 7 PM

OHL​

• Flint at Brantford — 7 PM
• Soo at Kitchener — 7 PM
• Windsor at Guelph — 7:07 PM

WHL​

• Kamloops at Prince George — 9 PM

• Matt Larkin at Daily Faceoff took a run at the top 25 (remaining) unrestricted free agents who might hit the market in 2026. Interestingly, the only Blackhawks skater mentioned is Connor Murphy, even though I would argue Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson might be bigger draws at the trade deadline and could be looking at more impactful roles if they’re on the market after this season.

Top 25 NHL UFAs of 2026: Will Kempe, Panarin, Tuch go to market?

An in-depth early breakdown from @MLarkinHockey:https://t.co/gQ0kq9xRHl

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) November 13, 2025

• The Colorado Avalanche signed goaltender Scott Wedgewood to a one-year, $2.5M extension.

• On Thursday morning, the Maple Leafs recalled goalie Artur Akhtyamov and placed forward Scott Laughton on injured reserve (retroactive to November 8). The Leafs are at the United Center tomorrow, and it sounds like we might not see Auston Matthews for Toronto.

Hearing that Auston Matthews will be sidelined at least a week with his lower-body injury.

Tough run of injuries in Toronto.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 13, 2025

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• The Bulls’ youngsters talked chemistry, development in an extended interview

• Why Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is already a fan favorite in Chicago

• The Padres might be up for sale? (If I win the Mega this weekend...)

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...i-hurting-leafs-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Let’s Talk About the Blackhawks Seven Defensemen Lineup (Again)

Thanksgiving in the United States has historically been an important benchmark for NHL teams. Historically, teams that are in a playoff spot when Americans are cutting turkey have a statistically strong likelihood of making the postseason. For what it’s worth, if the season ended thru games played on Nov. 13, the Chicago Blackhawks would be the second wild card team in the Western Conference.

Because of that reality, trade rumors start to pick up in the middle of Thanksgiving. With a larger sample size of games played and injuries beginning to impact lineups significantly, front offices begin assessing their team’s immediate and larger-scale needs with hopes of either solidifying their playoff position or changing their trajectory sooner than the trade deadline.

Which means trade rumors start to pick up. And, after a long list of teams were represented in the United Center press box for the Blackhawks-Devils game on Wednesday night — including an assistant GM from Toronto and four individuals whose title was either director of or head of pro scouting — there has been increased chatter around the Blackhawks’ potential impact on the trade market.

And, with the Blackhawks having strong depth on the back end both in the NHL and in Rockford, there has been speculation about who teams may target in Chicago.

Which has led to a lot of statements about the quality of specific Blackhawks defensemen on the current Chicago roster and potentially on the trade market.

I thought now would be a good time to consider, again, how the Blackhawks are using their seven defensemen on a nightly basis.

In the middle of the Blackhawks’ six-game road trip I took a look at how the team using their seven defensemen lineups had benefitted individual players and was being used as a development tool. Since I wrote that piece, the Blackhawks are 3-0-1.

Now, with 20 percent of the games played in the regular season, the sample size is significant enough to make larger statements about how things are working and how players are being used.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Blackhawks Ice Time Distribution​

The good folks at MoneyPuck break down share of possible ice time for players. Among defensemen who have skated at least 150 total minutes entering Friday, here’s where the Blackhawks’ seven defensemen rank in the NHL:

58. Alex Vlasic (35.6%)
103. Wyatt Kaiser (32.3%)
123. Sam Rinzel (30.2%)
155. Artyom Levshunov (25.7%)
162. Matthew Grzelcyk (25.1%)
172. Connor Murphy (23.9%)
175. Louis Crevier (22.4%)

With that same criteria of min. 150 minutes of ice time entering Friday, Murphy ranks No. 1 in the NHL in defensive zone starts (25.2%). Vlasic ranks No. 7 overall (21%). Meanwhile, Levshunov ranks No. 6 in the NHL (19.4%) and Rinzel ranks No. 19 in the league (16%) in offensive zone starts.

Entering Friday’s games, the Blackhawks rank eighth in the NHL in penalty killing (84.1%). On NHL.com, I sorted the Blackhawks’ defensemen by total short-handed time on ice. Nothing more clearly shows how the Blackhawks are specifically using their defensemen more than this breakdown:

The Blackhawks’ two young right-handed defensemen have barely touched the penalty kill as we skate into the third weekend in November. That’s by design. That’s very intentional.

Productive Blackhawks D-Men​

I’ve previously written about the Blackhawks’ power play taking off since Levshunov was moved to the top unit. Entering Friday’s action, the Blackhawks’ power play ranks fifth in the NHL (26.0%).

It’s also noteworthy that Levshunov currently ranks third in the NHL in assists per 60 minutes (2.15) behind Colorado’s Cale Makar and Ottawa’s Jordan Spence. Levshunov ranks 13th in the league in points per 60 minutes (2.15), while Crevier ranks 10th (2.2).

The Blackhawks added Grzelcyk on a low-cost, one-year deal to help balance the veterans with the youth movement. The unheralded impact of Grzelcyk is remaining undeniable as the season continues. MoneyPuck ranks him the Blackhawks’ leader and 51st in the NHL in shifts that start on the fly (64.9%). He’s second on the Blackhawks in shifts that start in the offensive zone (12.3%). He leads the Blackhawks and, according to Natural Stat Trick, ranks 17th in the NHL (again, min. 150 min. TOI) in 5-on-5 expected Goals For percentage (57.37).

The Blackhawks want their young defensemen to get comfortable in all situations and make a positive impact more frequently than not. The coaches are doing a masterful job of using their seven defensemen in situations that put all seven of them in positions to succeed in the immediate moment and long term.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...the-blackhawks-seven-defensemen-lineup-again/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

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

In the month of November, the Chicago Blackhawks have the No. 1 power play in the NHL — converting 50 percent (yes, half) of their advantages. They’re also tied for 10th in the league, averaging 3.33 goals per game this month. And the Blackhawks are one of only four teams in the NHL with a positive goal differential in double digits this season; Chicago is tied with Anaheim for third at plus-11.

But the Blackhawks are only 3-2-2 on their home ice. Tonight’s game is the second of a lengthy stretch of games in Chicago after closing a strong road trip with three straight wins.

The Leafs are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, they’re 5-4-1 in their last 10 and come into the United Center tonight looking to improve their 1-4-0 road record to date. They’re allowing an NHL-worst 3.83 goals per game and rank 19th on the penalty kill (78.2 percent). And, while they rank second in the NHL in the faceoff circle, they’ll be without Auston Matthews tonight. He’s on IR.

Note I: Frank Nazar and Jason Dickinson were skating as extras at the morning skate. I’m not including them in lines. Head coach Jeff Blashill said Dickinson is out tonight. Nazar is a game-time decision.

Note II: Sam Rinzel will be a healthy scratch, so 12-6 tonight.

Note III: the Leafs have injuries all over the place taking guys out of the lineup and other guys missing practices for maintenance. They are NOT going to have a morning skate. So their lines are really a guess at this point until they take rushes in pregame warmups. Stay tuned for that…

A reminder for #Blackhawks fans that there are some pretty cool Centennial celebrations going on before tonight's game against what's left of the Leafs

Add these to your travel plans – and remember there's a Tony O bobblehead tonight! pic.twitter.com/fPvJmdYBCt

— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) November 15, 2025

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: CHSN
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Tyler Bertuzzi — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky
Teuvo Teräväinen — Ryan Greene — Ilya Mikheyev
Oliver Moore — Ryan Donato — Colton Dach
Landon Slaggert — Nick Foligno — Sam Lafferty

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy

Spencer Knight

Toronto Maple Leafs

Nicholas Robertson – John Tavares – William Nylander
Matthew Knies – Max Domi – Easton Cowan
Matias Maccelli – Nicolas Roy – Bobby McMann
Dakota Joshua – Steven Lorentz – Calle Jarnkrok

Morgan Reilly – Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
Dakota Mermis – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joseph Woll

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Frank Nazar is banged up and TBD. Jason Dickinson is on IR. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Shea Weber (retired) are out long term.

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Auston Matthews, Scott Laughton, Anthony Stolarz and Chris Tanev are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• Bedard remains one of the hottest skaters in the league, and Toronto is both banged up and terrible defensively.

• Could the Maple Leafs actually be a trap game for the Blackhawks? Chicago has the better record and is playing the better hockey of the two teams, but there are still dangerous players in the Toronto lineup.

• The Blackhawks’ goaltending has been exceptional all year. Let’s keep that going tonight.

Get Caught Up​

Chicago head coach Jeff Blashill said Sam Rinzel will be a healthy scratch tonight. A little reset for him. #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 15, 2025

#Blackhawks power-play units:

PP1:
Bertuzzi
Burakovsky-Teravainen-Bedard
Levshunov

PP2:
Foligno
Donato-Greene-Moore
Grzelcyk

*Rinzel on neither unit pic.twitter.com/GA3B8XlP2L

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 15, 2025

Maple Leafs G Artur Akhtyamov has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies.

F Auston Matthews has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 11, 2025.

F Easton Cowan has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

G Joseph Woll has been activated to the roster.

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 14, 2025

Let’s Talk About the Blackhawks Seven Defensemen Lineup (Again) #blackhawkshttps://t.co/V0hlsRoni8

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 14, 2025

Blackhawks Working to Get a Better Sam Rinzel #blackhawkshttps://t.co/NwIY7leUXb

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 13, 2025

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Captain Nick Foligno Headed to IR

The Blackhawks lost their captain for the next few weeks on Saturday night.

Nick Foligno got hurt here late in the second period:

Nick Foligno immediately went to the locker room after blocking a shot. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/j9rVguK5ye

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 16, 2025

After the game, we saw him with a cast already on his left hand/wrist. Head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed he’ll miss at least a few weeks with the injury.

The Blackhawks were already without Tyler Bertuzzi (day-to-day) and Jason Dickinson, who is still on IR but close to returning. Frank Nazar missed a couple games but returned on Saturday night.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2025/11/15/blackhawks-captain-nick-foligno-headed-to-ir/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

A Good Comeback, Foligno Hurt, Depth, Prospect Highlights, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks won a game they should win last night. Yes, the team on the other side of the rink was the Toronto Maple Leafs. And there were still a couple top-shelf names in their lineup. But the Leafs are not a good hockey team right now, and they didn’t have Auston Matthews. After competing with the Devils without having their best game on Wednesday, playing much better/faster against the Leafs without a win would have been disappointing.

The Leafs are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. We’re waking up Sunday with the Blackhawks tied with the Winnipeg Jets for third in the Central Division. The Blackhawks are now 9-3-3 in their last 15 games, and many who hated the way the Blackhawks’ front office went about rebuilding are now uncomfortably trying to cope with the fact that the Blackhawks really might be … good … now.

Based on how the two teams are playing right now — and not the media-driven hype/lack of buying reality on the two sides — the Blackhawks should have won the game last night. And they did.

• To me, what made last night’s win slightly more impressive, however, was the Blackhawks being down a man for the entire third period and storming back with two unanswered goals for the win. The Blackhawks lost captain Nick Foligno for at least one month last night. As I wrote in my postgame notes, he was having a good night when he got hurt. But the young guys in the lineup stepped up and got it done.

• Jason Dickinson is close to being back and Tyler Bertuzzi didn’t play last night. With Foligno going down for a month, the Blackhawks really don’t need to call anyone up — yet. They skated 12 forwards last night (including Sam Lafferty) and don’t play again until the dead-last-in-the-NHL Calgary Flames visit the UC on Tuesday night.

• The Hockey Night in Canada crew gave us a little Connor Bedard content on the pregame show. And then his point streak ended. Thanks, HNIC!

Full speed ahead

Connor Bedard is in a league of his own pic.twitter.com/fXeODj4dcr

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 15, 2025

• Artyom Levshunov now has an points in seven of his last nine games. During that stretch, he has eight assists. We’re still waiting on his first career NHL goal. I can’t wait to see how excited he gets when he finally scores because he’s an A+ hype man when he picks up an assist.

• Mike McCarthy, the new president and CEO of Chicago Sports Network (since September), spoke with Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times this week about the growth of the network early in Year Two. The numbers for the Blackhawks’ viewership are strong, which shouldn’t come as a surprise with the improved performance on the ice.

McCarthy said the Hawks saw an increase of 121% through their first 12 games on the network, during which they went 5-4-3. He also said the team’s DTC growth is five times what it was last season. Total DTC subscriptions are up about 300% since March.

• Good read here from Ben Pope on the Blackhawks’ second period struggles. It seemed like the Blackhawks were able to break out of that a bit last night; they out-shot the Leafs 11-5 in the second and carried a lot of the play, even if they were out-scored in the period.

The Blackhawks keep struggling in second periods.

Are they getting too comfortable after solid first periods?

Does their lack of possession time disproportionately affect them during the long change?

Maybe both? New story: https://t.co/JuScWB6Usq

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 14, 2025

• Keep praying for Troy Murray, folks.

Our thoughts are with you, @muzz19!

@NHL_On_TNT) pic.twitter.com/OZ9OeSAgDV

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) November 13, 2025

How about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?​

• In the OHL, Marek Vanacker scored a power play goal late in the first period and added an assist in the second period for Brantford. Parker Holmes also had an assist on the Bulldogs’ first goal of the night. Here’s Vanacker’s goal:

Marek out front #BFD | #Blackhawks https://t.co/VOZ12PMojQ pic.twitter.com/ETpPvktgjK

— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) November 15, 2025

• In college, John Mustard got back on the board after his season-opening point streak ended on Friday night. He scored his seventh goal of the season for Providence here:

Mustard's team-high seventh goal of the year off a feed from Logan Sawyer gets us within two!https://t.co/jOkyd0np71 x @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/PezHaLgBc0

— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) November 16, 2025

• Also for Providence, Julius Sumpf scored his first career NCAA goal last night. Unfortunately, Providence lost the game 3-2.

First career NCAA for #Blackhawks prospect Julius Sumpf for @FriarsHockey

pic.twitter.com/mbNJ2A3GLx

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 16, 2025

• Nathan Behm had two assists for Kamloops last night. Here’s a pretty one:

Behm goes for a skate Laff finishes the job pic.twitter.com/NET7tXPnzX

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) November 16, 2025

Around the NHL​

• There were so many injuries in the last couple days to significant players that I’m did a whole stand-alone post with those listed.

• The Canucks announced the signing of forward David Kämpf to a one year, $1.1M contract.

• Good news for the Sabres and hockey in general. Captain Rasmus Dahlin went back to Sweden to be with his fiancée who is recovering from heart transplant surgery. He joined the Sabres in Detroit. It would appear he’ll be available when the Blackhawks are in Buffalo next Friday night.

Welcome back, Captain

Rasmus Dahlin is back with the team in Detroit.#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/E2DUkR1h0K

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 15, 2025

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• We’ve got your full Bears vs. Viking preview

• The Bulls are hosting a meet-and-greet with the newest Ring of Honor Class

• A Cubs prospect was the Breakout Player of the Year in the Arizona Fall League

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Significant Injuries All Over the NHL: Hughes, McAvoy, Rossi, Harley, Foligno, More

The past week has seen a number of important players get hurt and get placed on IR, including Auston Matthews. But the past 24 hours or so have been especially brutal with more players getting hurt and others getting placed on IR officially.

Saturday night had some potentially significant injuries for a number of NHL teams. Since the list is so long, instead of listing them all in our bullets on Sunday morning, here they are:

• The Blackhawks are going to be without their captain, Nick Foligno, for a least four weeks. He had a hard cast on his left hand/wrist after Saturday night’s win against the Maple Leafs.

• The Devils announced two tough injuries on Saturday. Forward Cody Glass is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. And the Devils announced Jack Hughes had surgery on his hand. He’s expected to be able to return to hockey activities in eight weeks; he’ll be re-evaluated in six weeks. Huge loss for a Devils squad that’s been playing very well early this year.

The New Jersey Devils have provided the following medical update:

“New Jersey Devils C Jack Hughes underwent successful surgery on his finger.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
The expected return to play… pic.twitter.com/wVkPNZwe0Y

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 15, 2025

• The Minnesota Wild announced forward Marco Rossi is on injured reserve; he is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. We’ll see if he’s back in time for the Wild to visit the Blackhawks the night before Thanksgiving.

• The Dallas Stars announced defenseman Thomas Harley is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

• The Vancouver Canucks placed goalie Thatcher Demko on injured reserve (retroactive to Nov. 11).

• Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy took a puck to the face last night and did not return to the game. After the game, Bruins coach Marco Sturm said he was undergoing tests at the arena and would hopefully fly back to Boston with the team. The Bruins also lost Viktor Arvidsson late in the game and he will reportedly miss some time.

Charlie McAvoy leaves the the game after taking a puck to the face pic.twitter.com/QlsNdINYoD

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 16, 2025

• LA Kings defenseman Drew Doughty blocked a shot and was in a lot of pain. He, too, did not return to the game last night and left the arena in a walking boot after the game.

Drew Doughty after blocking a shot off the foot (and then promptly cutting off a shot attempt with his stick). He’s still on the bench. pic.twitter.com/KdKnAiDFVg

— Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) November 16, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-nhl-hughes-mcavoy-rossi-harley-foligno-more/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Busy Road Ahead, Moore-Nazar, Hot Levshunov, Lardis? Kempe Signs, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks have two very busy weeks coming up, and it’s a noteworthy time on the calendar. As I’ve mentioned before, there has long been a school of belief in the NHL that teams in a playoff spot on US Thanksgiving have a great chance of making the postseason. Right now, the Western Conference is a gong show with teams underwhelming all over the place. The Blackhawks are not among those teams.

The Blackhawks have seven games in 12 days, beginning with the NHL-worst Calgary Flames in Chicago on Tuesday night. Six of the seven games are at the United Center. And four of the seven are against teams below the Blackhawks in the standings (as of Sunday night). The Blackhawks could position themselves nicely before they begin December with a four-game trip to the West Coast.

• The last couple years, when the Blackhawks had an injury like Nick Foligno‘s — which will keep the captain out for four weeks — there was a bit of a scramble drill to figure out how to fill the minutes and role on the ice. Now, when the Blackhawks get Tyler Bertuzzi and Jason Dickinson back, the harder decision will be to go with 11 or 12 forwards. Because the Blackhawks have enough bodies and are getting contributions up and down the roster that it’s going to be hard to pick a scratch.

• Since the start of November (seven games), the Blackhawks have seen 10 different skaters score a goal. That includes Landon Slaggert and Sam Lafferty, who have appeared in only three NHL games each. Also, 15 different Blackhawks have been credited with an assist since the start of the month.

• In fact, of the 20 skaters who have appeared in a game for the Blackhawks in November, only two have failed to record a single point: Alex Vlasic and Sam Rinzel. The depth production and contributions right now have been fantastic!

• My eye test liked what I saw when Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar were on the ice together on Saturday night. Natural Stat Trick liked it as well… for the most part. At 5-on-5 they spent 9:58 on the ice together, during which the Blackhawks had a 9-7 shots on net advantage and 0.6 expected Goals For. The line of Moore, Nazar and Teuvo Teräväinen had the best 5-on-5 expected Goals For Percentage (58.26) by a wide margin; the line of Colton Dach, Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev was second at just 29.04 percent.

• Good story from Ben Pope on Moore getting more comfortable with the reality that he really is faster than most of the guys in NHL.

In his first six Blackhawks games this season, Oliver Moore is learning he really is fast enough to blow past most NHL competition.

Against the Devils, he passed up a potential breakaway opportunity. Against the Leafs, he did not.

New story: https://t.co/eT6Cxl1vZ5

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 16, 2025

• We’ll stick with the rookies and take a moment to celebrate the run Artyom Levshunov is on right now. The Blackhawks shared that he is the fastest rookie defenseman to reach 10 assists in a season. Levshunov leads all NHL rookies with 10 assists.

hello you are formally invited to our Arty party pic.twitter.com/2MkIHzMo54

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 16, 2025

• There was some unfortunate confusion on the Twitters on Sunday when Nick Lardis wasn’t in the IceHogs’ lineup for their game last night. Which could have been avoided if looking at the previous tweet had happened. Lardis got banged up on Saturday night and was a precautionary scratch on Sunday. He was not scratched because of a call-up.

Nick Lardis is day-to-day and will not play in today’s game.

: https://t.co/lkvXtu3lCa pic.twitter.com/at6CZAAZSi

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) November 16, 2025

• The LA Kings took another big name off the potential free agent class of 2026 on Sunday. They signed forward Adrian Kempe to an eight-year extension with a $10.625M AAV.

• I wrote about the long list of injuries around the NHL on Sunday morning. We can add another, and it’s unfortunately a familiar name that’s been hurt too frequently. The Montreal Canadiens announced Kirby Dach (fractured foot) will be out for 4 to 6 weeks.

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

• Watch Ben Johnson’s “Good, Better, Best” postgame speech after the Week 11 Win vs. Vikings

• Coby White IS BACK with the Bulls

• The Mariners are re-signing Josh Naylor

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...dis-kempe-signs-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Could/Should the Blackhawks Swing Big This Year?

The rumor mill is already starting to percolate in the NHL. With so many significant injuries and underwhelming starts to the season, there are teams already trying to gauge the market as a buyer. And there are teams who are being projected as sellers already as well.

What makes this conversation different this time around for the Blackhawks is they might be in the buyer category for the first time in… almost a decade.

Fans have been banging the drum to buy buy buy for years. The Blackhawks, under the leadership of general manager Kyle Davidson, have been conservative and remained on plan. Even when there may have been opportunities to chase a bigger ticket, the Blackhawks’ brass has stayed the course.

But now the Blackhawks are playing at a playoff level. Yes, I said it. The Blackhawks are in a wild card spot the week before Thanksgiving. Their young players are playing as well/better than some expected in the NHL already, and the new coaching staff has them flying up and down the ice.

Which has led a lot of people in and out of Chicago to wonder if the Blackhawks could be a sneaky buyer this season.

Over the weekend I saw a clip of our old friend Colby Cohen and Jonny Lazarus from their podcast at Daily Faceoff talking about whether or not the Blackhawks will make a bold move this season if the team continues to trend in the right direction. Cohen was spot on when he said Davidson has remained committed to his plan and won’t sacrifice the long term for immediate gains without a deal being significant.

Which brings us to the last part of that sentence: “without a deal being significant.” How do we define significant at this point in the Blackhawks’ building timeline?

Blackhawks Big Picture​

Beyond the player being a fit, there are three specific things to consider when we start thinking about the Blackhawks possibly making a move.

• First: is there someone actually available who can help take the Blackhawks to another level.

I put “actually available” in italics there because there are still folks who complain the Blackhawks didn’t sign Mitch Marner this past summer. He was never available to the Blackhawks. That’s not a pipe dream. It’s foolish dreaming.

• The second thing to consider is a very real issue the Blackhawks will have to deal with for at least one more season: the NHL’s salary floor.

With more and more players coming up on entry-level contracts, and only Connor Bedard needing what I think at this point would be considered a significant extension before the 2026-27 season, the Hawks are going to need to spend some money to get above the floor. And there simply aren’t many Shea Weber/Carey Price dead money deals left floating around the NHL at this point to have a player not impact the lineup but still eat cap space effectively.

The Blackhawks have other pending RFAs, including Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan and Colton Dach who could help the Blackhawks reach the floor, but I don’t see those being excessively big deals. Especially considering the bridge deal the Blackhawks gave Wyatt Kaiser (two years at a $1.7M AAV).

• The third thing that has to be considered is the cost of acquisition.

In free agency, the only considerations are dollars and term. How long a player will be with the Blackhawks, and how that impacts the potential trajectory of prospects who might matriculate to the NHL level and be able to take that role at some point.

If we’re talking about a trade, there are more factors in play. Not only was the money structure and term decided by someone else — not always a bad thing if the two fit the Blackhawks’ long-term plan — but the Blackhawks are going to have to part ways with either NHL roster players, prospects or draft capital to bring the player in.

Which begs the questions: Which prospects are potentially available? How do the Blackhawks view their picks in upcoming drafts and the talent available in those classes? And how would the incoming player potentially impact the ability of the Blackhawks to bring up the next wave(s) of players to the NHL?

So let’s dig into one hot name in the trade rumors right now and walk through these issues.

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Steven Stamkos?​

Steven Stamkos will turn 36 on Feb. 7. He’s in the second year of a four-year, $32M contract ($8M AAV) with the Nashville Predators. Entering Monday, Stamkos has five points — four goals, one assist — in 20 games to start the 2025-26 regular season.

The Nashville Predators were surprisingly terrible last year. They’ve been more of the same this year. Which is why the big ticket names in their lineup are starting to make some noise in the trade rumors.

Should the Blackhawks consider Stamkos? ​

Let’s go back to the things I listed as necessary considerations.

Is Stamkos actually available? That’s a maybe right now — and a probably if the season continues to be bad in Nashville. Would he be available to the Blackhawks in the same division as the Preds? Again, probably — if the Hawks are willing to pay the right price. Here’s David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period talking about Stamkos with Jeff Marek recently:

"Is Steven Stamkos much more appealing at $5M or $5.5M versus $8M? I would imagine so"@TheFourthPeriod and @JeffMarek discuss Steven Stamkos' future in Nashville and how his cap hit and the tax implications shape any potential trade

Presented by @FanDuelCanada #Smashville pic.twitter.com/zO1xGyaKGY

— The Sheet with Jeff Marek (@thesheethockey) November 16, 2025

Can Stamkos help the Blackhawks’ cap situation? Yes. With two more years at $8M per, that’s a good hit from a Blackhawks’ perspective. And the Preds might not have to retain anything in a deal with the Blackhawks, which they might prefer. We’ll get to that in a moment…

What would the cost of acquisition be? That’s the hard one. There are going to be bidders if Stamkos hits the market. And, frankly, Nashville should be okay retaining money if it improves the assets they bring back in a deal. Should the Blackhawks get into a bidding war with the Canadiens or other potential title contenders for 2+ years of Stamkos? I’m not totally sure… because…

Is Stamkos a fit in Chicago? I’m not sold that Stamkos, at this stage of his career, would be a good fit with the Blackhawks. Yes, he’s a former No. 1 overall pick and future Hall of Famer. Yes, he’s been an elite scorer in the league. At this point, Stamkos is more of a winger than a full-time center. And I’m not confident that where he’s at in his career would make joining a team as young and fast as the Blackhawks is a good fit for Stamkos.

I’m not a big fan of the idea of bringing in a player of Stamkos’ pedigree with the likes of Anton Frondell, Nick Lardis, Roman Kantserov, Václav Nestrašil and Sacha Boisvert potentially being in play for top-six roles before his contract ends. And I’m not sure with some of the other young players in the organization that there’s a good fit for him in a bottom-six role.

I’m also not thrilled at the potential of moving a nice prospect to a team inside the division, where we might regret the move for years to come.

There will be other teams likely willing to pay a heavier price and offer a more consistent top-six role to Stamkos at this stage of his career than the Blackhawks.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ld-should-the-blackhawks-swing-big-this-year/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks vs Flames — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks are 9-5-4 and come into Tuesday night’s game in fourth place in the Central Division. The Flames, meanwhile, are 5-12-3 and in last place in the NHL. Calgary comes into tonight’s game with a 2-8-1 road mark to start the season.

Since the Blackhawks beat them 4-0 in Calgary 11 days ago, the Flames are 1-2-1 during which they have scored only seven goals in four games. This should be a game the Blackhawks win. But don’t let it be a trap.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 7:30 PM CT
TV / Streaming: CHSN
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky
Oliver Moore — Frank Nazar — Teuvo Teräväinen
Colton Dach — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Sam Lafferty

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Arvid Söderblom

Calgary Flames

Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee
Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg – Sam Morton – Adam Klapka

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Yan Kuznetsov – MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal

Dustin Wolf

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Tyler Bertuzzi is day-to-day. Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno are on IR. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Shea Weber (retired) are out long term.

Calgary Flames

• Zayne Parekh, Samuel Honzek and Martin Pospisil are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• Bedard had four points in the Blackhawks’ 4-0 win in Calgary. But that’s where Nazar got hurt. Revenge game for 91?

• The game in Calgary was physical and chippy. Will that carry over to tonight? If it does, who steps up with Foligno not in the lineup?

• The Blackhawks are going younger with Foligno on IR. With limited options up front because of injuries, we’ll see how Rinzel responds after a healthy scratch.

Get Caught Up​

#Blackhawks power-play units:

PP1:
Nazar
Burakovsky-Teravainen-Bedard
Levshunov

PP2:
Moore
Greene-Donato-Grzelcyk
Rinzel

*Grzelcyk is wearing Kaiser’s jersey pic.twitter.com/sovlECGhC3

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 17, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-flames-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-4/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 5, Flames 2 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

The first period was fast — literally on the ice and on the clock. The two teams combined to put only 11 shots on goal (the Blackhawks had a 6-5 advantage) and the Hawks took a one-goal lead to the room after 20 minutes. Natural Stat Trick had the Blackhawks with an 11-5 advantage in Scoring Chances and a 4-2 advantage in High Danger Chances at 5-on-5 in the first period.

The second period was dominated by the Blackhawks for the most part. They scored a second goal, allowed only seven shots on net and had the only three high dangers chances at 5-on-5 in the period. But a late penalty cracked the door open an inch for the Flames and they proceeded thru it, cutting a two-goal lead in half in the closing seconds of the period. Shots were only 14-11 in favor of the Blackhawks after 40 minutes.

A sloppy shift got dragged out in the defensive zone early in the third period with a handful of turnovers by the Blackhawks that cost them the lead. A game they dominated for 39 minutes was now knotted at two. Thankfully, the game was tied for less than two minutes. And the Blackhawks were able to add some insurance. And… hats hit the ice.

Star 1: Connor Bedard​

The second period was really owned by Bedard. He was feeling it — even if that meant a few ill-advised passes. He was skating thru traffic and making moves around Flames skaters. Late in the period, Sam Rinzel lobbed a puck out of the zone. Bedard won the race and Dustin Wolf made a terrible decision to try to play the puck. Bedard easily tapped it through him into the net to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to two. By the end of the second period, Bedard led the team with four shots on goal and had won six of his eight faceoffs. After his line got caught on the ice for the second Calgary goal, Bedard’s next shift ended with a go-ahead goal. He finished off the hat trick in the final minute.

GOAL: Connor Bedard POKES IN an area pass from Sam Rinzel to extend the Blackhawks lead pic.twitter.com/Y3VbRTHURX

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 19, 2025

Star 2: Oliver Moore​

Moore’s speed was a problem early for Calgary. At 5-on-5, Moore was on the ice for eight Blackhawks shot attempts to just one for the Flames in 4:18 in the first period. At the end of the second period, Moore had the second-highest expected Goals For percentage (83.61) on the Blackhawks. He had an assist on Donato’s goal in the first period and his speed created the Blackhawks’ fourth goal of the night for a little breathing room.

GOAL: This won't be Oliver Moore's prettiest goal, but the puck finds its way in to extend the Blackhawks lead! pic.twitter.com/ktrb6FezKH

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 19, 2025

Star 3: Ryan Donato​

Donato won three of a team-high five faceoffs in the first period and was responsible for the game’s first goal. He was the only Blackhawks skater with more than one Scoring Chance For at 5-on-5 in the first period — he was credited with four. He was the best skater on the ice for the Blackhawks in the first period.

GOAL: Ryan Donato snaps in a shot from the circle to open the scoring! Flames are challenging for goaltender interference… pic.twitter.com/rNnCm5FuSG

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 19, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• Check the pass Ryan Greene made to Bedard on his second goal below — filthy! But he was also excellent in the faceoff circle, on the penalty kill and was physical (three credited hits).

GOAL: Connor Bedard ROCKET for his second of the game! pic.twitter.com/0e1grbqm9a

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 19, 2025

• Connor Murphy was called for a crosscheck with 36 seconds left in the second period and the Blackhawks leading by two. Calgary scored quickly on the advantage to cut the lead in half. Brutal timing for the penalty and way too easy for the Flames to score late in the period.

• It was good to see Rinzel get back on the scoresheet — his first point in November. He had a nice rebound game after the healthy scratch.

• The Blackhawks’ power play was not good in the first two periods. It was 0-for-4 with only three shots on net in four chances; they had 24 seconds of 5-on-3 in the second period and did nothing with it.

• There were only 16 faceoffs in the first period. The Blackhawks won nine of them.

• There were 28 faceoffs in the second period. The Blackhawks won only 12 of them. Donato had a tough second period at the dot.

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Want to be in a Holiday Commercial in Chicago This Weekend?

Well, here’s a fun little opportunity for those with Hollywood dreams (… or those just looking for a unique and exciting experience in the city this weekend). Our friends and sponsors over at Ankin Law are filming a commercial downtown this Saturday, and they need your help to fill it out!

More specifically, Howard Ankin (from Ankin Law) and Melissa Forman (from 93.9 The Lite FM) are filming a holiday commercial prior to the start of the Mag Mile Lights Festival Parade this Saturday. If you are one of the first 500 people to RSVP and attend, you will be in the commercial AND you’ll get a free hat and scarf, courtesy of Ankin Law.

RSVP for the event here!

Holiday Commercial Details​

Here are some of the details of the event:

• WHEN: Saturday, November 22nd at 4:00 pm
• WHERE: 24 West Walton St., across from Ogden Elementary School. This is the staging area where floats are staged and balloons are inflated prior to the parade
• PARKING: Public parking garages are available at 14 East Cedar Street Parking and Drake Tower Parking Garage (174 East Walton), but CTA, Uber/Lyft, and SpotHero are advised

There are definitely worse ways to spend a holiday weekend in the city. So if you’re interested … or are already going to the parade … or just want a free scarf and hat, please consider supporting Ankin Law by attending the event, as they support Bleacher Nation!

RSVP for the event here!

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs...a-holiday-commercial-in-chicago-this-weekend/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Oliver Moore Making a Consistent Impact for the Blackhawks

Oliver Moore is coming off his first multi-point game of the season in the NHL after scoring a goal and adding an assist in the 5-2 win over the Flames. He was once again electric, with his speed flipping the ice and making life hard on opponents.

While Moore was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Blackhawks had a 70.56 expected Goals For percentage, which ranked second on the team (Colton Dach — 90.11). The Blackhawks had an 8-3 shots on net advantage (72.73 percent) in Moore’s 11:45 at 5-on-5, which was third on the roster behind Alex Vlasic and Frank Nazar. And the four High Danger Chances the Blackhawks had while he was on the ice was the top mark on the team.

That’s more of what we’ve been seeing since Moore was recalled from Rockford. While there were questions about his finishing ability coming out of Minnesota last year, his ability to affect the offensive side of the game. And the points are now coming in the NHL; he has five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games this season. Let’s dig into some stats.

Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Moore’s Impact​

According to NHL EDGE, Moore hasn’t blown the top off with his max speed yet; his top speed this season is only 21.62 mph. However, Moore has 22 speed bursts in the 20-22 mph range in seven games. In the macro, that’s in the 56th percentile in the league. But Moore is averaging 3.1 of those per game. When you look at the league leaders in that range, former Blackhawk Vinnie Hinostroza ranks tenth in the league with 68 in 20 games, which is 3.4 per game.

Watch him put a defender in the spin cycle here with his wheels from the win against Toronto:

Frank Nazar hoists one for Oliver Moore who uses his speed to create a semi-breakaway chance pic.twitter.com/XZZHHjcWsj

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 16, 2025

While we should certainly employ a grain of salt when considering the limited seven-game sample size, it’s still noteworthy that Moore ranks second (behind Jason Dickinson) in 5-on-5 expected Goals For percentage on the Blackhawks at 55.60. And his Scoring Chance For percentage (55.42) is the best on the Blackhawks thru Tuesday night’s win.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Moore has had 13 individual Scoring Chances For in 91:24 at 5-on-5 in his seven games. For the sake of comparison, Connor Bedard has 43 in 311:42 at 5-on-5. Moore is averaging a scoring chance roughly every 7:02 of 5-on-5 ice time this season; Bedard is averaging one ever 7:15. Pretty good.

What impresses me most is how Moore has helped improve the overall play of his line with Nazar and Teuvo Teräväinen. Nazar and Teräväinen have a 46.67 Corsi For percentage (CF%) and 41.92 expected Goals For percentage (xGF%) at 5-on-5 together — without Moore. With Moore, those go up to a 57.14 CF% and 64.06 xGF%. Nazar and Teräväinen without Moore have a 39.10 Scoring Chances For percentage (SCF%); that goes up to 70.59 with Moore.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...aking-a-consistent-impact-for-the-blackhawks/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks vs Kraken — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks and Kraken are two of the teams surprising people early this season. They played 17 days ago in Seattle, a 3-1 win for the home team. The Hawks have been hot since then and will be on their home ice in the rematch.

Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return to the lineup tonight, which is great news. The Hawks are going to keep Ryan Greene on the top line, however. Bertuzzi will be on a line with Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore tonight.

Let’s see if the Blackhawks can keep the good times rolling at the United Center. The Hawks’ last regulation loss came at Seattle — 17 days go! — so payback should be the approach tonight.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: CHSN
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Oliver Moore
Teuvo Teräväinen — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Sam Lafferty — Colton Dach

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight

Seattle Kraken

Mason Marchment – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz – Chandler Stephenson – Ryan Winterton
Eeli Tolvanen – Berkly Catton – Shane Wright
Tye Kartye – Frederick Gaudreau – Jani Nyman

Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren – Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans – Jamie Oleksiak

Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno are on IR. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Shea Weber (retired) are out long term.

Seattle Kraken

• Jared McCann, Kaapo Kakko and Matt Murray are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• The Kraken beat the Blackhawks 3-1 in Seattle. Since then, the Blackhawks are 5-0-1. Bedard has seven goals and six assists for 13 points in those six games. Seattle is 3-3-1 since beating the Blackhawks.

• Seattle’s penalty kill (70.4 percent) ranks 30th in the NHL. The Blackhawks’ power play wasn’t great against Calgary, but they could have opportunities with the advantage.

• The Kraken are winning only 44.9 percent of their faceoffs — making them one of the three teams in the league worse than the Blackhawks.

• With Rinzel picking up an assist on Tuesday night, Vlasic is the only remaining Blackhawks skater without a point in November.

Get Caught Up​

#Blackhawks power-play units:

PP1:
Bertuzzi
Burakovsky-Teravainen-Bedard
Levshunov

PP2:
Donato
Greene-Nazar-Grzelcyk
Rinzel

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 20, 2025

Connor Bedard’s last 10 games:

– 10 Goals
– 11 Assists
– 21 Points
– 2 Hat Tricks (0 In His Career Before That)
– 6-2-2 Record For The Hawks

Superstar. pic.twitter.com/ItxOyR3uY9

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 19, 2025

Oliver Moore Making a Consistent Impact for the Blackhawks #blackhawkshttps://t.co/77QGEqXUy5

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 19, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...-kraken-lineups-broadcast-info-game-thread-4/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 2, Kraken 3 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

After watching the Blackhawks face the Leafs and Flames recently, the speed of this game was completely different. Seattle can move — and the pace of the first period was terrific. Shot attempts at 5-on-5 were 16-15 after 20 minutes, but the Blackhawks had a 5-1 advantage in high danger chances. Neither side scored in the first.

The Blackhawks dominated the second period to the tune of a 24-8 Corsi For advantage in 16:54 at 5-on-5. They had an 11-0 scoring chances for advantage in the period as well. The Hawks scored the first goal of the night — for the seventh straight game and NHL-leading 15th time this season. Chicago scored the game’s second goal, this one coming on the power play. Impressively, the Blackhawks had a 40-23 shot attempt advantage and 9-1 high danger chance advantage after 40 minutes.

The expected push-back came, and Seattle got on the board a little more than five minutes into the third period. And then they tied the game less than three minutes later thru a screen by Shane Wright. It took the Blackhawks more than 14 minutes to be credited with a single shot on net in the third — not ideal. Connor Bedard got called for a brutal unsportsmanlike penalty with 4:16 left in regulation after he appeared to get slashed on a breakaway attempt. And the Kraken took the lead on the power play.

Star 1: Tyler Bertuzzi​

Welcome back! He scored the game’s first goal from his office and then made a brilliant, blind pass to set up the second marker on the power play. He was clearly feeling it tonight and was making plays all over the offensive zone. Bertuzzi now has four multi-point games in his last five appearances.

GOAL: Tyler Bertuzzi opens the scoring by finishing off a nice passing play on a 3-on-1 break pic.twitter.com/MUruIHueow

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 21, 2025

Star 2: Teuvo Teräväinen​

Teräväinen was feeling it almost as much as Bertuzzi. He had the set-up assist on the first goal and took advantage of the ridiculous pass to score the power play goal. He also won four of eight faceoffs in the opening 40 minutes. This was Teräväinen’s fifth multi-point game of the year and he’s scored a goal in three of his last five games.

GOAL: UNREAL one-handed pass from Tyler Bertuzzi to feed Teuvo Teravainen in front. Wow pic.twitter.com/zDyw1vE0fJ

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 21, 2025

Star 3: Connor Bedard​

This move from Bedard in the first period got the fans in the United Center out of their seats. Bedard led the Blackhawks with five shots on goal, seven shot attempts and four high danger chances in the opening two periods. Even with the bad penalty, Bedard had the second-highest expected Goals For at 5-on-5 on the Blackhawks (0.95) behind only Bertuzzi.

Connor Bedard wowed the United Center crowd with this move at the blue line. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qZFmZGFMcv

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 21, 2025

Key Takeaways​

• On the Blackhawks’ power play in the first period, André Burakovsky got popped in the head by Ryan Lindgren and went down hard. He lost his bucket on the hit, but was able to skate off. He went to the room after the shift, and the Blackhawks ruled Burakovsky out for the remainder of the game. There was no penalty on the hit, but it certainly looked intentional.

Another look at this huge hit that sent Burakovsky to the room: https://t.co/X4H42EmngK pic.twitter.com/2fd7jzgrPb

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 21, 2025

• With his assist on the power play goal in the second period, Artyom Levshunov now has a point in six of nine games in the month of November (seven assists). He was good again tonight.

• Sam Rinzel looked more like the controlled, confident skater we saw earlier this year in the first period. He was second on the blue line in ice time (7:11) and had the only blocked shot on the roster in the opening frame. He was on the ice for zero Blackhawks’ shots on net to four for Seattle (at 5-on-5), though.

• The Blackhawks were using both Rinzel and Matt Grzelcyk on the second power play unit.

• Remember when I wrote about the Blackhawks being right-handed heavy at center? Bedard didn’t take a faceoff in the first period, but Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato — both lefties — were active at the dot. And successful. Donato won six of eight faceoffs in the first two periods; Bertuzzi won both of his attempts. Bedard won his only faceoffs in the opening 40 minutes.

• After going five games without a point, Frank Nazar now has an assist in three straight games. He had the second assist on Bertuzzi’s goal.

• For Seattle, Oscar Fisker Molgaard picked up the second assist on the Kraken’s first goal of the night. It’s his first career NHL point — in his NHL debut.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ckhawks-2-kraken-3-three-stars-key-takeaways/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks at Sabres — Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Blackhawks hopped on a plane after losing to the Kraken last night and headed to Buffalo, where they’ll play the one road game in a stretch of eight of nine at the United Center. The Sabres will be waiting for them with hopes of getting right; they’re 2-5-1 in their last eight games and gave up six goals to the Flames on Wednesday night (yikes!).

The second half of a back-to-back with travel in the middle is always tough. With André Burakovsky not available, and the Blackhawks not having a morning skate because of the travel, the lineup is a guess until game time.

Broadcast Info​

Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: CHSN
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Expected Lineups​

Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — ???
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Oliver Moore
Teuvo Teräväinen — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Colton Dach — Sam Lafferty

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Arvid Söderblom

Buffalo Sabres

Josh Doan – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Tyson Kozak – Noah Östlund – Isak Rosén
Jordan Greenway – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn

Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Conor Timmins
Jacob Bryson – Owen Power

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Injury Report​

Chicago Blackhawks​

• André Burakovsky is out tonight. Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno are on IR. Laurent Brossoit (hip) and Shea Weber (retired) are out long term.

Buffalo Sabres

• Josh Norris, Michael Kesselring, Zach Benson, Justin Danforth and Jiri Kulich are on IR.

What to Watch For​

• The Blackhawks skated their top forwards heavy minutes last night, especially in the third period. Let’s see how much gas they have in the tank tonight.

• The Sabres are bad defensively (fifth-worst GAA in the league). The Blackhawks have been scoring pretty well of late.

• The Sabres have some firepower in their lineup (Thompson?) but they rank 24th in the league in goals per game (2.85). They’ll pressure the Blackhawks in the second half of a back-to-back, though.

Get Caught Up​

"We went into every one-on-one battle just casual, just soft."

More on the #Buffalo #Sabres' early struggles and late implosion in an ugly four-goal loss to the Calgary Flames:https://t.co/ByOwSBcgLu

— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) November 20, 2025

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

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks 3, Sabres 9 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways

The good news: this Blackhawks game eventually ended.

The bad news: the Sabres out-scored the Blackhawks 3-1 in all three periods.

Star 1: Tyler Bertuzzi​

Bertuzzi remained on fire, even if the conditions were ice cold when he scored the Blackhawks’ first goal of the game (to cut the deficit back to two). He redirected in his second goal of the night in the opening seconds of the third period.

GOAL: Tyler Bertuzzi cleans up a rebound in front to give the Blackhawks some life pic.twitter.com/9fuIl0U8Iv

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 22, 2025

teamwork pic.twitter.com/JtpV0SVeA2

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 22, 2025

Star 2: Connor Bedard​

Bedard brought it tonight, even if the final score is ugly. His assist on Bertuzzi’s goal in the first period was the 100th of his NHL career. He’s the fourth Blackhawk to reach that benchmark before turning 21 years old. At the end of two periods, he had two of the Blackhawks’ four scoring chances at 5-on-5. Bedard won 9 of 13 faceoffs and was credited with three blocked shots in the game. And he was plus-one in a blowout loss. Credit where it’s due: he showed up and never quit.

Connor Bedard hustles back to make a defensive play, a great backcheck.

This is exactly what Jeff Blashill means when he says Bedard has been committed to playing winning hockey this year. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ZrDPgK4Kte

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 22, 2025

Star 3: the Bus Driver​

Somebody allegedly brought the team to the rink on Friday night. And they had to get them back to the airport after. If they did both of those jobs successfully, that’s worthy of a star after this dumpster fire performance.

Key Takeaways​

• Coming into tonight’s game, 19 of the 20 skaters on the Blackhawks’ current NHL roster had registered a point in the month of November. The only remaining skater with a doughnut: Alex Vlasic. That was erased with Vlasic’s goal in the second period.

GOAL: Ryan Greene dekes and dishes to Alex Vlasic who rips a one-timer that finds twine pic.twitter.com/eJjUIjFklh

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 22, 2025

• Sam Rinzel had assists on the Blackhawks’ first two goals of the night for his first career multi-point game.

• Matt Grzelcyk was solid in the midst of crap. He had the Blackhawks’ highest expected goals for (0.33) and was on the ice for five of the Blackhawks’ six shots on net at 5-on-5 in the opening 20 minutes.

• Frank Nazar picked up an assist on Bertuzzi’s second goal, extending his personal streak to four straight games with an assist.

• After the refs were the talk of the town after Thursday night’s loss to the Kraken, it took all of 40 seconds for the penguins to miss an obvious call that would have put the Blackhawks on the power play in Buffalo. Somehow this didn’t get a whistle in the third period, either.

Ryan Donato is blatantly tripped and no penalty is called. Man. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ehOOsgdIf9

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 22, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ckhawks-3-sabres-9-three-stars-key-takeaways/