The reason I keep talking up Ryan Greene as a super Swiss Army knife for the Blackhawks in the coming years is because of a few factors. The biggest of those is the number of smart, older vets on other teams who have told me he’s “a really smart player” and “plays a smart game.” You don’t wear a C at Boston University if that isn’t true, but he made the jump to the NHL full-time as a first-year pro because he plays the game the right way and covers 200 feet well. So it made sense when I heard Connor Bedard talk about him this way before the game started last night.
I don’t want you to get too wrapped up in what the finished product was in the NHL and what he’s meant to the Blackhawks historically, but I see a lot of Patrick Sharp in Greene’s game. Sharp came to Chicago as a center and worked on every unit of the team. If you’ve watched the most recent upside of “Always an Original,” Sharp talks about struggling when he got here. But he worked and covered 200 feet and kept generating opportunities until the puck found the net. The rest is, as the kids say, history.
- How about this shot attempt from Greene while short-handed last night?
- Louis Crevier appeared in his 100th career NHL game last night. He was the 188th overall pick (seventh round) of the 2020 NHL Draft. Only two players drafted after Wyatt Kaiser (pick No. 81) in that draft class have appeared in 100 games. Much respect.
- Good read from Scott Powers this morning on last night’s loss being another step in the Blackhawks’ learning process. Yes, the Blackhawks are in a spot where the postseason is actually not out of the question. But how many teams over the years have had fans point to “that one game in January when they crapped the bed” as one that got away when they were 3-5 points out at the close of the regular season? Calgary is a better team than their record would indicate. They have veterans who have played in some big games/series. Last night, the Blackhawks played a flat, disconnected game. And those one-off performances are what can ultimately cost you a spot in the postseason.
The final Western Conference playoff spots are very much still up for grabs. The Blackhawks have done well enough so far to put themselves in that mix. It's why they can't have games like last night.
My story from a winnable game the Blackhawks losthttps://t.co/L3LjnbSHT7
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 16, 2026
- Lots of great vibes in Rockford right now, folks. On Thursday we learned that Nick Lardis and Kevin Korchinski are AHL All-Stars. The IceHogs also dropped these excellent theoretical throwbacks that they’ll wear coming out of the AHL All-Star break.
- On the pregame show last night, Frank Seravalli said the Blackhawks still expect this to be Sacha Boisvert‘s final collegiate season and still see him as a potential top-six forward, even with lower offensive output this year (we’ve talked about injuries impacting that, though).
- One of the guys on the other bench at the United Center last night appears to be on his way out of Calgary. Rasmus Andersson has been arguably the hottest trade name this season since… the middle of last year, when the market started looking for a good right-handed defenseman with an expiring contract in 2026. Pierre LeBrun makes it sound like last night could have been his last game with the Flames.
- The St. Louis Blues announced center Robert Thomas was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
- Thursday’s “Sure, why not?” news came directly from the National Hockey League.
- I know the Blackhawks are focusing a lot of time and energy on Saturday’s events and game celebrating the dynasty teams, but I already find myself emotionally preparing for Monday night when Jonathan Toews makes his United Center return. The Captain hit a milestone last night. He’s scored in four straight games.
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- The Bulls are “aggressively shopping” Patrick Williams, but … yeah …
- Who’s going to replace Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle?
- Two things stood out most from the Alex Bregman press conference
The Blackhawks held a fantastic celebration of the three Stanley Cup champions on Saturday night. The game was disappointing, but the pregame was exceptional. The collection of former players who were part of the 2010, 2013 and 2015 championship Blackhawks rosters who were able to attend was impressive. And the moment Pat Foley invited them to raise the Cup on home ice one more time was stirring.
Appropriately, it was Brent Seabrook who raised it above his head. Seabrook was the quiet leader of those Blackhawks teams, who probably would have had a C on his chest in most other NHL cities. He was joined by his longtime partner on the blue line, Duncan Keith, as well as Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa as four of the seven players to win three rings were able to attend.
One of the three core members who wasn’t there was the gentleman to whom Gary Bettman presented the Stanley Cup three times. Jonathan Toews, the longest tenured captain in the history of the franchise, wasn’t there because he’s still playing.
On Monday night, Toews will be back at the United Center. And will enter the visiting dressing room and get ready for a game as a visitor for the first time.
Return of the Greats
I remember the emotions in the United Center on the night Patrick Kane made his return. That night was awkward; the Blackhawks retired Chris Chelios’ number earlier in the night. Chelios even made a joke about Kane’s return because the entire Detroit roster, like the Blackhawks, was on their bench for the ceremony.
The tribute video was on point. There were tears. And then the roar came.
And Kane had to take three laps to acknowledge the praise raining down from the Blackhawks fans who adored him.
Of course, Kane ended that game with the overtime game-winner. It was an appropriately stunning climax to a series of events at the United Center that were… awkwardly not appropriate.
During the Blackhawks’ dynasty run, the spotlight was always on Kane. Even future Hall of Famers Toews, Hossa and Keith took a backseat in the headlines, newspaper cover photos and marketing efforts to 88. Yet, on this night, he shared the spotlight with Chelios — another Blackhawks legend who played in both Chicago and Detroit.
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Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Leaving Chicago on Different Terms
The Blackhawks granted Kane’s wish and traded him to the New York Rangers, where he played the remainder of the 2022-23 season before signing with the Red Wings as a free agent. His return to Chicago was almost a full year after he was traded.
Toews wasn’t traded out of Chicago. His body betrayed him in the final years of his time with the Blackhawks, and he did his best to finish the 2022-23 season on the ice. The Blackhawks did not offer him another contract.
We didn’t know at the time if Toews would play hockey again. There were some who thought he might be a nice low-end rental for a team that was close to winning. But Toews opted to walk away from the game and work to get his body right.
This past summer, Toews surprised many when he announced he planned to come back. The less surprising part was where he would return: he came back to the NHL with his hometown Winnipeg Jets.
Fast forward to the middle of January, and here we are.
It’s finally here.
It will be 1,012 days between games at the United Center for Toews on Monday. But this will be a first for him, and the rest of us who watched him jump into the NHL and lead the Blackhawks franchise to one of the great resurrection stories in the history of professional sports.
It’s going to be an emotional night at the United Center on Monday.
There is no jersey retirement ceremony before this game. There is no Centennial chapter to close with a big pregame production. It’s a Monday night with two teams battling in the Central Division.
Unlike Kane’s return — ironically — Monday night is going to be all about Jonathan Bryan Toews, the greatest captain in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Captain who never wanted it to be about him is going to have a night all to himself.
He deserves that. And I can’t wait to see, hear and feel the welcome home from Blackhawks fans.
Also Read
The Blackhawks have a roster — and pipeline — that’s loaded with high draft picks. Their collection of former first-round picks is tasked with changing the trajectory of the franchise and bring the Blackhawks back to contending. But they may have found a defensive pair that is effectively playing shut-down hockey without that level of pedigree.
Connor Murphy‘s name continues to populate trade rumors as we get closer to the pre-Olympic trade freeze and following NHL Trade Deadline. The assumption is Sam Rinzel — a first-round pick — will eventually replace Murphy on the right side of Chicago’s blue line.
Many assumed before the season began that Rinzel would spend most of this season on Chicago’s top defensive pair. But players taking advantage of opportunities given can change the calculus of roster decisions.
Alex Vlasic was a second-round pick (No. 43) in the 2019 NHL Draft. Louis Crevier was a seventh-round pick (No. 188) in the 2020 NHL Draft. To the surprise of many, they have been the Blackhawks’ top defensive pair most of this season. They’ve been improving throughout the season, and have become pretty good together. And they’re both only 24 years old.
According to Natural Stat Trick, ten Blackhawks defensive pairs have spent at least 100 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together thru Monday night’s win. The combination of Vlasic and Crevier leads the team with 400:48 together — over 56 minutes more than any other pair the Blackhawks have employed this season.
Of the other nine pairs that have skated at least 100 minutes together to date, only one — Murphy with Wyatt Kaiser (52.15) — has a better Corsi For percentage than Vlasic-Crevier (50.93). The Murphy-Kaiser combo (50) is also the only pair that has a better shots for percentage than Vlasic-Crevier (48.83). Murphy-Kaiser is the only pair with a better expected Goals For percentage as well. And Murphy and Kaiser have spent less than half of the ice time together at 5-on-5 (199:32) as Vlasic with Crevier.
Vlasic-Crevier is the only Blackhawks defensive pair with a scoring chances for percentage over 50 (50.28). In fact, Vlasic and Crevier is one of only 27 defensive pairs in the NHL that has skated at least 400 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together with a scoring chances for percentage over 50.
Of defensive pairs that have been together for at least 400 minutes this season, the Vlasic-Crevier combination ranks ninth in the NHL in expected goals against (17.5).
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
Among Blackhawks defensemen, only Murphy (21.7) has started a higher percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone than Vlasic (20.4) and Crevier (17.1) according to MoneyPuck.
Rinzel will eventually replace Murphy — whether that’s before the trade deadline or later is still to be seen. He’s been given time to continue developing in Rockford this season with the goal being him coming back to the NHL with the confidence we’ve seen from Vlasic, Kaiser and others who have been afforded the opportunity to work on their game in the AHL.
We now have enough of a sample size to see that Vlasic and Crevier are developing well together. And that might give the Blackhawks’ coaches some pause when thinking about breaking them up.
Veteran Matt Grzelcyk is on a one-year deal and is also a likely trade candidate, meaning the Hawks could have two open spots on their blue line after the trade deadline. When Rinzel returns to the NHL and someone — Kevin Korchinski or Ethan Del Mastro — replaces Grzelcyk, it will be interesting to see how the Blackhawks align their defensive pairs.
The Blackhawks are finally starting to get healthy. Frank Nazar and André Burakovsky will be back in the lineup on Thursday night in Carolina, putting two top-six pieces back in the lineup up front. That should help an offense that’s been struggling to get a third goal on the board.
Burakovsky was back skating on a line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene, while Nazar was back on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi. After the Blackhawks practice on Wednesday, Nazar talked again about playing with Bertuzzi and how their play complements each other. Ryan Donato was with Nazar and Bertuzzi; hopefully that can help open him up with some more offensive opportunities.
But having more bodies than he has available roster spots is going to make for some tough decisions for Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill and his staff in the coming days.
Teuvo Teräväinen was on the ice before the rest of the team practiced on Wednesday. Blashill said they expect him to be back before the Olympics, but wouldn’t put a timeline on it.
“It’s still a day-to-day thing,” Blashill said Wednesday. “He’s not going to travel so he’s not playing tomorrow. But after that I would take it as day by day.”
Blackhawks Roster Decisions Looming
Blashill was asked about those potentially tough roster decisions at some point in the not-too-distant future. Based on the lines we saw at practice on Wednesday, it appears Colton Dach and Sam Lafferty will be in the press box Thursday night.
When Teräväinen is ready to return, the Blackhawks might want/need to move someone to Rockford just so they can get regular ice time.
Trade Time?
Of course a trade could change the necessity for an AHL stint, but Blashill didn’t rule that out, either. I asked Blashill about there effectively being two trade deadlines this season: one before the Olympic freeze and then the league’s hard deadline 12 days after the return to NHL action. He didn’t close the door on the Blackhawks potentially doing something before the pre-Olympic freeze:
Blashill has liked the chemistry that’s developing between Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis, and regularly speaks highly of Moore’s play since he moved to center. At Wednesday’s practice, Moore and Lardis were joined by Landon Slaggert — and they appeared to be skating in a fourth-line role.
Slaggert has seen his role primarily be in a defensive set and on the penalty kill; he’s a dog on the puck and plays aggressively. He is actually generating the most scoring chances per 60 minutes on the Blackhawks roster, however, just ahead of Lardis.
With Nazar returning to his spot as the second-line center and Greene taking most of the faceoffs on the top line with Bedard, finding the right opportunities for Moore at center could become tricky.
Most of the league-wide speculation on the Blackhawks’ roster has been focused on defenseman Connor Murphy in recent weeks, but the Blackhawks have a number of other veterans in the final years of their respective contracts. There has also been talk about Jason Dickinson being available.
Dickinson is a great leader in the room and his value to the Blackhawks is based largely on him being one of the better defensive centers in the league. But that’s also why he would be valuable to a contender looking to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Whenever the Blackhawks begin making moves, it will open more doors for young skaters to elevate themselves in the NHL lineup. But the good problem the Blackhawks are going to have to deal with before then is finding when — and where — their young players get ice time to continue developing until the NHL ice time is available.
The Blackhawks have a tough test tonight. The Canes are 18-8-1 at home, have won three straight and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. They also have the second-best goal differential (plus-28) in the Eastern Conference.
But the Blackhawks should get a boost with the return of Frank Nazar tonight. He’ll be back in his usual spot up front, which helps lengthen the Hawks’ lineup. This stacks up as a good measuring stick for the young Blackhawks.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CT
TV / Streaming: ESPN+ / Hulu
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Expected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — André Burakovsky
Ryan Donato — Frank Nazar — Tyler Bertuzzi
Nick Foligno — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Oliver Moore — Nick Lardis
Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Spencer Knight
Arvid Söderblom
Carolina Hurricanes
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Nikolaj Ehlers – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall – Jordan Hall – Jordan Martinook
William Carrier – Mark Jankowski – Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Alexander Nikishin – Joel Nystrom
Brandon Bussi
Frederik Andersen
Injury Report
Chicago Blackhawks
- Teuvo Teräväinen is out. . Shea Weber (retired) and Ryan Ellis (also retired) are out long term.
Carolina Hurricanes
- Noah Philp, Charles-Alexis Legault and Pyotr Kochetkov are on IR. Eric Robinson and Shayne Gostisbehere are day-to-day.
What to Watch For
- The Blackhawks have been struggling to get to three goals lately. Nazar returning should help — both at even strength and on the power play. Carolina’s defense won’t make it easy, however.
- Aho and Jarvis are exceptional forwards who take advantage of mistakes. The Blackhawks will need to limit their turnovers.
- Stay out of the box! The Canes come in with the third-ranked power play (36.4 percent) in the month of January. The Blackhawks are now ranked second on the PK (91.3 percent) — but let’s not try it too many times tonight.
Get Caught Up
Since the Lightning are in town, and considering Oliver Moore‘s performance on Thursday night, it’s worth revisiting a trade lots of Blackhawks fans weren’t thrilled about when it happened.
On March 18, 2022, the Blackhawks traded Brandon Hagel to Tampa Bay for Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk and two first-round picks (2023, 2024). It was the first trade consummated by Kyle Davidson as the permanent general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Raddysh and Katchouk were serviceable pieces while in Chicago. The 2023 first-round pick was used to select Moore at No. 19 overall.
The Blackhawks swapped picks — including Tampa’s first — with the Islanders at the 2024 NHL Draft to move up and select Sacha Boisvert. That full deal was the Blackhawks sending the 20th overall pick and two second rounders (nos. 54 and 61) to the Islanders for the 18th overall selection and a second-round pick (No. 50).
Also at the 2024 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks traded second round picks Nos. 34 and 50 to Carolina to move back up into the first round (No. 27 overall), where they selected Marek Vanacker.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Blackhawks Patience
The Hagel trade is a prime example of why I try to encourage all of us to employ patience when giving grades for trades in the immediate moment. Indeed, the path the Blackhawks chose to embark on with their rebuild plan has required a great deal of patience.
We need to give the Blackhawks time to fully realize the return on deals before evaluating the full impact of a deal — especially when they have traded roster players exclusively (or, most specifically) for picks.
The Hagel trade happened in 2022. The Blackhawks didn’t ultimately use the picks they received (or subsequently flipped) until the drafts in 2023 and 2024.
And we’re now seeing the first significant piece from those picks in the NHL full-time now with Moore establishing himself as an every-night player in the Blackhawks lineup.
Boisvert had a terrific freshman season at North Dakota and has been improving this season at Boston University. The plan is still reportedly that he will turn pro whenever his BU season concludes.
Vanacker got a late start to his post-draft season, but he now leads the OHL in goals. He has already signed his entry-level contract and will turn pro whenever his Brantford season ends.
Davidson has made other trades during his tenure that have brought back future assets — not in the immediate draft class. Another great example is Václav Nestrašil, who was selected in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft with a pick the Blackhawks acquired from Toronto in the deal that sent Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty to the Leafs in 2023.
We’re now at the part of the rebuild timeline when the injection of talented young players into the AHL and NHL rosters is going to be in greater volume. And a lot of the players who are coming up became part of the pipeline thru trades.
So, as we watch an established star in Hagel on the ice tonight in Chicago playing in the wrong colors, remember the plan. And keep in mind what’s still coming as a result of that trade has not yet been fully realized.
Ryan Greene dusted off his best Chris Robinson impression last night after scoring the Blackhawks’ only goal before the skills competition decided a 2-1 loss to the Lightning.
He’s right — to an extent. What we’ve seen at times this season is the Blackhawks can be a really hard to to play against. They’re fast. They’re smart. They’re becoming more consistently tough to skate against. And they’re developing chemistry. But they’re also still young, and the last two games are good benchmarks for the progress we’re watching this season.
Carolina and Tampa are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. They’re both exceptionally well coached and have great veterans in their respective lineups. And, frankly, they both play the game the way the Blackhawks envision themselves playing it. And the Blackhawks took three of four points — even if the analytics might not be pretty for the two games.
Here’s what Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said about the Blackhawks’ last two games being valuable learning experiences this season:
- Let’s watch Louis Crevier‘s shootout goal again.
- If you’re one of the people on social media last night or today saying “get Arvid Söderblom off the roster” please log off for the rest of the weekend. Söderblom was the biggest reason the Blackhawks got a point last night. There have been times recently to complain about his performances. Last night/this morning is not one of them. Sorry.
- I’ve written about the amount of genuine camaraderie that’s developed among Blackhawks prospects over the past few years as a good thing for the organization. As I was leaving the United Center last night I caught a glimpse of the three rookie Blackhawks who had a point in the game chatting with Dominic James, who won the game in the shootout.
- I was a big fan of James’ while he was at Minnesota-Duluth and really wanted/expected the Blackhawks to sign James after his college career ended, but I can’t fault him for looking for what he believed was a better opportunity to see NHL ice time. It appears he’s still friends with some of the guys he spent time with at development camps the past few years. Which is good to see.
- James having a nice rookie season in Tampa is our first reminder that not every player drafted by the Blackhawks is going to get a full shot in Chicago. The numbers just don’t line up for that to be possible.
- And I formally apologize for the jinx once again. I wondered if last night would be a Dominic James Revenge Game in our pregame notes. Whelp… my bad.
- Another reminder: the NHL’s pre-Olympic trade freeze goes into effect in the afternoon on February 4.
- I’ve written a few times recently about the Blackhawks’ looming roster decisions as the roster gets closer to fully healthy. Based on the crowd in the press box for last night’s game, something might be brewing to open roster space for young players to stay in Chicago. Vegas and Anaheim had two representatives enjoying the popcorn and warm beverages with us. Detroit, Toronto (again), Washington, Edmonton and Buffalo also had folks visiting. And I don’t think it was to wish Oliver Moore a happy birthday.
- I will add that there were two assistant general managers and three directors of pro scouting among the names on the list. The Leafs have been frequent guests in January, as have the Ducks and Golden Knights. Stay tuned…
- I noted in my bullets yesterday that the Blackhawks did a great job killing penalties in Carolina without Jason Dickinson dressed and without using Nick Foligno on the PK at all. I asked Blashill about the contributions of Moore, Ryan Greene and Landon Slaggert on the league’s No. 1 penalty kill before the game last night.
- And now this fun graphic from the NHL last night after Moore and Nick Lardis set up Greene for the Blackhawks’ first goal:
- In the NCAA last night, Providence scored twice in the first period against Boston University — who didn’t have Sacha Boisvert in their lineup because of his suspension. Blackhawks prospects John Mustard had an assist on the Friar’s first goal and Julius Sumpf had an assist on the second.
- In the WHL, Nathan Behm had one assist as Kamloops blew out Wenatchee.
- In the OHL, Marek Vanacker scored his OHL-leading 32nd goal of the year in the first period for Brantford. Then he scored his OHL-leading 33rd of the season in the second period.
- Jack Pridham had a power play assist in the first period for Kitchener. And then he became the second player in the OHL to reach 30 goals on the year in the third period. Pridham’s goal was the game-winner. He added a second assist in the third period for a three-point night.
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- The Bulls will retire Derrick Rose’s number tonight. Here’s a DRose career retrospective.
- The Cubs signed outfielder Chas McCormick to a minor league deal.
- Bears tight end Colston Loveland set an NFL rookie playoff record!
