Last spring, Reichel was recalled by the Blackhawks and closed the season on a high note. He had four goals and eight points in his final eight games of the season. He played so well that I excitedly declared he would lead the team in scoring for the 2023-24 season. Yes, this was before the team drafted Connor Bedard, but nobody expected him to be this ineffective through a quarter of the season.

“It’s disappointing,” Reichel said of being a healthy scratch. “I know I’ve got to be better and play my game right now. It’s a good wake-up call. I’ve got to work hard and try to be better.”

Reichel will be back in the lineup Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators, but not in the top six, where he has spent the entire season. He will skate on the fourth line with Ryan Donato and MacKenzie Entwistle. This isn’t exactly the ideal line for Reichel, but he hasn’t been able to produce in the top six, even with an extended run with Bedard and Philipp Kurashev.

“Everyone has to check in this league,” head coach Luke Richardson said of his decision. “You have to check forward and back. Is this the style of line he’d fit in the long term? Probably, no. But he’s got to show some determination and get into some battles to win some pucks. This is a good start for him. Our so-called fourth line has been really good for us lately. We’re looking for him to add some speed on the forecheck and be that determined player.”

Richardson admitted that Reichel “didn’t seem himself” during the recent losses to the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets. He said the young forward wasn’t visibly frustrated but down on himself.

“He needs to reevaluate his game,” said Richardson. “I think he needed to take a step back and look at it. We had a good chat this morning about him just coming to work tonight and not worrying about where he is in the lineup. He needs to work his way up. He’ll get a chance on the power play. He had a good shot this morning in the power-play drills, and that’s what he’ll have to do tonight. He knows that if he can get his game and skating going, he’ll be rewarded when there’s an opportunity.”

Richardson added that sitting out of Sunday’s game was not a punishment but rather a chance for Reichel to evaluate himself. He said the coaching staff gave Reichel their opinion, and he gave them some honest feedback. He asked him this morning if he was ready to draw back in tonight and was told that he was ready.

“It might not be perfect,” Richardson told Reichel. “You might not get three goals tonight, but let’s see some determination and that skating ability. He seems determined to do that tonight.”

Determination was the buzzword for Tuesday’s media scrum. Richardson said he doesn’t just want to tell players what to do. He wants Reichel and everyone else to tell him they want it.

“That’s him holding himself accountable instead of me holding him accountable,” he said. “That’s important for players to understand. We’re here to implement a system that we think our team can live up to and be successful at. The players need to take the onus on themselves. We control the ice time, obviously, but really, they do that in their play. It’s good for the players to speak up and say they’re determined.”

Reichel got the message loud and clear. He said he was shocked at first, but after talking to the coaching staff, he knows what to do to succeed.

“It’s a different game up there; it looks so easy,” he said. “I have to play the right way. Play good defensively. Make plays in the offensive zone.”

Richardson has shown a ton of patience with Reichel and given him plenty of shots to get right in a top-six role. Now it’s time for him to start over and work his way back to being the player we saw last spring.

“We’re not expecting him to do everything by himself,” Richardson said. “He needs to play within the team system, and when it’s his chance, shoot. Just like the other guys, they have to take that shot. We can’t be looking for the extra pass, the perfect play, or a cute stickhandle and saucer pass. That doesn’t really work in this league, especially when you’re not moving. So, for him to be moving, skating, and shooting, that will lead to some offense no matter where he’s playing.”

Getting Reichel going offensively would be a massive addition to this team. It would take a ton of pressure off Bedard, who has had to do everything on offense the past few weeks.

J.T. Compher opened the scoring for the Red Wings, who scored a shorthanded goal 19 seconds into the Blackhawks power play. 61 seconds later, Lukas Reichel answered, scoring his second goal of the season after Connor Bedard centered a puck from behind the net. Robby Fabbri made it 2-1 after walking around Wyatt Kaiser for a highlight-reel goal.

In the second period, the Red Wings broke things open. Ben Chairot and Compher scored a pair of goals 47 seconds apart. On Chairot’s goal, Kaiser slid across the crease predicting a cross-ice pass that never came. Instead, Kaiser impeded Mrazek’s ability to make a save. Reichel took a hooking penalty 15 seconds later. Once on that power play, it only took Compher 32 seconds to put the Wings up 4-1 with yet another backdoor goal…a play that has been killing the Hawks over their last stretch of games. Robby Fabbri would add a power play goal in the third and that was all she wrote.

Jay: Has Isaac Phillips leap-frogged Wyatt Kaiser?

Since Isaac Phillips was recalled on November 11th, replacing the injured Jarred Tinordi, he’s looked better and better every game. On the other hand, Wyatt Kaiser, who was the darling of training camp,, consistency has been an issue. With Tinodi’s return imminent, does Phillips have a chance of sticking in Chicago over Kaiser, or will he head back to the IceHogs? As of Tuesday, it sure seemed like he was Rockford-bound.

“I think the best thing for him, if he has to come in and out of the lineup…he’s better off to be playing in Rockford,” Luke Richardson said after Tuesday’s win over Seattle. “That was our whole message to [Alex] Vlasic last year. I think he came out of that fine and great. That’s what it’s there for. Isaak has played well. I think he’s had a couple little hiccups on the ice…little stumbles in the game…we have to clear that up. That’s just a young guy.”

Richardson was asked about Phillips again before Thursday’s game. “We’ll evaluate what we’ve seen so far, but also tonight counts. Sometimes you don’t have to make those decisions because…we don’t think too far ahead in case someone takes one off the foot. Hopefully not.”

In Phillips’ possible last rehearsal, he outperformed Kaiser. While Phillips did take a double-minor high-sticking penalty, Kaiser was a minus-two on a pair of goals you could argue were his fault. He was also on the ice for Fabbri’s third period power play goal. Phillips also finished -2, but he was Kaiser’s partner. He finished the game with five shots, seven shot attempts, and three hits in 17:13. Kaiser ended with one shot and four shot attempts in 16:33.

This isn’t to say that Kaiser is a bust or won’t eventually end up the better of the two defensemen. I’m also only making this “Kaiser v Phillips” because that is the decision the team is making. That said, a reset in Rockford might be good for Kaiser’s game. The eye-test and the metrics give the edge to Phillips. The argument Kyle Davidson and Richardson would likely give in keeping Kaiser in Chicago is that Phillips and Tinordi are similar players, in that they’re both large human beings. I think that’s underselling Phillips, though. He’s a strong skater, has shown a willingness to put the puck on net and is willing to clear a crease when necessary. My vote is to keep Phillips here. We’ll see what happens.

Greg: Petr Mrazek Continues to Struggle in Consecutive Games

For the most part, Richardson has been alternating his goaltenders, with Petr Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom starting every other game this season. However, when he gave Mrazek starts in consecutive games, the results have not been great.

Mrazek, the veteran of the duo, entered tonight’s game with a .906 save percentage (SV%), which is right in line with his .907 career SV%. His first start in back-to-back games came against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 27. You may remember that game got off to a rough start with a couple of goals allowed early before Mrazek settled down and helped the Blackhawks win in overtime. He finished the game with a .857 SV%.

His other start in a second straight game came last Wednesday at the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he allowed five goals on 18 shots for a season-low .722 SV%. Tonight wasn’t great either, with five goals on 28 shots for a .828 SV%. His three lowest SV% outputs have come on the three times when he’s started a second straight game. This is a strange phenomenon for a guy who has been a true number-one goaltender at the level in the past.

Mario: Frustrations Showing From Bedard

Sometimes showing frustrations in games isn’t a good thing. It can sometimes show that things are getting under your skin about how things are likely not going your way. On Thursday night, following yet another unsuccessful powerplay opportunity, Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard showed his frustrations against the Detroit Red Wings by slamming his stick into the boards a few times and then punching the bench a few more times for good measure. 

The frustrations for Bedard could be mounting as this might be the most unsuccessful season he has experienced, maybe ever, in his young playing career. But it’s not for a lack of trying. Bedard did all he could tonight to try to keep the Blackhawks in the game as he put up 11 shot attempts, created eight scoring chances, had seven shots on goal, the most in a game this season, in the losing effort. 

The good thing is that by letting these frustrations out, it shows that Bedard is holding himself and the team to higher standards than they are achieving. If there wasn’t frustrations being shown about unsuccessful power plays or anything of the like, you’d worry that the G.A.F meter was low in the locker room, or specifically with the most important player on the team right now.

But the great players in hockey hold themselves to those high standards. They hold their teammates to those standards too. For the kind of effort he put in tonight, to not be rewarded with a better result or at least a better team-wide effort, I’d be extremely frustrated too. It sounds weird, but hopefully the G.A.F. that an 18-year-old Bedard is showing can resonate with the locker room and pull the rest of the team into the battle with him. 

We’re back with another edition of the Blackhawks Beat. Let’s see if the Hawks can make it two in a row tonight against Patrick Kane’s Red Wings.

Typically, these weekly Blackhawks Beat columns are locked for CHGO Diehards only, but because of the breadth of the news this week, this one will be unlocked. Regardless, please consider becoming a Diehard. It comes with great perks, discounts and access to all of our great written content, including Greg Boysen and Mario Tirabassi’s weekly Rebuild Report.

I typically try to keep these things light-hearted, but with such an insane week with so many twists and turns, it will get slightly more serious than usual.

Here we go, and thanks for reading…

The Timeline

Tuesday, November 21: The Blackhawks promote Kevin Korchinski to the top power play unit at practice. Corey Perry is also on PP1 when practice concludes. After practice, Perry is seen interacting with kids, signing autographs and greeting each of them for approximately 5-10 minutes. The team then heads to Columbus for the next day’s game.

Wednesday, November 22: The Blackhawks make Perry a healthy scratch at the last minute ahead of their game against the Blue Jackets. The Hawks lose the game 7-3. After the game, head coach Luke Richardson calls the scratch an “organizational decision.” He offers no further details.

Thursday, November 23: The Blackhawks hold practice at Fifth Third Arena. Before practice, they announce that winger Taylor Hall will miss the remainder of the season with an ACL injury. Perry misses practice again. After practice, Richardson is once again vague on the details of Perry’s absence. “I know you have questions about Corey Perry not playing last night and attending practice today but we’re going to keep that internal in the organization right now. I’m not going to be able to answer any more questions on that.”

Friday, November 24: The Blackhawks hold a morning skate ahead of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Perry is not on the ice. After the skate, Richardson gives another non-update update. “It’s just going to be kept internal for now in the organization. Hopefully we’ll be able to give updates soon but we can’t give a timeline on that.” The Hawks beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 on the back of Jason Dickinson’s hat-trick.

Saturday, November 25: Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson breaks his silence, meeting the media before practice at Fifth Third Arena. “It’s been a team decision so far to hold him out and that’s all I’m able to provide,” Davidson says. “I’m just going to not comment on any possible outcome of this.” Later that afternoon, Perry’s agent, Pat Morris, provided the following statement: “Corey Perry has stepped away from the Chicago Blackhawks to attend to personal matters. Corey and his family appreciate privacy at this time.”

Sunday, November 26: The Blackhawks lay an egg vs the St. Louis Blues. Perry is again out of the lineup. Nick Foligno sounds off on the team’s commitment after the game.

Monday, November 27: A salacious rumor begins to surface regarding Perry and a teammate’s mother. The rumor catches fire, and is even ‘winked at’ by ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.

Members of the Blackhawks beat, and national NHL media immediately debunk the rumor, but it seems too late, as it’s become the talk of the internet.

Tuesday, November 28: News breaks that Patrick Kane will be signing with the Detroit Red Wings.

At 2 pm, the Blackhawks announced they are placing Perry on unconditional waivers, and will terminate his contract as soon as he clears. At 4 pm, Davidson meets the media and give as much info as he possibly can, calling the situation a “workplace matter.”

In a story marked 2:38pm ET, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports, “Perry indeed traveled with the team to Columbus last Tuesday, a day before the game, and an incident occurred that day involving a team employee.”

Before the game, the Blackhawks announce they have traded for Vancouver winger Anthony Beauvillier.

The Blackhawks defeat the Kraken 4-3, and many Blackhawks are asked about Perry’s dismissal after the game. “It’s a hard day,” Foligno says. “It doesn’t make it any easier because we care about Corey a ton and we’re gonna wish him well. But the group in here has to galvanize around this and make sure we’re holding ourselves to a high standard, and how serious the Chicago Blackhawks are about that and the culture they want to build here. We’re lucky to be a part of it.”

“He’s a brother and we care about everyone in this room,” Seth Jones adds. “We don’t have any details of what happened, but I know the organization wants to keep a (level of) conduct here, and a place where we hold each other to a standard. I guess that was broken.”

Wednesday, November 29: The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli advances the story. “According to sources, an alcohol-fueled incident involving Perry was alleged to have occurred during an event that included corporate partners and team employees in attendance,” Seravalli wrote. “It remains unclear what allegedly took place, who witnessed it, and who reported it to the team.”

Thursday, November 30th: Corey Perry issues a statement, taking full responsibility for his actions.

OK. Now you’re all caught up. I will try to tackle these things one-by-one, and if you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking with me.

On the handling of the Corey Perry situation

Initially, I was critical of how the Blackhawks handled their messaging around Perry. In my mind, it was too vague, and left the door open for wild speculation. After talking to some sources inside the organization, I came to a realization that there were things that couldn’t be revealed, and backed off my statement, holding judgment until the story played out. Now that Davidson has shared as much as he is able, I think the Blackhawks handled the situation fairly well.

Kaplan’s report, which I mentioned above, lines up with the info I was given over the last few days. I wasn’t confident enough in the info to report it on my own, but in my mind, anything Kaplan reports is as good as gold. With this in mind, it’s clear to see why Davidson and the organization handled things the way they did. There is a victim on the other side of this story. That victim deserves privacy and protection.

Davidson is feeling personally responsible for the reprehensible rumor from earlier this week.

“What’s gone on over the last 24 hours has been very disturbing, and I feeling like I’m wearing it,” Davidson said Tuesday. “I’m carrying that.”

Perhaps more immediate clarity could have prevented crazy rumors from spreading, but with all the info we have now, it just wasn’t possible to share more or give more. It’s also unfair for Davidson to hold himself responsible for the world’s lack of media literacy. In 2023, people should be able to decipher between a random person’s tweet and actual sourced news.

I would like to hear from Danny Wirtz over the next few days. Since he’s taken the reigns (officially and unofficially) there have been a pair of controversies. The Perry situation, and last year’s decision to not wear Pride Night jerseys. That news was given to the media via sources, and wasn’t directly addressed by the organization until the damage had been done. Now, with the Perry situation, I think it would be meaningful for Wirtz to show his support for Davidson’s decision. It would also give him the opportunity to let people know that the policies the Blackhawks have put in place for their employees worked in this circumstance, and the Perry outcome is proof.

On Taylor Hall’s injury

Mainly, I just feel awful for Hall. The ACL was his third injury (that we know of) of this season. He did everything he could to remain in the lineup, including skating on a torn ACL. He’s been labeled as injury-prone for a couple of years now, and his brief 2023-24 experience with the Blackhawks won’t do anything to change that. Fortunately for Hall, he has another year remaining on his contract, so he has 2024-25 with the Blackhawks to shake that reputation and earn his next contract, be it with the Blackhawks or elsewhere in the NHL.

On Patrick Kane joining the Red Wings

Twenty years ago, I think this one would have hurt a lot more. It took me decades to get over Chris Chelios’ move to Detroit, but when I got the news that Kane had chosen the Red Wings, I met it with a big “meh.” And I wasn’t alone.

47% of Blackhawks fans we polled (which is undeniable scientific fact) also said, “Meh.” Maybe it’s a coping mechanism. Maybe it’s because fans had the chance to say goodbye to Kane all of last season. Maybe it’s the fact that the Red Wings rivalry is as dead as dead can be these days. Whatever it is, this move feels just like it would feel had Kane jumped to the Islanders or Panthers. It’s going to look weird, and that’s about it.

On the Anthony Beauvillier trade

With Hall and Perry gone, Davidson had to do something to address the offense, and while Beauvillier isn’t exactly the second coming of Mario Lemieux, he will help Richardson with scoring depth and flexibility. Beauvillier is good enough to play on the top-six in Chicago, but is versatile enough to move up and down the lineup. “He’s definitely a little spitfire out there,” Richardson said after Tuesday’s game. “He can skate, he can shoot, he brings energy. Hopefully, he brings some consistency and some extra scoring, which we could use right now.”

Beauvillier, 26, has eight points in 22 games played with Vancouver this season, and 237 points over 512 NHL games. He was drafted 28th overall by the New York Islanders in 2015, and carries a $4.15 million cap hit that expires after this season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Also, Beauvillier is fun to say. Bo-VILL-e-ay! Bo-VILL-e-ay!

The Week Ahead

Tonight – at Detroit Red Wings

I know what you’re thinking, and it would be amazing, but Patrick Kane won’t play in this game. He did appear at Wednesday’s morning skate, which gave us the first glimpse of Kane in a Red Wings uniform, but the expectation, according to Kane, is he’ll begin playing for Detroit next week.

Saturday – at Winnipeg Jets

The Jets, who have beaten the Blackhawks in all five of their last matchups, are off to a better start than many expected (currently third in the central division with 26 points). After last season’s first-round playoff exit to Vegas, head coach Rick Bowness called out his team. “We had no pushback,” Bowness said. “Their better players were so much better than ours tonight. They deserve to win. They were the better team in the regular season. They were the better team in this series.” So what’s changed for the Jets this season? “I think the room’s tighter, I think the culture here is outstanding because of the players,” Bowness said on Tuesday. “It starts with that off the ice. That’s where it all starts, you’ve gotta have that chemistry, you’ve gotta have that culture off the ice. This team is a tighter team off the ice and it’s shown itself on the ice.”

Sunday – at Minnesota Wild

The Wild just made a change at head coach, firing Dean Evason for John Hynes. Something had to give in Minnesota. They’re 5-10-4 start was way below expectations. The Wild beat the Blues 3-1 on Tuesday night, so we’ll see what difference Hynes makes, but this feels like a change for the sake of change. I guess you can’t fire the players, right Jay Woodcroft?

Tuesday – vs Nashville Predators

Believe it or not, the Nashville Mid-ators have won six games in a row. I don’t know how and I still think they’re average as hell. There. There’s your game analysis.

Thanks for making it all the way to the end. Hopefully, next week’s Blackhawks Beat will be about friggin’ hockey!

After getting a month’s worth of news in half a day, the Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken finally played a hockey game. The Blackhawks played a simplified game, something that head coach Luke Richardson has stressed since the start of the season. The approach worked as it led to a hard-fought 4-3 victory.

The home team got off to a quick start with goals from Boris Katchouk and Jason Dickinson 89 seconds apart. It marked the first time the Blackhawks scored first since Nov. 16 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and their first 2-0 lead since Nov. 4 versus the Florida Panthers. The Kraken got on the board with a tally from Matty Berniers. They drew even in the late opening frame with a shorthanded goal from Alex Wennberg off a failed drop pass by Kevin Korchinski.

Early in the second period, Tyler Johnson took an excellent feed from Taylor Raddysh and went bar down for his sixth goal of the season. Lukas Reichel was credited with the secondary assist for his fourth helper on the campaign. Joey Anderson picked up his second assist of the night by digging the puck out from the end boards, then sending a backhand pass across the crease that was banged home by MacKenzie Entwistle.

Seven minutes into the final frame, Tye Kartye drew Seattle to within a goal by just squeezing the puck through Mrazek. Things got tense when the Kraken had a two-man advantage for 1:03 with less than six minutes to play. The penalty kill came up huge as they preserved the one-goal lead, much to the delight of the United Center crowd.

Jay: Please Kill the Slingshot Power Play

If you’ve been watching the Blackhawks for the last number of years, you’ll notice a trend on their power play. The puck carrier will skate up the ice with another skater on his tail. When the carrier reaches center ice, he will turn around and drop pass the puck to the trailing player. The concept is to create space and to allow a player with speed to enter the zone. Too often, it causes a turnover. Tonight, it caused a shorthanded goal. 

What you won’t see in the above highlight is Korchinski’s pass off a Kraken shin-pad at center ice. The puck ricochets into the Kraken zone, and they take it the other way. Yes, the defense and goaltending were poor in this sequence, but it never should have happened. 

This has been a thorn in my side for years. It seems that the slingshot works in the opposite way it’s supposed to. If the initial puck carrier is flying through center ice with speed, why slow him down? Why stop his momentum? By dropping it back, you’re allowing the penalty-killing team more time to gather four-wide at the blue line, making any zone entry more difficult. 

We’ll ask Richardson about it this week at practice, but please, please, please, let’s launch this approach into the sun. It rarely worked when the Blackhawks had played like Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on the roster. What are the odds it works with a lesser-skilled team? 

Greg: Nick Foligno Back on Top Line with Connor Bedard

When the Blackhawks took the ice for morning skate ahead of tonight’s game, Richardson shuffled up his lines. The biggest move was Nick Foligno taking the left wing spot on the top line with Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev.

“He’s a great player to have as much success as he’s had in this league,” Bedard said of Foligno. “He’s a skilled player and has a lot of tools. Whoever we are playing with, I’m excited for that. Playing with Reichs the last few games was great. But having Folingo back should be good with how hard he plays. We have a little chemistry from the few games we played together.”

Heading into the game, Foligno and Bedard had played 106:12 of 5v5 ice time together; the most Foligno has played with any forward this season. They were on the ice together for 98 shot attempts for and 119 against, a 45.16 Corsi for percentage (CF%). The Blackhawks scored eight goals with them on the ice and gave up nine.

This combination was not very good tonight. They spent much of their 5v5 time chasing the puck in their own zone. In 8:05 of 5v5 ice time, the line had four shot attempts to 12 allowed for a 25 CF%. The good news was that they didn’t need to be dominant, as the Blackhawks got contributions from the other three lines. It will be interesting to see where the newly acquired Beauvillier will fit in. There is a good chance he jumps in on Bedard’s left side, and Foligno can return to that effective third line with Dickinson and Anderson.

Mario: Simplicity Pays Off

It’s amazing to see what the Blackhawks can do offensively when they are executing what head coach Luke Richardson is preaching: keep it simple. The Blackhawks scored three goals tonight that were simple plays and simple setups.

The game’s opening goal was from Boris Katchouk being in the right spot for a rebound off a shot with a screen in front of Phillip Grubauer. The second goal was another opportunity for Jason Dickinson to send a ripper on net through traffic on an extended offensive shift. MacKenzie Entwistle’s goal to make the game 4-2 in the second period was a perfect example of players being rewarded for going to the net with purpose. Joey Anderson brought the puck around the back of the Seattle net and tried to stuff it home, while Entwistle came out of the corner and went directly to the front of the net and found himself with a wide-open net and a rebound chance for his second goal of the season. 

These kinds of plays in the offensive zone are what Luke Richardson has been asking of his Blackhawks team and what de-facto “Captain” Nick Foligno has reiterated in postgame availabilities that the team needed to commit to doing. For as fun and exciting tic-tac-toe passing and cross-ice sauce passes are, the Blackhawks do not have enough talent to make those kinds of plays routinely yet. This is still a team that needs to rely on their work-ethic and not their talent to be competitive. It was a breath of fresh air to see them play this way tonight and be rewarded for it. 

Beauvillier, 26, has eight points in 22 games played with Vancouver this season, and 237 points over 512 NHL games. He was drafted 28th overall by the New York Islanders in 2015, and carries a $4.15 million cap hit that expires after this season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The Canucks are not expected to retain any of Beauvillier’s salary.

With Perry gone, and Taylor Hall out for the season, it would have been negligent for Davidson to leave all of the offensive burden on Connor Bedard, Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev. The addition of Beauvillier gives head coach Luke Richardson both roster flexibility and scoring depth…two things he badly needed with the loss of two of his top forwards.

The silence from both sides led to rampant speculation and wild rumors. Today, the Chicago Blackhawks released this official statement:

“After an internal investigation, the Chicago Blackhawks have determined that Corey Perry has engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation both of the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments. As such, Corey Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers. In the event Mr. Perry clears waivers, we intend to terminate his contract effective immediately.”

Off the ice, it’s good that the team quickly handled this situation and made a decision. On the ice, the Blackhawks have lost two veteran leaders for the season in Perry and Taylor Hall.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson met with the media ahead of tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken. While he refused to give full details on what got us to this point, he did give some clarity in his opening statement.

“Last week, management was notified of possible misconduct by Corey Perry,” he revealed. “I will not be able to disclose any details. This does not involve any players or their families. Anyone that suggests otherwise is wildly inaccurate, and frankly, it’s disgusting.”

Davidson was clearly upset by the whole ordeal and seemed to fight back tears at multiple times during the nine-minute press conference.

“Over the last 24 hours, what’s gone on has been very disturbing,” he said. “I feel like I’m wearing it; I’m carrying that. It’s tough to see.”

You can watch the entire press conference below:

The Blues got on the board early with a battle of young former WHL standouts going their way as Jake Neighbours beat Kevin Korchinski in a footrace and one-on-one battle to score the opening goal. Almost exactly two minutes later, former Blackhawks draft pick Kevin Hayes made it a 2-0 game with a decent snipe and Chicago was facing a multi-goal hole just five and a half minutes into the contest.

Ryan Donato made it 2-1 in the first period with a tip-in goal off a shot from Isaak Phillips with just over five minutes left to play in the opening period, but the momentum swing back in Chicago’s favor only lasted a little more than two minutes as the Blues made it 3-1 on a backdoor tap-in on the powerplay by Pavel Buchnevich on a no-look pass from Robert Thomas.

The game would remain 3-1 from that point through the second period and most of the third period with the Blackhawks controlling most of the offensive action and chances.

Create where it’s due, Jordan Binnington played well today and was able to make the saves asked of him when the Blackhawks got their scoring chances. The effort today wasn’t the problem with the Blackhawks, but rather the execution on the finishing of those chances made the difference.

With just over six minutes to play in the third period, the Blues put the game away with the 4-1 goal coming after Pavel Buchnevich picked the pocket of Korchinski and found Neighbours in front of the net to bury his second goal of the game. In the final moments of the game, the Blackhawks made it a 4-2 effort as Boris Katchouk, who felt due after having a ton of chances this season with none converting, buried a breakaway chance for his first goal of the season.

Arvid Söderblom played in back-to-back games for the first time this season following his overtime win over the Maple Leafs on Friday afternoon. He made 24 saves on 28 shots faced and sees his record fall to 2-7-0 on the year. With the loss, the Blackhawks record falls to 6-13-0 on the year and with 12 points in the NHL standings, are just two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks for dead-last in the league.

Greg: Blackhawks Still Chasing First Winning Streak

The Blackhawks picked up their sixth win of the season in dramatic fashion over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. That gave them their sixth chance to win back-to-back games, something they have been unable to accomplish this season. In fact, the Blackhawks are the only team in the NHL to not have won back-to-back games. Even the San Jose Sharks have a two-game winning streak.

“It will build our team’s confidence,” Luke Richardson said about winning two games in a row. “It will also get us in a mindset when playing here at home – making it a difficult place to come in and play. It’s a two-win situation today if we can double up on the wins at home and make it difficult on the other team. That’s what we’re looking for today. Our game plan is very similar to the last game. Put it in deep with lots of speed, put pressure on them, and have as much control of that puck as much as we can.”

Richardson and the Blackhawks did not get the start they were looking for, giving up two goals on the first four shots of the game. After Donato got them on the board, they allowed a late first-period goal to the worst power play in the NHL.

The overall effort wasn’t terrible. The Blackhawks were the better team for stretches of the game. The biggest difference was that the Blues were able to take advantage of their scoring chances, and the Blackhawks could not. St. Louis’ top players played as such and won their team the game. When the talent gap is big on most nights, it will be hard to string together wins. However, it would be nice to finally get two in a row at some point.

Jay: Backdoor goals are killing the Blackhawks

Over their last three games, the Blackhawks have given up six goals that can be described as “back door.” What does that mean? While the puck is being carried on one side of the ice, the offside forward sneaks to the side of the net, looking for a pass to come their way as they’re uncovered. 

It happened three times vs Columbus, twice vs Toronto and again vs St. Louis. 

Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson was asked about it after Saturday’s practice. “We have to be better for our goaltenders, for sure, in that department,” Richardson said. “We talked to the D to be up a little more. When they shift they have to shift together and shift early, so we’re on the puck but we’re also covering the middle of the ice. If they can sauce a pass 85 feet across the ice and land it flat nowadays, well then we’ll give them that. It’s at least only one big push from the goaltender, it’s not a last-minute scramble to the backdoor. It’s usually about the top circles or hashmarks at least. That’s something we have to make sure we’re better at.”

With an inexperienced team, these learning lessons can be expected, but it hasn’t only been the young defensemen. On Sunday, it was Connor Murphy who was the defenseman in front of the net on the Blackhawks “diamond” penalty kill. He’s responsible for the forwards in front. As you can see in the highlight above, Jake Neighbours (63) leaves the net front area. This should turn Murphy’s attention to Pavel Buchnevich, the eventual goal scorer. In fairness, Murphy is responsible for defending a potential one-timer, which could have been an option for Neighbours, but it’s a calculation Murphy has to make there. Söderblom is square to the potential shooter on Neighbours’, side. He could let Söderblom handle the shooter while he handles the back door. 

Looking over the last few games, you can see that opposing teams have gone to school and are looking for the play vs Chicago. Until they make the adjustment, expect it to continue. 

Mario: Nick Foligno is without question the Captain of this Blackhawk team

Without wearing a “C” on his chest, Blackhawks newcomer Nick Foligno is undoubtedly the Captain of this year’s team. Following today’s 4-2 loss, and seemingly following every difficult game or scenario this club has faced, Foligno was again facing the media and answering questions with necessary brutal honesty. That’s a trait in a player that this club needs and that they have had in recent years with Jonathan Toews.

Here is Foligno’s full media availability following today’s game.

A former Captain himself in Columbus, Foligno is in his 17th season in the NHL and has the presence and cache in a locker room to call things as he sees them. What Foligno is calling out of his teammates, rookies and vets alike, after just 19 games in Chicago is the truth: there’s a missing culture to this team. Last year, the Chicago Blackhawks played with a dedication to keeping things simple and playing hard. Two simple things Luke Richardson asked of his team in his first year behind the bench. On most nights they were out-matched on talent, but they weren’t often out-worked.

This year’s team has not had that same identity or team culture surrounding them. Foligno called it out on Sunday afternoon and it is a message this roster needs to absorb and put into action. There’s a lot of “looking in the mirror” time coming for this team if they cannot find the will and commitment to executing the simplicity of the game and playing within the system Richardson is asking of them.

However, when Tinordi landed on IR and Zaitsev took a personal leave from the team (he has since returned), the Blackhawks recalled Isaak Phillips from the Rockford IceHogs. Phillips has 26 NHL games under his belt, with six coming in recent weeks. Pairing him and Kaiser together is not ideal, but they are making the best out of it.

“It’s fun to play together,” Phillips said after Saturday’s practice. “We can both skate. When we’re playing at our best, we’re both moving together. We’re both learning and having fun with it.”

The young duo has had some ups and downs. They are both mobile defenders, with Kaiser being the faster, smother skater and Phillips bringing the physical play. Both can add to the offensive attack, but neither have yet to establish themselves at that end of the ice.

“Their skating ability is great, and that’s what we need out of them,” said Richardson. “And part of that is getting up for a good gap. That’s the one place where they were just a little bit lacking last night (against the Toronto Maple Leafs), but they’ve been really good as of late.

“I like the way Kaiser is shooting the puck harder and more often, and I think that’ll become contagious. We worked on it again at the end of practice today, and that’s something we want to see from our D, especially the young guys. Feel confident to shoot that puck.”

Against the Maple Leafs on Friday, Phillips and Kaiser were on the ice for the first and third Toronto goals.

“On the first goal, I was a little hesitant to slide over, and then he was hesitant, and then that creates everyone to get caught in committal,” Phillips admitted.

Richardson said that Phillips and Kaiser didn’t slide over fast enough on the third goal, which gave Ryan Reaves a wide-open look from the slot.

You’d expect to see these types of plays from a pairing of rookie defensemen. They are going to make mistakes. The hope is that they learn from them and don’t repeat the same mistakes repeatedly.

Phillips is not lacking any confidence, despite not being able to cement his place on the NHL roster.

“Coming into camp, I came in with the same confidence I have now,” he said. “I feel that I’m ready to be here. This is the place I’m growing as a player. The confidence is there for me.”

He and Kaiser have played six games together this season and have 57:17 of ice time at 5v5. The only player Kaiser has more 5v5 time with this season is Tinordi. Phillips and Kaiser have a 39.81 Corsi for percentage (CF%), with just 27.3% of their shifts starting in the offensive zone. In nine games and 73:33 of 5v5 ice time, Kaiser and Tinordi have a 36.42 CF%, with 30% of their shifts starting in the offensive zone. So, it appears that Kaiser is slightly better with another rookie next to him than one of his veteran “safety nets.”

The Blackhawks will have an interesting decision when Tinordi comes off the injured list. General manager Kyle Davidson said on Saturday that Tinordi is skating on his own but has yet to join his teammates.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, another team that always seems to be in some sort of turmoil, made their only appearance on United Center ice this afternoon. The Blackhawks were looking to sweep the two-game season series after a 4-1 win in Toronto back in October. The speed and talent gap between these two teams were glaring, but the Blackhawks gave the effort that Richardson had been begging for. In the end, the home team erased a 3-1 deficit and won 4-3 in a crazy overtime.

The home got off to another slow start, giving up seven of the first eight shots of the game. Seven minutes in, former Blackhawk Max Domi made a nice cross-ice feed to Nick Robertson, who roofed the puck up and over Arvid Soderblom. Jason Dickinson answered less than a minute later with his second goal in as many periods. The veteran forward has three goals and seven points in his last nine games.

The start of the second period was a disaster. Shortly after Tyler Johnson erased a power play with a tripping call, Calle Jarnkrok got inside position and Alex Vlasic for an easy tap-in goal. Just over a minute later, our old friend Jake McCabe found Ryan Reaves alone in the slot for another uncontested goal and a 3-1 Maple Leafs lead.

Dickinson struck again later in the second period when a loose puck found him at the front of the net, and he beat Ilya Samsonov to the short side. This goal changed the momentum of the game as the Blackhawks started to get sustained offensive zone time and pressure. The last five or six minutes of the second period were some of the best hockey the team has played in quite some time.

Richardson sent the Dickinson line out to start the third period, and it took him all of 14 seconds to net his first career hat trick and tie the game at 3-3.

Jay: Jason Dickinson has received Luke Richardson’s message 

All season long, Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson has preached simplicity. Get the puck in deep, skate north and south, put pucks on net. No Hawk has put out that style of play as consistently as Jason Dickinson, whose effort were rewarded with a hat trick Friday. 

The first of his three goals vs Toronto is just an example that you can use your skill and speed while keeping the game simple. 

He corralled a puck along the boards, used a toe-drag to maneuver the puck away from our beloved Jake McCabe, and put the puck on net. 

On his second goal of the afternoon, Dickinson once again utilized his toe-drag to gain better control of the puck, this time in close.

For the hat trick, which came 15 seconds into the third, Dickinson found the puck on his blade right in the slot. Why? Because his line mates, despite not having the puck, were aggressively stick checking, forechecking, and making it difficult for the Leafs to exit their own zone. 

During the second intermission, color analyst Troy Murray was praising the approach of Foligno-Dickinson-Anderson line. Murray praised the trio for not doing anything “fancy,” and stressed that the rest of the team, including Connor Bedard, who Murray called out for a turnover, need to go to school and get the message. 

Get the puck in, drive the net, then use your skill. It’s so simple. One does not have to sacrifice skill for simplicity. When these things work in tandem, the results will come. 

“Doing the right things all leads to great feelings in this locker room,” Dickinson said after the game. 

Richardson likes to use video to show his players what works and what doesn’t work in the NHL. Rest assured all three Dickinson goals will be featured in their next meetings. 

Greg: Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman Earn More Ice Time

The last few days around Blackhawks’ camp have been strange. There have been season-ending injuries, mysterious scratches, and a blowout to a team that had lost nine games in a row. With the glaring holes in the roster, Cole Guttman and Joey Anderson were recalled from the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday.

Guttman made the team out of training camp and scored against the Pittsburgh Penguins on opening night but was sent down after three games. Joey Anderson has been fantastic in the AHL. At the time of his recall, he led the IceHogs with seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points.

I asked Richardson before today’s game if having two guys looking to stay in the NHL inserted into the lineup might energize a team coming off one of their worst efforts of the season.

“We need that right now,” Richardson said. “In the past, they have both shown they can do a really good job for us. They’re familiar with us, which really helps, and we’re familiar with them. We’re really excited to see what kind of energy they can bring. They’re playing excellent hockey right now, and that’s what we need here. We need to get back on top of things. Obviously, we need a more consistent game, and we hope they will give us a bit of a charge today.”

Anderson made an immediate impact with the primary assist on Dickinson’s first-period goal. He was a factor in Dickinson’s second goal. Even though he was not credited with a point, he got in hard on the forecheck, which caused the puck to find Dickinson.

He was on the ice for all three Dickinson goals, had the assist, and was a plus-3. He played a simple and hard brand of hockey, something that has been missing for the last few games.

Guttman was not as effective as Anderson, but his game got stronger as the contest wore on. He was back on the “Ex Bolts” line with Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh. In the third period, he passed up a shooting attempt but later got off a spin-o-rama shot that just missed the far post. He had two shot attempts, a blocked shot and won five of his nine faceoffs on the day.

Mario: Blackhawks Recover With Strong Finishes to Each Period 

A lot has been made about the Blackhawks’ starts to games and starts to individual periods this year. They have largely been slow to start games this season and head coach Luke Richardson has regularly turned to players like Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, and Jason Dickinson to give the team some jump to begin those periods of play, whether they are together on a line or not. Today’s game got off to a horrible start with the Maple Leafs dominating play with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage and a 1-0 lead just over seven minutes into the game. But the theme of the night was the response from the Blackhawks. 

Following the rough start, Jason Dickinson was there at the end of the first period to tie the game and start turning the tides the other way for Chicago.

But the second period was another horrible start for Chicago with a powerplay that the Blackhawks started the period with being negated just 22 seconds in and the Maple Leafs scoring at 4-on-4 just 55 seconds after that. Two make matters worse, two minutes later the Leafs are up 3-1 thanks to a Ryan friggin’ Reaves goal. Things could have easily gone off the rails from there but the Blackhawks did not fold. The pressure was amped-up from Chicago late into the second period and it was Dickinson for the second time giving the Blackhawks life in the game with the 3-2 goal. 

A high-pressure finish to the second period carried over into the beginning of the third period as it would be Dickinson getting on the board for the third time, scoring his first NHL hat-trick on a play that was caused by Nick Foligno working hard on a forecheck to cause a turnover. Chicago ran their momentum through the third period of the tied game into a chaotic overtime period that ended with a beneficial bounce going Chicago’s way and Kevin Korchinski finding the game-winner. 

It’s not a recipe to follow every night, having to chase the game consistently, but this was a game where the Blackhawks were able to not only string-together good stretches of play doing the little things right, but they were then rewarded for it. The way they ended periods today, and the way they started the third period, should be shown in video sessions all season long to remind them what good can come from playing with purpose in a simplified game. 

The organization has preached transparency under the new regime headed-up by front office leaders Danny Wirtz, Jaime Faulkner, Kyle Davidson, and head coach Luke Richardson. We’ve seen it in practice on a number of occasions since the four of them have been in their current positions.

And that’s why the lack of information and comments regarding Perry’s absence these past few days has been so mystifying.

On Tuesday, before getting on the plane to head to Ohio and face the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 19-year veteran Perry was playing on the top powe rplay unit for the Blackhawks along with Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev, Connor Bedard, and Kevin Korchinski. There was at least some optimism and excitement to see what the four kids could do with their “hockey dad” and the team’s third-leading scorer playing on the man advantage.

Richardson said that there were no expected lineup changes heading to Columbus and Perry even took time after practice to come off the ice and talk with a big group of kids who were at the Fifth Third Arena and sign anything they put in front of him.

Then, minutes prior to Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jackets, we learned that both Taylor Hall (later learning he required season-ending knee surgery) and Corey Perry wouldn’t be available for the game and that scratching Perry was an “organizational decision.” If Corey Perry had played poorly, you’d believe the decision would be merit-based. But since Perry has been one of the most effective players the Blackhawks have had to begin this season, none of it made sense.

To add to the confusion, it appeared even players were in the dark on the situation when they were asked about it after Thursday’s practice.

Between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning, there has been no further information given into the “organizational decision” to have Perry not only out of the lineup, but also not around for the Thursday morning practice.

Prior to Friday afternoon’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Luke Richardson still had no further information or comments on Perry not being around the team.

With no further information coming from the club, the speculation over Perry’s absence has run rampant across the league. The made-up trade rumors and scenarios that may or may not, could or could not surround the situation don’t help either. It could largely be avoided with even a small bit of information.

Maybe we’re not entitled to that bit of information. If this is a personal matter for Perry, one would think the verbiage would reflect that like it did earlier this month when Nikita Zaitsev was away from the team.

This is also a side of Luke Richardson that we haven’t seen since he took over as head coach in Chicago. Usually full of very honest and open answers to pretty much any question given to him, this is the least information Richardson has been able to give on a topic. Which feels extremely out of character in this scenario. Again, if it was related to on-ice performance, no one would bat an eye. But the non-comments about the situation are, at the very least, extremely odd from the Blackhawks standpoint.

Buffalo opened the scoring with a snipe from Rasmus Dahlin in the first period to give them a 1-0 lead that they would carry into the second period. The Blackhawks responded well in the middle frame with two goals in the period, the 1-1 game-tying goal coming from Taylor Raddysh and the 2-2 game-tying goal from Philipp Kurashev, with a Jeff Skinner goal in the middle and it would be 2-2 heading into the third period.

In the third, the Blackhawks opened the period with a ton of sustained offensive pressure and nearly took the lead on at least two great chances. But it would be Buffalo once again taking the lead thanks to Erik Johnson making it 3-2 just past the mid-way point of the frame. Chicago threw everything they could’ve at the end of the game trying to get the equalizing goal, but came up just inches short from forcing overtime, ultimately falling 3-2. They have dropped five of their last six games and, excluding empty-net goals, all five of those loses were one-goal games.

Jay: Philipp Kurashev stays hot

“He’s been awesome. He’s a different player this year.”

That’s what Blackhawks’ analyst Troy Murray had to say about Philipp Kurashev’s hot start to the season. After picking up a goal in Saturday’s 4-2 loss in Nashville, the winger kept his production going, this time scoring a goal and an assist in Sunday’s loss to the Sabres. He now has 10 points in 10 games this season, and Sunday was his third multi-point game of the season. 

Focusing only on Kurashev’s offense is doing him a disservice, though. He made several solid defensive plays, including knocking a puck out of mid-air on an odd-man rush. His reliable defensive play also allows Luke Richardson to deploy the top line of Connor Bedard, Lukas Reichel and Kurashev, knowing Kurashev can help the trio recover from any turnovers or defensive lapses. 

“Kursh was the driving force on that line,” Luke Richardson said after the game. “He’s been pretty responsible. [He] brings speed to our game, [and] consistency since he’s been back.” 

At all strengths, Kurashev was on the ice for 25 shot attempts for and only 13 against. He is quickly becoming one of the bright spots in a season quickly lacking in bright spots. He’s become one of Richardson’s most dependable players, and won’t be moving from that top line any time soon. 

Greg: Connor Bedard & Lukas Reichel Finally Put Together

The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate today, and Luke Richardson said that the forwards group would be the same when he met with the media. What he didn’t let on was that while it was the same 12 forwards playing, the top six got a major shakeup. In a move that many have been wanting to see for weeks, Reichel moved up to the left wing of the top line with Bedard and Kurashev.

The new-look top line was victimized on the first Buffalo goal. They had a chance to clear the zone after Mrazek stoned Zach Benson, but they failed to do so, and seconds later, the puck was in their net. With about five minutes left in the opening frame, they provided the Blackhawks with the most sustained zone time of the period. They did produce a couple of shots on goal, but it was a lot of skating around looking for the perfect play rather than just getting the puck on the net and crashing the crease.

All three forwards picked up a point on the Blackhawks’ second goal, with Bedard and Reichel getting assists on Kurashev’s fourth goal of the season.

The line was buzzing early in the third period leading to Reichel drawing a penalty. Unfortunately, the power play unit was unable to cash in on the opportunity. At the end of the net, the trio finished with a goal, three assists, five shots on goal, and 11 shot attempts. At 5v5, they were on the ice for 16 shot attempts for and 10 against for a 61.54 Corsi For percentage (CF%). There is no reason to break this line up for Wednesday’s game against the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.

Mario: Blackhawks have a response in middle frame

Coming into tonight, the Blackhawks had been out-scored 17-9 in second periods this season, their worst goal-differential in any of the three periods of a regulation game. Often times we see this Blackhawks group coming out of the gates with a good start, but have it falter later in the first period or not have that start translate to the second period and end up leading to either blown leads or to the Blackhawks chasing games.

Tonight, Chicago was chasing a game five minutes into the competition and had to make up from that 1-0 deficit heading into the first intermission.

They were awarded an early powerplay in the period, and after what looked to be an underwhelming man-advantage, Taylor Raddysh would get a deflected puck past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to tie the game just after the powerplay had expired. The Sabres would respond with an actual powerplay goal from Jeff Skinner to regain the lead but it wouldn’t last long as Philipp Kurashev would score a rebound goal to tie the game once again at 2-2 and that would be it for then second frame.

It wasn’t perfect, but the Blackhawks were able to show a bit of jump and response to the Sabres in the second period, more than they were showing yesterday against the Predators. In the middle frame, the Blackhawks out-shot the Sabres 12-5 (10-3 at 5v5), and out-scored them 2-1.

The momentum built in the second period seemed to translate into the start of the third period, but unfortunately didn’t turn into the third goal of the game for Chicago before the Sabres eventually took the 3-2 lead later in the final period.

After a good start to the first period, the Predators were able to get out to a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission with goals coming from Yakov Trenin and Gustav Nyquist. The Blackhawks were able to cut into the lead with a goal coming from Philipp Kurashev, but the Predators got back to a two-goal lead with the 3-1 goal coming from Cole Smith. Tyler Johnson got the Blackhawks back to within one-goal later in the third period, but it wasn’t enough of an effort late in the game to tie the game and Smith potted the empty-net goal to seal the game.

The Blackhawks are back in action tomorrow night back home in Chicago as they host the Buffalo Sabres.

Jay: Production Has Arrived for Philipp Kurashev

It feels like Phiipp Kurashev has been around forever. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21 and played in his 200th NHL game on Saturday in Nashville.

Over those games, we’ve seen glimpses and flashes from Kurashev, and it was clear to see what the Blackhawks saw when they drafted him in the fourth round (120th overall) in 2018. He brings a unique package of skills, speed, and board work.

Consistency had always been the knock on Kurashev, though. Despite the skills and flashes, the points were never there.

Well, it appears the production has arrived. Kurashev scored in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Nashville, and he, along with his linemates Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno, were dominant in the loss. They out-attempted Nashville 15-5 in the game at 5-on-5. They were the only line on the team that finished over 50% in shot attempts. Kurashev also finished the game as the Blackhawks’ highest-rated player (2.22), according to hockeystatcards.com‘s game score.

Since returning to the lineup after a preseason injury, Kurashev has three goals and five assists in nine games.
It’s unlikely he’ll continue his nearly point-per-game pace this season, but if he can be counted on to provide 35-45 points per season, it’s a massive win for the Blackhawks.

For all the skill they have in their system with players like Bedard and collegiate forwards Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore, the Hawks have a lot of skill without a lot of grit. That’s what makes Kurashev’s development so important. Those guys will need someone to retrieve the puck for them, and as of now, there aren’t any NHL sure-things on the horizon.

Greg: Arvid Söderblom Good, but Not Great in Net

Arvid Söderblom had high expectations heading into his full NHL season. We all thought he would lead the team in starts by the end of the season, and that still may happen, but he has not played consistently. His first two starts were very good, giving up three goals on 68 combined shots against the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. His next two starts saw him give up five goals to the Vegas Golden Knight and seven to the Arizona Coyotes. He’s only had one other start with a save percentage (SV%) over .900 and that came in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 5.

Söderblom’s biggest problem seems to be his confidence. We heralded at time last season about his play between the pipes. He was always compact and had very little wasted movement. The past few games, he’s been all over the crease, struggling with his rebound control, and flat-out fighting off the puck at times.

The Predators’ first goal may or may not ticked off Kevin Korchinski’s stick, but it beat Söderblom cleanly to the short side. The second and third goals were both results of his inability to absorb a rebound and cover up the puck. To make matters worse, they both came very in the first and second periods. Those are the types of goals that just kill momentum.

These are things that need to be better if he wants to remain part of the future, let alone earn more starts this season. It was not all bad for Söderblom. He made a huge stop on the shift following Kurashev’s goal, as well as a big toe save on the late second-period power play. However, they were cancelled out by his inability to keep the puck covered up. He finished with 28 saves and a .903 SV% but does not look like the confident goaltender we saw so much with the Rockford IceHogs.

Mario: Stop playing down to competition

All we keep hearing and talking about on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast regarding the level of competition the Blackhawks have faced early this season is that the quality of opponent is going to start leveling-down after facing contender after contender to begin the year. But in the three games so far this season that were supposed to be “easier” for Chicago, they are 0-3-0 and have been outscored 15-5 against Montreal, Arizona, and Nashville today.

It is so frustrating to watch this team win games over Tampa Bay, Toronto, Vegas, and Boston, some of them in convincing fashion, and then have duds against teams you have to be competitive against.

This is not a Blackhawks team that has enough talent to only play a 20 or 30-minute game and come away with a win. You have to have full-team efforts for a full 60-minute game to come away with wins, or at the very least, come away with efforts to hang your hat on. Last year’s team was arguably less-talented across the board, but their “will” and “want to” was there in 90-percent of the games. That workmanlike effort hasn’t been consistent in this year’s version of the Blackhawks and is supposed to be a staple of this team coached by Luke Richardson. We haven’t seen it yet and that team identity needs to start coming to fruition if the Blackhawks are going to be respectable. Yes, this season is still going to likely end up with a top-five or top-ten draft position, but how the team gets there still matters.

The new-look power play (more on that below) got the Blackhawks on the board 13 minutes into the game as Lukas Reichel redirected a Kevin Korchinski goal for his first tally of the season. The Blackhawks only had one shot on goal before Mikhail Sergachev took a boarding penalty. The visitors had an 11-5 shot advantage heading into the first intermission, but the home team had the only stat that mattered.

Brayden Point tied the game early in the second period with a power-play goal that looked very similar to Reichel’s. The Blackhawks challenged the play for being offside, and it looked like they were right, but it was deemed a good goal.

Three minutes later, Sergachev made up for his earlier penalty by scoring his first goal of the season to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

Corey Perry came back to haunt his former team by evening up the score early in the third period. He started a 2-on-1 rush with Boris Katchouk, but his pass across was broken up. Being the savvy veteran he is, Perry went right to the side of the net, where Katchouk found him for an easy tap-in goal, his fourth on the season.

The Lightning took control of the game right after Perry scored. After multiple shifts of sustained offensive zone time, they finally cashed in when Victor Hedman scored off a fortunate bounce off the end boards. Brandon Hagel iced the game with a late empty-netter.

Jay: Petr Mrazek Continues His Solid Play

After every Blackhawks game, the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast asks our audience to select the game’s fourth star. Every time Mrazek has started the game, he’s been a candidate (if he wasn’t named one of the game’s three stars first.)

Mrazek, who entered the season with low expectations, has been the most consistent Blackhawk all season. He’s 4-4 on the year, with a 2.86 GAA and a .919 save percentage. On paper, those numbers may look a little ordinary, but when you consider how many shots per game Mrazek sees, and the inexperienced defense playing in front of him, you can’t help but be impressed.

“The confidence has been there,” Mrazek said Wednesday. “The things that [goalie coach Jimmy Waite] wanted me to work on helped me in the second half of [last] year, and the offseason as well.”

“It’s been great so far,” Mrazek said of his relationship with Waite. “I can’t say a bad thing about it. It’s been awesome.”

It can be easy to lose sight of how much a goalie coach can change a player, and how long those changes can take effect, especially when the goalie is coming off a tough stretch of seasons as Mrazek was before he came to Chicago.

Keep a close eye on how Rockford goalie Drew Commesso plays this year. If he continues to thrive in the pro-environment, perhaps the Hawks would consider moving Mrazek to a team desperate for goaltending (Edmonton?) sooner rather than later.

Greg: Lukas Reichel Cashes in on Power-Play Opportunity

One of the hottest topics of the early season has been the lack of production from Reichel, who entered tonight’s contest with two assists in 13 games. We suggested on Tuesday’s episode that a promotion to the top power play unit might be exactly what the young forward needs to get his scoring touch going.

I didn’t get the chance to ask head coach Luke Richardson if he was thinking about that move after Wednesday’s practice because he had already implemented it. He was very specific this morning on what the power play needs to do to be successful.

“We need to start moving the puck a little quicker,” he admitted. “The goal we scored in Tampa was indicative of that. It was all just speed and movement. The game is so skilled now, and even the defensive guys have good sticks, so you have to move the puck quickly. I was happy with practice yesterday, and hopefully, that translates to the game.”

The Blackhawks got their first power play chance midway through the first period, and Reichel was quick to make an impact. He used the freedom of the bumper role to find some space in the slot, where he redirected Korchinski’s shot past Jonas Johansson for his first goal of the season. You could hear his sigh of relief all the way up in the press box.

The unit only got one more chance the rest of the night and wasn’t able to produce much pressure. However, more importantly, the pressure was taken off of Reichel with his first goal. Look for that play to lead to more points for the 21-year-old forward.

Mario: Blackhawks won’t be pushed around

Sometimes when you are overpowered in a hockey game from a talent perspective, you have to try to equalize the game in other ways. Physical ways. Tonight, while the Blackhawks were getting dominated in puck possession, they weren’t going to let the Lightning push them around in any other ways. Far be it from me to advocate for “gooning it up,” but I enjoyed seeing the pushback from the team tonight, despite having to chase the majority of the game.

Following a boarding penalty on Mikhail Sergachev for a bad hit on Philipp Kurashev, the first player to confront Sergachev was Connor Bedard, ensuing in a scrum.

After Steven Stamkos skated a little too close for comfort after a save and a whistle by Petr Mrazek, Connor Murphy grabbed him and a scrum ensued.

After Connor Murphy laid a big, clean hit on Tyler Motte, Michael Eyssimont decided he would take up issue with Murphy and was promptly fed his lunch by the Blackhawks defenseman.

I’m glad to see that this Blackhawks team is not conceding that they are going to be out-matched most nights. They are going to push against their opponents any way that they can. It was a key factor last season for this team and Luke Richardson seems to be keeping that going into his second year behind the bench. 

Part of the return for Lehner was a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft that former general manager Stan Bowman used on USNTDP goaltender Drew Commesso. Since the pick, Commesso has played NCAA Tournament games with Boston University and represented the United States at the World Junior Championship, the World Championship, and the Olympics. He excelled at each stop along the way and has Blackhawks fans excited for the future, as many look to him as a key piece to a potential championship puzzle.

Commesso started his first professional season with the Rockford IceHogs and has his American Hockey League career off to a great start. He has a 2.22 goals-against average (GAA), a .919 save percentage (SV%), and a shutout in five starts. The IceHogs recently named the young netminder their Player of the Month for October.

We were lucky to have Commesso on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast earlier this week, and you can instantly tell that this kid is all about getting better and becoming the top goaltender for the Blackhawks. His transition from the college game to the professional ranks has been seamless.

“It’s been different from what I’ve been used to,” he revealed. “The day-to-day schedule is much different than in college. It’s an adjustment, but it’s one I’m enjoying. Not having classes is nice. It allows me to recover more and take in some more time at the rink.”

Most players will tell you that the game remains the same when you move from level to level, but it’s the difference in speed from where you were to where are that is the biggest adjustment. Commesso echoed that line of thought.

“It’s the speed and how everyone is really good. Everyone can shoot and make plays. That helps me. In college, I could get away with some things. Here, you get pushed every day in practice and half to give it your all. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is looking through traffic. Guys get to the net a lot harder and are a lot bigger.”

Commesso has been preparing for this moment for a long time. He grew up with Boston Bruins season tickets and spent a lot of his childhood three rows behind Tuukka Rask. However, he was not in the building for the infamous “17 seconds” in 2013. He went the extra mile over the summer and followed Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s training regimen. Commesso went out of his way to note that Vasilevskiy’s flexibility and explosiveness levels are what he wants to achieve.

“The pro game is more demanding on your body, and I knew I was going to have to put on some muscle,” he said. “I was stretching as much as I could and taking yoga classes three times a week. I’ve already noticed such a difference.”

He is training like Vasilevskiy and says his game emulates Jeremy Swayman of the Bruins and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers. In fact, he and Swayman trained together in Boston during the offseason. If he can get to their level at the NHL level, both the Blackhawks’ front office and fanbase will be beyond thrilled!

Commesso is constantly working on improving his game, even when he’s not in the crease, which is somewhat of a new experience for him.

“Preparation wise, it’s pretty much the same whether I’m playing or not,” he said. “This is pretty new to me. When I’m not playing, I need to be doing something to get better, as well. I need to do something to separate myself, even if I’m not on the ice. I’ve been bringing a notepad and taking notes on the other goalies. The tendencies guys have and what makes them look good and be successful. I figure if I’m not playing, I can still find a way to get better.”

There is no doubt current general manager Kyle Davidson is building his team with good hockey players who are also good human beings. Character is a massive part of Davidson’s equation, and Commesso fits that mold, even though the previous regime drafted him.

“The character guys the Blackhawks are drafting have been unbelievable,” Commesso said. “They’ve all been incredible guys. That helps so much. Some of the best teams I’ve ever been on were filled with great individuals who are great people off the ice. That makes it easier for us to play together. We all push each other really hard. We have the same goal: to play for the Blackhawks and be a key part of them. Having guys with similar mindsets and approaches to the game helps everyone.”

We will continue to monitor Commesso’s progress with our weekly Rebuild Report, so make sure you are a Diehard to get access to it. Check out the full interview with Commesso below and subscribe to the CHGO Sports YouTube channel.

The odds were stacked against the Blackhawks as Jarred Tinordi, Andreas Athanasiou, and Taylor Hall were all out with injuries. Plus, Mrazek was on the bench in favor of Arvid Soderblom. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett returned for the Panthers, and Sergei Bobrovsky was between the pipes after the Blackhawks faced backup Anthony Stolarz last week.

Soderblom’s afternoon got off to a rough start when Oliver Ekman-Larsson deposited a puck past him just 39 seconds after the opening draw. Jason Dickinson answered less than seven minutes later by tipping home an excellent setup feed from Lukas Reichel.

Sam Reinhart scored his first goal of the day on a power play about five minutes later. It seemed that the Panthers would take that lead into the first intermission, but then Connor Bedard did this:

The middle frame saw Reinhart give the home team a 3-2 lead with a backhand goal. The advantage only lasted 78 seconds as Bedard scored another highlight-reel goal, where he fired the puck out of midair for his fourth goal in the last two games.

The third period was more of what we’ve seen over the previous four frames versus Florida, where the Panthers dominated the play. Carter Verhagehe scored the eventual game-winning goal on an early power play.

The Blackhawks had a chance to tie the game late but came up just short. The bottom line is they spent too much time in their own end of the rink and couldn’t produce a consistent offensive attack. Sounds familiar, right?

Jay: Nick Foligno Answers the Bell…As Usual

Maybe I’ve made too much of this “leadership” and “mentor” thing this season. I’ve written about it. I’ve talked about it a lot on the CHGO Blackhawks shows, and I do feel that, in general, “leadership” is overestimated and overblown in sports.

With Nick Foligno, it feels different. From the day he became a Blackhawk, he has done everything Kyle Davidson has wanted him to do and more.

He is always available after a tough loss. He offers great insight into the game and what it takes to compete and win in the NHL. Most importantly, he leads by example on the ice.

After Bedard scored two goals, Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov took the opportunity to line Bedard up for a hard hit along the boards. My immediate thought was, “Someone has to get him.” There was Foligno, immediately, grabbing Kulikov and letting him hear about it.

Whether or not the hit was clean (I think it was) doesn’t really matter. When your star player takes a hard, questionable hit, there’s no time to determine whether or not the hit is worthy of retaliation. Foligno went right after Kulikov. He got hit with a hooking and roughing penalty for his efforts, but the Hawks killed off the four-minute power play in impressive fashion.

Logical or not, things like this bring a team together. Hockey culture is hockey culture, for better or worse. Players like Bedard play with more confidence, knowing their teammates have their backs. Opponents hesitate before delivering a big hit, knowing they’ll have to answer.

These are the lessons Foligno is teaching the team on and off the ice.

Mario: We Have Connor Bedard and You Don’t

It’s no secret that Connor Bedard is already a special player. His abilities with the puck are undeniably generational as an 18-year-old playing in the NHL. His goal-scoring ability has been on full display in these past two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. With two goals in back-to-back games, Bedard now has nine on the season in 13 games as a rookie and is scoring at a 56-goal pace.

Only four players in NHL history have scored 50 or more goals in a rookie season:

Teemu Selanne – 76 goals in 1992-93
Mike Bossy – 53 goals in 1977-78
Alex Ovechkin – 52 goals in 2005-06
Joe Nieuwnedyk – 51 goals in 1987-88

Only two Blackhawks players have scored 40 goals or more in a rookie season:

Steve Larmer – 43 goals in 1982-83
Darryl Sutter – 40 goals in 1980-81

None of these six players did so as a teenager. 

Bedard also became the seventh 18-year-old in NHL history to have back-to-back multi-goal games with his two-goal performance tonight. 

Bedard’s the best goal-scoring threat on the Blackhawks and in all honesty, he’s the best player on the roster in most-to-all offensive categories. He’s likely going to be that player his entire career in Chicago and getting him some offensive help will bode-well for the organization. 

But until that time, it’s special to watch him not only scoring in spectacular fashion, but watching him realize that he can do special things in the NHL now. It took a few games, but after putting the puck in the net seven times in his last six games, nine times in the last eight games if you counted the overturned by a millimeter goal against Boston, his confidence is sky-rocketing. He’s getting to, or already at a place where he expects to do something that drops jaws. If you weren’t already on notice, the other 31 teams in the league are totally screwed.

Greg: Blackhawks Showed a Ton of Character in Loss

During the 2022-23 season, the Blackhawks lost many games because of the vast talent gap, not because of the effort. Today’s defeat reminded me of a lot of what we saw a year ago and had Luke Richardson’s stamp all over it.

The lineup missed a ton of offensive ability with Hall and Athanasiou off the ice. Replacing them with Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson doesn’t exactly give you hope for much production. However, this team showed excellent resiliency, tying the game on three separate occasions.

The best show of character came late in the second period when Dmitry Kulikov drilled Bedard face-first into the boards. Nick Foligno immediately hooked Kulikov to the ice and showed him that he was not going to be allowed with a series of punches to the head. The veteran forward was given a four-minute double minor for the reaction. The Blackhawks rewarded him by killing off both penalties. Those are the types of things that bond a team together. Knowing that all 18 skaters on the ice are fighting for each other and pulling in the same direction can help shorten the talent gap on most nights.

Even at the end of the game, the Blackhawks still tried hard to even things up, and Tyler Johnson had a wide-open net in the final seconds, but the puck just rolled off his stick. This is a squad that didn’t want to throw in the towel despite getting outplayed. That is precisely what Richardson wants to see.

Chicago has one player as part of their next contending core that has that instinct and ability in Connor Bedard. He’s not someone to really worry about at this point. But he cannot be the only player with that ability and drive to want to be the goal-scorer on the team. If you look back at the Championship Blackhawks of the 2010’s, there were plenty of players that had that instinct from Patrick Sharp to Patrick Kane to Jonathan Toews to Marian Hossa to Alex DeBrincat and so on down the list. It’s not just about being able to score goals and shoot the puck at a high level. It’s about being willing to do whatever it takes to score goals in a league where the pretty goals are nice, but few and far between.

With the young group of players in the Blackhawks system like Bedard, Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Colton Dach, etc., there needs to be a group of them that emerge to have that kind of mentality if Chicago is going to be able to keep up in a high-scoring era of the NHL. But can that “killer instinct” when it comes to scoring be taught to players, or is it just a part of a hockey player’s DNA?

“I think it’s up to the player to find it,” Richardson said on Wednesday before the Blackhawks left for their Florida road trip. “We show them examples from games to be aggressive and proactive. We want to keep our feet moving and thinking shoot first on two-on-ones, two-on-twos, and line rushes. If the defense reacts to you and opens up, there might be a time to pass. But if you’re stopping your feet and trying to wait-out the defense, it’ll usually get closed off.”

A veteran in the locker room, a former Stanley Cup winner, a former 50-goal scorer, and a former league MVP, Corey Perry echoed the same sentiment about players needing to have it within them to strive to be great goal-scorers. “It’s a little bit of both. You can talk to players, tell them how to do it, where to go, what to do. But somebody has to be willing to go do it. You have to have that instinct. At the end of the day, if you want to score goals, you have to go to the front of the net. It’s not going to be pretty each and every night. That’s what we’re trying to get through here. Those pretty goals are going to have but if you look around the league, most goals come from within ten feet of the crease.”

To Perry’s point, the Blackhawks rank dead-last in the NHL this season in High-Danger Chances with 119 at all-strengths. They also rank in the bottom-five of the league in Chances-For (632, 31st), Shots-For (324, 31st), and Goals-For (31, t-27th).

But the 19-year vet also said that the young players in the locker room now have that ability to develop that instinct at this stage in their careers. “I believe in everybody in this room that can go do that. Sometimes when you don’t want to, you have to be willing to go there. It’s a matter of continuing to grind at it and put it in people’s heads that this is a tough league to score in.”

It translated in Thursday night’s game when we saw Kurashev and Bedard connect on the game’s first goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Kurashev had a chance to cut to the front of the net from the corner and fed the puck across to Bedard, who was getting inside position on Victor Hedman for a net-front goal. These two working together over the past few games is giving me confidence that Kurashev could be another on the list of players for the future that can develop that “killer instinct.”

One that is concerning me as this season progresses is Lukas Reichel. We’ve seen his skillset at the NHL level before and a ton of it in the AHL over the past three seasons. But the player that Reichel has shown himself to be this season is a shell of what we all expected to see from him. He has just one point this season, a secondary assist, in 12 games played. At all-strengths this season, Reichel has created 32 individual Chances-For, 19 individual Scoring Chances-For, and nine individual High-Danger Chances-For. Those numbers all rank behind players like Ryan Donato, Nick Foligno, and a Tyler Johnson. It is early in the season still, but that is concerning.

Reichel himself knows that he needs to be more assertive with the puck this season. “Some guys just have that natural instinct and ability like [Auston] Matthews or [David] Pastrnak. It’s just more just like getting it into our heads, me included, to have that mentality to shoot when there’s a 50-50 play or on a two-on-one, if the defense plays it well, we want to shoot it instead of passing it and having nothing happen.”

I don’t know if Reichel is trying to defer offense too much or create for the players around him, but he hasn’t been playing too much this season with players who should be deferred to all that often. Reichel and Taylor Hall or Connor Bedard have not been paired together this season and the 2020 first-round pick should be the one getting offense deferred to him, not the other way around.

Luke Richardson spoke about the young players trying to be good teammates, even a little too much, this season as they get their footing in the NHL. “Everybody wants to be a good teammate and you think [the pass] is open, but nowadays one pebble on the ice and the puck bounces and you lose that great chance…Sometimes you get the ‘it’s Taylor Hall, I want to get him the puck’ or ‘it’s Corey Perry, I want to get him the puck,’ and it’s not the right time. They will call for it and demand it when it’s time. It’s a fast game in the NHL and things close quick. You got to have the determination when you have a little bit of space, you have to make something of it…We can show them the clips, but they have to correct themselves on the ice.”

So if the Blackhawks don’t have that player in their young group, besides Bedard, who has that instinct as part of their makeup, who can develop it? I think we are seeing early stages of Kurashev starting to become that kind of player.

Elsewhere in the system, Colton Dach could be a candidate to have that kind of mentality and willingness to go to the hard areas of the ice to score goals. He’ll need more time to acclimate to the professional game, but his tenacity and size give him the inside edge to become that kind of player. I see a bit of that in Landon Slaggert as well in his time at Notre Dame. He’s not likely going to be a dynamically skilled as Brandon Hagel, but he is that same kind of energy and hard-nosed style of forechecker. It would be nice to see that hard work translate at the professional level and create those gritty, greasy goals.

Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore also could have that mentality because of their speed. We’ve seen a player like Andreas Athanasiou drive to the net and get breakaway chances just from his footspeed. It would be amazing to see speedsters like Nazar and Moore do that same in the NHL someday, but with a more skilled finishing ability in their hands.

But that is all coming from a place of hope and wishing that these players can develop that instinct. One that seems to already have that goal-scorers mentality and kill instinct when it comes to goal production isn’t with any NHL team right now.

No, it’s not Phil Kessel. It’s Cole Eiserman.

Eiserman is currently the No. 2 ranked draft prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft Class behind only Macklin Celebrini. He plays for the U.S. National Team Development Program and is scoring at a pace that will likely see him surpass USNTDP elites like Kessel, Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, and Cole Caufield when it comes to putting the puck in the back of the net.

From Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff in his latest NHL Draft rankings on Eiserman, “Sorry, Cole Caufield. Eiserman’s coming for your scoring record. Featuring a release a la Phil Kessel and Auston Matthews, Eiserman should have no issue blasting past the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s record of 72 goals in a season set by Caufield in 2018-19. Whether it be against USHL or NCAA competition, Eiserman’s tremendous shot has been one of the top highlights of the season. The Boston University commit can be caught watching a little too often, but there’s no question he’s a 50-goal threat in the NHL.”

Eiserman stands six-foot tall and 200-pounds as a 17-year-old right now and has 27 goals and 37 points in 19 combined games this season for the USNTDP, on pace for 83(!!) goals this season. The Blackhawks are going to be in the NHL draft lottery again this spring and will be picking high in the first round again this summer. There is a good chance it will be within the top-five or top-three picks. Cole Eiserman is a real possibility for the Blackhawks and could be that player, alongside Bedard, as a goal-scorer with that “killer instinct” in their hockey DNA.

Whether it’s developed, acquired, or drafted, the Blackhawks will need more players who will be a par of the future that have the ability and the “want to” to put the puck in the net by any means necessary. That’ll have to come from driving the net, playing within ten-feet of the crease, and having a willingness to be the one to say, ‘I’m that M-Fer that’s going to score.’ The more we end up seeing that from the young group, the more the contending picture for the future will become clear.

Philipp Kurashev took a puck from behind the Tampa net, walked out in front, and fed the puck over to Connor Bedard, who scored his first of two goals on the night.

Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning up 2-1 just under seven minutes later with his 11th (!) goal of the season, but that would be it for Tampa until late in the third. The Hawks got three consecutive goals from Kevin Korchinski, Tyler Johnson and another from Bedard before the first period ended. For Korchinski, it was the first goal of his NHL career.

Corey Perry, who was honored by the Lighting for his time in Tampa, scored the lone-goal of the second period. Perry redirected what looked like a hat-trick goal for Bedard. Some fans even threw hats onto the ice thinking it was Bedard’s goal.

In the third period, Steven Stamkos cut the Hawks lead to 5-3, but that’s the last goal Tampa would score, as the Hawks held on, improving to 5-7-0 on the season.

In the win, Petr Mrazek stopped 30 of 33 Lighting shots, with 16 of them counting as “high danger.”

Injury-wise, Taylor Hall, Andrea Athanasiou, and Jarred Tinordi all left the game. While there was no official injury update, Luke Richardson said Hall’s injury probably looked worse than it was, while Andreas Athanasiou was also ambulatory after the game. We’ll know more over the weekend.

Mario: Keeping their Foot Down

It was refreshing to see the Blackhawks not only respond to allowing the first goal of the game, but respond emphatically. After the Lightning took an early 1-0 lead, it was the Blackhawks coming back to tie the game and then eventually come back to take a 3-2 lead and later a 4-2 lead after the first period.

If you told me before the game that there would be six goals split in the first period, I would have assumed the Blackhawks would have been down 5-1. This hasn’t been a normal thing for the Blackhawks this season, playing with a lead. Tonight was their fifth win of the season, but just the second time they’ve come out of a first period with a lead. In both of those games, they’ve won.

Chicago has to learn these lessons when they can about keeping their foot on the pedal when they get the chance to have a lead in a game. They are not a team good enough to get out the a two or three-goal lead and coast. Even tonight, when the game was 5-2, it wasn’t a fully safe feeling against a high-powered Lightning team. But the more this team can build confidence with performances like tonight and make the most of them by coming away with wins and examples of how to play with leads, the more it will become commonplace.

Jay’s Hit: First of Many for Korchinski

Lost in Connor Bedard-mania has been the steady and impressive play of 19-year-old defenseman Kevin Korchinski. Korchinski, selected seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut this season and has shown very few signs of struggling. Of course, as with any young defensemen, there have been learning moments, but any thoughts that Korchinski might have to head back to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds were erased quickly.

Korchinski is second on the team in average ice-time behind only Seth Jones. Jones, who played over 31 minutes in Thursday’s win, averages 25:25 per game. Korchinski is already playing an impressive 19:40, and that’s with very little penalty kill time.

Years ago, a scout told me that with young defensemen, it might look like they’re holding their own, but below the surface, they’re floundering. This has not been the case with Korchinski. He’s looked NHL ready from jump, and his combination of speed, size, vision and skating ability make him a fascinating prospect. Luke Richardson raves about his game, and when in envision him filled out into his full NHL size, the sky is the limit. Korchinski has the potential to be a multi-time All Star, but first things first. He’s in a great situation, with Bedard taking so much of the spotlight off of him. While his great moments, like tonight, might get lost in a great Bedard performance, his down moments will as well.

Greg: Connor Bedard Explodes for First Multi-Point Game

Nobody in the right mind would call Bedard’s start in the NHL disappointing, with five goals and seven points in his first 11 games. However, we have all been waiting for him to have one of those games where he just dominates. Maybe it was because of all the moms in the crowd.  Maybe it was playing Hulk Hogan’s favorite team. Maybe it was because Tanner Jeannot made him bleed his own blood. Whatever the reason was, tonight was the first game where Bedard took thinks over and showed the hockey world what he can do.

The first of the rookie phenom’s four points came by going to the net, getting inside position on Victor Heman and tapping in a great feed from Kurashev. We talked on Wednesday’s podcast that the younger players need to recognize when to go to the net and Bedard picked his spot perfectly. After assisting on the Johnson goal, Bedard showed off his mits and became the youngest player in Blackhawks history to have a multi-goal game.

For a split second, we thought Bedard scored a hat trick on a second-period power play, however, his slap pass was knocked home by Perry. He was set up by Kurashev later in the frame for another scoring chance, but he couldn’t bury the puck.
Bedard finished with two goals, two assists, five shots on goal, nine shot attempts, a hit, and a takeaway. He had a 55.0 CF% at 5v5 and had the highest game score of any Blackhawk this season. A heck of a game. Now let’s roll it over to Sunday.

Despite scoring the game’s opening goal in under two minutes, Chicago wasn’t able to put together the bell-to-bell effort it requires to beat this top-tier Devils team on the second night of back-to-back games following a 5-2 win last night over the Florida Panthers.

Taylor Hall got things started quickly with his second goal in as many nights for the Blackhawks, putting the team out to the early 1-0 lead just 1:51 into the game. It marked the third-straight game that Chicago had scored the opening goal of the contest. But following an interference call on Connor Murphy mid-way through the first period, the Blackhawks lost all momentum they had built as the Devils scored on the ensuing powerplay with a goal from Dawson Mercer. That tying tally was followed by the 2-1 goal coming from Jack Hughes’ replacement Max Willman.

The Blackhawks would have a few chances to try to even the score, including a chance setup by Jason Dickinson and Tyler Johnson in the second period that would be saved by an incredible diving effort by New Jersey goaltender Vitek Vanecek.

The Devils held the majority of the game’s possession in the second and third periods, adding a 3-1 goal from Curtis Lazar in the third period to extend their lead. After a floundering powerplay with just over eight minutes to go in the game, it looked as if the Blackhawks had run out of gas completely. But with just under five minutes to play, Ryan Donato injected a bit of life into the game and the United Center crowd scoring his third goal of the season on his own rebound the make it 3-2 with 4:46 to play.

The game was nearly put on ice with 2:02 to play with an empty-net goal but it was called back by a Luke Richardson successful offside challenge and there was still life left in the building, though New Jersey would be able to kill the final minutes and add a legal empty net goal with just a second on the clock to end it officially 4-2.

Arvid Söderblom did everything he could to keep the Blackhawks in the game making 36 saves on 39 shots tonight. He has just three wins in 23 appearances for the Blackhawks in his NHL career, and tonight was another night in which the Blackhawks owed him a better result.

Following the loss, the Chicago media was held out of the locker room for about 20 minutes before it was opened. It ended up being a players-only meeting that seemed to focus on the team’s consistency, accountability, and reminding each other of working within the team system. Seth Jones and Corey Perry spoke about instilling the message of accountability in each other and making sure the team is working to execute on their goals as a group this season.

“We have a few words we came up with as a team this year that we want to live by, so we want to live by those.” Jones said about the message of the meeting. “You want to hold each other accountable. You’re not in there ‘Mother-effing’ guys, but if you make a mistake, your teammate should be able to tell you you’re wrong and vice versa.”

“Be accountable and play within the system that we’ve installed through camp and the first few games of the season,” 19-year-vet Corey Perry said following the meeting. “We do it in spurts, but we have to do it for a full game. We had a good heart-to-heart…We’re not putting anyone down. That’s not the message. It’s more about being brothers, being able to talk about it and figure things out as men.”

For a Blackhawks team that is working with a basically brand new leadership and veteran group, while also bringing in numerous young players hopeful to be a part of the next contending core group, there is miles of runway for these types of meetings and messages. Players like Perry and Jones, Nick Foligno and Connor Murphy, their top job this season is to make sure that players like Connor Bedard, Lukas Reichel, Kevin Korchinski, and the rest are acclimating to the professional game. Especially at the NHL level. It’s early in the season and getting players on the same page and adhering to the same message after game No. 11 is much better than having to do it after game No. 40 or later.

Jay: Wyatt Kaiser finding his game

During the Blackhawks preseason, Wyatt Kaiser was the darling of training camp. He was arguably the Hawks’ most impressive young defenseman and showed poise and ability beyond his years. Then the regular season began.

Kaiser was by no means awful to start the season, but it was clear he was struggling to adapt to the speed of the NHL game. He’d often have the puck stolen from behind as he took too long to move the puck, or he’d wait an extra tick or two too long and defenders would close in on him. An extra stickhandle here or there can make the difference between moving the puck into the offensive zone or a turnover. Kaiser’s mental clock has vastly improved.

Over the last 3-4 games, Kaiser has begun to look like the player we saw in the preseason. In fact, in Sunday’s loss to New Jersey, he was the Blackhawks’ highest rated player according to hockeystatcards.com.

Kaiser ended the game with 17:34 of ice time, one assist, two shots on goal, and two hits, all while spending the bulk of the game with Nikita Zaitsev (who has been decent in his own right). He was noticeable and has clearly gained the trust of Luke Richardson.

Greg: Arvid Söderblom Regains Form

The last time we saw Arvid Söderblom, he was torched by the Arizona Coyotes for seven goals on 22 shots. This was his second straight shaky start after he allowed five goals on 19 shots against the Vegas Golden Knights during the home opener. Normally giving up 12 goals in less than two full games is a major concern. However, Söderblom’s first two games against the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs were very good, allowing just three goals on 68 shots.

It’s because we have seen Söderblom have some flashes at the NHL level and be very good in the AHL that we get down when he has a bad stretch. We got the good version of Söderblom against the Devils. Mercer beat him with a quick shot to the short side while Nikita Zaitsev was getting boxed out in front of him for the first goal. The third New Jersey goal came on a redirect from in close, but he seemed to be cheating to his left, which left the five hole exposed.

The Willman goal was the worst of them all. Korchinski hustled back, but that was a save Soderblom needed to make. That has been the biggest difference between him and Petr Mrazek this season. Mrazek has been able to come up with the big stops more often than his younger counterpart.

The bottom line is that Soderblom had a nice bounce-back game following two rough outings. He made a season-high 36 saves and gave the Blackhawks a chance to win. You’d like to have one more big save, but this is all you can ask for on most nights.

Mario: Blackhawks need more out of their defensemen in the offensive zone

The Blackhawks blue-line is not their strong-point. While Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, and Wyatt Kaiser have been playing well as rookies, they are still very much prone to the rookie growing pains. Seth Jones and Connor Murphy are solid options as top-four defensemen in the NHL, but the all-around depth of the group is lacking at this moment in time.

What they also lack is goal production. Chicago defensemen have just one goal this season and it came on Saturday night from none other than Nikita Zaitsev.

On Sunday, I tracked the defensive shot-generation against the Devils and the period-by-period breakdown went as such:

– First period: Blackhawks defensemen accounted for ten of the 23 chances created and seven of the 14 shots on goal
– Second period: Blackhawks defensemen accounted for six of the 13 chances created and just three of the nine shots on goals
– Third period: Blackhawks defensemen accounted for just four of the 19 chances created and three of the 11 shots on goal

After the fast start to the game, the defensive efforts to create shots dwindled.

“We just need more goals. We need to make more plays on the blue-line.” A frustrated Seth Jones said following the 4-2 loss.

Alex Vlasic led all Blackhawks tonight with six shots on goal as well as leading in chances created with six.

Following Saturday morning’s optional skate ahead of the Blackhawks taking on the Florida Panthers, Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson essentially confirmed that Korchinksi’s plan this season is to remain in Chicago the full year.

“He had a good training camp and a really impressive start to the season,” Richardson said of the 19-year-old defenseman. “He’s composed out there and his skating ability is NHL-elite level already. His decision-making has been very good and he’s a bright kid. He takes in a lot of information and implements it into his game. There’s no reason to have that conversation at this point. He’s earned and deserved that right.”

Richardson said that his conversations with Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson about Korchinski and his development plan were back in the summer following a very successful season with the Seattle Thunderbirds for the 2022 seventh-overall pick. Was the plan in the summer always going to be having him with Chicago the full year?

“I think he had a really good opportunity to, but you never know,” Richardson continued. “He came in more mature and stronger from last year. He had a lot of good experiences last year too, going to the Memorial Cup and World Juniors, so there has been a lot of growth in his game and him as a person from last training camp to this year.”

Saturday’s game against the Florida Panthers will be the tenth game of the season that Korchinski has played, pushing him past the nine-game threshold that rookies have to play in the NHL before the first year of their entry-level contract kicks-in. For Korchinski, that means he’ll be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026 and if he plays more than 40 games this season, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent one year earlier than expected.

Here’s where Kevin Korchinksi ranks this season among 25 rookie defensemen in the NHL who have logged 80 minutes or more of 5v5 ice time (via Natural StatTrick):

• TOI: 149:36 (8th)
• Corsi-For%: 49.54 (11th)
• Shots-For%: 51.15 (11th)
• Expected Goals-For%: 47.70 (17th)
• High-Danger Chances-For%: 46.88 (16th)
• PDO (on-ice shooting % plus save %): 0.891 (25th)

Outside of his 5v5 PDO, this underlying numbers haven’t been bad for Korchinski as he gets his first taste of the NHL. He is doing so while spending time next to veterans Connor Murphy and Seth Jones on the second and first-pairs for Chicago defensively, a role not many 19-year-old players are asked to handle. He’s also just one of six rookie defensemen to log 20+ minutes of powerplay time to begin this season and ranks 4th among all rookies in average ice-time with 19:49 per game.

While having him in Chicago appears to be the most beneficial for Korchinski, there’s plenty of people North of the border who are keeping tabs on him as the month of November begins and the December 10 opening of Team Canada’s 2024 World Junior Championship training camp opens. The defending Gold Medalists would surely welcome having Korchinski back for his second go-around at the tournament, held in Sweden this year.

Have there been any discussions about making Korchinski available for the World Juniors? According to Richardson, “That’s unlikely. It’s a surprise to me if it happens.”

Sorry, Canada.

Mario Tirabasi is keeping tabs on the amateur ranks in North America. He will make a deep dive into the NCAA ranks and the Canadian junior leagues. Greg Boysen is focused on the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League (AHL) and all the players playing professionally across Europe.

Mario: Landon Slaggert’s goal-per-game pace is totally sustainable, Martin Mišiak pacing OHL prospects

A prospect that Chicago Blackhawks fans might have forgotten about over the past year because of the hoopla surrounding the Connor Bedard sweepstakes and the eventual drafting of him and Oliver Moore in the first round, along with with emergence of offensive options like Frank Nazar and Lukas Reichel, is Notre Dame’s Landon Slaggert. The 2020 third-round pick enters his fourth season of college hockey serving as the captain of the Irish and is off to a hot start with seven goals in seven games to start the year as one of the top goal-scorers in the NCAA.

• Obviously the headline is tongue-in-cheek, but Slaggert’s hot start is likely a product of his health to start this season, the expectations of wearing the “C” for one of the nation’s top programs, and being out to prove that last season’s down year was a fluke for the South Bend native.

• Slaggert’s seven goals to begin the season have him ranked in a four-way tie for second in the country, behind Macklin Celebrini‘s eight goals to begin the year. He was also named the Big Ten Third-Star of the week for his four-goal performance this past weekend.
• Speaking of Macklin Celebrini, the top prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft Class has eight goals and 11 points in his first six NCAA games with Boston University.
• His Boston University teammate and maybe future Blackhawks teammate Ryan Greene is having a good start to his second year at BU. With two goals and five points in six games for the Terriers, Greene ranks tied for fourth on the team in scoring.

• With a three-assist night against Lindenwood on Saturday night, Frank Nazar moved his point total to seven through eight games to begin his second year at Michigan. His seven points match his total in his shortened season last year as a freshman after missing most of the year due to hip surgery.
• After being ranked at the top of the NCAA for a week, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel were both held off the scoresheets as the Golden Gophers were upset in a weekend sweep against the Wisconsin Badgers. Moore has six points in six games to begin his freshman season, tied for second on the team in scoring. Rinzel’s three points lead all Minnesota defensemen.
• I just had to get that note in there as a Badger.
• A defenseman that the Blackhawks might be keeping tabs on in his third NCAA season this year is Providence’s Taige Harding. The six-foot-seven defender had 13 points in 37 games last season for the Friars and was able to score his first goal of the season this past weekend with a tally against Vermont.

• Harding’s frame made him a project pick when he was taken in the third-round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but I think that gives him a bit of an inside track to making an impression on the Blackhawks, who have grown to really like sizable defensemen in recent years.
• Moving on to the CHL (OHL) portion of the North American pipeline, Kingston’s Captain Paul Ludwinski was named the OHL’s Performer of the Week after a two-goal, two-assist performance for the Frontenacs.

• Ludwinski is one of four Blackhawks prospects playing at or near a point-per-game pace to begin the year in the OHL, alongside Gavin Hayes, Nick Lardis, and Martin Mišiak.
• 2023 third-round pick Nick Lardis is off to a hot start in Brantford with a goal-scoring pace of 48 in 68 OHL games if he were to keep up his eight goals in 11 games pace he has started the season with. But, he has just one assist in these first 11 games, so he would finish the season on this pace with 48 goals and seven assists.
• That would be a hilarious stat-line to finish with.
• Gavin Hayes is another point-per-game player in the OHL with six goals and ten points in ten games for the Flint Firebirds.

• Hayes spent the final days of his 2022-23 season with the Rockford IceHogs as they pushed into the postseason and was an extended-stay prospect in training camp with the Blackhawks this season, both bode well for his status within the organization. Also, Hayes looks to be at least an invitee to Team USA’s World Junior Championships camp in December, which would be a great accomplishment for the 2022 third-round pick.
• Also likely to join Hayes at the World Juniors this December and January is Slovakian prospect Martin Mišiak, who ranks third on the Erie Otters in points this season as an OHL rookie with five goals and 12 points in 13 games. Mišiak was held off the scoresheet in the most recent game for the Otters, which ended a five-game scoring streak for the 2023 second-round Blackhawks pick that saw him record three goals and eight points over that stretch.
• Mišiak’s 12 points leads all Blackhawks OHL prospects.
• Finally, cheers to Sudbury Wolves forward and 2023 fourth-round pick Alex Pharand getting his first goal of the season this past weekend!

• Pharand has that goal and two assists in 12 games to begin his second OHL season in Sudbury.

Greg: Drew Commesso is a wall in the AHL, while Jiri Felcman stays hot in Switzerland

The Rockford IceHogs had a successful weekend defending home ice at the BMO Center. First, they rolled the Iowa Wild 6-2 on Friday night. They followed that up with a 3-0 shutout of the Grand Rapids Griffins the next night. The IceHogs are now 3-2-0 in the young season and are just two points behind the Texas Stars and Manitoba Moose, who are tied for first place. They will play a pair of games north of the border at the Moose this weekend.

• Jaxson Stauber rebounded nicely in his first start since giving up seven goals to the San Jose Barracuda opening weekend. He made 22 saves to earn his first win of the season against the Wild. He didn’t give up a goal until late in the second period when the IceHogs already had a 5-0 lead. Stauber even picked up his first AHL assist on David Gust’s opening goal.

• Ryder Rolston was named Friday’s First Star of the Game for his goal and assist. I had a feeling his game would translate well to the AHL, and so far, he’s proving me right. He has two goals and an assist in his first five AHL games.

• Rolston’s assist came on Michal Teply’s second-period goal. This could be Teply’s final season with the organization unless he has a breakout year. The 2019 fourth-round pick is off to a solid start with a pair of goals.
• After picking up his first professional point with an assist on Friday, Ethan Del Mastro notched his first professional goal to open the scoring on Saturday. He crashed the net and banged home a rebound for the eventual game-winning tally.

• Speaking of professional firsts, Drew Commesso stopped all 18 Griffins shots he faced to earn his first AHL shutout. The young netminder is 2-1-0 with a .928 save percentage (SV%) and 2.02 goals-against average (GAA) as he settles in nicely to the rigors of an AHL season.

• Cole Guttman assisted on two of the three IceHogs’ goals Saturday night. Since being reassigned to the AHL, he has three assists in three games.
• Marcel Marcel could be making his AHL debut this weekend. He was medically cleared to play on Sunday after missing the start of the season with a right-hand injury.

Let’s make our weekly trip overseas to check in on the Blackhawks’ prospects playing in Europe. This season the organization is represented in Russia, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and Czechia.

• Starting in the KHL, Ilya Safonov notched a goal on Friday, giving him goals in two straight games. That streak came to an end in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. The 2021 fourth-round pick has six goals and nine points in 23 games for Ak Bars Kazan, with half of his goals coming in the last seven contests.
• Roman Kantserov has gone pointless in his last six games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk while averaging under 11 minutes a night during that span.
• In Sweden, Victor Stjernborg had an assist in Växjö Lakers HC’s 4-2 win over Örebro HK. The 20-year forward has two goals and four points in 13 SHL games.
• Milton Oscarson was on the losing end to Stjernborg and Växjö last week, but he was the offensive star for Örebro by scoring a goal and assisting on the other. This was the 2023 sixth-round pick’s first multi-point game in the SHL.

• Making the quick trip over to Finland, where Riku Tohila scored his first career Liiga goal on Friday. This is the lone point for the 6-foot-8 center in eight games in his native country’s top league. He has three goals and an assist in seven games in the U20 league.

• Jiri Felcman had a big week for Langnau in Switzerland’s U20 league. He had a goal and an assist on Wednesday and added another helper on Sunday. The 18-year-old center has six goals and 15 points in 12 U20-Elite games. He has played three games in the National League, two for the SCL Tigers and one on loan to the Bellinzona Rockets, where he picked up an assist for his first professional point. Felcman was also named to the Czechia U20 national team for the upcoming Five Nations tournament.

• Finally, in Czechia, defenseman Michael Krutil scored for HC Stadion Litoměřice. The fourth-rounder from 2020 has two goals and four points in his last four games in Czechia’s second-tier league.

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Now, onto this week’s Blackhawks Beat.

You may have missed this piece of news last week, but the NHL is likely doing away with one of their coolest and most unique events … the centralized NHL Draft.

Centralized? What the hell does that mean, Jay?

Every year, when the NHL holds its entry draft, each team gathers in front of the stage at designated team tables. GMs, assistant GMs, scouts, owners, and other executives all gather together to draft. Every team, every exec, all within 100 feet of each other for the entirety of the draft. Fans and media in the arena can watch, in real time, if a GM gets up to talk to another GM. They can see teams interacting with each other and reacting to the draft as picks happen.

Two weeks ago, the league sent a survey to NHL teams asking if they supported the decision to decentralize the draft. The vast majority voted yes, so it looks like 2024 will be our last chance to experience the draft in its current format.

So why is the NHL doing this?

The bottom line is money. It’s expensive for teams to fly, board, feed, and accommodate their staff for a week in a road city. Some teams have also expressed concerns over the proximity of the draft to free agency, which usually happens the week after the draft.

Fine … but here’s the thing. Does it have to be all or nothing? Couldn’t teams send fewer people? Couldn’t the league move free agency back a week? Why does it have to be a complete elimination of one of the NHL’s coolest features? Now the NHL will be like the NBA and NFL with all picks being made remotely.

From a personal and somewhat selfish standpoint, 2023 was my first time covering the draft in person. It allowed all of us at CHGO a unique networking opportunity. We got to work around some of the biggest names in hockey media and interact with some of the biggest executives in the game. I know that doesn’t matter to the average NHL fan, but it makes everyone wearing an NHL credential a better and more informed journalist.

I implore the NHL and their teams to think of the fans. The current format leads to so much more intrigue for the viewer and fans. Get creative and find a way to make this work. It’s so rare that the NHL has an entertainment edge on the other big leagues in sports. Why take away something so unique to the game we love? I hope they reconsider.

The Week Ahead

Saturday – vs Florida Panthers

The Panthers are currently sixth in the eight-team Atlantic Division, and they have a winning 4-3-1 record. That’s how stacked the Atlantic is this year. The defending Eastern Conference Champs aren’t off to the start they expected, but should still be in strong position for a playoff spot when the season wraps up. Last year, they proved they can make a deep run in spite of a low playoff spot. They’ve been without defensive stalwarts Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad so far this season, but both are expected to be back in the lineup by Saturday. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been an unexpectedly solid addition in their absence.

Sunday – vs New Jersey Devils

The Devils are the NHL’s next big thing. They’re young, fast, and ready to win. They’re off to a 5-2-1 start, led by the offensive fireworks of 2019 No. 1 overall pick Jack Hughes. In eight games this season, Hughes has 5 goals and 13 assists for 18 points. You read that correctly … 18 points in 8 games. And he’s 22 years old. Hughes is hardly a one-man show, though. Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton and rookie Luke Hughes (Jack’s brother) are just a few of the names that make up a stacked Devils roster. To me, they are the most exciting team in hockey, right up there with the Colorado Avalanche. Their biggest question is in goal. Both Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid have sub-.900 save percentages and goals against averages of 3.24 and 4.07 respectively.

If the Devils can get their goaltending even up to league average, they’re going to be very dangerous.

Have a great week, Blackhawks fans. We’ll see you back here next Tuesday.

Headline Photo Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Blackhawks were feeling good after a 4-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs but have since lost to the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Boston Bruins by a combined score of 12-3.

“I’m tired,” a very disappointed head coach, Luke Richardson, said after Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Bruins. “One year is enough of ‘we’re a hard-working team.’ We want to push for more this year. I think we start with good intentions, but the other teams – not outwork us, work ethic-wise, but the hardness of the work, like physical one-on-one battles. We’ve got to work on that in practice. This is how you’ve got to play every shift in every game.”

The veterans in the locker room echoed their frustrations following this rugged stretch of games, but they aren’t using their competition as an excuse.

“You see the schedule at the start of the season, and you know what to expect coming in,” said forward Corey Perry. “Yeah, you can say it’s been tough. A lot of the games, for the most part, we’ve been in. It’s just that one mistake, and the game’s over.”

Defenseman Jarred Tinordi had the same line of thought on Tuesday night but was encouraged that the Blackhawks are hanging with the top teams in the NHL. They just need to find that extra gear.

“I think we have some lapses in our play, especially in these last two games, where the other teams have been able to capitalize on. We’re playing good teams right now, and that’s what good teams do. We have stretches where we’re playing good hockey. And then we have one or two shifts or a five-minute lull in our game that end up costing us.”

Richardson promised a hard practice after Tuesday’s game. He gave the team Wednesday off but told them to expect a “high compete, high level, skating practice.” The team responded with intensity from start to finish.

“We took a couple of drills that maybe aren’t like the look of a game situation, like the one battle drill,” said Richardson. “It’s certainly nice and tight together, but it gets them used to playing and making high-pressure decisions and quick, you know, instances, and that sometimes happens all over the ice.”

The players met the media in the locker room, more out of breath than usual and with extra fog on their visors. After putting in their work, the team was in good spirits and very talkative. They certainly aren’t buying into the tough schedule narrative.

Nick Foligno heard Richardson’s comments and agreed with what he had to say. He played with the Bruins the last two seasons, so he knows that hard work in practice translates to success on the ice.

“That’s the standard we have to get to and understand in this room,” he said. “Luke shouldn’t have to say it. But I know we’re a younger team where it’s got almost to be second nature here. That’s just the bare minimum – to compete and put your nose over the puck, the hard areas of the game. That’s where success is in this league. I think guys need to understand that, and we need to do a better job of making sure we understand that.”

“But I think the message was clear today and how we need to play. A lot of his is just will and getting on the same page. You can do all the Xs and Os you want, but if you’re not willing to pay a price on the wall, or in front of the net, or getting guys out of the front of your net, it’s hard to win in this league.”

Foligno was hopeful that the young guys got an understanding of that level and that they need to maintain, not just on the practice ice but in the games, too. He added that sending a message like this amid a stretch playing against championship-caliber teams has value.

Connor Bedard got the message and called today the best practice of the season. This is not surprising when you see the rookie’s work ethic and desire to be the best player humanly possible.

“That was a lot of fun,” he admitted. “We’re competing, but we’re having fun. It’s like a game. You’ve got to battle. You’ve got to battle hard. So, it’s good.”

Bedard took Richardson’s message to heart and said his post-game comments were right.

“He’s a great coach, and we all have so much respect for him. So, whenever he talks, we listen. We’ve got to get the motivation to set that bar despite the caliber of the guys we’ve been going up against. You’ve to raise that bar of expectations and have high standards.”

It certainly appears that the locker room has received the message and is ready to buy in. They are not using this brutal schedule as an excuse, but this start makes it hard to gauge exactly where this team is. Friday’s rematch against Vegas makes the Blackhawks the first team in NHL history to play four straight games against an undefeated team.

There isn’t a reprieve coming any time soon, either. After Monday’s game at the Arizona Coyotes, the Blackhawks return home to play the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils on back-to-back nights. Then it’s off to the Sunshine State for games at the Tampa Bay Lightning and Panthers before returning home for another tilt with the Bolts.

The start of a new season is tough for any team, but when you factor in all the new faces and young players on this roster and the quality of opponents, the Blackhawks have an even harder time finding their identity. One thing is clear after today: they won’t stop working on it.

Oh, we are SO BACK!

The Rebuild Report, that is. The Blackhawks … they’re still years away from truly being “back.” But since we last spoke to you on these here Rebuild Report pages, the Blackhawks are closer to the end of the rebuild process, and much of that can be attributed to winning the NHL Draft Lottery and getting Connor Bedard.

As we move forward into the 2023-24 season, the focus is no longer on getting Bedard and having him be the accelerator of the rebuilding process. That part of the plan is done. Now, we focus on the parts around Bedard in the organization as GM Kyle Davidson continues to build a team from the bottom-up in the organization to hopefully replicate and extend the window of success the Blackhawks enjoyed in the late 2000s and 2010s.

This season’s Blackhawks have a few more players on the NHL roster that matter when it comes to the rebuild, like Bedard, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, and Lukas Reichel, so we’ll caution you that you won’t be hearing about them that much in the Rebuild Reports this year — barring the unlikely events of any of them being sent down to the Rockford IceHogs or back to their respective Junior clubs.

Instead, this year’s edition of the Rebuild Report will have a different feel to it as a number of the Junior and NCAA prospects have graduated from Mario’s beat (CHL and NCAA) to Greg’s beat (Europe and Rockford IceHogs).

Also, a new crop of draft picks have entered the fray — players who are already making major impacts on their NCAA, CHL, and European clubs.

Without any further ado, here’s the first edition of the Chicago Blackhawks Rebuild Report for the 2023-24 season!

Mario Tirabassi: ‘Speed Kills’ as Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore takeoff to begin NCAA season

After the dust started to settle on the draft floor around the Blackhawks selecting Bedard first overall at the NHL Draft last June, Davidson began trying his best to move up in the first round to make sure he could get Oliver Moore. Even though he was unable to get any teams to bite on moving down for the Blackhawks, Moore still fell right into his lap at the 19th pick.

Boy, does that look incredibly lucky right about now.

• Moore is a true freshman at the University of Minnesota this season, a team that lost Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies from their roster last season. The opportunity for Moore to step into a big role for the Gophers was there to begin the season, and he has run with it. Regarded as the best skater in the 2023 NHL Draft class, Moore has six points in his first four NCAA games with one goal and five assists.

• Moore and his Blackhawks prospect teammate Sam Rinzel, who has three assists in four games for Minnesota, have the team ranked No. 1 in the country.

Frank Nazar is another speedster up-front in the Blackhawks organization who is looking more and more like a future key to the rebuild. He already had those expectations last season after being picked 13th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. But after missing nearly his entire freshman season at Michigan last year, Nazar has a lot to prove this season in a top-six role for the Wolverines. After the program lost Adam Fantilli, Luke Hughes, and Mackie Samoskevich, Nazar is taking his opportunity to be a leader for the Michigan program.

• In six games to start the season, Nazar has four points and is part of a five-way tie for second on the team in goals. Michigan is currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA.

Staying in the Big Ten, the Notre Dame program is being led this season by senior captain and Blackhawks 2020 third-round draft pick Landon Slaggert. There was some speculation that Slaggert could have turned pro after last season with Notre Dame, a season that saw him deal with a number of injuries and a career-low 13 points in 35 games.

• Slaggert returned for a fourth season to play for the Irish under his head coach and dad, Andy Slaggert, and to play with his younger brother Carter after having the chance to play with his older brother Graham previously. Hard to argue with those choices.

• The middle Slaggert child is off to a good goal-scoring start for the Irish, with three goals in his first five games of the season.
• If I’m handicapping it, I’ll be shocked if Slaggert AND Nazar are not playing professionally for the Blackhawks organization in April.

Unfortunate news right at the beginning of the NCAA season for Minnesota-Duluth’s Dominic James as he sustained a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery in the second game of the season.

Another 2023 NHL Draft pick not named Bedard to keep tabs on this season is Martin Mišiak.

• A second-round pick by the Blackhawks from the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL, Mišiak came over State-side from Slovakia last year to join the Phantoms and helped them win the Clark Cup. Following being selected by the Blackhawks 55th overall, Mišiak was selected first overall in the CHL Import Draft by the OHL’s Erie Otters.

• In ten games with the Otters to begin the year, Mišiak has four goals and nine points, good for a tie for second on the club in scoring.

Nick Lardis has six goals in his first eight games of the year. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the second round last summer and is starting the season with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs.

• Lardis was picked 67th overall by Chicago and was widely regarded as a steal for the club at that position. He tallied 37 goals and 65 points in 69 OHL games last season, splitting time between Hamilton/Brantford and the Peterborough Petes.

Expect to hear A LOT about the OHL this season from me in these Rebuild Reports because that is the only CHL league that the Blackhawks have any prospects playing in this season in Canada.

• The WHL was populated by Colton Dach, Nolan Allan, Korchinski, and Jalen Luypen last season, but all have turned pro, and it looks less and less likely as the NHL season continues that Korchinski is headed back to “the dub” anytime soon.
  
• The other CHL league that will be unpopulated by the Blackhawks prospect system this year is the QMJHL after Gatineau’s Marcel Marcel signed an AHL contract this offseason after being selected by Chicago in the fifth round of the draft and Samuel Savoie’s season was ended with a broken femur in the preseason.
  
• Finally, if you’re new to the Rebuild Report, we don’t only focus on the Blackhawks’ current prospects but also on players who could join the ranks of the Chicago prospect system in the future. Players who are 2024 NHL Draft-eligible and playing in North America that will be of great interest to Blackhawks fans this season include names like Macklin Celebrini (Boston University), Cole Eiserman (USNTDP), Sam Dickinson (London Knights), Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs), Henry Mews (Ottawa 67s), and Cole Hutson (USNTDP), just to name a few.

Greg Boysen: IceHogs Off to Slow Start, European Prospects Fill the Scoresheet

The Rockford IceHogs are off to a 1-2-0 start to their American Hockey League (AHL) season. They started by swapping 7-2 decisions at the San Jose Barracuda before dropping their home opener to the Chicago Wolves 5-3 last Saturday night. They will be at the BMO Center all weekend with games against the Iowa Wild on Friday and the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday.

• Through three games, it is a pair of AHL veterans who are leading the way. Joey Anderson has two goals and six points, while David Gust has a pair of goals and five points.
• Rockford’s blue line is stacked with defensive prospects this season. Despite allowing 14 goals already, the young group is off to a solid start. Isaak Phillips leads the way with a goal and an assist, both coming on the power play. In fact, he is the only IceHogs defenseman with a point in the young season. Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, Filip Roos, and Louis Crevier have yet to find the scoresheet.
• Ryder Rolston scored his first professional goal in the season-opening win over the Barracuda. Jaylen Luypen picked up his first AHL point with the primary assist on the play. He added a second helper later in the game.

• Michal Teply is back for his third season with the IceHogs. It’s hard to imagine that he is still in the Blackhawks’ long-term plans, but a huge season could change that. We have seen flashes of Teply being a very good offensive threat the last two seasons, but consistency has been lacking. He scored a goal in the opening-night win in San Jose.
• Cole Guttman, who was sent back to Rockford last Saturday morning, picked up an assist in the loss to the Wolves. He spent the game centering the IceHogs’ top line.
• Drew Commesso, who switched his number from 29 to 33, has started two of the three games this season. He is 1-1-0 with a 3.04 goals-against average (GAA) and a .908 save percentage (SV%). Jaxson Stauber had a rough outing in San Jose, allowing seven goals on 49 shots for a .857 SV%.

Let’s start our trip across Europe in Sweden, where a trio of recent draft picks are playing. The veteran of the group, 20-year-old Victor Stjernborn, is playing full-time in the SHL for Vaxjo Lakers HC. He scored a goal for the defending champions’ most recent victory. Overall, the 2021 fourth-round draft pick has two goals and an assist in 11 games while averaging over 13 minutes a night.

• Milton Oscarson, a member of the most recent draft class, is in his second full season in the SHL with Orebro HK. The 6-foot-7 forward has a goal and an assist in 12 games. He has 10 shots on goal while playing about 14 minutes per outing.

• Nils Juntorp is back in his native Sweden after spending last season in the USHL. The 2022 sixth-round pick has a goal and three points in seven games for Kristianstads IK in HockeyEttan, Sweden’s third-tier league.
• Heading over to Russia, Ilya Safonov is looking to build off a breakout 2022-23 KHL season. He got off to a slow start for Ak Bars Kazan but picked it up of late. Since Oct. 1, he has four goals and seven points in 10 games.

• Roman Kantserov has started his first full season in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk after just one game in Russia’s top league last season. The 2023 second-round pick has started to find the scoresheet on a consistent basis after struggling early. He had two goals and five points in 20 games. Highlights like the one below show you exactly why the front office is excited about his potential, and you should be too.

• Riku Tohila has split his season between Finland’s top professional league and the U20 team. In 6 Liiga games for JYP, the 6-foot-8 center has no points. He has three goals and an assist in seven U20 games. The ice time differential is significant. The 2022 seventh-round pick is playing over 16 minutes a night at the U20 level but only about nine minutes in Liiga.
• Defenseman Janne Peltonen, drafted in the seventh round of the most recent draft, is also playing in Finland’s U20 league. In 17 games for Karpat U20, he has two goals and seven points while being a plus-4. The young blueliner is playing big minutes, playing over 21 minutes multiple times this season.
• Michael Krutil, still under contract with HC Sparta Praha, has been bouncing around the top two tiers of Czechia hockey. He’s had the most success in his native country’s equivalent to the AHL, with a goal and six points in eight games for HC Stadion Litomerice.
• Finally, let’s stop in Switzerland to check up on 2023 third-rounder Jiri Felcman. He’s made a brief appearance in both the NL and SL but has spent the most time in the U20-Elit league. He’s been an offensive force with five goals and 12 points in 10 games for Langnau U20.

That’s it for today! Remember to become a CHGO Diehard to get access to these Rebuild Reports all season long!

The home team thought they struck first when Connor Bedard appeared to score his second power-play goal in as many games. However, the Bruins challenged the zone entry, and the review showed Andreas Athanasiou was offside on the play.

Paval Zacha scored the game’s first goal that counted by redirecting a Kevin Shattenkirk shot past Petr Mrazek. The Blackhawks were lucky to get out of the sandwich stanza only down a goal as Boston outshot them 18-7.

The game got out of hand in the opening minutes of the third period. First, Matthew Poitras stole the puck from Corey Perry in the neutral zone, then beat him down the ice to tuck the puck past Mrazek. Trent Frederic gave Boston a 3-0 lead just 56 seconds later by driving hard to the net.

This was another case of the Blackhawks just not having enough talent to keep up with an elite team. Much last the last time out against the Vegas Golden Knights, they were right there for two periods then fell apart in the final frame.

Greg Boysen: Nick Foligno Makes Most of Top Line Opportunity

With Taylor Hall now on injured reserve, the door was open for a new veteran to step up and play with Bedard. Luke Richardson decided to put two “gray beards” with the rookie phenom for the rematch against the Bruins. Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno were the lucky players to get the first crack at the top line.

“It’s hard to have a guy like him out of the lineup because of what he means to our team,” Foligno said of Hall. “It’s a great opportunity for a team still trying to find its identity, for a guy to step in and show what he can do.”

After Tuesday’s morning skate, Foligno was very optimistic about the new line combination.

“I’m excited. I think it will be fun to play with him,” he said. “I’m excited to play with Johnny, too. I think that will be a great line in the sense of what we can accomplish together—especially having TJ on the right side. He’s an experienced guy who knows how to play. He can help Connor and help ourselves have some success. When the opportunities present themselves, we have to make sure we capitalize on them. Nothing changes in how I play. Hopefully, we can complement each other well.”

Foligno was not overwhelmed with the assignment and had himself a pretty good night. Eventually, in the third period, Johnson was taken off the top line and replaced with Philipp Kurashev. The original line had seven shot attempts and eight against while at 5v5.

The cagey veteran finished his night with a team-high three shots on goal, five shot attempts, a hit, and a takeaway. He had a 44 CF%, the third-best among all Blackhawks forwards. While you didn’t sign Foligno to be a top-line winger, he certainly deserves to be back on the line Friday in Vegas.

Jay Zawaski: The NHL’s offside review system is trash

This is going to come off as sour grapes, but I don’t care because I’m right.

Midway through the first period, Connor Bedard looked to have scored a beautiful power play goal. Charlie Coyle threw a blind pass to the slot, and Bedard one timed the attempt, ripping it past Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman. 

The Bruins challenged the play because several moments earlier, they thought Andreas Athanasiou might have had a shoelace offside. 

Ultimately, the Bruins won the challenge, and the goal was disallowed. 

I understand that technology exists to get calls right. For the most part, I believe that is a good thing. Are two feet in bounds in the NFL? Was that home run fair or foul? Was the baserunner safe or out? All of these reviews make sense because they are reviewing the specific moment of the play. Most of the time, this is not the case with NHL offside.

The spirit of the NHL’s offside rule is to prevent cherry picking. If a player is trying to cherry pick, it will be glaringly obvious to the linesmen and the call will be easy. 

Still want the rule to be frame-by-frame perfect? Okay, fine. Then the NHL should put a time limit on the offside challenge. Athansiou’s offside was about 22 seconds before Bedard put the puck behind Swayman. In no way did it impact the ultimate result of the play. In fact, the Bruins had retrieved and turned over the puck between the offside and the goal. 

Goals are exciting. Offside reviews are not. It’s time to re-evaluate this rule.

Mario Tirabassi: I’m Starting to Worry About Lukas Reichel

I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m starting to worry that Lukas Reichel is being put in a position to not be Lukas Reichel.

I trust Luke Richardson enough to not question his decision-making process at this stage in the game because, based off of his current track record as a coach and the 1,486 career NHL games he played more than I did, he knows what he’s doing. Richardson spoke before tonight’s game about Reichel’s play at center and that he is not worried about it. Not worried about it affecting his confidence. Lukas Reichel also spoke about his game as a center in the NHL and that he is not worried about it and not worried about his confidence.

Well, I am.

Among 20 Blackhawks skaters that have played 25 minutes of 5v5 ice time this season, here are Reichel’s advanced metrics when he is on the ice and how he ranks on the team, according to Natural StatTrick:

• Corsi-For% – 36.57% (18th)
• Shots-For% – 33.67% (18th)
• Goals For – 0
• Goals Against – 5 (Most goals against of any player with zero goals for)
• Expected Goals-For% – 40.29% (15th)
• Scoring Chances-For% – 36.26 (18th)
• High-Danger Chances-For% – 41.18% (11th)

All three categories that he ranks 18th out of 20, the two skaters lower than him are Cole Guttman (now in Rockford) and Nikita Zaitsev (the healthiest of scratches).

It’s just the first seven games of the season and this is the longest leash that Reichel has had to play center in the league since becoming a member of the Blackhawks organization, but he doesn’t look like the same player that gave us all the confidence in the world last season that he could step into the NHL and very quickly develop into a complimentary offense-generating option for Chicago behind Connor Bedard.

Playing center in the NHL comes with more physically demanding responsibilities than as a wing, including playing around the net defensively, winning more battles in the corners of your own zone, winning faceoffs, and having to cover more ice throughout the entirety of a game. Not to mention playing in a top-six center role means you are drawing more difficult matchups. I’m not looking to pull the plug yet on Reichel as a center in the NHL, but I’m starting to get itchy about it. With less defensive responsibilities and more room to be creative offensively, Reichel can let his talents with the puck shine, rather than hindering them so he can work on his two-way game more.

There’s an analogy I’ve grown to appreciate as a parent: If your child is getting a C+ in Math, but an A in Ninja Kicks, you don’t get a Math tutor, you get a Ninja coach.

Maybe that makes more sense to me than anyone else, but hopefully you get my point, which is to put a player in a position to be the best version of the player they are. Alex Ovechkin had his worst season when he was told to focus on his defensive game and backcheck more. Patrick Kane was not good as a centerman. Even as thin as the Blackhawks are down the middle, it’s totally fine if Lukas Reichel isn’t a good center, but can be a great winger.

Welcome to another edition of my weekly Blackhawks Beat. Each Tuesday, I share my thoughts on the Blackhawks topic that’s taken up most of my head space over the week. These first few are unlocked to everyone, then we’ll make them a Diehard-only perk, similar to Adam Hoge’s “Bears Things” newsletter.

Want to make sure you get them all year? You can become a Diehard today and not only get all my newsletters, but access to Mario and Greg’s weekly “Rebuild Report” and a free Hawks-inspired t-shirt as well!

We’re six games into the Blackhawks’ season and Connor Bedard’s NHL career. The young center has two goals and two assists in those games, and despite not filling the net with goals just yet, he’s been one of the best Blackhawks players. Maybe the best. The now-injured Taylor Hall, Ryan Donato and Taylor Raddysh have been his most consistent linemates so far.

Are they enough, or is it time for GM Kyle Davidson to bring in some scoring help for Bedard?

When the Blackhawks won the draft lottery, Davidson made it clear the Hawks wouldn’t stray from the rebuild plan.

“The rebuild was never based on first overall,” Davidson told CHGO. “We have to build a team. You look at any Cup team … it’s not just one guy. They all rise and play important roles in important moments. It’s never one person. (Getting Bedard) is just a bonus. That’s all it is. It doesn’t change the path. It doesn’t change what we’re doing.”

I agree with Davidson. They shouldn’t just throw the rebuild to the wind and go sign a bunch of free agents just to get a playoff spot.

However, if there is a player who makes sense for the team in the context of the rebuild, why not use some of the team’s many assets to find some help for Bedard?

Taylor Hall, whom the Hawks traded for this summer, will be one of those players for Bedard this season, but on Monday, coach Luke Richardson called Hall week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Even with Hall, I thought it might be a good idea to bring in some support. Now that he’s out, I really think it’s time as long as the move fits the long-term plan. This should not be a rental situation.

So what options does Davidson have in that regard?

NOTE: It’s important to keep in mind that NHL transactions don’t usually happen until Thanksgiving, thus limiting the Hawks’ options at the time.

Connor Garland – Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver winger Connor Garland has requested a trade from the cap-strapped Canucks. He also hired a new agent right before the season began. Garland wants out, and while a 27-year-old right winger doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense as we look three, four or five years into the future, his presence could help ease the offensive burden for Bedard, while still being an important piece when the Hawks are ready to compete for a playoff spot again.

Garland has three years left (including this season) on his contract and carries a $4.95 million cap hit. Vancouver needs to move this salary and has shown a willingness to eat some of the cap hit in order to make it work. The Hawks could be a tempting trade partner, as they’d likely be willing to eat the entire cap hit, especially if the trade piece going back to Vancouver is a low draft pick, a mid-level prospect, or everyone’s favorite journeyman player, F. Considerations.

In 327 NHL games, Garland has 84 goals and 112 assists. He’s not exactly Pavel Bure in terms of speed, but has some finish to his shot and is a bona fide top-six winger.

Shane Pinto – Ottawa Senators

This would be a dream scenario for the Blackhawks but is also the least likely. Pinto, 22, is a center and a restricted free agent. While he wouldn’t play on a line with Bedard, it would free up Lukas Reichel to move to Bedard’s line, should the Hawks decide the Reichel-at-center experiment is over.

The only reason Ottawa hasn’t re-signed Pinto is because of their cap situation. They certainly want him back, and are trying to make it work. If the Blackhawks, or any team, is going to pry Pinto away from Ottawa, it’s going to take a king’s ransom.

Would Davidson be willing to part with the latter of his first-round picks in the 2023 Draft? Would that be enough for Ottawa?

Probably not, however, the Hawks could look to help Ottawa get some cap space with a different trade, but that would be down the road.

Find a team loaded with forward prospects or NHL defensive issues

The Blackhawks have a glut of defensive prospects. Aside from current Blackhawks Kevin Korchinski (untouchable), Alex Vlasic (close to untouchable) and Wyatt Kaiser, the likes of Ethan Del Mastro, Isaak Phillips, Nolan Allan are working their way to the NHL via Rockford. Sam Rinzel and Taige Harding are on the radar, as well, but are still years away.

The Blackhawks have defensemen to move.

Toronto has cap issues and needs help on defense. None of the “in-the-system” prospects will appeal to the Leafs right now, as they’re looking to win a Cup…not develop a kid. The Hawks could move a veteran defenseman, like Connor Murphy, but that doesn’t solve the Leafs’ cap issues.

Buffalo is short on the defensive end, but seek a right-handed shot player, and like Toronto, Buffalo is in win now…or at least win soon…mode. The Hawks’ defensive prospects close to NHL time are all left-handed shots.

Sign Phil Kessel

This is just a nod to Mario Tirabassi, who’s been stumping for Kessel for a couple of years now. I mean, I wouldn’t be mad about it, but I’m not sure how much it actually helps.

This is the dilemma. Teams with cap issues are trying to win now, so a defensive prospect doesn’t help. Teams in situations like the Blackhawks, with young talent building towards their next generation, aren’t looking to deal.

If I’m Kyle Davidson, I’m making calls to Vancouver about Garland. It makes sense for both teams, and the Hawks have an advantage in that they can accommodate all of Garland’s cap hit. Removing that $4.95 million helps them out big time, and they could make him available to the Hawks for very little in return. Plus, you’d have to assume that Garland would be very excited about the opportunity to hop over the boards with Connor Bedard and Taylor Hall this season.

Chicago Blackhawks Upcoming Schedule

Tuesday – vs Boston Bruins

This will be the first “normal” game the Blackhawks will play this season. It’s not a home opener. It’s not a centennial celebration. It’s just a game, and I think the Hawks are very much looking forward to a normal game.

The Bruins, who beat the Hawks 3-1 in Boston on October 11, is 5-0 on the season. David Pastrnak (5 G, 3 A) and Brad Marchand (4 G, 3 A) lead the team in scoring, while the goaltending tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have been absolutely lights out. It’s another big challenge in a season full of nothing but big challenges so far.

Friday – at Vegas Golden Knights

Holy crap the Golden Knights are steamrolling the league. Not only are they (also) undefeated, they have outscored their opponents 25-11 in their six games. They have a bigger goal differential than goals allowed. The Knights have six players averaging a point per game, including leading scorer Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson (aka Great Value William Nylander).

Speaking of Friday, we’re hosting a watch party, presented by our friends at Goose Island, at Legends Grill and Bar, located at 9710 191st St. in Mokena. The puck drops at 5 pm, and we’ll host a postgame afterward. Come hang out!

Monday – at Arizona Coyotes

Oh, the Hawks are allowed to play a team with a loss? Who knew?

I’m really looking forward to this game. The Coyotes are 3-2 to start the season, and have a much better roster than they did last season. In addition to rookie phenom Logan Cooley, Arizona added Matt Dumba, Sean Durzi, Nick Bjugstad, and Jason Zucker.

Keep a close eye on Cooley, though. He will be one of Bedard’s top challengers for the Calder Trophy.

We’ll be back here next Tuesday. See you then.

Jay Zawaski

Want to make sure you get them all year? You can become a Diehard today and not only get all my newsletters, but access to Mario and Greg’s weekly “Rebuild Report” and a free Hawks-inspired t-shirt as well!

Before I begin Blackhawks Beat 2.1, a couple of important qualifiers for this one.

• I’m not worried .0001% about Connor Bedard’s on-ice play
  
• I’m not worried .0001% about Connor Bedard’s ability to handle the pressure he’s been faced with off the ice so far this season
  
• I don’t think Connor Bedard’s media responsibilities have diminished his game at all

Now that that’s out of the way…

If you take a look around Hockey Twitter these days, you’ll see fans of the 31 other NHL teams upset at just how much coverage Connor Bedard is getting. It’s understandable from their perspectives. They all wanted Bedard and didn’t get him, and every highlight, Reel, TikTok, Tweet (or Xeet) in a Blackhawks uniform is a reminder of that fact.

The coverage of Bedard is justified, of course. He’s been on hockey’s radar since he was 13 years old and has been the unquestioned top prospect for at least two seasons now. Had he been draft-eligible in 2022, he would have gone first overall in that draft at age 16.

Hockey fans should be pleased to see the NHL properly promoting one of their new faces of the game (for once). The NHL is in a second “Golden Age.” The talent in the league right now is better and deeper than ever. Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby are two of the best ever to play the game. At some point, Alex Ovechkin will break Wayne Gretzky’s seemingly unbreakable all-time goals record. Auston Matthews started his 2023-24 campaign with two consecutive hat-tricks. Now, you add Bedard to the mix, in a market like Chicago and it’s a perfect recipe for the NHL. Bedard’s first two games broke regular season ratings records for ESPN and TNT.

Wherever Bedard goes, there is a throng of media waiting for him, and he’s handled the spotlight with an impressive amount of grace, poise and humor.

When we were in Pittsburgh and the smoke of the morning skate media crush calmed, I wondered to myself, “When does this end for him? When does Bedard get a break?” I spoke with a source close to the team about the demands and how Bedard was handling everything and was told he’s doing great and understands that this attention comes with the territory.

Then Monday morning, in our CHGO Blackhawks group chat, Mario Tirabassi sent a video of Taylor Hall talking about this very topic.

“I think he’s handling it really well,” Hall said. “He does way too many in-game interviews and stuff. They need to find a way to just let him play. I think he understands his role as a major ambassador for the game of hockey. He’s handling it so well. He doesn’t seem to be fazed by it, but I think that it can be a little much for him at times. He doesn’t say that, but it feels like it is.”

The text here probably gives a different context than the video does, so if you didn’t click ‘play’ I’d suggest you do. I don’t think Hall is criticizing Bedard AT ALL. I think he feels for him. As a former No. 1 overall pick himself, Hall understands the pressures that come with that honor, but Hall was drafted in 2010. There wasn’t the constant social media attention, and Edmonton isn’t quite Chicago in terms of coverage.

So I ask again, when does Bedard get a break? All we’ve heard from him, from the second he pulled that Blackhawks sweater over his head in Nashville, is that he just wants to play hockey. He’s been great so far. The best Blackhawk by a significant margin. At some point, the break will come for him…likely when the Blackhawks have an extended home stand. Until then, we can expect Bedard to face the media with a smile on his face, even if he just wants to get back on the damn ice.

Free Money*

*not actually free

If you’re a sports wagerer, one bet we’ve been hammering this season is Connor Bedard shots on goal. Most books, including our friends at Draft Kings (use code CHGO when you sign up), have set the over/under line at 3.5 shots per game. The over has hit every … single … time. That’s right…4/4 times the over has hit. Until that number adjusts, bet it. Yes, the wager comes with minus odds, but even small wins are wins. I will be playing this every game until the number hits 5.5, and even then I’ll be tempted.

The Week Ahead

Things don’t get easier for the Blackhawks, who have started the season with an absolutely loaded schedule of quality opponents on the road.

Thursday — at Colorado Avalanche

The 2022 Stanley Cup Champions are off to a 2-0 start after beating the LA Kings 5-2 and the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in the shootout. This team, as you know, is absolutely loaded with talent. Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews (still the ‘other Toews’ to me) will provide a nice measuring stick to see where the Blackhawks are in comparison to the best teams in the league. The Hawks must be ready at puck-drop for this game. Hopefully they learned their lesson in Montreal.

Saturday — Vegas Golden Knights (Home Opener)

Back-to-back games against the last two Stanley Cup Champions. Welcome home, Hawks! Vegas is 3-0, and has outscored its opponents (Seattle, San Jose, Anaheim) 12-3 in those games. They’re an absolute wagon and will be a Cup favorite again this season, barring disastrous injures. NOTE: Mark Stone missing the last half of the season with an exaggerated/made up injury so they can fit another stud player under the cap does NOT count as “disastrous.” That’s just cap manipulation.

Enjoy the rest of week everyone and we’ll see you back here next Tuesday,

The first period saw a lot of back-and-forth action but no goals. The Blackhawks outchanced the Maple Leafs and led 8-5 in shots. The effort and the execution we didn’t see during the opening frame in Montreal were there right from the initial faceoff.

MacKenzie Entwistle, making his season debut in front of his family (yes, he really does have one), gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead early in the second period. The goal sparked the home team as they dominated the next handful of shifts. Just over two minutes later, William Nylander made some slick moves to create space before finding captain John Tavares for the game-tying goal. The Blackhawks showed their scoring depth with two late-period goals. First, Corey Perry scored on a breakaway set up a 92-foot saucer pass from Alex Vlasic. Tyler Johnson scored his third goal in his last three periods moments later to double the Blackhawks lead. Andreas Athanasiou had the primary assist on the first and third goals.

Taylor Raddysh iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final seconds, capping off a crazy final sequence that saw both teams get a goal erased for being offside. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom was spectacular in making 35 saves for his first victory of the season.

Jay: Can we talk about Alex Vlasic?

After, somewhat unexpectedly, spending most of last season in Rockford, defenseman Alex Vlasic has finally taken his rightful spot in the Blackhawks lineup full time, and while rookie defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser have been getting most of the attention, Vlasic has been the most consistently impressive of the team’s young defensemen.

Unlike Kaiser and Korchinski, Vlasic is defense first. Typically defensive defensemen like being ignored. That usually indicates they played mistake-free hockey, but Vlasic has been so good that I’m taking this chance to shine a light on his game.

When I watch Vlasic, I can’t help but notice how much poise he has in his game. He never seems hurried. He never seems like his mind is going 100 miles per hour. He’s calm but quick with the puck. He knows how to use his massive 6’6’ frame to fend off would-be attackers. For a 22-year-old with 25 games under his belt, it shouldn’t look this easy.

In Monday’s 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs, Vlasic showed off some of his offensive skill, as well. Fifteen minutes into the second period, the Hawks were pinned in their own end. Vlasic gained control of the puck, walked calmly along the goal line, and fed an absolute dart to Corey Perry, who had all day to rip a shot past Leafs goalie Joseph Woll.

Vlasic ended the game with an assist and was on the ice for two of the Blackhawks’ goals. More importantly, he was on the ice while the Hawks were defending the Leafs’ empty net comeback bid. Richardson clearly trusts him, as he should.

As we work our way through this Blackhawks rebuild, there will be moments, or stretches, that let you know the team for sure has “a guy.” I’m ready to call it. Vlasic is a guy…a guy who will be part of things when the Blackhawks are ready to win again.

Greg: The Faceoff Nightmare Continues

Last season, the Blackhawks were one of the top teams when it came to winning faceoffs, at least up to the trade deadline. A lot of that was due to the work by Jonathan Toews and Max Domi, who both won well over 50% of their faceoffs. However, their success at the dot did not translate to much success in the win column.

Entering tonight’s game, the Blackhawks were dead last in the league in faceoff wins at 31.7%. That stat will go up a tick, but the team had another brutal night at the dot. They won just three of 14 faceoffs in the first period. Things got better in the middle frame was their best period, as they won 10 of 23 draws. They finished out the night by losing 14 of their 19 third-period faceoffs. This added up to 37.3%, which is not great.

The top two centers, Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel, are playing the position for the first time at this level, so some struggles were expected. They went a combined 8-for-23 tonight. However, at some point, the numbers need to improve. While these two take their lumps at the dot, some of the veterans need to be better. Jason Dickinson went 3-for-13. Johnson lost all six of his faceoffs.

I hate to find the one negative thing to harp on following a big win, but this team cannot keep losing this many draws if they want to stay competitive. Hopefully, the numbers improve from within because I don’t think the team is going to make a trade just to bring in faceoff help.

Mario: Arvid Söderblom Looks Legit

I know it’s only two games for young Arvid Söderblom for the Blackhawks this season, but damn has he looked good. He made 32 saves against the Bruins a few nights ago and kept the Blackhawks in the game against Boston and then added another 35 saves against 36 shots tonight coming from the Maple Leafs to earn his first win of the season. That’s already half as many wins as he had last season.

Late in the game, holding onto a 3-1 lead, Söderblom made a pair of left-pad saves that kept the Blackhawks ahead as the Maple Leafs were pushing hard for any chance for at a comeback. But it wasn’t meant to be tonight.

The Blackhawks believe that Söderblom can be part of, if not, the goalie of the future. They have set themselves up nicely to at least have one of Södeblom, Drew Commesso, or Adam Gajan likely become that goaltender, but it is the 24-year-old Swede that is getting the first chance at being the next bonafide starter in-between the pipes for Chicago. Goaltenders usually take longer to develop into full-time NHL players than any other position, but Söderblom is ahead of the curve and was a project play for the Blackhawks when they signed his as a European free agent a few seasons ago. For reference, Corey Crawford is regarded as one of the best goaltenders in Blackhawks franchise history and after he was selected in the second round of the 2003 NHL draft, he took two full years in the QMJHL and five full seasons in the AHL before becoming a full-time player in the NHL as a 26-year-old in the 2010-11 season.

Again, it’s early in the season and his track record of NHL play coming into the 2023-24 campaign was a rough 2-12-2 record with a far below .900 save-percentage, but with a roster that looks better across the board than last season’s did, one would imagine that Söderblom will be able to turn those games last year where he was keeping the Blackhawks alive in one or two-goal games, into wins this season.

Sandwiched into the opening schedule that sees the Blackhawks face the likes of Pittsburgh, Boston (twice), Toronto, Colorado, and Vegas to begin the season was this game against Montreal, a team that finished in the Tank Standings last season alongside the Blackhawks. But after a scrambly, sloppy, and scoreless first period, the game broke open in the second period for the Habs. Cole Caufield tallied two goals and Sean Monahan scored on a short-handed chance to give Montreal a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. The Blackhawks had nothing going for them at that point of the game with very little puck possession.

The third period was the best offensive attack the Blackhawks could muster-up with Tyler Johnson scoring twice to make it a 3-2 game, but time ran out on the Blackhawks. Seth Jones had a great chance to tie the game in the dying seconds, but it rang off the post and Chicago couldn’t get the puck back on net before the clock ran out.

With the loss, the Blackhawks fall to 1-2-0 on the season and have yet to score a powerplay goal through their first three games.

Greg: Penalty Kill Continues to Do It’s Job

It was hard to find a lot of positives from tonight’s game. This was one of the worst games of the Luke Richardson era. Sure, there were a lot of bad games last season, but we rarely questioned the effort. Tonight, the execution and effort were lacking at times. The team seemed disorganized, more so than at any point in Richardson’s first season. However, as bad as it was tonight, the penalty-kill continues to get the job done.

Last season, the Blackhawks surrendered four power-play goals on opening night to the Colorado Avalanche. That was just a sign of things to come as the team finished 22nd out 32 teams with a 76.2 penalty-kill rate. This season has gotten off to a much better start as they killed both penalties against Pittsburgh Penguins and all three versus the Boston Bruins.

The penalty-kill unit was on the ice for four minutes in the opening frame. Mrazek was the best penalty killer in the frame as he stopped all four shots he saw. The Blackhawks are still perfect on the season, killing off all seven power-play chances against.

Richardson has been relying on his veterans when his team is shorthanded. Seth Jones has had the most time among the defensemen. Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno lead the forwards in shorthanded ice time. Boris Katchouk is showing us why he’s in the lineup as he’s been a key contributor to the kill. Surprisingly, Alex Vlasic is second among the defensemen for time on the penalty kill, as Richardson has shown trust in the young blueliner.

The power play is a mess right now, but at least the penalty-kill is working well. If the Blackhawks can continue to play disciplined hockey, that will go a long way in keeping the PK unit near the top of the league.

Jay: It’s Nice to Be Annoyed Again

For the first time in a couple of years, I felt myself irritated watching a Blackhawks game. Yelling at the television, muttering under my breath, rolling my eyes.

It was glorious.

Well, maybe not glorious, but it felt good to care about the outcomes of games for the first time in forever. While the Blackhawks are still in the early stages of a rebuild, we’ve left the “Tank Era” and entered the “Let’s Watch Players Get Better” era.

Tonight was the night Lukas Reichel was going to make a big impact on the top power play unit. That didn’t happen, as Reichel struggled to make any impact at all. I had selected Taylor Raddysh as my ‘Who’s Your Hawk?’ I thought he’d make the best of his opportunity to play with Connor Bedard. Nope. Not much there either.

The game was a dud top to bottom, and while I hope to never see the Blackhawks play this way again, by no means have I lost faith in “The Plan” at all. I still have full faith that Kyle Davidson has this team on the right path. I still have full faith the Lukas Reichel is a bona-fide NHL top-six forward, but man it felt cathartic to be frustrated…even a bit angry…after a loss again.

Maybe this means the Blackhawks are back.

Mario: Blackhawks Come Up Short in Measuring-Stick Game

This should have been a measuring-stick game for the Blackhawks, facing a team that should be closer to them in talent (on paper) than the opening two opponents they faced. The biggest question for the Blackhawks to answer in Game Three of this early season was whether or not this Chicago squad could replicate efforts like they did in Pittsburgh to begin the year more often than once in a blue moon.

The answer tonight was no.

In what felt like the most disjointed game the Blackhawks had played under Luke Richardson as head coach, Montreal dominated the majority of the game with an advantage in chances (66-61), shots (36-30), high-danger chances through the first two periods with a 13-6 advantage, and being able to score a short-handed goal while killing all seven Blackhawks powerplays. Just not a solid sixty-minute effort for the Blackhawks.

While their expectations this season are not to contend for much of anything, you want to see where the team can go with the youth driving the team. Tonight’s effort is a stark reminder that there’s a ton of growth to go for this team to get close to the level that the young Canadiens are at. Montreal is a team the Blackhawks should look at this season as where they want to be next season with a number of established young players beginning to take over as the established focal-points of the organization.

Boston opened the scoring when Trent Frederic redirected a Brandon Carlo point shot past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Söderblom. Five minutes later, Bedard would tie the game, tucking an impressive wrap-around goal past the outstretched heel of a late-arriving Linus Ullmark.

Early in the second period, Taylor Hall took a blindside hit from Carlo and disappeared to the Blackhawks locker room favoring his arm. He came out later in the period for a single power-play shift, but quickly retreated back to the Hawks dressing room. He would not return to the game. After the game, Luke Richardson expressed his frustration with the hit. “I know exactly what it was,” Richardson said. “I used to do it all the time. But that’s out of the league now.”

David Pastrnak gave the Bruins the 2-1 lead after converting on a two-on-one with Milan Lucic. Wyatt Kaiser, who struggled in this game, laid out to break up the pass back, but Pastrnak had too much room and didn’t miss. The Hawks would be outshoot 10-5 in the period.

Pastrnak potted the empty netter for Boston with 00:56 to go in the third to seal the win for the Bruins.

Here are our three takeaways from the game:

Jay Zawaski: Lukas Reichel failing to produce early

Lost in the excitement of Tuesday’s thrilling win over the Penguins was the performance from Lukas Reichel. He finished the game with two shots on goal and won only 20 percent of his faceoffs. Analytically, he was decent, but failed to create much offense while on the ice.

Wednesday wasn’t much different. Despite a nice scoring chance in the second period, Reichel was mostly a non-factor until the third period, when he was paired with Bedard mid-way through the frame. More on that in a bit. He finished the game with two shots on goal and one more shot attempt and won two of his 10 faceoffs.

With Reichel starting at center for the first time in his NHL career, some struggles are to be expected, so I’m not panicked about his performance yet. With the apparent injury to Hall, one has to wonder if Luke Richardson might consider switching Reichel to Bedard’s left wing beyond this loss. He did get some time with Bedard during the third period, but the Hawks were down Hall and Jason Dickinson, who was in the box serving a 10-minute misconduct penalty. Richardson was also loading up the top line as the team was trailing by a goal. As you’d expect, Reichel looked like a different player when skating with Bedard and Andrea Athanasiou, which is a good sign.

Could Reichel see that as the Hawks giving up on him at center? Possibly, but this staff does a good job of communicating with their players. Perhaps experiencing some success offensively could get him jump-started.

I’m confident Reichel will eventually figure things out, but had the Hawks not drafted Bedard, Reichel would have been this season’s top story. For the first time in his career, he’s playing with legitimate expectations to produce.

It’s something to keep an eye on.

Greg Boysen: Taylor Hall injured after fast start

Hall spent two and a half seasons in a Bruins uniform before he was traded to Chicago in the offseason. He was very productive in Bean Town, with 44 goals and 111 points in 158 games.

You could tell early that he was playing with a chip on his shoulder against his former mates. Hall had the Blackhawks’ first shot on goal and then picked up his first point with the primary assist on Bedard’s goal. He had two shots on goal and a blocked shot during a very active first period.

Hall’s night turned for the worse on his first shift of the middle frame. Bruins’ defenseman Brandon Carlo lined him up in the neutral zone and hit him up high. The former Hart Trophy winner went right to the visiting locker room in obvious discomfort. He came back for one shift on a power play halfway through the period but went right back down the tunnel when it concluded. The team announced before the start of the third period that he would not return to the game.

Luke Richardson told reporters that Hall is “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury and added that he did not like the hit by Carlo.

Andreas Athanasiou stepped up to the Bedard line in Hall’s absence. That line, with and without Hall, was the only one to produce much of anything at 5v5. As a team at full strength, the Blackhawks had 39 shot attempts to Boston’s 64.

Mario Tirabassi: Blackhawks netminders off to solid starts

I know it’s just two games into the season and just one performance each for Arvid Söderblom and Petr Mrazek, but the Blackhawks are going to win, or at the very least be competitive in a lot of games if they get the kinds of games we saw from those two to begin this season. After Mrazek made 38 saves on 40 shots last night, Söderblom came out with a 30-save performance tonight in the 3-1 loss.

The Blackhawks believe in Söderblom as one of, if not, the goaltender of the organization’s future. He’s been good in the AHL leading up to this opportunity in the NHL, and behind him are Drew Commesso and to a lesser extent Adam Gajan. Söderblom has time to grab ahold of the reins of the starter job and giving more performances like tonight will allow him to do that.

On the other side is Mrazek, a goaltender who is not signed beyond this season with the Blackhawks and likely is playing this season with his career in the NHL on the line. Injuries have been his biggest pitfall, leading to him not being able to string together long stints of quality play. But if his body can cooperate with him this season, we could see Mrazek potentially become a trade chip at the deadline, or at the very least be a reliable starter for this Blackhawks team as Söderblom continues to grow his game at the NHL level. Either way, the early impressions in net should give Blackhawks fans some optimism for this season.

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The Blackhawks answered a big one — how competitive can they be this season — with a stirring 4-2 come-from-behind victory, scoring four unanswered goals to win Bedard’s much-hyped NHL debut.

The Pittsburgh Penguins struck first, just over seven minutes into the game. Bryan Rust’s shot was originally ruled no goal, but after a quick review, the tally was put on the scoreboard for the home team. After a slow offensive start to the second period, a failed zone clear by Taylor Hall turned into a Sidney Crosby goal and a 2-0 lead. Luke Richardson challenged the play for being offside but lost, forcing his team into a penalty kill. Thankfully, they responded by keeping the puck out of their net.

Moments after the big penalty kill, Ryan Donato scored off a rebound for his first as a Blackhawk. Bedard picked up his first NHL point on the play with the secondary assist.

The Blackhawks got back-to-back power plays early in the third period but could not convert. They went 0-for-4 on the night. Cole Guttman tied the game midway through the final frame thanks to a nice play by Seth Jones from below the goal line.

After Perry missed two power-play chances from point-blank range, he set up the winning goal. His pass was deflected and went right onto the stick of Jason Dickinson in the slot, who buried the puck behind Tristan Jarry. Petr Mrazek was fantastic in net for the Blackhawks, making 38 saves for his first win of the season.

The Blackhawks are right back at it Wednesday night in Boston.

Mario: It’s Different Now

If you want to look at what the Chicago Blackhawks *might* have felt like if Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane, and Brent Seabrook never got hurt, or fell off their talent cliffs, these Pittsburgh Penguins would be the example. All the usual suspects of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and even Erik Karlsson all gave-off the feeling of the “one last tour” of getting the band back together. Or rather, never breaking them up.

On the other side of the ice, and on this side of reality, were the 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks without Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane, the last two remaining players of the modern dynasty era Blackhawks. For the first time since the 2006-07 season, the Blackhawks would be taking the ice on opening night without any of those players. In their place comes the next era of hockey in Chicago led by Connor Bedard, Kevin Korchinski, and Lukas Reichel.

At this point last season, the vibes around the Blackhawks were dark clouds and gloom. Walking into the DNVR Bar for Blackhawks and Avalanche felt like walking into a lion’s den with shorts made by Charlie The Bacon Guy. The Blackhawks were ripe for dismemberment in nearly every contest during the 2022-23 season.

This year will not be that year.

The Penguins this season are not the Avalanche last season, but also this year’s Blackhawks team is not last year’s team and it felt that way all night. Despite trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Blackhawks led in shots on net with 17. They had 17 shots all game in the season-opener last year. Even going down 2-0, it didn’t feel out of reach.

Enter a four-unanswered-goals comeback.

This Blackhawks team is built to play its way out of danger. Unlike last season, where they just had to grind, grit, and will their way to just being in games, this team will still have that Luke Richardson instilled work-ethic, but a more balanced, NHL-quality lineup across the board. I know it’s just one game, but it already feels so much different and I don’t believe that will change.

Greg: Connor Bedard Nabs First NHL Point

Many Blackhawks fans started wondering what Bedard would look like in a Blackhawks sweater long before last season ended. On May 8, the Blackhawks won the draft lottery and then officially added the young phenom to the organization at the NHL Entry Draft in late June. This felt like one of the longest offseasons ever, but we finally made it to the PPG Paints Arena for opening night.  

There was a ton of pressure on Bedard heading into opening night, but you wouldn’t know if from talking to him. He told reporters he slept like a baby the night before his NHL debut. He had a special moment by taking his first faceoff across from future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby. After that, it was all business.

Bedard was active early. He had seven shot attempts in the first period, so he was unafraid to get the puck toward the net. His aggressiveness never wavered. He didn’t get his first NHL goal, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying. He finished the night with five shots on goal on 11 attempts.

The points are going to come, there is no doubt about that. However, Bedard’s first game at the faceoff dot was not great. He didn’t win a draw until the third period and went 2-for-13 overall. This is something that will improve with reps and confidence. Knowing the kid’s work ethic, this will be an area of his game he is going to grind away at.

Jay: Kevin Korchinski holds his own

Overshadowed by Connor Bedard’s NHL debut was another top draft pick making his own. Kevin Korchinski, chosen seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, got his chance to show what he had, and held his own. 

Young defensemen will often play as safe as possible, terrified to make a mistake, but Luke Richardson has encouraged Korchinski to play smart, not safe. 

“You look for the opportunities when the other team breaks or cracks, and that’s when you go as a defenseman,” Richardson said after the morning skate. “He still has to not play the game safe…we just want him to play smart. When they play is not there, have an out. It’s okay to put it off the glass into the neutral zone. That’s hard for a guy coming from Junior that’s the best player, can skate everywhere with the puck. There’s going to be times where he thinks he can, and it doesn’t happen. We’ll remind him, but we have patience for that, and as long as that doesn’t keep happening, then I don’t think there’s an issue with it.” 

I marked two negative plays. 

In the first period, there was a miscommunication that lead and errant pass that ended up as icing. The next shift, and tired Korchinski turned the puck over. He recovered nicely and prevented a scoring chance. 

Late in the second, Korchinski had an opportunity to shoot, and opted to pass into traffic. No harm no foul, but the Blackhawks would like to see him be more aggressive there. 

I’m sure there were some moments I missed, but if a rookie defenseman playing against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson in his NHL debut held his own like Korchinski did, that is a great sign.  

Korchinski ended the game with one shot on goal, two blocked shots, and 19:19 of ice time. 

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The term “generational talent” is throw around far too often, but Bedard is a generational talent. That’s not just my opinion, either. The folks who get paid to analyze prospects have been saying this about Bedard for years. Had he been draft-eligible in 2022, he would have been the number-one overall pick in that draft, as well.

All of this to say; if I read one more damn, “Temper Your Expectations on Connor Bedard” column, I’m going to lose my mind.

Chicago, it is okay to be excited about Connor Bedard.

It is okay to expect him to be great. Everyone has expected him to be great since he was 13. There is a reason several teams, including the Blackhawks, decided to completely punt on the 2022-23 season for the slightest chance to land Bedard.

Bedard is going to be great. It’s just a matter of how great he will be, and how quickly it will happen. He may not score a hat-trick tonight in Pittsburgh. He might not light up the league in his first season. It takes even the top players in history some time to reach their full potential, and that’s okay, but please don’t let these hot-take curmudgeons rain on your parade. Don’t let these writers and columnists who have watched and followed the Blackhawks for all of 25 seconds chime-in with their predictably tempered takes because their editors told them Bedard is today’s hot story.

“Oh, but Jay, the pressure! How will he handle the pressure?” Bedard has passed every test thrown his way, and with flying colors. The “pressure” angle was there when he entered the 2022 World Junior Championships at age 16. He responded with eight points in seven games. Bedard would find himself with more pressure in the 2023 World Juniors. Surely, the intensified spotlight would be too much for the kid to handle. Bedard ended the tournament with 23 points in seven WJC games. He is now Canada’s all-time U20 WJC scoring leader, five points ahead of Eric Lindros in five fewer games (with two more years of WJC eligibility).

“I’ve had a gradual growth of exposure and pressure for the last five, six years,” Bedard said at the draft. “That’s been good for me. It wasn’t an overnight thing. I’m not focused on outside expectations. I’ll be focused on my teammates, coaches, family, everyone there, the staff, trying to win hockey games and be the best player I can be.”

Optimism is a form of rebellion.

– Nikki Giovanni

Let Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson say all the right and safe things. “It’s up to us to temper expectations a little bit. This isn’t junior hockey anymore; there’s going to be a transition phase,” Davidson told ESPN. “I think he gets that. He’s not walking in here expecting to put up the same amount of points or goals as junior hockey. But he also holds himself up to a high standard and you also don’t want to take that intensity away from a player because that’s what makes him great.”

Ok, Kyle. We’ll leave the tempering up to you. We’re going to encourage Hawks fans to be as passionate and meatbally (meatballish?) about Bedard as their hearts desire. Negativity is the easiest and laziest route to take. Soak this moment in and look forward with optimism. After all, generational talents only come around once in a generation, right?

Today, I will look at five of the most intriguing prospects heading into the 2023-24 hockey season. They aren’t necessarily part of the “top prospects” group, but they have an interesting story to tell over the next several months.  

Frank Nazar – University of Michigan (NCAA)

There was a lot of excitement when the Blackhawks selected Nazar 13^th overall at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. We were all happy to see a fast, offensively skilled player added to the mix. However, the post-draft buzz was killed when the young forward needed surgery to repair an offseason lower-body injury. The recovery process kept him out of the lineup until early February. Nazar scored a goal in his second game back and finished his 13 contests with two goals and seven points.

“Not playing hockey for half a year, and then coming in and playing the playoffs, it’s pretty hard to get into game pace,” Nazar told Daily Faceoff. “But that’s a challenge I wanted to do. I could have sat out the rest of the year and just become stronger. But I wanted to come back, and I wanted to help with the Frozen Four push.”

Nazar is entering his first full season with the Wolverines completely healthy. He led all players with eight points in four games at the World Junior Summer Showcase in early August. He was one of the most dangerous players on the ice and should have Michigan and Blackhawks fans excited about what he can do this season.

It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of the Nazar with last year’s team that included Adam Fantilli and Luke Hughes, who are both now in the NHL. Despite losing a lot of top talent, the season’s Wolverines squad is still loaded and is ranked fifth in the preseason polls. Nazar is one of 10 players on the roster who have already been drafted by an NHL team. A full season with a top program will be fun to watch.

Ilya Safonov – Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)

We give former general manager Stan Bowman a lot of grief, and rightfully so, but his last two draft classes could be the best of his tenure in Chicago. One of those picks, in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, has been overlooked. Safonov had a breakout season in the KHL and is looking to build off it.

The 22-year-old center had 19 goals and 37 points in 64 games for Ak Bars Kazan, setting new career highs in all three categories. He even served as team captain while Alexander Radulov was injured. Safonov saw a major increase in ice time as the season went on, which is very hard to do for young players in the KHL.

The 2023-24 season got off to a slow start for Safonov. He has just one goal in his first 10 games but has picked it up of late with two goals and four points in his last five contests. He brings something to the table that most of the top prospects lack: size. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, he would take up a lot of space in the middle of the ice. In addition to his big frame, he brings a physical game and can score a lot of goals from close. He also has good vision and can make the tough pass.

Safonov told Scott Powers of The Athletic that his dream is to play in the NHL for the Blackhawks.

“I keep it in my mind all the time that one day I’d like to hit the ice for the Chicago Blackhawks,” he said. “I know what I have to improve to come and impress everybody with what I can show. It’s every day working, and that’s what I’m thinking about.”

Safonov’s KHL contract runs through the end of the 2024-25 season, so his arrival fits the timeline of the Blackhawks looking to compete. Hopefully, he can start producing more consistently and look more like the player we saw last season.

Antti Saarela – Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Even though Davidson didn’t draft Saarela, he certainly fits the mold of what the Blackhawks’ general manager has been building his team with. The 22-year-old forward’s greatest attribute is his speed.

“He’s a world-class skater,” director of player development Mark Eaton told The Athletic last March. “His speed is the differentiator for him. He’s had four years over in the Finnish pro league now, and he’s done a great job of honing his speed and learning how to use it effectively. Physically, you can grow a lot in four years as well. He’s become a lot stronger. He’s stronger on pucks and stronger on his skates. And when he doesn’t have the puck, he can knock guys, too, so he’s a tough guy to play against.”

Since being selected in the fourth round (123^rd overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Saarela has played professionally in his native Finland. He has dealt with some injuries the last two seasons but has been effective when healthy. In 78 Liiga games combined for Ilves and Lukko, he has 19 goals and 37 points over the previous two campaigns. He had two goals in six playoff games for Lukko last spring.

Saarela will head to Rockford after training camp and use the season to adjust to the smaller ice and faster speed of the North American game. He will be an interesting player to track throughout the season to see how much he progresses from the fall to the spring.

Adam Gajan – Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)

The Blackhawks had three second-round picks at the most recent draft. The first of those picks (35^th overall) was used on Gajan. This selection was a bit of a surprise, considering the Blackhawks are high on top goaltending prospect Drew Commesso. Not many predicted the team would look for another young netminder with this pick.

Gajan spent most of the 2022-23 season with the Chippewa Steel of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), where he went 19-12-1 with a 2.57 goals-against average (GAA) and .917 save percentage (SV%). The NAHL is a second-tier junior league, below the United States Hockey League (USHL), but it has a long track record of producing NHL goaltenders. Connor Hellebuyck, Ben Bishop, Craig Anderson, Jack Campbell, and Collin Delia are among those who have played in the NAHL.

It was at the World Junior Championship where Gajan turned heads. He went 2-2-0 in his four tournament games for Slovakia, posted a 2.40 GAA, .936 SV%, and had one shutout. He was named the Best Goaltender of the tournament, an honor he shares with current Blackhawks’ netminder Petr Mrazek, who won the award in 2012.

“We loved his athleticism, ability to play the puck, big game player, was great for Slovakia in the World Juniors, was excellent everywhere he played this year,” Davidson said at the draft. “Loved his play, but it’s the athleticism that stood out to us.”

Gajan has moved up to the USHL this season, and his first five games for the Green Bay Gamblers have not been stellar. He is 3-2-0 with a 3.38 GAA and .886 SV%. At just 19, there is nothing but time for him to develop. It will be interesting to watch him all season to see why the Blackhawks took him so high with Commesso waiting in the wings.

Roman Kantserov – Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL)

The second of those previously mentioned three second-round picks (44^th overall) was used on Kantserov, a 5-foot-9 right wing. He made this list because he was an under-the-radar pick, and there wasn’t a lot known about him at the time of the draft. The truth is, he is a very talented forward who can find the back of the net with regularity.

“He can flat out shoot it,” said Blackhawks director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey shortly after the draft. “He’s accurate, quick release; skating’s really good and powerful. He’s got a thick body on him, plays inside.”

Kantserov has spent the last two seasons in the MHL, Russia’s equivalent to the AHL. In 100 games, he has 56 goals and 111 points. He has been promoted to the KHL for the start of this season and has a goal and three assists in 16 games. As typical for young KHL players, he has not been given a ton of ice time to start the season.

When you watch video of Kantserov, you can see that he fits the Davidson mode. He’s got great speed along with soft hands and elite-level creativity, as you can see with his latest assist.

If Kantserov reaches his potential, he could be another offensive weapon for the Blackhawks down the road. He can both shoot and create plays and will cause defensive matchup nightmares.

It is going to be a much better year for Blackhawks fans. There is a renewed sense of optimism in the club. Nobody will be cringing when the team wins this season, and there will be more than just waiting for the trade deadline. While some exciting young players are already in Chicago, many more are on their way, and we will be keeping tabs on all of them for you.

Petr Mrazek got the start in goal and stopped 18 of 23 Blues shots.

The Blackhawks and Connor Bedard open their regular season Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, and CHGO Blackhawks will be there. Make sure to join us as soon as that game ends.

For this edition of Hawks Hits, we’re going to offer our evaluations of the Blackhawks players looking to make the final roster spot. Reese Johnson is another bubble player, but it seems pretty obvious he’s Rockford-bound. That leaves Joey Anderson, MacKenzie Entwistle, and Boris Katchouk.

Greg: Boris Katchouk Puts in Another Solid Effort

Katchouk’s first full season with the Blackhawks certainly had its highs and lows. He missed the first three weeks of the season due to an ankle injury suffered in training camp. It took him 12 games before picking up a point and only had two goals and six points in his first 40 games. Then, all of sudden, things clicked for him down the stretch. He had three goals and 10 points over his final 18 games.With all the offseason additions, Katchouk was going to need to be that confident player we saw down the stretch if he wanted to make the roster out of camp. For the most part, we’ve seen that guy. He’s been very effective on the penalty kill and picked up two assists at the Minnesota Wild early in the preseason.

I think Katchouk cemented his spot on the opening night roster with his performance in St. Louis. He picked up a primary assist when Joey Anderson redirected his shot attempt into the net.

In 17:25 of ice time, Katchouk had an assist, a shot on goal, one takeaway and was a minus-1. He also played 2:24 on the penalty kill, the most among of the forwards. He gives the team more on a nightly basis than Johnson does. He has more versatility and offensive ability, while playing well on the penalty kill.

Mario: Reese Johnson likely on wrong side of cut-line

There’s nothing wrong with being a more one-dimensional NHL player when it comes to being tough, physical, and willing to stand up for teammates. Those are all commendable traits for an NHL player to have. Reese Johnson has all of those. But unfortunately for him, the Blackhawks are at a point now where just being able to do those things are likely not enough to stick around on the NHL roster.

Chicago needs their fourth-liners to be able to play tough, play responsible, and be able to threaten to chip-in offensively from time to time. Other players who were on the cut-line for the Blackhawks like Boris Katchouk and MacKenzie Entwistle can do all those things and Reese Johnson just isn’t there. Entwistle scored his second goal of the preseason tonight and Katchouk tallied his third assist of the preseason, while Johnson’s last effort of the preseason saw him with two shots on goal, no hits, and 13:12 minutes of ice-time. He rang a shot off the post in the third period, probably would have been his last-ditch effort to make the team.

Johnson’s a nice guy and a hard player, he’ll likely be one of the first players considered by the Blackhawks if/when they need a gritty call-up from the Rockford IceHogs. But ultimately, he’ll be coming from the Rockford IceHogs.

Jay: MacKenzie Entwistle makes his case

Tuesday night, MacKenzie Entwistle had a moment to forget. He had a two-on-zero breakaway with Boris Katchouk and blew a tire.

Entwistle flat fell down.

Most young players would have let the moment crush them…especially a player as “on the bubble” as Entwistle has been this preseason. He was asked about the incident after Friday’s practice. “I’m glad everyone got a laugh out of it. I got a couple of texts after the game,” Entwistle said. “Kaner texted me and said ‘Get Jimmy (Heintzelman) to sharpen your skates.’ That was embarrassing. I’d love to bury that and have that chance back.”

Saturday, he had his chance for redemption and didn’t miss. Late in the second period with the Hawks trailing 4-2, Entwistle took the puck from his own blue line, dangled the Blues defenseman, and tucked the puck past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

In my mind, Entwistle is the bubble player most worthy of making the final roster. While Katchouk brings more offense, and Joey Anderson brings more experience, Entwistle’s game-to-game compete level and positional versatility make him the best option. He finished the preseason with 2 goals and an even rating in four games. We’ll find out a Sunday morning who is headed back to Rockford, but here’s hoping #58 stays in Chicago.

Two of those full-time NHLers in tonight’s contest were the brothers Foligno, with Marcus playing for the Wild and Nick playing for the Blackhawks. The two have faced each other before, but this was the first time they have each scored in such a game. Marcus and the Wild opened the scoring less than three minutes into the contest, but Nick and the Blackhawks responded with a goal coming just one second after a powerplay ended to tie it 1-1 going into the first intermission.

Mid-way through the second period, Ryan Donato made a great defensive read at the Wild blue line to breakup a pass, and Taylor Hall used a slick puck pickup to break himself away and finished the chance to make it a 2-1 game. The Blackhawks dominated the second period with a 17-6 shot advantage in the period, along with Hall’s goal, and took the 2-1 advantage into the second intermission.

For as dominant of a second period the Blackhawks had, they were worked in the third period by Minnesota, being out-shot 9-1 in the period. Pat Maroon took advantage of a Wyatt Kaiser blown tire behind the Blackhawks’ net and tied the game late in the period, and Minnesota nearly had the winner with a very late shot hitting the post but staying out. The game would head to overtime tied 2-2, but no game-winner would be found in the extra frame, so the shootout was needed. One lone goal was scored in the shootout as Mats Zuccarello tallied the game-winner, with Connor Bedard, Taylor Hall, and Lukas Reichel all failing to convert their chances.

Greg: The New Guys From Boston Lead the Way

Shortly after the draft last summer, Kyle Davidson acquired Hall and Foligno from the Boston Bruins in an effort to surround Bedard with some established veterans. Hall, a former Hart Trophy winner, was used more in a bottom-six role last season. He is going to see a jump in production this season as he will be attached to the hip of the Blackhawks’ new phenom. Foligno will play a big role this season too. He will be doing a lot of the dirty work on the ice while being a vocal leader off it. Both ex-Bruins found the back of the net for the first time in the preseason tonight.

Foligno played in all three facets of the game tonight. Less than seven minutes after watching his brother Marcus give Minnesota a 1-0 lead, Nick tied the game. The goal came one second after a Blackhawks’ power play expired.

Hall missed the net on an early first-period power play, but he made up for it in the second period. He deeked the puck around former Blackhawk Marc-Andre Fleury to finish off a breakaway and give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead.

Foligno had a strong game. In addition to his goal, he had three shots, a blocked shot, a hit, and a takeaway, and played 2:59 on the penalty kill that went 6-for-6. Hall had four shots on goal, a hit, and a takeaway. Both of these veterans are going to play big roles during the regular season. They will have different jobs on the ice, but will both be huge leaders off of it.

Arvid Söderblom gives the Blackhawks a chance to win

With Petr Mrazek and Arvid Söderblom the only goalies left on the Blackhawks training camp roster, the position is settled, but the rotation is not. Söderblom got a chance to make his case to get the bulk of starts on Thursday, and while the game started in a less-than-ideal fashion, the 24-year-old netminder bounced back nicely, despite the shootout loss. 

Marcus Foligno (yes, Nick’s brother) and the Wild scored on their first shot of the game. Freddy Gaudreau sent a point shot through that was tipped by Foligno. Söderblom never had a chance, as he was screened by both Wyatt Kaiser and Marco Rossi. 

That trend continued throughout the first period, as the Wild sustained several long shifts in the Blackhawks zone. The Blackhawks will have to be stronger and more physical in front of their own net. This is yet another preseason coaching moment for Luke Richardson, who had to be screaming internally watching the chaos unfold.

In the second period, Söderblom, and his teammates, settled down a bit. The chaos in front was lessened, but that’s not to say Söderblom wasn’t tested. He made several in-close and difficult saves, including a point-blank save on a puck that ricocheted off of Seth Jones’ shin and on net. 

In the third period, the Blackhawks successfully killed off a 5-on-3 Wild power play, but a Wyatt Kaiser turnover led to the tying goal from Pat Maroon. In regulation, Söderblom stopped 26 of 28 Wild shots. He kept the team in the game and gave them a chance to win at the end. 

It remains to be seen how the goaltending workload will shake out, but I’d predict Söderblom leapfrogs Petr Mrazek before too long. 

Mario: Korchinksi’s confidence continues to grow

It’s pretty much a lock that Kevin Korchinski is going to start the season with the Blackhawks in the NHL. How long he stays here is the next question to be answered. But as far as the pre-training camp questions about Korchinski’s readiness for the NHL, he’s answered them all.

Prior to tonight’s game, I asked Korchinski’s defensive partner through training camp, Connor Murphy, about the 2022 seventh-overall pick and what he has seen from him in the preseason. “His skating and ability with the puck is hard to ever learn. To have that coming in right away is unique and a talent that will help him have a really long, successful career.”

Korchinski’s skating and creativity were on display tonight, with a handful of individual moves to help spring himself into the offensive zone to create chances. He notched a secondary assist on the first Blackhawks goal, 20:16 minutes of ice time, two shots on goal, and a 69.23 Shot-For% at all strengths tonight.

I’m still believing that most of his season this year will be played in Seattle with the Thunderbirds of the WHL, but the possibility of him playing most or all of his games this season in Chicago continues to grow incrementally in my eyes.

The opening frame had both goaltenders busy with 27 total shots; 14 for the Red Wings and 13 for the Blackhawks. Corey Perry was the only player to have a shot find the back of the net, as he scored off a rebound just over two minutes into the game. Scoring early carried over into the middle frame as Joe Veleno tied the game just a minute into the second period. Connor Murphy supplied a rare goal off a pass from Connor Bedard to break the tie before the second intermission. Veleno struck again early in the third period to even up the score for the second time. Bedard set up a second Perry goal, this time on the power play, before icing a 4-2 win with a late empty-net goal for his first tally of the preseason. Petr Mrazek made 17 saves to earn the win and picked up an assist on Bedard’s goal.

Greg: Lukas Reichel Looks to Improve on Faceoffs and Defense

There probably aren’t too many Blackhawks worried about Reichel’s offensive skill. He has shown he has the ability and confidence to be an impact player with the puck. He looked great tonight, making crisp tape-to-tape passes and putting up one shot on goal, but seemed dangerous every time he had the puck.

However, now that the Blackhawks are giving Reichel a full-time run at center, there are concerns about his work at the faceoff dot and in the defensive zone. He told us this morning that he spent the summer working on faceoffs with his father, Martin, who was a long-time pro in Germany. He said his dad was very good at faceoffs, but the rules are slightly different than they are in the NHL. For instance, you cannot use your skates to help you win a draw. The second-year center won his first faceoff of the night but finished with three wins in nine chances.

“Defensively, I feel good,” Reichel said after today’s morning skate. “Last game, I know we didn’t play great. We didn’t have a lot of effort or a good game. Me personally, I felt my defense was alright, but, as a team, we have a lot to improve on. There was a lot we can learn from.”

Reichel’s defensive night wasn’t the greatest, as he was on the ice for both Veleno goals. Neither of the goals could be pinned on anything Reichel did, but it’s tough to see your second center as a minus-2 on the night. According to Natural Stat Trick, in 12:13 of 5v5 ice time, he was on the ice for nine shot attempts for to 12 against, ending with a 40.91 Corsi For percentage (CF%). Reichel is not going to become a defensive wizard overnight. It is going to take some time, and there will be plenty of growing pains, but this is the perfect season to work on it.

Mario: Trio of assists highlights Taylor Hall’s night

A beneficiary of all the attention that Connor Bedard will garner this season should be his linemate Taylor Hall. Through the preseason, Hall and Bedard have stayed together on the top line for the Blackhawks while guys like Ryan Donato, Taylor Raddysh, and Tyler Johnson have had cracks at the right side of the top-line. The chemistry should be building between the two, but there might be a break coming soon as Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson mentioned that Hall and his wife are expecting their first child any day now, so a quick paternity leave might be in his future. If/when that happens, Hall should return to the Blackhawks and display his newly-found “Dad Strength” and bring a boost to the team. 

But before then, Hall’s spot is on the top line, top powerplay, and all playing with Bedard. Hall is here to mentor the 2023 first-overall pick as a player who was also the first-overall pick back in 2010. He’s also a former MVP, which we can all hope is a future honor for Bedard, so he’s also got that experience and advice to help pass down. 

Hall picked up three assists in tonight’s game, a seemingly quiet multi-point night for him. He also played 16:14 minutes of ice-time, had two shots on goal, a hit, and had a 68.84 expected goals-for percentage at all strengths.

Jay: Colton Dach Takes Advantage of Unexpected Opportunity

Ryan Donato was slated to start on Connor Bedard’s right wing for Tuesday’s preseason game vs the Red Wings, but when he was scratched with a groin injury shortly before the game, Colton Dach got the call.

Dach started the game on the left wing with Lukas Reichel and Taylor Raddysh. It was an earned opportunity for Dach, who has impressed the Blackhawks so far this camp.

“I think he’s been excellent right from day one,” Luke Richardson said following Tuesday’s morning practice. “He’s been physical. He’s making really responsible decisions with the puck. I like him. He’s chirping at other players off the bench. He’s not afraid to step up and be a force out there. He’s got some really good skill to shoot the puck. We’ve been impressed with him since day one this year.”

Dach took full advantage of his opportunity. He played so well, he replaced Taylor Raddysh on the top line halfway through the first period. He was physical and had several nice scoring chances. He finished the night with 16:32 of ice time (second most among Hawks forwards), three shots, four hits and one blocked shot.

I’ve been as impressed with Dach as Richardson has. There is a confidence and a swagger about him. His game looks mature beyond its years. I know the “eye-test” can cause an “eye-roll” from a lot of folks, but it’s what we have to go on during the preseason. He looks the part and has been effective. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t get a call-up to the NHL quickly, potentially leapfrogging a number of players we might assume are above him on the depth chart, including Boris Katchouk, Colin Blackwell, Reese Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle.

I love Dach’s versatility. He has the skill to fill in on the top six if needed, and once this team is ready to compete, could be an elite checking bottom six winger with some scoring punch.I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Dach…and his future might come sooner than we expected.

The Red Wings jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, with Daniel Sprong and Michael Rasmussen beating Stauber in the first period. After Bedard opened the second with a glorious scoring chance, Elmer Söderblom (yes, he’s Arvid’s brother) capitalized on a Paul Ludwinski turnover to make it 3-0 Detroit. Moments later, Antti Tuomisto beat a partially screened Stauber from the right point. After a chaotic shift for the Blackhawks, the Wings, and Rasmussen, scored again. 5-0.

With 7:00 left in the second, the Blackhawks put goaltender Drew Commesso in net, replacing Stauber. Late in the second, the Blackhawks had a five-on-three powerplay for over 90 seconds but failed to convert.

Early in the third period, defenseman Louis Crevier scored his first goal of the preseason with a point shot through a Bedard screen. Jason Dickinson picked up the assist. Moments later, Alex Vlasic got and five-minute major and was ejected from the game for a knee-to-knee hit on Söderblom. JT Compher scored on the penalty almost immediately, making it 6-1 Detroit.

Take this game, ball it up, and throw it in the trash. Most of the guys on this team won’t be in Chicago when the season begins. This is what the preseason is for. It was ugly, but ultimately meaningless.

The Hawks are back at it Tuesday night, where they face these same Red Wings at the United Center. We’ll have your postgame as soon as the game ends.

Mario: Be More Assertive, Connor

While Connor Bedard didn’t have a bad game tonight, nor was he the reason for the poor result, but there were times tonight where you’d want to see him be more assertive. He clearly has the talent to do so, I think he just needs to believe that he can have the leash to do so.

On a powerplay that went from five-on-four to a five-on-three in the second period, I found myself yelling at the TV (for a preseason game) for someone, anyone to shoot the puck. Then I realized I was yelling at Bedard of all people to shoot the puck. We know he has the capability to put the puck on the stick of his teammates from spaces and angles that most other NHL players can’t, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but i want to see him use his shot way more than i wanna see him try to setup a perfect sauce pass across the ice to Taylor Raddysh. No offense to Taylor Raddysh.

We’ve heard from Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson and Flo Hockey’s Chris Peters that Bedard scoring fifty or even sixty goals in a season isn’t out of the realm of possibility. He doesn’t need to do that this season, but in a setting where he’s the most dangerous player on the ice, especially in a five-on-three setting, I’ll let the meatball in me take over and I’ll be yelling for Bedard to SHOOT THE PUCK!

Jay: Wyatt Kaiser Gives the Right Side a Try

For the opening of camp and the first couple of preseason games, Nolan Allan was playing on the right side. Sunday, Allan was sent to Rockford, so Wyatt Kaiser got the shot. 

If you haven’t been keeping up, the Blackhawks have many solid defensive prospects, but all of them are left-handed shots / left-side defensemen. Their right handed defensemen are Seth Jones, Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev. They’d love for somoone to emerge and claim thath third right side spot from Zaitsev.

Darren Pang interviewed Kaiser during the first intermission of Sunday’s loss, and asked what kind of adjustments he’s made to play on his off side. 

“It’s different,” Kaiser said. “In the neutral zone, you’re catching it on your forehand, not really facing the ice as much. If you’re trying to attack you’re on your backhand. You have to recognize spots you’re in. Sometimes you have to punt the puck off the glass and play for another day.”

Last week, I asked Luke Richardson about what factors he’d consider when deciding who to try on the right side. 

“There’s advantages and disadvantages. I think physical guys get more benefit out of that. When you turn and pivot to the wall, your stick, as a lefty on that side, can cover more ground if a guy is going wide on you. If someone turns back, you can flush the puck up the wall. Even pucks coming up the wall in the offensive zone, you can pull that off your backhand (and) you’re automatically in good shooting position off the wall.” 

Kaiser doesn’t fit the “physical defenseman” description, but the offensive element of the role serves him very well. He’s a solid puck mover with skilled hands and a good shot. Despite the game’s ugly final score, Kaiser had a solid game handling his off side for the first time. He ended the night -2 with three shots on goal and led all Blackhawks with 23:10 of ice time.

Connor Bedard Gets New Linemates

The Blackhawks took their shiny new toy out on the road for the first time tonight as Bedard made the trip to the Motor City. For the first time since training camp began, he centered a new pair of linemates in Andreas Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh.

“I think it was good to maybe give AA and Raddysh a try with Connor tonight, and I thought we saw a nice goal in overtime the other night with them,” Luke Richardson said Sunday morning. “I thought Rads played well last night and he’s a heavy shooter. so it makes sense to try that and see what goes from that. And then it gives Reichel an opportunity to play center with maybe two less experienced guys than he’s used to and see if he can take one more step in trying to drive that line.”

According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio spent 6:58 of ice time on the ice together at 5v5. Detroit did a very good job defensively as there seemed to be very little space on the ice and they kept the scoring chances at a minimum. The Bedard line had six shot attempts to the Red Wings’ 10.

Bedard looked like he was going to score his first goal of the preseason early in the second period when he undressed Detroit defenseman Simon Edvisson but was denied by veteran goaltender James Reimer.

Richardson shuffled the lines for the third period and put Raddysh with Jason Dickinson and Lukas Reichel. Colton Dach was moved up to the line with Athanasiou and Bedard. They didn’t get a ton of ice time, thanks in part to Alex Vlasic getting a bogus major penalty for kneeing. Dach and Bedard produced a give-and-go scoring chance late in regulation, but this time Alex Lyon denied No. 98. Bedard finished his night with no points, four shots on goal and a hit. He finished as an even in game where his team surrendered six goals.

MacKenzie Entwistle got the Blackhawks on the board early in the first period, but the Wild answered with goals from Ryan O’Rourke and Adam Beckman before the end of the first period. The second period provided no scoring but did give us a scary moment. Samiel Savioe lost an edge and went feet-first into the boards. He immediately grabbed his leg and needed to be stretchered off the ice. Tyler Johnson forced overtime with just over a minute left in regulation, but extra time lasted only 21 seconds before Connor Dewar slung a wrist shot past Arvid Söderblom.

The Blackhawks are right back at it tomorrow night as they travel to the Detroit Red Wings for their third of six preseason games.

Greg: Keeping Tabs on the Bubble Forwards

Last season, Mackenzie Entwistle, Colin Blackwell, Boris Katchouk, and Reese Johnson had regular spots on the NHL roster last season. After a busy offseason, all four of these players are fighting to make the team out of training camp. It sure appears that Connor Bedard, Taylor Hall, Ryan Donato, Andreas Athanasiou, Lukas Reichel, Phillip Kurashev, Corey Perry, Jason Dickson, Nick Foligno, Tyler Johnson, and Taylor Raddysh have locked themselves into position. Cole Guttman has been between Tyler Johnson and Raddysh all camp long, so it’s his spot to lose.

That gives you 12 forwards, with the four mainstays from last season on the outside, looking in. The team can have up to 23 players on the roster at a time, so three extra skaters. With the Blackhawks kicking off the season with five straight road games, it is likely they will take two extra forwards on the road with them. That means, at minimum, two of these players will start the year in Rockford or possibly with another organization.

After Friday’s practice, I asked head coach Luke Richardson if those last roster spots are going to come down to a guy who can play a specific role or the guy who is playing the best overall hockey.

“A little bit of both,” he answered. “We have to see how everybody looks, and we’re going to try to move everybody around. Once we get to games two and three, we’ll get different looks with different combinations up front. They’ve been in that position before, so that’s a good thing. Guys are working hard in practice and chomping at the bit to get into a game. Now that we’ve got the games going, I think all that will sort itself out. We know we’re going to need a mix; you can’t just have all the same. So, that plays into it. But also, who plays the best and earns it. So, it will be a combination of both when it pans out at the end.”

Blackwell has yet to skate due to an injury, so he is likely out of the equation. Reese Johnson played in Thursday’s preseason opener against St. Louis and was back in the lineup tonight. Entwistle and Katchouk were on the same line together, along with Joey Anderson.

Entwistle beat Filip Gustavsson just 1:36 into the game, with Katchouk picking up the primary assist.

MacKenzie Entwistle fires one past Filip Gustavsson and puts Chicago on the board just 1:06 into the game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/efBJbk4phE

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 30, 2023

Katchouk grabbed another point with the secondary assist on the game-tying goal. He finished with two hits and a plus-2. Entwistle had a hit to go along with his shot and goal.

Reese Johnson had another unspectacular night. His line was victimized on the Beckman goal in the second period, as he and his linemates had trouble clearing the defensive zone all game long. After two preseason games, I don’t see a scenario where he isn’t starting the regular season in Rockford.

Jay: Kevin Korchinski’s Tough Night

After Thursday night’s 2-1 overtime win over the Blues, Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski was voted our Fourth Star of the Game. Saturday night in Minnesota, he had a game to forget. This is the life of an NHL prospect. Thrive. Struggle. Everything in between. There were several examples of Korchinski not being strong enough on the check or on his stick on Saturday. On the Wild’s second goal, which came as a result of a brutal turnover from Anders Bjork, Korchinski was outworked along the goal line by Sammy Walker. Korchinski was neither physical enough on the body nor strong enough on his stick to take the puck away. Walker won the puck and centered it to Adam Beckman, who lifted it past Söderblom.

QUICK HANDS FROM BECKY #mnwild pic.twitter.com/bs1Me9vikJ

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) September 30, 2023

Later, Steven Fogarty drove the net on Korchinski and simply out-skilled him. Nothing came of the moment, but Korchinski got beaten pretty badly. We are nitpicking and looking more deeply at these prospects than we typically would, but every moment of this preseason will influence the Blackhawks’ decision on where to start Korchinski this season. Due to the NHL-CHL agreement, Rockford is not an option for Korchinski. It’s either the Blackhawks or the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. Nothing about tonight’s game should do anything to hurt Korchinski’s chances of beginning the season in Chicago. These are learning experiences and were totally expected by the Hawks coaching staff. They might even be happy about the chance to give Korchinski these moments to look at and adjust before the games count for anything. Korchinski finished the game with a -1 rating, four shots on goal, two more shot attempts, a blocked shot, and a team-leading 22:26 of ice time. Overall, his game was solid, but we can’t ignore the glaring mistakes he made.

Mario: Samuel Savoie Injured

A prospect making his way up the ladder in the organization has been 2022 third-round pick Savoie. Unfortunately, his training camp will be cut short as he left tonight’s game in the second period after an ugly lower-body injury. Savoie lost his footing going after a puck along the near boards and went legs-first into them. He grabbed the back of his right leg immediately, and you could hear on the Wild broadcast the screams from the Gatineau Olympique forward in pain. It was not a good scene.

Oh man, this does not look good for Sam Savoie. He was screaming in pain and is now being stretchered off the ice. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/JCskoUjYQW

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 1, 2023

Savoie was making his 2023 preseason debut, skated nine minutes of ice time, and recorded one hit before his game and training camp were cut short. He’s quickly becoming a fan-favorite in the prospect group because of his pesky style of play and quick wit in the media. We don’t know the extent of the injury he suffered tonight, but hopefully, it doesn’t take him off the ice for too much time during the 2023-24 QMJHL season.

Bedard is the focal-point of the Blackhawks organization this year and for many, many years to come, but his story is far from the only one worth watching. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson iced a near-NHL caliber lineup for Game One of the preseason, so we were treated to not only our first looks at Connor Bedard, but also newcomers Taylor Hall, Ryan Donato, Corey Perry, Nick Foligno, and young guns Kevin Korchinski and Lukas Reichel playing prominent roles.

To put it lightly, this game was very preseasony. Lost edges, fumbled pucks, missed assignments, choppy ice, there was everything you’d expect in a tune-up game for most players on the ice and for a few trying to do a little too much to make an impact on their NHL clubs.

Philipp Kurashev opened the scoring for the Blackhawks in the second period with a nice forehand-backhand play after corralling a rebound off a Bedard shot. Kevin Korchinski and Bedard were credited with the assists on Kurashev’s 1-0 goal. St. Louis’ Robert Thomas tied the game mid-way through the third period and neither team was able to break the tie in regulation. In the overtime period, it was none other than Bedard coming in on a two-on-one chance with Andreas Athanasiou and the 18-year-old fed a cross-ice pass to Athanasiou who finished the play and gave the Blackhawks the 2-1 overtime win.

They are 1-0-0 in the preseason, woo!

Mario: Connor Bedard on full display

This kid is going to be special. That cannot be stressed enough. Seriously, Chicago, for as bad as the sports landscape is in the city, Bedard is the light at the end of the tunnel.

The decibel levels increased in the United Center every time he touched the puck, and for good reason. He had space and opportunities to create offense, whether by dangling through the entire Blues defense and creating his own shot or by setting up scoring chances with cross-ice feeds, Bedard is going to be a dynamic facilitator.

He finished his first game at the United Center with 21:20 minutes played (second-most on the team), two primary assists, five shots on goal, and won 62.5% of his face-offs.

Not too shabby, right? Wrong. Bedard said after the game that he felt like he didn’t play his best. The standards are rising, my frents.

While this was his first game at the United Center for the Blackhawks, it still was merely an appetizer for the regular season and for his official home debut coming on October 21.

Jay: Blackhawks Young Defensemen Learning on the Job

All of training camp, Blackhawks Head Coach Luke Richardson has expressed a willingness to let young defensemen learn on the job, and Thursday night was their first lesson. While Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan all had overall solid performances, there were a few moments each of them would probably want back.

Wyatt Kaiser, who seems as big of a lock to make the team as any of the kids on the blue line, looked poised and confident with the puck, but there were a few moments where he might have been overly confident. Kaiser, who was tied with Bedard for the team lead with five shots on goal, will have to learn to make the simple play to get the puck out of trouble. I counted three times where Kaiser had the chance to get the puck to safety, but he opted to make another move or two in attempt for a more perfect zone exit. Each instance led to a turnover. These are teaching moments for a young player, and if I saw them, you know Richardson already has them cued up for their next film session.

Nolan Allan, early in the game, had a turnover, but nothing fatal. There was another moment where he tried to get the puck from the right point to Connor Bedard, who was standing near the left face-off dot. It almost worked, but the pass was picked off and the Blues went the other way with the puck. In this instance, I don’t mind taking a chance to make a play, but these plays that worked in Junior will be tougher to make in the NHL.

Both of these example are nit picking. Every player in a red sweater had their moments of rust in this game. Connor Murphy and Seth Jones had some of the game’s most egregious errors, so there’s nothing to panic about. Just something to keep an eye on as these kids grow into their NHL careers.

Kevin Korchinski, unsurprisingly, was the most offensively involved Blackhawks defenseman. He took several pucks deep into the Blues zone and even rocked a shot off St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer’s mask. He seemed to have a knack for reading when and where to take his chances. He also showed great awareness after taking the puck deep in the third period. The puck moved its way back to center ice, and Korchinski turned on the jets from behind the Blues’ goal to get back to center ice to retrieve the puck. It was a solid game for Korchinski, who ended the game with an assist, three shots, and 21:10 of ice time.

Vlasic is the safest defenseman of the group and already looks like an NHL veteran. If he doesn’t make the team out of camp, I will be absolutely shocked. He’s paid his dues in Rockford and plays a safe game. He is the most NHL-ready of the group. He played 17:32 uneventful minutes, which is what the Hawks are looking for from him.

Greg: Drew Commesso Shines in Professional Debut

With all the attention given to Bedard’s United Center debut, Drew Commesso’s first taste of professional hockey was lost in the shuffle. The 21-year-old netminder relieved Petr Mrazek at the 10:15 mark of the second period. Mrazek wasn’t very busy but was perfect in stopping all eight shots he faced.

Commesso got to play with a lead right away thanks Kurashev scoring the opening goal 63 seconds after he entered the game. Two minutes later, he was tested by back-to-back shots from Zach Dean and Joseph Duszak and stopped them both. He had to be on his toes late in the middle frame when Connor Murphy blew a tire right in front of him, causing him to make an unexpected save.

During rookie camp, Commesso told us he used Andrei Vasilevskiy’s training program over the summer and focused on his lateral movements. Those movements were put to the test early in the third period when he quickly moved from his right to left to stop a one timer from Zachary Bolduc. A few moments later, Robert Thomas beat Commesso to his glove hand with a quick wrister to tie the game. It was the best shot he saw all night, and one that would have beat most goaltenders in the NHL.

For a kid playing in his first professional game, he looked calm and collected all night long. He never lost his crease and had solid positioning. He stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to earn the win. We are going to see a lot of Commesso with the Rockford IceHogs and you should be encouraged by what we saw at the United Center tonight.

The Blackhawks are next in action on Saturday night when they travel to take on the Minnesota Wild at 6:00 p.m. CT. The CHGO Blackhawks crew has your postgame show LIVE following the game on the CHGO Sports YouTube Channel.

Since May 8, 2023, Blackhawks fans have been waiting for their opportunity to see Connor Bedard in action with the organization. There was a sampler platter served up during the Tom Kurvers Rookie Showcase camp and games last weekend in Minnesota, but the real deal is finally here. Bedard, along with the rest of the Blackhawks hit the ice at the Fifth Third Arena on Thursday morning to open training camp, the second under the guidance of head coach Luke Richardson and general manager Kyle Davidson.

Tons of eyes will be on Bedard, the 2023 first-overall pick, when camp opens on Thursday and rightfully so. He’s the biggest set of shoulders on the ice that the future of the organization rests on. It’s not just him, but he’s the focal point. Bedard will be joined by a number of young players looking to carve their space into the Blackhawks organization like Lukas Reichel, Kevin Korchinski, Wyatt Kaiser, and Alex Vlasic to name a few. They’ll be led by a veteran core of players returning to the Blackhawks this season like Tyler Johnson, Seth Jones, and Connor Murphy, as well as long-time NHLers but new to Chicago’s locker room in Taylor Hall, Corey Perry, and Nick Foligno.

Expectations for the Blackhawks this year are still low and should still be tempered by fans. Even with Connor Bedard in the mix, this is still likely a team that will miss the playoffs and have good odds in the 2024 Draft Lottery. But at the very least, the 2023-24 season should feel much different than last year. The idea of “tanking” is not a prevalent as it was last year and the anticipated doom and gloom of the eventual departures of legends like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews don’t loom over the organization. It will feel different. At the very least, it should be more entertaining because more matters for the club this year.

With that in mind, here are the biggest storylines the CHGO Blackhawks crew are looking forward to as training camp begins.

Enter the Connor Bedard era

Mario – There’s no denying it: Connor Bedard will be special. Yes, we should have expectations low so as to not be disappointed if he isn’t the Hart Trophy winner as a rookie and doesn’t put up 100+ points. But, the low expectations for Bedard, in my mind, are at least hitting 70-75 points and scoring 30+ goals. Even with the talent, or lack thereof, around him this season, given what we’ve seen of him as a player in the WHL with the Regina Pats and playing for Team Canada in the various junior tournaments in recent years, his ability to shoot the puck and create his own space alone gives him the ability and expectations to score at the NHL level. Bedard’s floor is higher than most of the players in the league’s ceilings are. He’s that good and I have zero doubts he’ll eventually be even better than that.

Jay – It’s become fashionable over the last, oh, say 25 years to immediately dismiss “the next big thing.” There are still people tying themselves in knots about LeBron James, who, at worst, ended up being the third-best player in NBA history after all of the warranted hype. I’m not saying Connor Bedard is going to be a top three player of all-time, but there might be a point in his career where’s he’s a top three player in the league, and guess what…you can and should be excited about that. Saturday’s Rookie Showcase game was just a glimpse into what’s to come with Bedard. Yes, he was playing against a handful of guys who may never sniff the NHL, but with the way he scored, it doesn’t really make a difference. Since before the Blackhawks won the draft lottery, we’ve heard about Bedard’s legendary shot. It was on display against the defenseless Baby Blues on Saturday, and I can’t wait to see it unleashed on NHL goalies. Remember, it’s okay to be optimistic. It’s okay to be hopeful. It’s okay to enjoy things. The Blackhawks have landed their next superstar. Sit back and enjoy while you can. If the dynasty of the 2010’s taught us anything, it’s that good things end before you even know they’re over.

Greg – All the pain last season was to put the Blackhawks in the best position to win the draft lottery and get Bedard in the organization. Now, we finally get the reward from one of the toughest seasons in franchise history. The young phenom teased us with a hat trick at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. While many were quick to point out that the three goals were against other prospects, but that release is going to embarrass a lot of NHL goaltenders for the next decade plus.

Half of me wants to curb my expectations, while the other half wants to predict that Teemu Selanne’s rookie goal record is in serious jeopardy. I don’t think the pressure is going to get to this kid. Sure, there will be some growing pains and he will need to make some adjustments, but I am not worried about that. Bedard has a work ethic and a desire to be the best player possible that few players in the league possess. He is going to keep evolving and working at improving his game. At the end of the year, I think he will have 36 goals and 81 points and will start his hardware collection with the Calder Trophy.

Lukas Reichel Starting the Season at Center

Jay – I was somewhat surprised to hear how definitive Kyle Davidson was when asked if he envisioned Lukas Reichel as a center or as a winger.

“We envision him in the middle,” Davidson said. No hemming. No, “We’ll see what happens.” Reichel will get the chance to start his first full-time NHL season at center, where he played almost exclusively in Rockford.

We’ve been asked, “If they planned on him playing center, why didn’t he play there as the season ended last year?” It’s a fair question and one I’ve asked myself. If I’m thinking from the Blackhawks perspective, it might not have been ideal to throw a kid from the AHL to full-time NHL center duty right away. This way, he gets to work all offseason on face-offs and the defensive part of his game, so he can step in day one, ready to play a center’s game.

Immediately, the focus will be on how Reichel does from the face-off circle. Yes, it’s an important element of playing center, but it’s not the only thing that comes with the job. Pay closer attention to his work without the puck and in the neutral and defensive zones. The Hawks can live with a face-off percentage below 50% if he’s doing everything else correctly.

Lineup wise, Reichel’s move to center gives the Hawks much flexibility. I took a stab at the Blackhawks offensive lines, and here’s what I came up with.

Hall-Bedard-Raddysh

Kurashev-Reichel-Johnson

Foligno-Dickinson-Perry

Donato-Guttman-Athanasiou

That lineup is better and deeper than anything we saw last season. Every player on the ice is an NHL talent, and while the 2022-23 Blackhawks had Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Max Domi up front, there were too many AHL forwards on the bottom six. This year’s team might not be top-heavy, but it’s certainly deeper.

New Leadership Dynamics

Greg – One of the biggest things to come out of Davidson’s press conference on Tuesday was that the Blackhawks will not name a captain for the 2023-24 season. Just because there won’t be a guy wearing the ‘C’ on his sweater doesn’t mean this team won’t have a leader. In fact, they will have a huge leadership group in the locker room. Despite only one postseason appearance since 2017, this team has over 550 games of Stanely Cup Playoff experience.

There are plenty of veterans to help lead the influx of young talent coming into the NHL over the course of the season. Guys like Connor Murphy, Seth Jones, and Tyler Johnson are carryovers from last season. They were the first guys Davidson and Luke Richardson looked to when they wanted to lay the foundation for a winning culture. Throw in the additions of Taylor Hall, Corey Perry, Ryan Donato, and Nick Foligno and you have quite the impressive leadership corps, despite not having an actual captain. This group has collectively seen it all, including winning the Stanley Cup. They will be the calming force when things get intense, as well as being the guys who need to light the fire when they aren’t intense enough.

What Will Be Kevin Korchinski’s Timeline?

Mario – According to general manager Kyle Davidson on Tuesday, “everything is on the table” regarding how the Blackhawks will handle young defenseman Kevin Korchinski. He’s just 19 years old, so playing in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs is not an option. So it’ll either be spending time in the NHL or going back to play in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds. What I like about how Davidson and the organization is going to handle Korchinski is that it is going to be based on his play. If he plays well and shows that he deserves to play in the NHL, that’s where he’ll be. If not, he will go back to Seattle and take some more time to marinate in Juniors before making a full-time jump to the NHL in Chicago.

What Chicago wants to do is avoid the mistakes made with former young defensemen in Ian Mitchell, Henri Jokiharju, Adam Boqvist, etc. and not overload a young defenseman just because they have high expectations or because they were a high draft pick. The Blackhawks have nothing but time on their hands for Korchinski to become fully NHL-ready. He doesn’t have to win a Norris as a rookie and he can continue to mature his game, on and off the ice, with time in Juniors if that’s the route the team sees fit for him.

So Few Defensive Spots, So Many Options

Jay – I can’t wait to see how the Blackhawks’ defense shakes out this season. One of the spots seems like Kevin Korchinski’s to lose…partly because he’s looked really good so far, and partly because Rockford is not an option for the 19-year-old blue-liner.

Seth Jones (RD) and Connor Murphy (RD) are guaranteed spots. Jarred Tinordi (LD) seems to have a spot locked down, as well. That leaves three spots for some combination of Nikita Zaitsev (RD), Alex Vlasic (LD), Wyatt Kaiser (LD), Isaak Phillips (LD) and Filip Roos (LD).

Kaiser played exceedingly well at Rookie Camp and at the Tom Kurvers Rookie Showcase. The Blackhawks even put the ‘C’ on his jersey for Saturday’s exhibition. It should also be noted that the only players the Hawks decided to “rest” for the second Kurvers game were Bedard and Kaiser.

Meanwhile, Vlasic has played well in his NHL time over the last two seasons. Frankly, if he doesn’t make the team, I’ll be surprised. That means you have Korchinski, Kaiser, and Vlasic on the left side. Does that mean Tinordi sits for Zaitsev? Doubtful. Does that mean a rookie defenseman has to start his career on his off side? I’m not sure what sense that makes either. This is the conundrum Luke Richardson is faced with. I can’t wait to see it play out.

Expectations Between the Pipes

Greg – The Blackhawks enter their second season with Petr Mrazek as their top goaltender. Whether he remains in that spot throughout the whole season is another conversation. The veteran netminder gave us a bit of everything last season. He had a string of games where he looked great and some where he was the exact opposite of great.

And then there were the injuries. There are always injuries.

Staying on the ice has been Mrazek’s biggest challenge during his career and you are always worried that the next injury is just around the corner. Arvid Söderblom will be the backup to start the season, but the opportunity will be there to earn more starts. I see these two being handled much like Mrazek and Alex Stalock were last season when they were both healthy. Whoever is playing better will get the nod.

Söderblom has looked great in his two AHL seasons, but that has not carried over to consistent success at the NHL level. He will need to improve on his 3.45 goals-against average (GAA) and .894 save percentage (SV%) if he wants to pry more starts away from Mrazek.

Drew Commesso’s arrow is pointing up as he begins his first professional season. The Rockford net will be his and he will get the bulk of the starts with the IceHogs. However, don’t rule out Commesso making his NHL debut at some point this season. With Mrazek’s injury history, it is likely only a matter of time before a goaltender must be recalled from the AHL. The first nod may go to Jaxson Stauber, who started six games last season, but of Commesso is playing well, he may get a look too.

Year Two of Luke Richardson

Mario – When taking over the head coaching job last season, Luke Richardson was getting his first taste of being a full-time head coach in the NHL after a long playing career and several tenures as a minor league head coach and NHL assistant. There was almost universal praise for Richardson as he took the job from those who had played with him over the years and played under him at his various AHL and NHL stops. He came into a less-than-desirable situation in Chicago with a Blackhawks tram set up to lose games. But he made that difficult on Kyle Davidson’s unspoken “tank” plan as Richardson had one of the worst rosters in the NHL competing nightly and being in competitive games they usually had no business in. While that didn’t translate to wins on the record books, it was clear his coaching style and message was well-received by the locker room. He focused on keeping the X’s and O’s simple and letting the team’s work ethic and instincts take over.

Now heading into his second year behind the bench with a “generational talent” in Connor Bedard, a roster without Chicago legends in Toews and Kane, and expectations still low, how does Richardson improve on his first year with seemingly nowhere to go but up? I’m interested to see if the schematics within the team change or become a bit more dynamic with a different roster makeup and another year of his system in place. I’m also very interested to see if the players who were here last season (i.e. Connor Murphy, Seth Jones, Tyler Johnson) continue to buy-into his message and style in another season that will likely finish with significantly more losses than wins once again. Can he get this roster to compete the same way he had them last season?

Who Might Be Surprise Prospects in Camp?

Jay – The Hawks really have a log jam at forward, as I pointed out above. If my predicted lines come true, that means Colin Blackwell, MacKenzie Entwistle, Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson, all of whom played major roles with the Hawks last season, are not on the opening night roster. It would take a huge performance for a Rockford forward to leapfrog those guys to earn a roster spot. That said, I could see Colton Dach quickly moving to the top of the Hawks call-up list. There’s a maturity to his game that, in my mind, elevates him over the Ryder Rolstons and Jayen Luypens of the world.

If the Hawks get in injury trouble, Dach could bypass one of the aforementioned forwards who spent time in the NHL last season.

Battle in the Bottom-Six

Greg – Davidson added a lot of veterans in the offseason, which is not great news for some of the guys who had cemented roster spots last season. With the likes of Perry, Donato, and Foligno in the mix there will be a couple of regular forwards we saw last year on the outside looking in. Mainly, Colin Blackwell, Boris Katchouk, Mackenzie Entwistle, and Reese Johnson are going to have to duke it out for only two spots.

Blackwell’s speed and experience on the penalty-kill may give him the advantage. If we get the Katchouk from March and April to start training camp, it will be hard to keep him out of the lineup. Things are not looking great for Johnson and Entwistle, but they will have training camp and the preseason to make their cases. Of course, whoever doesn’t make the squad on day one will likely see action as inevitable injury replacements are needed. It will be very interesting to see how this group looks on day one now that they have jobs to play for.

Embracing Nick Foligno and Corey Perry

Mario – He’s our pudwhack now. Was I as surprised as the rest of you when Corey Perry was announced as a signing by the Blackhawks? Yes. But, at the same time, you can absolutely see why he was brought into the organization. You have a player who is a former MVP-caliber NHLer, a Stanley Cup winner, and now playing on the back-nine of his career, has made a space for himself as both a leader in whatever locker room he is in and a peen to play against on the ice. Perry has 1,257 NHL games played, not counting postseason, and is bringing that experience and leadership into a locker room that is going to be younger and more inexperienced than last season. He’ll be able to be a guide to those younger players, without taking up too much air within the room, and be able to play a pest and protective role on the ice. Perry is a player that 31 other teams hate to play against and 31 other fanbases love to cheer against. He has his history against the Blackhawks, but I have a feeling a lot of that will subside very quickly within the United Center this season.

As for Nick Foligno, I have yet to come across someone with a bad thing to say about him as a player and person. Much like Perry, Foligno is a leader and veteran who is coming into this younger Blackhawks locker room and providing a mentorship role without being THE GUY in the room. Both he and Perry are no longer going to be looked at as point on-ice producers like they used to be in their careers, but don’t be surprised if they both factor in a couple of pinball points by being guys who will go to the front of the net and get bounces and rebounds to go their way. Both are players who will stick up for teammates, go to the rough areas of the ice, and be players who can create some space for their linemates. Along with Perry, I’ll be shocked if Foligno isn’t a player who Blackhawks fans, even in a short-term basis, don’t fall in love with.

Typically, the newest draft picks would join the rest of the team’s prospect pool for a week of on-ice workouts at the annual development camp. However, the Blackhawks decided to have all their activities off the ice this year. We were bummed, to say the least, that we would have to wait until September to see Bedard on the ice with some of the other prized prospects like Kevin Korchinski, Drew Commesso, and Nolan Allan.

Instead of skating and working on puck-handling and shooting, the team pushed themselves physically in the gym. They also got to know each other better with cooking classes, boxing sessions, and even an improv night. In hindsight, the off-ice development camp was the right call, as this group of prospects is close and ready to play for each other.

“When you look around the locker room and, on the ice, you notice how close the guys are,” Commesso, the Blackhawks’ top goaltending prospect, said after Wednesday’s practice. “Everyone can speak to that. We all got close at that camp. Championship teams that I’ve been on, like the one at Boston University where we had so much success, the main difference is how close the guys are in the locker room. It’s how much they care for each other and buy-in for each other. It’s something I know they are preaching here. The prospect pool is so tight – tighter than I could ever imagine, to be honest. That week was huge in building the off-ice piece to this, and they did a terrific job.”

Many of the Blackhawks’ top prospects, minus those in college and playing professionally in Europe, are in town preparing for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase this weekend in St. Paul, MN. The first two practices have been intense, with a group of guys who are not only competing against each other but also trying to make each other better.

“There was a competitive spirit on the ice,” Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen said after day one. “You can tell that they know each other more on a personal level now than in years past.”

Sorensen was very high on Ryder Rolson, who joined the Blackhawks after a successful college career at the University of Notre Dame. His high motor and quickness have caught the attention of the coaching staff. However, the second-generation forward is grounded and excited to be a part of this group.

“That was a big week for us,” he said of July’s development camp. “A lot of us are really close because of it. You’re not going out there with guys you’re not used to; you’re out there with guys you call brothers and your best friends. When that’s the case, you want to do more for those guys. I’ve played for teams in the past where we’ve prided ourselves on culture, and I think coming in here as one of the older guys, I can help bring guys together. Those are the things that create a winning culture, as well.

Allan and Korchinski are back in Chicago after a run to the Memorial Cup with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Both reflected on the development camp and believe it will help everyone on the ice.

“We met everyone, the freshly drafted guys, at development camp and got to see the guys we hadn’t seen in a couple of years,” Allan said. “With a young group like this, that week off the ice was huge. It will translate into our game, and we’ll really be able to gel together.”

Korchinski is an interesting case because of the CHL agreement with the NHL. He is not eligible for the AHL because he is under 20, so it is either the Blackhawks or back to the Thunderbirds this season. While his fate for the upcoming season is in his hands, he is excited about how this group is coming together.

“This weekend is going to help even more by playing for each other,” the young blueliner said. “That kind of comradery is really going to help us going forward.”

Bedard missed the first day of practice because he was doing the NHL media tour in Las Vegas. All eyes were on him when he took to the ice on Thursday morning. It was easy to tell that the 18-year-old was just happy to be back playing hockey.

“Today was great,” he said. “It feels like these guys belong here. Everyone feels comfortable going into the room and talking. We are all competing and trying to make everyone better. Everyone gets along, and it’s a fun environment.”

We have heard general manager Kyle Davidson and head coach Luke Richardson speak a lot about culture. To many, culture is just a buzzword. However, when you walk through the locker room of this group of prospects, you see the culture in action. This is precisely what the team brass has envisioned, and it will only get better as these young players start to taste success. This NHL season won’t be about wins and losses for the Blackhawks but rather about development and continuing to lay down the foundation for a championship franchise.