two more years of S H O W T I M E pic.twitter.com/ZTc6Xhi3ef

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 23, 2026

The 37-year-old forward spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and had 57 points (16 goals, 41 assists) in 67 games last season. Kane played the first 16 years of his career with the Blackhawks and won the Stanley Cup three times with the team in 2010, 2013 and 2015, amassing 1,357 points (498 goals, 859 assists).

Kane has 1,400 total points (508 goals, 892 assists) in 1,369 regular-season games for the Red Wings, New York Rangers and Blackhawks, scoring his 500th NHL goal on Jan. 8. He also broke Mike Modano’s record for points by a U.S.-born player when he scored his 1,375th on Jan. 29.

After being selected first overall by the Blackhawks in 2007, Kane also won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2007-08.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kane has 138 points (53 goals, 85 assists) in 143 games played. He won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion, the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP in 2013 and the Ted Lindsay Award as MVP chosen by the NHL Players’ Association in 2015-16.

After his contract expired with Detroit on July 1, it was reported that the Buffalo, New York, native was deciding between returning to Chicago and his hometown Buffalo Sabres. After signing his five-year extension earlier in the week, Connor Bedard was asked about a possible reunion with Kane and the Blackhawks and said:

“I don’t know what I can say to persuade his decision, but obviously we’d all be so excited to have player like that but also a guy like that. I can’t imagine his first game back at the (United Center with the Blackhawks), the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring to not only our team but our fans, as well. That would be incredible to play with him and learn from him.”

Analysis

The Blackhawks and the fanbase will definitely get an early-season boost from the return, but fans must understand that Kane is not the same player he was when he left for the Rangers at the trade deadline in 2023. He will help sell more jerseys and distract people from the Bedard absence.

On the ice, he has settled in as a power-play specialist and emotional leader. It is a popular practice by fans to compare his 57 points last season to the players on the Blackhawks, but it is important to note that he was playing on the power play with Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat. Other than Bedard, Kane will not have that level of teammate with him on the Blackhawks power play.

That said, he can step in and take some of the pressure off Bedard and the rest of the young players, so they can develop into the players that General Manager Kyle Davidson expects them to become. It will be interesting to see if the Blackhawks name Bedard team captain when he returns, or if they give the assistant captainship to both Bedard and Kane.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign Patrick Kane to two-year deal appeared first on The Rink.

Join your fellow Rinkrats below to discuss what the Blackhawks accomplished (or did not accomplish) this year as the market opened.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Bowan Byram	D			25	6' 1" / 205	6x$12.5M	per Darren Dreger, official per Chicago Blackhawks
Cole Smith	W			30	6' 3" / 194	3 x $3M
Ian Cole	D			37	6' 1" / 238	1 x $4.75M
Dylan Anhorn	D			27	6" / 192	1 x $850K	AHL / 2-way
Connor Mackey	D			29	6' 2" / 201	2 x $937,500K	AHL / 2-way
Dillon Boucher	F			29	6' / 220	1 x $850K	re-sign/AHL / 2-way
Connor Mylymok	F			26	6' 1"/ 205	1 x $850K	re-sign/AHL / 2-way

These are Blackhawks trades relevant to this offseason.

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/23/26	Louis Crevier, 1st round pick (#4) in 2026 and 2nd round pick (#45)		Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway
6/26/26	Andre Burakovsky		2027 6th Round Pick
6/27/26	37th and 119th pink in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft		35th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft

Trade Analysis

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2026 Free Agency Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The players that the organization selects will be listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats.

2026 Blackhawks NHL Entry Draft

Trades made leading up to and during the draft:

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/23/26	Louis Crevier, 1st round pick (#4) in 2026 and 2nd round pick (#45)		Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway
6/26/26	Andre Burakovsky		2027 6th Round Pick
6/27/26	37th and 119th pink in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft		35th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft

Trade Analysis

The Chicago Blackhawks acquire Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2026 1st round pick (#4), a 2026 2nd round pick (NYI, #45) and Louis Crevier

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2026 Upper Deck NHL Entry Draft Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast host Andy Campbell, co-host Sean Fitzgerald, prospect guru Jimmy O’Malley, and Rink co-founder Jeff Osborn discuss the Blackhawks recent trade acquisition of Bowen Byram.

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 40 – Blackhawks Go Big / Acquire Bowen Byram appeared first on The Rink.

With Chicago Rinkcast host Andy Campbell under the weather, co-host Sean Fitzgerald is joined by Rink Co-Founder Jeff Osborn, and prospect guru Jimmy O’Malley for part two of Jimmy’s pre-draft prospect analysis on right-handed defenseman Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff, as well as to discuss the Blackhawks trade of Jack Pridham, the new NCAA proposal and how it affects college hockey, and much more.

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 36 – Draft Prospect Analysis / Part 2 – Righty Defenseman appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Sean Fitzgerald, and Jimmy O’Malley are joined by Goalie guru Jeff Osborn to discuss the goalie grades from Jimmy’s recent article featuring Blackhawk player season letter grades, as well as those who played with both Rockford and Chicago in 2025-26. They will also touch base on draft prospects, trade potentials, and unrestricted free agents that the Hawks may target in the off-season.

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 32 – Blackhawks’ grades pt 2, Prospects, and FA appeared first on The Rink.

The Quebec native began his junior career with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL. He played with Chicoutimi for three seasons and the Québec Remparts for one season, where former NHL goaltender and Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy was his head coach. In total, he played 216 games, where he collected 89 points (31 goals, 58 assists).

Even though he had size and impressive scoring totals, he was left undrafted in his first year of NHL draft eligibility and was ranked the 188th skater in his overage year. Then-Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman drafted him with the second pick of the seventh round, 188th overall.

If you scour the internet for people prognosticating Crevier playing top-pair minutes for any NHL team, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone mentioning his name. Most puck watchers had him predicted for most of his season in Rockford. Yet, this season, Crevier played all but four games with the Blackhawks this season and led all of the defensemen in scoring with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists), beating Artyom Levshunov by one point.

With the arrival of new Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill, the French-Canadian’s 6-foot-8, 227-pound frame and long reach clearly caught his eye. Crevier played a team-low 8:22 in game two, his first of the season, but scored his first goal and gained his coach’s confidence more every game.

By the season’s end, the most common defensive pair for the Blackhawks was Crevier and Alex Vlasic. Their combined height of 13 feet, 2 inches has them tied with Zdeno Chara (6-foot-9)/Brandon Carlo (6-foot-5) in Boston and Tyler Myers (6-foot-8)/Nikita Zadorov (6-foot-6) in Vancouver. Blashill counted on them to play some of the toughest minutes against opponents’ best players night in and night out, a tough situation for a young team trying to shelter inexperienced defenders. Against all odds, Crevier held his own.

Despite his propensity to start shifts in his own end, he earned a reputation for his cannon of a slapshot, no doubt due to the torque he generated from his tall frame and long stick. According to NHL.com, Crevier had the most shots over 100 piles per hours (six) and had the fourth-hardest shot in a game this season at 102.83 mph. These are pretty impressive and scary statistics, especially for opposing goalies.

Table courtesy of NHL.com

Back to his performance in the Blackhawks’ end of the rink, his advanced numbers are not as bad as one might think from the team’s final record. According to Natural Stat Trick and Moneypuck, Crevier is ranked in the top third of the league for expected goals and blocked shots, top half of the league in defensive giveaways and top 30% for goals above expected of defensemen with more than 500 minutes played. On the other hand, he is more where you would expect (bottom 25%) in terms of goals and shots against per 60 minutes. So, no one is clamouring for a Norris Trophy campaign, but there is hope and some potential that he could be a solid shutdown defender for an organization that has a logjam of puck-moving defenders.

The Rink analysis

No one is under any illusion that all the defenders on this team rank well league-wide. Crevier was thrust into a no-win situation and stayed above water.  He became a reliable and relatively consistent top shutdown guy for the Blackhawks, potentially surpassing his partner, Vlasic. His shot and physical prowess are things that cannot be taught or learned, which gives him a huge leg up on other young blueliners, especially for much less physical players. The fact that a veteran coach like Blashill gave him this level of responsibility tells fans that he sees potential.

The fact that Crevier led all the Blackhawks’ defensemen in scoring also gives some promise that he could develop into a solid two-way guy and potentially get some power-play time as a second-unit triggerman next season.

In a season of lows, Crevier was a ray of light peeking through the clouds. He has plenty of work to do and is older than most of the defensemen around him, but a focused summer of film work and strength building could earn him a sizable raise and multi-year extension next season. At the very least, he can be a useful fifth or sixth defender who teams are always looking to acquire at the trade deadline — a rare draft win for Bowman, and a useful asset for the Blackhawks.

The post ANALYSIS: Louis Crevier, the Blackhawks’ diamond in the rough appeared first on The Rink.

hi Adam!

︎ https://t.co/6qNFYIYHJS pic.twitter.com/F8XcmvLP5j

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 1, 2026

Chicago announced that Gajan has agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract with a $1.05 million annual salary cap hit through the 2027-28 season following a very successful season with the University of Minnesota Duluth (NCHC). Following that announcement, the Rockford IceHogs released an announcement of their own that they had signed Gajan to an amateur tryout agreement (ATO).

The 6-foot-3, 189-pound Poprad, Slovakia, native compiled a 26-25-2 record, a .899 SV%, a 2.65 goals against average and three shutouts in 54 career games with UMD. Prior to playing in the NCAA, Gajan appeared in 54 games with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, amassing a 30-15-5 record and one shutout.

During his international career, Gajan represented Slovakia at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. He also played for Team Slovakia at the 2023 and 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships, compiling a 5-3-0 record and earning two shutouts, which earned him Best Goaltender honors at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The Rockford ATO means that he can join the team for their final eight games with current goaltenders Drew Commesso and Olivier Rodrigue. Stanislav Berezhnoy is also part of the IceHogs’ roster, but was suspended 20 games on Feb. 17 for violating the terms of the AHL/PHPA Performance Enhancing Substance Program. Berezhnoy is eligible to return on April 11.

We have signed goaltender Adam Gajan to an ATO contract. Welcome to the organization, Adam!!https://t.co/qpUO87Nj3w

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) April 1, 2026

Analysis

This move comes as a slight surprise, as it would not hurt Gajan’s development to play another year with the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Blackhawks have a nice list of young goaltenders already, but Commesso is a restricted free agent and Rodrigue is an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Arvid Soderblom and Berezhnoy will be unrestricted and restricted free agents, respectively, on July 1, 2027.

Having too many young, promising goaltenders is not a bad position to be in; just ask the Edmonton Oilers.

The #Blackhawks have quite a Goaltending stockpile.

Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
Drew Commesso
Stanislav Berezhnoy
Adam Gajan
Ilya Kanarsky

I could honestly see them package Soderblom if someone wants him. @TheRinkCHI @TheRinkOfficial

— Old goalie guy (@PuckinHostile) April 1, 2026

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign goaltender Adam Gajan to entry-level deal appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast host Andy Campbell is joined by staff members Sean Fitzgerald, Jimmy O’Malley, and Rink co-founder Jeff Osborn to talk about the arrival of highly touted prospect Anton Frondell, as well as the forthcoming debut of fellow rookie Sacha Boisvert and a glimpse into the summer trade rumblings that have been on the mind of many fans..

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 9 Episode 27 – The Debut of Anton Frondell appeared first on The Rink.

First of all, it is unquestionable that Kantserov is having a great season, especially for a 21-year-old, but that does not mean fans can expect him to step into the NHL and become the next Artemi Panarin or Nikita Kucherov. Moving into the final week of what looks like his final KHL season, Kantserov has the following numbers:

Source: Roman Kantserov @ Elite Prospects

Before breaking him down, let us look into the positives. Kantserov was drafted by Kyle Davidson as the 17th-ranked European skater. The Elite Prospects draft guide had the following to say about Kantserov following a 54-point season (27 goals, 27 assists) in 45 games with Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk in the MHL.

Kantserov can make plays on first touch, by first identifying pressure and then immediately beating it with a stickhandling move, and he can involve teammates in plays with purposeful movements. Good posture in his rush offence. He can combine crossovers, fakes, and handling moves to carry the puck, and he’s a very quick passer.

This is all high praise, and it is very understandable why Blackhawks fans would be excited for him to don the Indianhead sweater at the United Center. It is a dangerous game to compare current or future NHL players to past players because there are so many intangibles and the human aspect. It is also important to temper expectations so as not to set the less studied, or even the studied, fans up for unnecessary disappointment.

The two players who have been most commonly compared to Kantserov are Kucherov and Panarin, for good reason. Both players have had long, successful NHL careers, and if a 44th overall draft pick could approach the productivity of either, that would be a huge piece added to the Blackhawks’ rebuild. Imagine if Davidson was able to pull an Ivan Demidov-ish level player a full round and a half after Connor Bedard.

Back to player comparisons, the most common standard to level-set is their production in the MHL because they all played relatively similar lengths of time at similar ages. When put side by side, their Russian minor league numbers look like this:

As you can see, Kantserov had an impressive time in the MHL, but not quite up to what the others had produced. Some will cite the KHL production, but Panarin played considerably more and Kucherov considerably less in the Russian top professional league:

As a result, there is no accurate one-to-one-to-one comparison. There are other factors left to take into account as well. KHL ice is bigger than the NHL ice, which allows smaller skill players more room to work. In North America, with the smaller ice and bigger, faster players, his time and space will close in much faster. The level of play in the KHL is also much closer to the AHL than the NHL. If you take into account some of the highest-producing players in the KHL, there is a large number of former NHL/AHL tweeners on the list and zero former high-producing NHLers.

All of these factors make it hard to be certain of what Kantserov can do in the NHL. All things considered, he is likely a second-line or middle-six responsible scorer. Projecting him as a top-line superstar is rushing to judgment, though, and probably irresponsible. The Blackhawks would be lucky to have a reliable player who can chip in some secondary depth and potentially add 40-50 points.

The video below does a great job of breaking down Kantserov’s play. Some points that should not be lost are “There’s also the issue of his skill set overlapping with many other players and prospects in the Hawk system,” and “In some ways, he looks a bit like Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar, Nick Lardis, and others.” I want to emphasize that none of this is necessarily bad, but he is going to need to set himself up in the top third of that group to cement himself in the NHL lineup.

The post ANALYSIS: What to expect from Roman Kantserov appeared first on The Rink.

Davidson acquired 29-year-old forward Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional 2027 first-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach. Chicago will retain 50% of Dickinson’s salary cap hit as part of the trade. As part of the conditions of the trade, the Oilers’ first-round pick is top-12 protected. The trade gives Chicago nine picks in the first two rounds of the next two drafts to go along with their plentiful prospect pipeline.

Mangiapane has had a notoriously contentious stay in Edmonton since signing a two-year, $7.2 million contract with a cap hit of $3.6 million per season on July 1, 2025. He was expected to provide some secondary scoring support, but has only put up 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 52 games. Edmonton put him on waivers and sent him to their AHL affiliate, Bakersfield, on Sunday. Mangiapane is under contract through 2026-27.

Chicago will definitely miss Dickinson’s defensive prowess and leadership, as he was one of their alternate captains, and Dach’s youthful physical exuberance, but this is the cost of doing business in the NHL.

Acquiring assets that can be used to either move up in the draft in June or acquire players to help improve their scoring for next season is a necessary evil. Players like AJ Spellacy can step in soon to replace Dach’s physical energy and younger long-term options to replace Dickinson will be available. If Mangiapane can rediscover his scoring touch with a change of scenery, he could be a decent secondary contributor.

Chicago receives Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional 2027 first-round draft pick in exchange for forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach

for every memory these last 4 years pic.twitter.com/E6N7FIfeVL

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 5, 2026

from draft night to his first career goal as a Hawk and every moment in between, thank you for everything pic.twitter.com/vWSlfpaI4K

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 5, 2026

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire first-round pick and Mangiapane from Edmonton for Dickinson and Dach appeared first on The Rink.

Make sure to bookmark this page and come back as the moves happen for up-to-the-minute analysis and breakdowns from our friends at 

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
3/2/2026		Connor Murphy (50% salary retained)		2028 2nd round pick
3/4/2026		Jason Dickinson (50% salary retained) and Colton Dach		Andrew Mangiapane and 2027 1st round pick (top 12 protected)
3/6/2026		Nick Foligno		Future Consideration
3/6/2026		Aidan Thompson		Derrick Pouliot

Trade Analysis/Breakdown:

• • 
    • • • The Edmonton Oilers acquire Connor Murphy (50% retained) from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2028 2nd round pick.

    

    • • • The Edmonton Oilers acquire Jason Dickinson (50% retained) and Colton Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks for Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional 2027 1st round pick.

      

      • • The Chicago Blackhawks trade Nick Foligno to the Minnesota Wild for future considerations.

      

      • The Chicago Blackhawks acquire Derrick Pouliot from the New York Rangers for Aidan Thompson.

Also, be sure to follow the entire The-Rink staff on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates, as well:

The Rink Official

Chicago Divison
The Rinkcast
Jeff Osborn
Andy Campbell
Eric Andrews
Sean Fitzgerald
Jimmy O’Malley
Andrew Bard
Ray Napientek
Matt Csakai

 

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2026 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

Writers will continually tell you that goaltending is “voodoo.” That it’s unpredictable. That you cannot predict goalies or goaltending. Some of this is true. It is possibly the most mental position in sports. Goalies spend almost the entire game on the ice, by themselves, in their own heads. When they make those saves that everyone expects them to, “You’re just doing the job you’re supposed to do.” When they give up that soft goal, or that one that looks easy on a video replay slowed down a frame a second, “this guy is a bum.”

Hockey goaltending is an absolutely thankless position played by sadists.

I digress, though, as I am not here to solve the great mystery of this position that people are not much closer to understanding than they did when this sport was born well over 100 years ago. I am here to give you some insight into what this team you all root for has under its thumb for the next few years.

The Blackhawks have promise in goal. They have something to look forward to. So, let me take you through the system from top to bottom.

Spencer Knight

I have been a fan of Spencer Knight since his World Junior Championship days in 2021. Knowing full well that the Blackhawks, especially Stan Bowman at the time, never spent high draft picks on goalies, I never thought the team would ever have a chance to have him in their crease.

Then came the great Seth Jones dump. Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito felt that Knight was expendable, and suddenly, Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson had a 23-year-old potential franchise goalie.

Potentially.

No one truly knows what he will be, but the fact that he was in the conversation for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team is encouraging. He is not perfect, but there is plenty to see in his game that would translate well when he has some structure around him.

Knight has a coolness to the game and moves ultra-smoothly. He never looks shaken by bad goals and appears to have ice in his veins. It is rare that you get gifted a goalie of this level, this young, so hopefully this move and the Connor Bedard pick are the start of another dynasty story.

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom has had a contentious career in Chicago. (Photo courtesy the of NHL)

Arvid Soderblom

The great mystery of Arvid Soderblom. The first word that comes to mind when thinking of Soderblom is “enigma.” It is a cliché term, but he truly fits that mold for me.

He came over from Europe with not much of a reputation, much like Stanislav Berezhnoy, to play in the AHL or ECHL. That season, he played very well in Rockford, one of the best goalie seasons with the IceHogs in recent memory.

His first year in the NHL, he looked relatively strong on a very bad team. The Blackhawks finished 18-49-7 and he finished with only two wins and a .894 save percentage in all situations. The numbers were not anything to get excited about, but you could see flashes of talent. This was great for a player that Bowman poached from Sweden for free.

One of my favorite theories about goalies is “wait until the entire league has seen you once through before you start your judgments.” They will have seen film and probably faced you at least once. The surprise is gone. That is the epitome of NHL year two for Soderblom, a disaster.

The team was, somehow, worse than the previous year with a modern-era team-low 52 points, and Soderblom could not stop a thing. He went from 15 games played to 33, and his stats were abysmal — five wins and an .880 save percentage in all situations. The drop of .014 might not seem like a lot, but I can assure you it is considerable.

Which Soderblom was he? The serviceable backup or the sieve that was a huge liability?

The answer is somewhere in the middle, as it turns out. He jumped back up to a .898 save percentage last season, but this year he is back down again, this time into the sub .870 range with only two regular-ish goaltenders below him (Leevi Meriläinen and Samuel Ersson).

I will expound on this later, but when the entire team started hot, I was hoping he would remain warm, and some team would take a chance on a big 26-year-old Swedish netminder. He has torn that up and made confetti.

The salary is not an issue, but the term is. Chicago is on the hook for one more season, with Drew Commesso just about ready to start seeing NHL duty, Berezhnoy surprising people in the AHL and Adam Gajan playing well at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which earned him a trip to Italy with the Slovakian Olympic Team.

Davidson might just need to put him through waivers, bury a chunk of his salary and let him be the guy in Rockford next season. It looks as though his time wearing a Blackhawks uniform is coming to a close.

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Drew Commesso has played very solid in the AHL. (Photo courtesy of the NHL)

Drew Commesso

Commesso came with some pretty high praise after the Blackhawks selected him in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He had a very impressive season with the U.S. National Team Development Program, which he parlayed into a very respectable career at Boston University, including two games with the U.S. Olympic Team in 2023, one of which a shutout.

His professional career has not exactly started off with bells and whistles, but he has put up respectable numbers. Over parts of four AHL seasons, he has a .909 save percentage in the regular season and .922 in the playoffs. It is time for the Blachawks to take his training wheels off and see what this kid has.

What can you expect from him? Think “Corey Crawford-ish.” He will not “wow” you, but he is consistent. The Blackhawks need more consistency.

Granted, I would not expect him to unseat Knight, but what a one-two punch they could have for the next 5-6 seasons.

Rockford IceHogs goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy has started off his career nicely in the AHL. (Photo courtesy of the NHL)

Stanislav Berezhnoy

It has only been 10 games into his AHL career, but Berezhnoy has made fans notice his play. Several highlight saves have made their rounds on the internet that should have the fans raising their eyebrows.

Despite not speaking a lick of English, Davidson signed the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Berezhnoy out of the Russian VHL in July to potentially play in Rockford or with the Indy Fuel. He earned a spot backing up Commesso in Rockford and has done an admirable job despite injuries taking a toll on his season.

Stats will not tell you the story of his season, as they are pretty pedestrian. He has gone 5-4-1 with a .898 save percentage in all situations, which ranks him 10th among rookie AHL goaltenders. He started off red hot in his first three games, then had a below-average November and missed most of December. Considering the recent play of Soderblom and the success of Commesso, Berezhnoy could see some more time in Rockford down the stretch. His most recent performance was an impressive 31-save, 3-1 win against the division-leading Grand Rapids Griffins.

By no means am I proclaiming any great huge results, but he is a big goaltender who is very athletic, especially for his size. If he can continue to develop at only 22 years old, he could be another sneaky good signing by the Blackhawks.

University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog’s goalie Adam Gajan has had an impressive season that led him to the Slovakian Olympic hockey team. (Photo courtesy of the NHL)

Adam Gajan

Gajan has been one of my favorite goaltending prospects in recent memory. The good and bad of playing in leagues like the USHL are that you can somewhat avoid the spotlight, but players only really have basic stats to be judged on.

This is what happened when Gajan played his D+1 season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. For those not aware, the USHL is a league notorious for not supporting the defensive end of the ice, so the average 8.66 goals per game were scored — not ideal for a goaltender looking to impress.

Davidson picked Gajan in the now-famous Connor Bedard 2023 NHL Draft in the second round (35th overall). He was also the first goaltender picked in that draft, ahead of netminders like Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine and Montreal Canadiens rookie Jacob Fowler.

Following his adventure in Green Bay, he committed to play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Truth be told, his first year was not eye-opening. He played 21 games as the primary starter and posted a 7-15-1 record with a .885 save percentage in all situations as a 20-year-old freshman.

As a sophomore, he has cemented his spot as the primary starter for the Bulldogs with a current 15-7-0 record and a .911 save percentage. This was impressive enough to earn Gajan an invite to travel to Milan Cortina with Team Slovakia.

He is another big goaltender (notice the trend here) at 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds, and is known for his extreme flexibility. He regularly goes into full splits to make saves, which can often show up on highlight reels.

If Blackhawks fans can be patient with him, and the organization puts the time into development, Gajan could end up the best goalie in the system.

Ilya Kanarsky

This is a name that not many Blackhawks fans will be familiar with, just yet. Davidson took the 6-foot-2, 192-pound 21-year-old this summer in the seventh round of the 2025 NHL Draft. He has been playing Russian professional hockey, first in the MHL/NMHL, then in the VHL, since 2021.

Ilya Kanarsky comes from a hockey family, as his father, Pavel Kanarsky, was a defenseman in the Russian leagues from 2006 until 2017. His younger brother, Yan Kanarsky, is also a defenseman in the Russian MHL.

His stats are pretty gaudy, but keep in mind that he was drafted in his D+2 season, which means he went undrafted in two previous years of eligibility. Individually, he has a 7-13-8 record with a .925 save percentage. Without context, that sounds sensational, but the VHL is a strong goalie league. He is ranked 29th overall in save percentage. There are 59 goalies who have played 10 games or more who have save percentages over .900.

Playing with AKM Tula Region, Kanarsky is the primary starter despite being the youngest goaltender on the team. His team, unfortunately, is 21st out of 32 teams in the standings.

I would not expect much from this player, but stranger things have happened. He could be a candidate for Indy or Rockford should he choose to pursue North America, but his chances of showing up in a Blackhawks sweater are low.

The post ANALYSIS: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending assessment appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast host Andy Campbell is joined by Rink Staff members Jeff Osborn, and  Jimmy O’Malley, in the Rinkcast studio to discuss the Blackhawks’ recent road woes and, Sam Rinzel’s demotion, some goalie talk with the guru and a brief preview of their game against the New York Rangers.

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As the 2025-26 moves along Chicago Rinkcast Host Andy Campbell , Jimmy O’Malley ESQ, Sean Fitzgerald, and a late add of The Rink co-founder Jeff Osborn discuss the roster, predictions, and what to be hopeful for the coming season. After final roster moves, The Chicago Blackhawks open up their 2025-26 season in Miami against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday!

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Following the Blackhawks’ 3-2 preseason loss at Detroit, Chicago Rinkcast Host Andy Campbell , Jimmy O’Malley ESQ, Sean Fitzgerald and Jeff Osborn discuss what to hope for during the 2025-26 season, and raise concerns, as well.

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The 5-foot-10, 190-pound forward out of Detroit, Michigan, has put up 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 56 career NHL games with the Blackhawks. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the first round (13th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut on April 14, 2024. The pick used to select Nazar was acquired on July 7, 2022, from the Montreal Canadiens (via the New York Islanders) with a third-round pick (66th overall, Gavin Hayes) for Kirby Dach.

During his college career, Nazar registered 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games over two seasons with the University of Michigan, which included a Big Ten championship and back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances. He missed a majority of the 2022-23 season with a lower-body injury sustained in the offseason, requiring surgery.

Following the 2024-25 season, Nazar won the gold medal with Team USA — the country’s first time winning the tournament in 92 years — at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, while posting 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 10 games.

Some of Nazar’s additional 2024-25 accomplishments include:

• Leading all Chicago rookies in goals, assists, and total points
• The only rookie in the NHL to convert a penalty shot last season
• Played 21 games with the Rockford IceHogs, scoring 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists)
• Earned a spot in the AHL All-Star Game

Analysis

Understandably, fans may feel that the contract seems a bit pricey for a player who had played less than a full season in the NHL, but the way his development has been progressing would suggest that he could become one of the league’s best bargains within a couple of seasons.

Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson is clearly on a mission to lock in the potential future stars of the franchise to relatively affordable long-term deals while the salary cap is lower to have as much payroll certainty as possible when the cap makes its significant jumps over the next two seasons. This certainty will open up salary to sign free agents or make trades to fill holes in the lineup and put some additional talent around the homegrown players.

This season, the cap is set at $95.5 million this season. It will increase to $104 million for the 2026-27 season and $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks extend Frank Nazar for seven years appeared first on The Rink.

Join your fellow Rinkrats below to discuss what the Blackhawks accomplished (or did not accomplish) this year as the market opened.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Dominic Toninato	F			31	6’2” / 202	2 x $850k	Two-way contract

These are Blackhawks trades relevant to this offseason.

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/13/25	Victor Soderstrom		Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick
6/21/25	Joe Veleno		Andre Burakovsky
7/1/25	2026 sixth-round pick		Sam Lafferty

Trade Analysis

• The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Joe Veleno

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joseph Veleno

• Chicago Blackhawks acquire Sam Lafferty from Buffalo for a 2026 sixth-round pick

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Sam Lafferty from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2026 6th round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2025 Real-Time Free Agency Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

VERY LONG EPISODE ALERT! 5 Hours

Chicago Rinkcast guest host and prospect guru Jimmy O’Malley ESQ is joined by staff members Eric Andrews, Jeff Osborn and Sean Fitzgerald to watch the first round of the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Entry Draft, where they drafted Anton Frondell, Vaclav Nestrasil, and traded up to take Mason West.

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Check out Rink prospect guru Jimmy O’Malley and Rink staffers for a LIVE reaction podcast:

The players that the organization selects will be listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats.

2025 Blackhawks NHL Entry Draft

Chicago Blackhawks Draft Picks

Trades made leading to and during the draft:

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/13/25	Victor Soderstrom		Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick
6/21/25	Joe Veleno		Andre Burakovsky
7/1/25	2026 sixth-round pick		Sam Lafferty

Trade Analysis

• The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Joe Veleno

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joseph Veleno

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2025 1st round pick (#29) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 2nd round pick (#34), a 2025 2nd round pick (#62), a 2027 5th round pick

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2025 1st round pick (#29) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 2nd round pick (#34), a 2025 2nd round pick (#62), a 2027 5th round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2025 Upper Deck NHL Entry Draft Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The 30-year old, 6-foot-3, 203-pound Burkovsky was originally selected by Washington in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft and will make $5.5 million for the next two seasons. He had 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists) in 79 games with Seattle in 2024–25.

The native of Klagenfurt, Austria, has appeared in 696 career regular season NHL games, over 11 seasons with the Capitals, Colorado Avalanche and Kraken. Over his career, he has won the Stanley Cup twice with Washington (2018) and Colorado (2022) in eight trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In international play, Burakovsky has helped lead Sweden to silver medals at the 2012 World U18 Championship and the 2014 World Junior Championship.

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joseph Veleno

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Andre Burakovsky from Seattle appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and co-host Pete jump back in the studio to talk Goalies and are joined by Joe Drennan, the “Washed Up Goalie“, from the Tendy Talk podcast

  Pete Fricano media and Hockey Dad Gatekeeper.

  Joe tells us all bout his experience with Tendy Talk.

  A throwback to more southside Chicago hockey.

  Alex Ovechkin scores the record breaker, and we discuss from a goalie P.O.V.

  NHL expansion in the Atlanta area.

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Sean Fitzgerald, Jimmy O’Malley, Andrew Bard, and a late special guest discuss Jimmy’s recent article on Blackhawks player season grades, and each scholar will corroborate Jimmy’s assessments and/or have the chance to provide their own grade:

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 8, Episode 24 – Blackhawks 2024-25 Season Letter Grades appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and co-host Pete Fricano get together to talk about all things goaltending. Get your goalie fix!

  Pete Fricano media and Hockey Dad Gatekeeper.

  League Goalie swaps.

  NHL Expansion.

  Little side quest about GoalieParts.com.

  4 Nation.

  Youth Goaltending in the Chicagoland area.

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Make sure to bookmark this page and come back as the moves happen for up-to-the-minute analysis and breakdowns from our friends at 

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
3/1/2025		Seth Jones and a 2026 4th round pick		Spencer Knight and 2026 1st round draft pick
3/7/2025		Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith		Joe Veleno
3/7/2025		5th round draft pick in 2026		Shea Weber, Victor Soderstrom and Aku Raty

Trade Analysis/Breakdown:

• • The Florida Panthers acquired Seth Jones and a 2026 4th round pick from the Chicago Blackhawks for Spencer Knight and a 2026 1st round pick
  • The Detroit Red Wings acquired Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith from the Chicago Blackhawks for Joe Veleno
  • The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Shea Weber, Victor Soderstrom and Aku Raty from the Utah Hockey Club for a 2026 5th round pick

Also, be sure to follow the entire The-Rink staff on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates, as well:

The Rink Official

Chicago Divison
The Rinkcast
Jeff Osborn
Andy Campbell
Eric Andrews
Sean Fitzgerald
Jimmy O’Malley
Andrew Bard
Ray Napientek
Matt Csakai

 

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2025 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Sean Fitzgerald, Jimmy O’Malley, and Jeff Osborn are back from the holidays to talk about the Winter Classic and more:

Criticism of Connor Bedard

Rockford IceHogs talk

David Carle

Bit and pieces.

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Sean Fitzgerald, and Jimmy O’Malley jump on to talk Blackhawks prior to their game vs the Anaheim Ducks:

Taylor Hall healthy scratched.

Can Connor Bedard get going with Jason Dickinson, or anyone else for that matter?

Hope for a shot at No. 1 overall pick again and a shot at James Hagans?

War Pigs report with Jimmy O.

More on the CHSN debacle.

Alex Ovechkin hurt.

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 8, Episode 6 – Line Carousel Continues for “Unwatchable” Hawks appeared first on The Rink.

“Luke Richardson (and/or Kyle Davidson) should be on the hot seat.”

From day one, Luke Richardson had a tall task ahead. His job was to bring along the kids until they were ready to compete at the NHL level. He was brought in to keep a young, losing team from imploding. He knew this, Kyle Davidson knew this, but apparently, a large section of the fan base missed this detail. Now, a quarter of the way through his third season as Blackhawks head coach, the fans are starting to revolt. This is based on one major sports fan flaw: Impatience.

The Blackhawks are in this position because of the egos of their former team president, John McDonough, and their former general manager, Stan Bowman — neither of whom are here to answer for their mistakes. They felt that they were smarter than everyone else and thought they could rebuild around a quickly crumbling core that was declining fast. They were wrong. Someone in that front office needed to have a “come to Jesus” moment in the 2017–18 time period and start building for the future. They did not, and five more years of fans’ time was wasted.

None of this is Davidson’s or Richardson’s fault. They are simply trying to clean up an epic mess that was left behind and get the Blackhawks pointed in the right direction.

The first season of Richardson’s reign should not even be counted. It reeks of Jared Bednar’s first season in Colorado. Patrick Roy quit on the team and left the organization in a shambles. Bednar was never going to be successful that season. It was a lost cause.

The same could be said for Richardson. The Blackhawks were tanking for Bedard, and Richardson was marched out to be positive and teach the players the ways of the league.

Year two was to introduce the kids, including Bedard, to the grind of an NHL season. Due to the NHL/CHL transfer agreement restrictions, players like Kevin Korchinski, who was too good for the WHL but not ready for the NHL, could not go to the AHL or ECHL. Hence, he was forced to either go back and “bum slay” in juniors or get crushed nightly in the NHL, which is exactly what happened. Richardson was forced to put on a brave face and feed his kids to the lions. The result was predictable, which was another bottom-three finish, this time 31st out of 32 teams. This landed Davidson another high pick, which he used on polarizing Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov.

Thankfully, Korchinski was old enough this season to send to the AHL and that is where he is playing. He is at a level where he can compete against professionals but not the best professionals in the world. The same can be said for players like Levshunov, Ethan Del Mastro, Gavin Hayes, Paul Ludwinski, Frank Nazar, Sam Savoie and Landon Slaggert. None of them have shown they are ready for the NHL yet, WHICH IS FINE. Not every player can go immediately from college or juniors to the NHL; in fact, most should not and do not, which is seemingly another fact many Blackhawks fans cannot comprehend.

Again, though, still not Richardson’s fault. Davidson brought a bunch of veterans in this summer to fill the roster specifically so the youngsters could all play and grow together in the AHL without the pressure and spotlight of the NHL every night. That said, the roster is now full of functional depth players and over-the-hill guys with experience. They were never going to be “good.” No one should have proclaimed otherwise.

They should be “better” than they were in the last two seasons. “Better,” however, is a relative term. “Better” also does not include making the playoffs, and it never did.

The #Blackhawks would have to improve FORTY points, minimum. Technically 46 in the Western Conf. Their point % would have to increase .281. The 7th best NHL improvement EVER. Just to squeak in

Be realistic. Not with a bunch of nice depth players and leftovers. https://t.co/c6iFKfJMDu

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) August 22, 2024

Have the Blackhawks disappointed in their first 15 games? Certainly. But expecting much more than where they currently stand is, frankly, irrational. Anyone looking at the numbers could not reasonably predict a 45-plus point turnaround by adding the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, TJ Brodie, Ilya Mikheyev, Pat Maroon, Craig Smith and Laurent Brossoit. Every one of those players is the definition of depth. And that does not even address the fact that it takes time for new players to gel with a new organization, city, teammates and system, which is again another fact many Blackhawks fans cannot comprehend. News flash: The real world does not work like NHL25; it does not all come together overnight simply because you want it to or think it should.

It is all fine and well to call for Richardson’s head, but to do that, you have to be able to answer question, “Who else can give you better production with this cast of misfit characters?”

The answer is, probably no one.

The post ANALYSIS: Should Luke Richardson (or Kyle Davidson) be on the hot seat? appeared first on The Rink.

Brennan Vogt

Brennan is continuing to grow his career in writing and will join the folks over at MileHighHockey.com. He plans to do a lot of the same work that he did for us here, but will be in the press box a lot more. You can always find all of his links here and follow him on Twitter here. If you want to look back on any of his articles, you can find them all online, and you can find Brennan’s profile here.

Savvy Rafkin

Savvy will take this opportunity to take some time away from writing. She will still follow the Avalanche and Eagles, though, with just as much passion. If you would like to keep up to date on what she is doing, you can check her links here. You can also continue to follow her on Twitter here. The same thing applies to Savvy. We will keep all of her articles online for you to read if you would like to here.

Chloe Wright

Chloe is eager to get back at it and has accepted a position as a writer with InsideTheRink.com. She will continue to cover the Avalanche and Eagles there as well as all things hockey. Her links will continue to develop so you can keep up with her here. She will be very active on her Twitter, which you can follow here. Unfortunately, she had little time to write a lot for us, but you can find those articles here.

So long does not mean goodbye

Every one of them deserves our thanks for the effort they put forward for The Rink. We know they put in countless hours of work for us and we cannot thank them all enough for it. We wish them all luck in their future endeavors, and for now, this is The Rink Colorado signing off.

The post So long does not mean goodbye appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and new co-host Pete Fricano get together to preview a new NHL season and remind you why you all listen. Get your goalie fix!

  In the warmups, Gate and Pete talk about Pet’s new gig doing some announcing with a new LPHL team.

  In the first period, Jeremy Swayman just signed a huge 8 year deal to stay in Boston.

  In the second period, We segue to the Robin Lehner saga.

  In the third period, the Yaroslav Askarov trade.

  We wrap up overtime with some predictions and story lines we’ll be following.

  As an added bonus we talk about out top 3-4 goalies in the NHL.

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 5 – Swayman, Askarov, Lehner and more appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and new co-host Pete Fricano get together to preview a new NHL season and remind you why you all listen. Get your goalie fix!

-In the first period, Gate and Pete talk about how they met, tell some stories from days gone by, and what their experiences were as young goalies.
-In the second period, we talk about their top 5 favorite goalies (not to be confused with our top 5 “best” goalies)
-In a special between-period segment we talk about the three goalies we wish we could have seen play.
-In the third period, we discussed the goalie we “hated”

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 4 – Back from the dead appeared first on The Rink.

Join your fellow Rinkrats below to discuss what the Blackhawks accomplished (or did not accomplish) this year as the market opened.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Tyler Bertuzzi	LW			29	6'2" / 188	$5.5M x 4	Confirmed
Teuvo Teravainen	RW			29	5'11" / 192	$5.4M x 3	Confirmed
Alec Martinez	D			36	6'1" / 210	$4M x 1	Confirmed
Ben Gaudreau	G	Erie Otters	Rockford IceHogs	21	6'2" / 174	one-year AHL contract	Confirmed
Pat Maroon	LW			36	6'3" / 234	$1.3M x 1	Confirmed
Laurent Brossoit	G			31	6'3" / 203	$3.3M x 2	Confirmed
Craig Smith	RW			34	6'0" / 203	$1M x 1	Confirmed
Joey Anderson	RW			26	6'0' / 207	$800 x 2	Confirmed
TJ Brodie	D			34	6'2" / 187	$3.75M x 2	Confirmed

These are Blackhawks trades relevant to this offseason.

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
5/24/2024	2024 1st round pick (#20), 2024 2nd round pick (#54), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#61)		2024 1st round pick (#18) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)
6/26/24	2027 fourth round pick		Ilya Mikheyev (15% rretained), Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 2nd round pick
6/28/24	2024 2nd round pick (#34), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#50)		2024 1st round pick (#27) - Marek Vanacker
6/29/24	2024 3rd round pick (#92)		2025 3rd round pick

Trade Analysis

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#18) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50) from the New York Islanders for a 2024 1st round pick (#20), 2024 2nd round pick (#54), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#61)
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Ilya Mikheyev (15% retained), Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 2nd round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2027 4th round pick
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#27) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2024 2nd round pick (#34) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 3rd round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 3rd round pick

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#18) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50) from the New York Islanders for a 2024 1st round pick (#20), 2024 2nd round pick (#54), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#61)

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 2nd round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2027 4th round pick

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#27) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2024 2nd round pick (#34) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 3rd round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 3rd round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2024 Real-Time Free Agency Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The players that the organization select will be listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats.

Trades made leading to and during the draft:

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
5/24/2024	2024 1st round pick (#20), 2024 2nd round pick (#54), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#61)		2024 1st round pick (#18) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)
6/26/24	2027 fourth round pick		Ilya Mikheyev (15% rretained), Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 2nd round pick
6/28/24	2024 2nd round pick (#34), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#50)		2024 1st round pick (#27) - Marek Vanacker
6/29/24	2024 3rd round pick (#92)		2025 3rd round pick

Trade Analysis

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#18) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50) from the New York Islanders for a 2024 1st round pick (#20), 2024 2nd round pick (#54), and a 2024 2nd round pick (#61)
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Ilya Mikheyev (15% retained), Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 2nd round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2027 4th round pick
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#27) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2024 2nd round pick (#34) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2024 1st round pick (#27) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2024 2nd round pick (#34) and 2024 2nd round pick (#50)

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2024 NHL Entry Draft Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The 29-year-old, 6-foot-2-inch, 192-pound Ilya Mikheyev began his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019. He signed a four-year contract with the Canucks on July 13, 2022, which has two years remaining at an average annual value of $4.75 million, but the Canucks retained 15% of that deal, so Chicago is on the hook for $4,037,500 for this coming season and next.

Mikheyev has 131 points (60 goals, 71 assists) in 270 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs and Canucks, and four points (two goals, two assists) in 30 playoff games. He can play both wing positions and can easily slot in the Blackhawks’ top six, while also helping Davidson hit the salary cap floor.

Davidson also picked up a name familiar to Blackhawks fans in acquiring the rights to forward Sam Lafferty. Lafferty had his best NHL season with the Blackhawks in 2022–23, when he put up 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 51 games before he was traded to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 27, 2023, prior to the trade deadline. He is scheduled to become a UFA on July 1, but the Blackhawks have negotiating rights to now sign him ahead of that date. The 29-year-old would be able to fill a bottom-six spot if the Blackhawks are able to sign him.

Lafferty was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth-round (No. 113) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He has 83 points (36 goals, 47 assists) in 289 regular-season games and three points (one goal, two assists) in 21 playoff games with the Penguins, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs and Canucks.

Analysis

Davidson continues to weaponize his salary cap space and flexibility to take on short-term bloated contracts from teams facing salary cap issues and acquiring additional assets along the way. Mikheyev and Lafferty are fine depth players who can fill out the roster this season as the Blackhawks continue to draft and develop a young core around last season’s prized draft pick Connor Bedard. The fact that Davidson was able to get Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin to eat 15% of Mikheyev’s salary is a master-class move.

This is some voodoo magic shit. You turn an essentially worthless 4th into a 2nd, a possible top 6 roster player and potentially another who had success here. Also helps you get to the floor for 2 seasons. #Blackhawks https://t.co/IeHQLGRwK5

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) June 27, 2024

This move opens up all kinds of possibilities for the Blackhawks. If Mikheyev can re-ignite his career, after knee surgery, he could be a trade deadline flip candidate this year or next. Davidson could eat a portion of his salary and make Mikheyev a reasonably cheap depth acquisition for a contender. If they keep him for the next two seasons, given he has fully recovers from said knee surgery, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has a flexible veteran forward to add to an already experienced group of mentors with Nick Foligno, Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou, Ryan Donato, Jason Dickinson, Seth Jones and Connor Murphy.

Lafferty could give the Blackhawks an opportunity to do something that you often hear from fans: Bring back a fan favorite. If Davidson can re-sign him, Lafferty could also be a trade deadline flip once again. His rights could also be traded at the draft for another asset or as part of another deal as well. The Blackhawks are scheduled to make eight picks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft this weekend.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Mikheyev, Lafferty and draft pick from Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews and Jimmy O’Malley jump on to watch the NHL Draft Lottery and discuss the results:

Eric tells us all about the top 5-7 prospects.

Each member takes a turn on the tankathon draft simulator.

The Blackhawks will pick second overall.

Follow-up, who we think they will pick.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the X right here:

#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 8, Episode 18 – Draft Lottery Bonanza https://t.co/1H0BrjZIe3

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) May 7, 2024

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 18 – Draft Lottery Bonanza appeared first on The Rink.

The deal runs through the 2029–30 season and carries a $4.6 million salary cap hit, for a total of $27.6 million. Years five and six of the deal include a 10-team no-trade list.

The pending restricted free agent played only 21 NHL contests prior to this season, but solidified himself as the team’s most reliable defender in a season where there were few bright spots. While it is still early in his career, the 22-year-old Wilmette, Illinois, native ended the season with top-10 defensive metrics in almost all categories. Such production would have had him in the running for the Calder Trophy with teammate Connor Bedard, if he had played just 10 less games during the 2021–22 season, eclipsing Minnesota Wild golden boy Brock Faber significantly in a number of analytical metrics.

THE HOMETOWN KID

Alex Vlasic is staying, read all about it https://t.co/4q2vuJq5OE pic.twitter.com/TN3JgWzCid

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 25, 2024

“Alex made enormous strides this year and proved he is a legitimate top-four defenseman in the NHL,” said Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson in a press release. “In his first full season in the NHL, Alex established himself as an important piece of our young core, and we’re excited to have him with us for the next six years.”

Prior to this season, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound blueliner played 56 regular season and six playoff contests with the Rockford IceHogs during the 2022–23 season. During his time in Rockford, he posted 19 regular season points (two goals, 17 assists) and five playoff assists. Vlasic was originally drafted in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks and won a bronze medal in 2019 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship.

Alex Vlasic was incredible defensively this year on a bad Hawks team — while playing some of the toughest minutes in the league.
While $4.6M is fair for what he is now, a deal that covers his entire prime under a rising cap could make this one of the league’s best contracts. pic.twitter.com/MR8GFZjP5d

— dom (@domluszczyszyn) April 25, 2024

Vlasic will be suiting up for the United States at the upcoming World Championships, where he will also be joined by fellow Blackhawks rearguard Seth Jones.

Analysis

Reporters and fans alike had been speculating what Vlasic’s contract might look like in recent weeks, but few, if any, would have foreseen the contract coming in with this combination of term and value. Many felt this AAV would have been realistic on a shorter-term bridge deal, with a longer-term deal holding a higher value. For the Blackhawks to lock up Vlasic for six years at an incredibly team-friendly cap hit of $4.6 million is excellent work by Davidson.

As Luszczyszyn noted in his tweet linked above, that dollar value is an accurate value for Vlasic at current, but will provide the team with an average value savings of $3 million per season through the duration of the contract. To lock in Vlasic for six years at that figure is the type of deal that will allow the Blackhawks to maximize their money once the team is back in the playoffs, similarly to how Duncan Keith’s bargain contract helped construct the Cup-era teams. While this contract looks good today, it could very well prove to be a pivotal part in a return to glory for the Blackhawks in the not-too-distant future.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign Alex Vlasic to six-year contract appeared first on The Rink.

Goalie fight! Cmon!!!! #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ajZFA696zN

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) March 13, 2024

Anaheim took a 1–0 lead halfway through the first period on a Brett Leason shorthanded goal, following an absolutely beautiful backhand stretch pass from defenseman Cam Fowler next to his own goaltender. Just a minute later, Ryan Donato tied the game up for Chicago 1–1 on the power play. The first period ended all tied up despite the home team outshooting the Ducks 18–9.

The Blackhawks went down again, just a minute into the second period with another Leason goal off a Jarred Tinordi turnover, but that was all she wrote for the Ducks offense. Chicago got goals from Philipp Kurashev, Seth Jones and Bedard on just six second-period shots to take a 4–2 lead into the third period. Bedard’s goal, his 20th of the season, was a rocket of a one-timer with just 29 seconds left in the period fed to him by Kurashev, who had four points of his own on the night in the 250th game of his career.

Three more third-period goals from MacKenzie Entwistle, Kurashev and Tyler Johnson put the Ducks down for the night and had the United Center rocking so hard that the wave was going around the lower bowl. Mrazek finished with 27 saves for his 14th win of the season and the Blackhawks’ 18th of the season.

With his one goal and four assists on the night, Bedard has posted three goals and seven assists for 10 points in his last four outings. Sorry, Wild fans, but the Calder race is officially over…as if it was not already.
Bedard and Kurashev’s linemate Nick Foligno added four assists.
The Blackhawks had a very impressive 65.4% face-off percentage. Bedard was the only Blackhawks center to win less than half of his draws (33.3%). Jason Dickinson won 83%, Foligno won 78%, Entwisle won 67% and Johnson won 67%.
The Blackhawks had four power play goals (Donato, Jones, Kurashev and Johnson).
Plus/minus is a greatly imperfect stat, but Jaycob Megna was on the ice for three even-strength goals.

The Blackhawks will have a couple of days off and host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday evening at the United Center. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks make Duck soup in 7–2 trouncing of Anaheim with Bedard’s five-point night appeared first on The Rink.

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
3/7/2024		Anthony Beauvillier		2024 5th Round Draft Pick

Trade Analysis/Break Down:

• • • The Nashville Predators acquired Anthony Beauvillier from the Chicago Blackhawks for 2024 5th Round Pick

Also, be sure to follow the entire The-Rink staff on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates, as well:

The Rink Official

Chicago Divison
The Rinkcast
Jeff Osborn
Andy Campbell
Ray Napientek
Eric Andrews
Sean Fitzgerald
Andrew Bard
Matt Csakai

 

The post The Rink’s Chicago Blackhawks 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The first part of the tear-down rebuild is getting rid of the decaying remnants. Davidson started that process the day he took over for disgraced former general manager Stan Bowman. This was something Bowman should have started years before his demise, but I digress.

This is not to say that Davidson did not have some difficult moves to make. Saying goodbye to legendary beloved Blackhawks in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews was met with a lot of pushback. Fans wanted to see Kane and Toews finish their careers as Blackhawks together. Toews may very well have ended his career as a Blackhawk, but Kane is with the Detroit Red Wings and is having a good year.

via GIPHY

The Kane trade was the correct one, however. He was not going to accept ending up in the basement for two of his final seasons, playing babysitter to the next great NHL phenom with very little opportunity to chase one last Stanley Cup before his productive days are over. If you recall, Kane also held the Blackhawks hostage and would only accept a trade to a small percentage of teams—ultimately landing on just one team—which led to a less than desired return. Davidson turned a pending free agent who was in need of hip surgery into Martin Misiak and another 2025 fourth-round pick—not an ideal return for a future Hockey Hall of Famer, but it was also better than Kane walking for free on July 1.

Draft and trades

Davidson’s first big assignment was to build draft capital and replenish a barren prospect pool. His first big move was trading Brandon Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, a first-round draft pick that turned into Oliver Moore and a first-round draft pick in this June’s NHL Entry Draft. For the most part, Kyle from Chicago put on a master class in flipping players for draft capital.

Not only did Davidson stockpile draft picks, but he also used his plethora of salary cap space to take on some bad contacts that included sweeteners.

Trade Partner	Acquired Asset	Outgoing Asset
	2022 2nd round pick (MIN - #57 - Ryan Greene)	Marc-André Fleury (Salary retained - 50%)
	2024 5th round pick	Ryan Carpenter
	2022 1st round pick (#7 - Kevin Korchinski) 2022 2nd round pick (#39 - Paul Ludwinski) 2024 3rd round pick	Alex Debrincat
	2022 1st round pick (#13 - Frank Nazar) 2022 3rd round pick (#66 - Gavin Hayes)	Kirby Dach
	Goaltender Petr Mrázek 2022 1st round pick (#25 - Sam Rinzel)	2022 2nd round pick (#38 - Fraser Minten)
	Forward Jason Dickinson 2024 2nd round pick	Riley Stillman
	Nikita Zaitsev 2023 2nd round pick (#44 - Roman Kantserov) 2026 4th round pick	Future Consideration
	Joey Anderson Pavel Gogolev 2025 1st round pick 2026 2nd round pick	Jake McCabe (50% retained) Sam Lafferty 2024 5th round pick 2025 5th round pick
	From ARI: Vili Saarijärvi From NYR: Andy Welinski 2023 2nd round pick (#55 - Martin Misiak) 2025 4th round pick	To NYR: Patrick Kane (50% retained) Cooper Zech To ARI: 2025 3rd round pick (from NYR)
	Anton Khudobin 2025 2nd round pick	Max Domi Dylan Wells
	Josh Bailey 2026 2nd round pick	Future Consideration
	2023 6th round pick (#167 - Milton Oscarson) 2024 2nd round pick	2023 2nd round pick (#51 - Carson Bjarnason)

It is pretty universally understood that Davidson did the best he could in breaking down an aging team that had been losing momentum for years. The teardown eventually paid off big, when the Blackhawks won the 2023 draft lottery and selected prized prospect Connor Bedard. The work has only begun, though. What does the Blackhawks general manager have ahead of himself?

Trade deadline

Taking on bad contracts to open up cap space for competing teams is not over. He should (and probably will) be taking calls from anyone and everyone who is looking to dump bad contracts before tomorrow’s trade deadline. Desperate teams will do just about anything to “right” a previous “wrong.”

Free agency

This might be the biggest point of contention in the rebuild process. When should Davidson go on the offensive in free agency? I am here to tell you that this summer is not it. It is too early.

Fourteen players on the current NHL roster will either fall off the roster or need to be re-signed this summer. Tyler Johnson, Colin Blackwell, Zach Sanford, Nikita Zaitsev, Jarred Tinordi, Jaycob Megna, MacKenzie Entwistle (RFA), Joey Anderson (RFA), Reese Johnson (RFA), Boris Katchouk (RFA), Taylor Raddysh (RFA), Alex Vlasic (RFA), Isaak Phillips (RFA) and Louis Crevier (RFA) will all become free agents on July 1. Ten other players who are currently with the Rockford IceHogs will also become either unrestricted or restricted free agents.

Also, almost $8 million in retained or recapture dollars will drop down to just over $3 million.

This will give Davidson more than $40 million in cap space, which has the casual fan’s eyes lit up like the Vegas strip. Do not fall into this trap. While they will need to re-sign some restricted free agents, namely Vlasic, most of the names on the list fail to move the needle but will be brought back simply to hit the salary cap floor and have enough to ice a full team.

Looking at the free agency list, there are definitely names that fans would recognize, but you have to keep some things in mind. Almost all of the players are in their very late 20s or early 30s and want long-term deals. That is an option that should absolutely not be on the table for Davidson. Tying up large amounts of money in older players for long periods of time rarely works out. The player has the advantage and the team will almost always overpay and overextend the term, in turn handcuffing their flexibility. Simply put, dumping your money into older 30-ish players who have already peaked is a recipe for disaster and does not fit the Blackhawks’ timeline.

Are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. He has to pick his spots, though. Focus on younger talent about to peak, or potentially an offer-sheet situation. A deal will take more work because you will likely have to trade for negotiating rights, but these younger players fit the timeline of the rest of your organization. This is where Davidson earns his salary.

This is the list that Davidson and the Blackhawks’ brass should be targeting. Targeting teams that have cap problems already like Vegas, Toronto, Colorado, Boston, Vancouver, St. Louis, Los Angeles or Philadelphia. If you are willing to overpay, do it for youth and hope, not memories.

Conclusion

Throwing away dollars for jersey sales or fake public relations stunts cannot be on the plate for the Blackhawks.

• Believe in the process, and stick to being focused, calculated and shrewd
• Take advantage of other team’s mistakes
• Build around young talent
• Avoid the long-term free agency traps on aging players until your timelines are aligned

This is where the young Blackhawks general manager makes a name for himself by either building a future dynasty through patience and focus, or falling short by getting lured into traps by impatience.  Your move, Kyle.

via GIPHY

The post ANALYSIS: Kyle Davidson’s work has only begun with the Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews, and Sean Fitzgerald discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ latest happenings:

Connor Bedard is back and has not skipped a beat.

We all really like Brock Faber, we promise you, but Bedard is the Calder Trophy leader.

Lukas Reichel was finally sent to Rockford.

More Philipp Kurashev talk than you can shake a stick at.

Who might the Blackhawks take in the draft?

Chris Chelios jersey retirement talk.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the X right here:

#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 13 – Hawks midterm grades https://t.co/sAmiKSqZiH

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) February 1, 2024

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 14 – Bedard is Back appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, and Sean Fitzgerald discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ latest happenings:

Mid-season roster grades for all players

Hockey in Atlanta AGAIN???

Late breaking trade between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the X right here:

#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 13 – Hawks midterm grades https://t.co/sAmiKSqZiH

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) February 1, 2024

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 13 – Hawks midterm grades appeared first on The Rink.

JASON EXTENSION pic.twitter.com/DZDVZShiGm

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 16, 2024

Dickinson came to the Blackhawks from the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 7, 2022, with a 2024 second-round pick for defenseman Riley Stillman. Dickinson is currently third on the Blackhawks in scoring with 21 points (14 goals, seven assists) while shooting 21.2%. Dickinson has 125 career points (53 goals, 72 assists) in his nine NHL seasons (404 regular season games) with the Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks and Blackhawks with nine points (five goals, four assists) in 40 career postseason games.

“Jason adds a unique two-way game to our lineup and his compete level is consistently strong every night,” said Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson in a press release. “He’s showing his offensive game this year, which has been a huge lift to our team. His leadership has been instrumental, and the impact has been evident around the room, particularly with our young guys. We’re excited to bring him back and to see him continue to grow with our team.”

The 28-year-old former first-round pick of the Stars will bring some more veteran leadership and stability in the middle of the lineup and ensure that the team is securely over the salary cap floor while Davidson navigates this tricky rebuild. Ideally, he would end up as a third- or fourth-line player when this team is competing for playoff positions.

The Blackhawks host the San Jose Sharks tonight in a battle for the bottom. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks extend Jason Dickinson appeared first on The Rink.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Connor Bedard underwent successful surgery to repair his fractured jaw.

We expect him to be out of the lineup for approximately 6-8 weeks. pic.twitter.com/LotxSADHgA

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 10, 2024

It was speculated that Bedard may miss six weeks, but team physician Dr. Michael Terry confirmed the prognosis. The Blackhawks phenom was injured on Friday, Jan. 5, in a 4–2 loss to the New Jersey Devils after taking a hit from defenseman Brendan Smith. He was placed on injured reserve the next day, which means he would be out of action for no less than seven days.

Connor Bedard went to the locker room following this hit from Brendan Smith. pic.twitter.com/OUZyKCBCRx

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 6, 2024

The Blackhawks also lost forward Nick Foligno in the same game, and have since traded for forward Rem Pitlick and claimed forward Zach Sanford from the Arizona Coyotes to fill roster spots. According to Puckpedia.com, the Blackhawks have seven rosters players on the injured reserve list, all of them expected to be major contributors to the team.

Chicago travels to Manitoba on Thursday to face the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

The post BREAKING: Connor Bedard undergoes jaw repair surgery, out 6–8 weeks appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks sent a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2026 to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Rem Pitlick.  Pitlick is a 26-year-old, 5-foot-11, left-handed center from Ottawa. He was drafted in the third round (76th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. He comes to Chicago after playing 32 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL, putting up 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists).

Trade alert pic.twitter.com/XFLSKT6O0i

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 6, 2024

Pitlick also spent time with the Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens organizations since breaking into the NHL in the 2018–19 season.

Make no mistake about it, Pitlick is coming to Chicago, much like defenseman Jaycob Megna before him, to fill the NHL roster that has been decimated by injuries. Last night, forwards Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno went down with injuries. As of this morning, the Blackhawks have reported that Bedard has a fractured jaw and Foligno has a fractured finger.

UPDATE: We have placed Connor Bedard (fractured jaw) and Nick Foligno (fractured left finger) on injured reserve. pic.twitter.com/BZ27gEkcEW

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 6, 2024

The Blackhawks lick their wounds and head home to face the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST. If you get there early enough, you might have a chance to suit up and play, based on their slim numbers.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Pitlick from Penguins, Bedard out with fractured jaw appeared first on The Rink.

★  Most of the Stars’ goals were just pure speed and skill over youth and inexperience. Veteran Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno had some choice words for the team following the loss, though:

Foligno: pic.twitter.com/45mQuiTq7T

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 1, 2024

  Forward Tyler Johnson left the game early, and missed the entire third period. According to NBC Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Johnson will miss some games.

  The lone bright spot was a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal from Cole Guttman, to Connor Bedard, to Philipp Kurashev.

the passing the goal pic.twitter.com/cRLHBusW3B

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 1, 2024

★  Mason Marchment (three goals, assist) was the hero in this game, for Dallas. Roope Hintz, who was coming off a hat-trick two nights previous, had a goal, and Tyler Seguin had three points (goal, two assists).

  Defenseman Isaak Phillips was an abysmal minus-5 on the ice, not that the rest were any better. Jarred Tinordi continued to struggle with a minus-3. Despite scoring the lone Blackhawks goal, Philipp Kurashev was the low-water mark for forwards, with a minus-4.

I pointed this out on Twitter, but there are some things worth building on:

Defenseman Alex Vlasic continues to be a low-key bright spot. He has played smart and simple. He does not rush plays and has a massive wingspan. After Connor Bedard, he is the Blackhawks rookie (yes, he is basically still a rookie) I have been most impressed with.
Kurashev did not look great on the box score, but if you told me this unassuming Swiss player with a Russian name, picked in the fourth round, would be the Blackhawks’ biggest breakout player in that draft, I might have suggested you be committed for hallucinations. Yet, here we are. He had been more impactful than Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin, Jake Wise, and Niklas Nordgren before him.

  This is a very timely and relevant reference, but the Shirelles once sang, “Mama said there will be days like this. There will be days like this, my mama said.” These are the growing pains of rebuilding with a young team and over-the-hill vets. Some day, we will all look back on these games and laugh, but they are degrading and disappointing in the moment.

The Blackhawks will travel to Nashville to face the Predators on Tuesday, January 2. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST unless Nashville has another insignificant banner to raise.

The post RECAP: Stars wallop Blackhawks 8—1 in final game of 2023 appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, and Sean Fitzgerald discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles and latest news:

Blackhawks lose the first Bedard vs McDavid game

Connor Bedard is still killing it

Seth Jones not traveling with the team

Boris Katchouk waived and sent to Rockford

When will the Blackhawks finally make a move regarding Lukas Reichel?

The William Nylander talk again??

Looking towards the 2024 draft

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 10 – Connor & Connor vs Connor & Connor https://t.co/Jxfzgy6ICT

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) December 14, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 10 – Connor & Connor vs Connor & Connor appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard and Brent Meske discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles and latest news:

The Corey Perry saga

Blackhawks trade for Anthony Beauvillier

Patrick Kane finally signs…in Detroit

Kevin Korchinski struggles

The grind-line

Nick Foligno’s leadership

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 9 – So Long Corey and Showtime in Motown https://t.co/gfSEjNOh6Z

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) November 30, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 9 – So Long Corey and Showtime in Motown appeared first on The Rink.

We interrupt the game in progress to inform you.. WE HAVE A TRADE pic.twitter.com/C7qotFudb0

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 29, 2023

Davidson acquired forward 26-year-old Anthony Beauvillier from the Canucks for a future fifth-round draft pick. Beauvillier comes with a cap hit of $4.15 million, which the Blackhawks can easily absorb, and is signed through the end of the 2023–24 season. He was acquired by Vancouver with Aatu Raty and a conditional 2023 first-round pick from the New York Islanders for Bo Horvat.

Beauvillier has played 22 games for the Canucks and has eight points (two goals, six assists). This move is just another Davidson move where he victimized a cap-strapped team by weaponizing his plethora of cap space.

Anthony Beauvillier, acquired by CHI, is a bottom six winger. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/0d6dgnJZBq

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) November 29, 2023

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Anthony Beauvillier appeared first on The Rink.

After a Thanksgiving full of confusion and speculation, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that after an internal investigation, Corey Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers with the intention of terminating his contract following what the team calls “conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation of both the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”

Following the statement, Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson gave an emotional press conference where he dispelled the “frankly disgusting” rumors circulating online. He stated that the incident “does not involve any players or their families.”

Kyle Davidson, @NHLBlackhawks GM, addresses the rumors surrounding Corey Perry’s dismissal from the team. Calls the speculation “disgusting.” (via NBC Sports Chicago) pic.twitter.com/pVZknOGRHh

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) November 28, 2023

Davidson followed that up by saying, “Over the last 24 hours, what’s gone on has been very disturbing. I feel like I’m wearing it; I’m carrying that. It’s tough to see,” and finished by saying that that he would not go into any further detail regarding the matter.

Perry was traded to the Blackhawks on June 29, 2023, for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and signed a one-year, $4 million contract the next day.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks put Corey Perry on waivers appeared first on The Rink.

Death, taxes and Taylor Hall getting hurt. #Blackhawks https://t.co/aY8BvU1dWY

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) November 23, 2023

Hall was acquired with Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula on July 26 to play with Blackhawks first overall pick Connor Bedard. This is the second injury he has had this season, the first being a shoulder injury suffered on Oct. 11 against his former team, the Boston Bruins.

This morning, the Blackhawks announced that Hall would not return this season, and that forward Andreas Athanisiou was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 9. As a result, the Blackhawks recalled forwards Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.

The Blackhawks will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in a matinee game tomorrow at the United Center. The puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.

The post BREAKING: Taylor Hall to have knee surgery, out for the season appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Jeff Osborn, Andrew Bard, Eric Andrews and Sean Fitzgerald discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles and latest news:

Connor Bedard is red hot!

Philipp Kurashev hitting his stride alongside Bedard.

Lukas Reichel struggle and analysis.

The Goalie situation (Petr Mrazek good, Arvid Soderblom bad)

Corey Crawford’s number to be retired in Rockford.

Possible OT rule change to limit extended possession times.

The Patrick Kane saga.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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#Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 7 – Getting #Bedarded https://t.co/1KWNFRytwi

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) November 16, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 7, Episode 7 – Getting #Bedarded appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Andrew Bard, Eric Andrews and Sean Fitzgerald discuss the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles and latest news:

Second lawsuit from the 2010 sexual assault case

The poor play of Connor Murphy

Connor Bedard, Lucas Reichel, Kevin Korchinski

The poor play of Connor Murphy

Look around the NHL: neck guards, the Oilers dumpster , and Patrick Kane’s next landing spot

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Blackhawks Rinkcast: Season 7, Episode 6 – The Past Resurfacing as Poor Play Continues https://t.co/Gmit0NRzVq

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) November 9, 2023

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This is the timeline of camp roster moves:

On Sept. 26, Jiri Felcman was returned to the SCL Tigers of the National League.

On Sept. 28, forwards Nick Lardis, Martin Misiak and Alex Pharand were returned to their junior clubs.

On Sept. 29, forward Jalen Luypen was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Defensemen Josh Healey, Ross MacDougall, Josh Maniscalco and Andrew Perrott were released from their PTOs and assigned to Rockford as well.

On Oct. 1, goaltender Mitchell Weeks was released from his PTO and assigned to the IceHogs.

Also on Oct. 1, forwards Antti Saarela, Marcel Marcel and Michael Teply and defenseman Nolan Allan were assigned to Rockford.

On Oct. 2, forward Ryder Rolston, defensemen Louis Crevier, Ethan Del Mastro and Filip Roos and goaltender Drew Commesso were assigned to the IceHogs. Additionally, forwards Gavin Hayes and Paul Ludwinski were returned to their junior clubs.

Also on Oct. 2, Dave Gust, Mike Hardman and Brett Seney were assigned to the IceHogs.

Injuries

On Sept. 30, forward Samuel Savoie underwent successful surgery on his right femur in Minnesota following a scary injury in their game against the Wild. He is expected to make a full recovery. No timeline was given but based on the nature of the injury he is expected to be out most of the season.

Follow The Rink Chicago on X, The Rink Official on Facebook, The Rink Official on Instagram, The Rink Official on Mastodon, The Rink Official on BlueSky and The Rink Official on LinkedIn for more updates and releases.

The post Timeline of Blackhawks’ training camp moves appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, Sean Fitzgerald, and Jeff Osborn talk about the first week of Blackhawks rookie camp and the latest team news:

Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel looking good in camp.

Kevin Korchinski and what might happen with him.

Pre-season lines and thoughts.

What happens to some of these depth players?

Jeff Greenberg leaves the Blackhawks organization.  

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, Sean Fitzgerald, Brent Meske, and Jeff Osborn talk about the first week of Blackhawks rookie camp and the latest team news:

Connor Bedard makes his preseason debut

Prospect Tournament. Prospects of note.

The young blueline. Who stays and who goes?

Lukas Reichel will start the season at center.

The Blackhawks will go without a formal captain.

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Blackhawks Rinkcast: Season 7, Episode 1 – Chicago Blackhawks – New Beginnings https://t.co/aLRCDjkvL9

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) September 21, 2023

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Bedard made history as the Blackhawks’ second first-overall draft pick in team history on June 28, following Patrick Kane in 2007, after the Blackhawks won the NHL Draft Lottery in May. He will be the second Bedard to play for the NHL franchise, as his great-great uncle, defenseman James Bedard, played 22 games for Chicago from 1949–51.

According to a CHL/NHL transfer agreement, Bedard is not eligible to play in the AHL until he is 20 years old. As a result, if he does not make the Blackhawks’ roster in the fall, he would be forced to go back to his junior team, the Regina Pats. It is expected that he will make the NHL roster, though.

Bedard has been on NHL fans’ radars for two years, with his viral highlights and gaudy junior numbers. He has been compared to current NHL phenoms like Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, which has Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson smiling from ear to ear as of late.

Bedard put up an astonishing 143 points (71 goals, 72 assists) in 57 games last season for the Pats. He won the Canadian Hockey League’s top prospect award, was the leading scorer and won the David Branch CHL Player of the Year Award in June.

Bedard also won a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship with third overall pick and Columbus Blue Jackets pivot Adam Fantilli, setting a new Canadian record for most points in a single tournament with 23 (nine goals, 14 assists) in seven games.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks sign Connor Bedard to entry-level deal appeared first on The Rink.

Join your fellow Rinkrats below to discuss what the Blackhawks accomplished (or did not accomplish) this year as the market opened.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Nick Foligno	LW			35	6' 0" / 208 lbs	1 year / $4 million	Acquired UFA rights in trade.
Corey Perry	RW			38	6' 3" / 205 lbs	1 year / $4 million	Acquired UFA rights in trade.
Ryan Donato	C/W			27	6’ 0” / 190	2 year / $2 million

These are Blackhawks trades relevant to this offseason.

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/26/2023	RFA Rights to Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula		Taylor Hall, and UFA rights to Nick Foligno. Foligno was signed to a 1 yr $4M contract for 23/24
6/29/2023	Future Consideration		Josh Bailey and a 2026 2nd round draft pick. Bailey was put on waivers for buyout purposes.
6/30.2023	2023 2nd round pick (51 overall)		2023 6th round pick (#167 overall) and a 2024 2nd.
6/30/2023	2024 7th-round pick		Corey Perry

Trade Analysis

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula
• The Philadelphia Flyers acquired a 2023 2nd round pick (#51) from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2024 2nd round pick and a 2023 6th round pick (#167)
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Corey Perry from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2024 7th round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2023 Real-Time Free Agency Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The players that the organization selected are listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats.

Trades made leading to and during the draft:

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/26/2023	RFA Rights to Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula		Taylor Hall, and UFA rights to Nick Foligno. Foligno was signed to a 1 yr $4M contract for 23/24
6/29/2023	Future Consideration		Josh Bailey and a 2026 2nd round draft pick. Bailey was put on waivers for buyout purposes.
6/30.2023	2023 2nd round pick (51 overall)		2023 6th round pick (#167 overall) and a 2024 2nd.
6/30/2023	2024 7th-round pick		Corey Perry

Trade Analysis

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula
• The Philadelphia Flyers acquired a 2023 2nd round pick (#51) from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2024 2nd round pick and a 2023 6th round pick (#167)
• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Corey Perry from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2024 7th round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2023 NHL Entry Draft Ticker appeared first on The Rink.

You can watch Gate’s segment here:

You can watch the entire program right here (highly encouraged):

The post Rink On The Air: Gate talks Connor Bedard with Shawn and Maya in the Morning appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, and Sean (Goldstein) Fitzgerald discuss the exciting news:

Has anyone heard about this draft lottery thing? 

Connor Bedard in a Blackhawks uniform, coming soon. 

Should the Blackhawks dip into the UFA market?

Who else could step in and possibly contribute next season?

Other subjects around the league including Evander Kane and a coaching change in NY?

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Blackhawks Rinkcast: Season 6, Episode 10 – Hawks Win Draft Lottery! Connor Bedard is Windy City Bound https://t.co/1w0sZjs4xC

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) May 10, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 6, Episode 10 – Hawks Win Draft Lottery! Connor Bedard Chicago Bound appeared first on The Rink.

The opportunity to pull off a “rebuild-on-the-fly” flew the coop long ago, when former general manager Stan Bowman began his annual “kick-the-can-down-the-road” festival in, roughly, 2018. He then just fed fans lies and bloated, eventually unfulfilled, expectations. As a result, a vast majority of the fanbase was left unable to make heads or tails of something most of them have never seen.

In comes Davidson and his window of transparency, which has been a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, the task at hand was to be purposely bad. As a result, the Blackhawks can finish no worse than with the fifth overall pick in June’s NHL Entry Draft. Let us assure you, this is the best thing for the organization. Davidson has set himself up with nine draft picks in June (including six in the first two rounds), nine in 2024 (including six in the first three rounds) and nine in 2025 (including five in the first three rounds).

There were still 82 games to play for the on-ice team and that was an adventure. For a team that, on paper, looked like it may not win a single game, they opened up 4–4–2 but rolled off the cliff pretty quickly. November and December made for a pretty dark 60 days with a 4–20–2 record, which basically cemented their basement finish. The 2023 pre-trade-deadline record was a flat “real” .500 with 13–12–1, and the last leg of the death march was 5–14–1.

The poor players came in knowing that they would be bad but had things to prove. Long-time Blackhawks vets Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews played out the final years of their matching eight-year, $10.5 million deals, and both showed to be at different points in their careers. Kane was traded to the New York Rangers just prior to the deadline and is currently playing a part in their playoff picture. It looks as though he will sign somewhere—not Chicago—in July. Toews had another illness-shortened season, which will force him to consider retirement once again.

This would be a really sad moment for all Blackhawks fans, as he was the leader and mouthpiece of the Cup era. Best wishes to him and his family.

Forwards

Just the facts
Free agent signee Max Domi was leading the team in scoring when he was traded to the Dallas Stars at the deadline with 18 goals, 31 assists and 49 points in 60 games. Kane was second with 16 goals, 29 assists and 45 points in 54 games. Another summer signee, Andreas Athanasiou, finished third with 20 goals, 20 assists and 40 points, just ahead of Taylor Raddysh’s 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists). Tyler Johnson came back from an injury to add in 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 56 games, which will make the remaining year of his $5 million contract much more palatable.

Rookies
There is no talking about rookies without mentioning Lukas Reichel. He has become one of the most polarizing players in the system. Some fans have proclaimed him the next Blackhawks superstar, while most rational observers have generally agreed that it appears he has the ability to become a very good two-way responsible second-tier wing. As long as he is allowed to develop and the Blackhawks shed that dirty Bowman habit of projecting unattainable expectations, there is much to look forward to.

Throughout the season, several rookies made appearances, but none made more than a minor splash. One of the most notable was 29-year-old Orland Park, Illinois, native David Gust. Gust bounced around the AHL for several years and was brought in with the Rockford IceHogs to be a veteran leader. He made his NHL debut four days after his 29th birthday, scoring his first NHL goal and played three additional games—a great story for a guy that worked his behind off to get there.

Retrospective
The bottom line is that the Blackhawks got more than they theoretically should have from this group of rag-tag forwards. Athanasiou and Domi were brought in to be flipped and ended up being two of the best players on the ice night in and night out. It was sad to see the last two remaining Cup players say their goodbyes, but this has been coming since they signed their deals in 2014.

Most of these players will either be elsewhere or not playing at all when the Blackhawks are a threat to compete again.

Defense

Just the facts
I know this will sound crazy but, like the forwards, the defensemen actually overperformed. That is a bold statement for a team that finished 30th and had a goal differential of -97 but, on paper, they could have legitimately had a double that result. Seth Jones certainly did not live up to his $9.5 million salary, but he did contribute 12 goals and 25 assists. Jake McCabe left the Blackhawks for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the deadline with a respectful 20 points and +7 rating. The little Jones brother (Caleb) played a lot and seemed to be picking the puck out of his own net a lot, but there were shades of talent and speed. Connor Murphy had an abysmal season, with only 13 points in 80 games. Nikita Zaitsev came over at the deadline as an Ottawa Senators salary dump and showed why he was jettisoned by his former squad. Veteran journeyman Jarred Tinordi was plucked off waivers from the Washington Capitals and was a pleasant surprise, which earned him a contract extension. If he can stay healthy, he will be a good veteran leader for the kids.

Rookies
Head Coach Luke Richardson shuffled quite a few different rookies and young players through the lineup, probably at the request of Davidson. Names like Wyatt Kaiser, Ian Mitchell, Isaak Phillips, Alec Regula, Filip Roos and Alex Vlasic all made appearances but had little production. Starting next season, we should see more of these players, but judging them on a quickly sinking boat is a little premature.

Retrospective
There is no surprise here and this was the plan. They succeeded. The results were probably better than expected, but it was still bad. There is no need to hash this out anymore.

Goaltending

Just the facts
The Blackhawks brought Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock in as sacrificial lambs, and both guys did about all they could. Stalock came off missing significant time the previous seasons and had a respectable .908 save percentage and 3 goals saved above average in 27 games. Mrazek was unceremoniously dumped by Toronto last summer and played 39 games for the Blackhawks. He did not have particularly good results with an .894 save percentage and -12.5 goals saved above average.

Rookies
Richardson had some positive results from rookies Arvid Soderblom (.894 save percentage in 15 games) and Jaxson Stauber (.911 save percentage in six games), but neither lit the world on fire. With the recents signing of prospect Drew Commesso, this leaves the Blackhawks in a better position than last year.

Retrospective
Mrazek is still under contract and will be back next season, unless someone will take him in a trade. We could see more Soderblom, with Commesso and Stauber in Rockford. Other than that, we should thank these poor guys for their service.

Coaching and front office

Just the facts
Richardson and his staff squeezed about as much juice out of this team as was possible. They accomplished a tank season and made it fun at times. Davidson and his staff were transparent and focussed. Did they both make mistakes? Sure. But after years and years of lies and word games, this is a refreshing period.

Retrospective
Richardson knew the task and took it head-on. I hope he goes the path of Jared Bednar and is able to see this through. Davidson is willing to make hard decisions for the good of the future of this organization. You have to respect people who are frank and honest. This plan does not get any easier moving forward.

Special thanks: With the close of another season, I have to thank The Rink staff members Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, Andy Campbell, Matt Csakai, Sean Fitzgerald and Ray Napientek for their hard work covering this long year. We are so lucky to have such a close and wonderful staff!

The post ANALYSIS: Chicago Blackhawks year-end review appeared first on The Rink.

In a game that was probably undesirable to watch by any Blackhawks fan not in the Pacific time zone, the Canucks got goals from Andrei Kuzmenko (38th), Vitali Kravtsov (fourth) and a late empty-net, bank-shot goal from J.T. Miller (30th). Canucks rookie Akito Hirose got his first two NHL points, assisting on the first two Vancouver goals.

Blackhawks starter Alex Stalock played “fine,” but needed more help. Kuzmenko’s goal was a long wrist shot that went through multiple screens, but he had no chance on Kravtsov’s goal, which went off Seth Jones’ stick. Stalock did make an acrobatic, highlight-reel save just prior to Kravtsov’s goal in the second period.

Oh baby, what a save by Alex Stalock. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/SKyPXlUKdA

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 7, 2023

Chicago certainly had solid chances to beat the Vancouver netminder, but Demko was dialed in. Boris Katchouk had a solid power play chance on the doorstep in the first period, another in the second period and a nice spin-o-rama in the third, but was denied all three times. MacKenzie Entwistle also had an open high-danger chance in the first that Demko was all over. Lukas Reichel split the defense in the second period, but rushed his shot and was stopped easily by Demko.

The Blackhawks went 0–3 on the power play, which now has them at 29th in the NHL. Just one conversion has them back in the game.

Tyler Johnson led the Blackhawks with four shots on goal, but also was a -2.

One area where the Blackhawks dominated was the face-off dot. The led 55%–46%, with Jonathan Toews and Jason Dickinson as the big winners at 71% and 58%, respectively. On the other hand, Elias Pettersson only won three of 14 draws.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .359 points percentage (17 regulation wins, four games remain) ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets (.359, 15 regulation wins, four games remain) and Anaheim Ducks (.359, 13 regulation wins, four games remain). Chicago is third worst in the tie breaker because they have most regulation wins. The Blackhawks are off Friday, but travel just slightly south to Washington state to face the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Puck drop is 9 p.m. CDT.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — April 6 vs. Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

  Call it rust or call it diminished skills, but Anton Khudobin was pretty bad. I am not complaining, because the Blackhawks need to lose every game they can in these final weeks, but it needs to be pointed out. The first goal was historically bad and it did not get much better.

  Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev was injured in the first period after taking a hit from Capital forward Tom Wilson and did not return. No timetable was given for his recovery.

Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi put a big hit on Wilson later in the first period that rattled the Capitals agitator (and former Tinordi teammate). If Tinordi wants to come back, there is no reason why they should not bring him back next season. He has been a really nice veteran presence on the back end, especially with his physicality.

Jarred Tinordi lays a massive hit on Tom Wilson. Oh baby. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/OTJRuX0w8c

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 23, 2023

  Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper had himself a nice game, making 27 saves on 28 shots. Nikita Zaitsev’s goal was a bit of a softy, but otherwise he was impenetrable.

  Capital defenseman John Carlsson returned from a scary injury earlier in the season to post up a goal and assist in 20:01 of time on ice.

  Again, this is by no means a complaint, but Washington looked like they were men playing against boys. That being said, they are a team that probably will not being in the playoffs this year. Chicago had five power play chances and were not able to generate much of anything while Washington converted on two of their four power plays.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .380 points percentage ahead of the San Jose Sharks (.368 and lost in regulation) and Columbus Blue Jackets (.364, off night). The Blackhawks are off Friday, but travel to Minnesota for face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Puck drop is a rare 4 p.m. CDT start.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — March 23 vs. Washington Capitals appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the first period, but gave up three goals in a five-minute span of the third period to head into the final seven minutes of play down 3–2. The temporary hero of the night was Cole Guttman, who scored the game-tying goal with under a minute left in regulation. Florida, however, took the extra point on a goal by defenseman Brandon Montour halfway through overtime.

The Blackhawks were out-shot 43–24 and 34–17 in the final two periods and overtime. No one can compete when they are getting crushed in their own end this way. That said, goaltender Petr Mrazek held the Blackhawks in the game. Posting 39 saves last night is respectable.

Recent Blackhawks acquisition Anders Bjork was injured in the first period and did not return.

Here’s a look at the Anders Bjork injury at the end of the first period. He has been ruled out for the rest of the game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/GFc4r6rc1u

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 11, 2023

The Jones brothers played 28:09 (Seth) and 24:23 (Caleb), which is way too much for those two. Head coach Luke Richardson is (almost) getting his money’s worth.

The Panthers’ goals were from Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen, with the “Sam” goals coming just 29 seconds apart.

The Panthers also took 22 minutes in penalties, giving the Blackhawks six power plays. Of course, the visitors failed to score on any of the aforementioned advantages.

Not only were the Blackhawks missing Stalock and eventually Bjork, but Connor Murphy was also unavailable as he tended to family back in Chicago. Murphy will again be out of the lineup on Saturday.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .385 points percentage ahead of the San Jose Sharks (.379) and Columbus Blue Jackets (.367). The Blackhawks travel across the state of Florida to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CST.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — March 10 vs. Florida Panthers appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Eric Andrews, Andrew Bard, Ray Napientek and Sean (Goldstein) Fitzgerald discuss the end of the Patrick Kane era in Chicago:

Thoughts on the Patrick Kane saga and the deal to the New York Rangers

The Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty trade to Toronto

Is Patrick Kane the best Blackhawks player ever?

What are our greatest Patrick Kane memories?

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the Twitter right here:

Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 6, Episode 9 – Goodbye, Patrick Kane https://t.co/EXPHTIzj9c

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) March 2, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 6, Episode 9 – Goodbye, Patrick Kane appeared first on The Rink.

Petr Mrazek made the start in net for the Blackhawks and had one of his best games in a Hawks uniform. He started off shaky, giving up two goals in the first 11 minutes of play, but settled in to save 45 of 48 shots faced, including all three shooters in the shootout. It is nice to see guys that were basically just brought in specifically to lose, do well. They deserve a little happiness this season, too. The Hawks really had no business winning this game. When you give up 48 shots, there should be no way you win.

The big story of the night (other than Kane) was local boy David Gust. Gust grew up in Orland Park, Illinois, played youth hockey for the Orland Fury, went to Ohio State University, won a Calder Cup as a veteran leader with the Chicago Wolves last season and signed an AHL deal with the Rockford IceHogs in a last-ditch effort to play for the team he grew up cheering for. After signing a two-year NHL deal just days prior, Gust scored the first goal of the game, on his first NHL shot, playing his first NHL shift, in his first NHL game. Storybook, folks. Congrats, Dave!

Ha. I worked for Dave Gust’s family in 95ish. I remember him running around the place as a toddler on weekends occasionally. Jesus I’m old. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/wTYG3M7GCv

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile) February 26, 2023

Poor Brett Seney got completely overshadowed, scoring his first NHL goal since Feb. 9, 2019, with the New Jersey Devils. Again, good on him. In a season of almost all negatives, Gust and Seney gave fans something to smile about.

  Whoever decided to schedule a jersey retirement at 9 p.m. CST that ran for an hour needs to have their head examined. Especially for a game between two teams that are circling the drain with 20+ games still remaining. If you stayed up to watch this, there should be a class action lawsuit you can sign up for.

Karlsson continued to enter his name in the trade deadline conversation with a team-leading six shots on net and a game-tying goal late in the third period.

Max Domi has become a fan favorite in Chicago, following trips through several organizations in the league, earning a not-so savory-reputation, he has come in and won many Chicago hearts, including mine. He took a stick to the mouth, which broke some chompers late in the second period. He came out in the third period and scored his 18th goal of the season in his first shift back, temporarily putting the Blackhawks up 3–2.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .405 points percentage ahead of the Anaheim Ducks (.375) and Columbus Blue Jackets (.364). The Blackhawks are off today but travel to down the coast to face another bottom-dwelling team, the Anaheim Ducks, on Monday. Puck drop is at 9 p.m. CST.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Feb. 25 vs. San Jose Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
2/22/2023		Future Consideration		Nikita Zaitsev '23 2nd Round Pick '26 4th Round Pick
2/23/2023		Josiah Slavin		Hunter Drew
2/26/3023		Jack Johnson		Andreas Englund
2/27/3023		Jake McCabe (50% retained) Sam Lafferty Conditional '24 5th rd pick Conditional '25 5th rd pick		Joey Anderson Pavel Gogolev '25 1st-round pick (top 10 protected) '26 2nd-round pick
2/27/3023	Rockford IceHogs	Future Considerations	Manitoba Moose	Colin Bilek
2/28/3023	Rockford IceHogs	Adam Clendening	Hartford Wolfpack	Zach Jordan
2/28/3023		Patrick Kane (50% retained) Cooper Zech	via	23 2nd Rd Pick (conditional 1st) 4th Rd Pick Vili Saarijarvi Andy Welinski
3/2/3023		Future Considerations		Anders Bjork
3/2/3023	Rockford IceHogs	Carson Gicewicz	Rochester Americans	Future Considerations
3/2/3023		Max Domi Dylan Wells		25 2nd Rd Pick Anton Khudobin
3/2/3023		Dylan Sikura		Max Golod
3/2/3023	Rockford IceHogs	Future Considerations	San Diego Gulls	Rocco Grimaldi Logan Nijhoff
3/3/3023		Future Considerations		Austin Wagner

Trade Analysis/Break Down:

• • • Chicago Blackhawks acquired Nikita Zaitsev, 2023 2nd Round Pick and 2026 4th Round Pick from the Ottawa Senators for future considerations
    • Chicago Blackhawks acquired Hunter Drew from the Anaheim Ducks for Josiah Slavin.
    • Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andreas Englund from The Colorado Avalanche for Jack Johnson
    • Chicago Blackhawks trade Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a conditional 2024 5th-round pick & a conditional 2025 5th-round pick to Toronto for a 2025 1st-round pick (top 10 protected), a 2026 2nd-round pick, Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev.
    • The Arizona Coyotes acquired Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks for Vili Saarijarvi
    • The New York Rangers Acquired Patrick Kane from the Arizona Coyotes for a 2025 conditional 3rd Round Pick
    • The Chicago Blackhawks acquired 2023 conditional 2nd Round Pick, 2025 4th Round Pick and Andy Welinski from the New York Rangers for Cooper Zech
    • The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Anders Bjork from the Buffalo Sabres for future considerations
    • The Dallas Stars acquired Max Domi and Dylan Wells from the Chicago Blackhawks for Anton Khudobin and 2025 2nd Round Pick
    • The Anaheim Ducks acquired Dylan Sikura from the Chicago Blackhawks for Max Golod

Also, be sure to follow the entire The-Rink staff on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates, as well:

The Rink Official

Chicago Divison
The Rinkcast
Jeff Osborn
Andy Campbell
Ray Napientek
Eric Andrews
Sean Fitzgerald
Andrew Bard
Matt Csakai

 

The post The Rink’s Chicago Blackhawks 2023 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

Petr Mrazek made the start in goal for the Blackhawks. Mrazek saved 24 of 27 shots faced, but really never had much of a chance to pull out a win. He did, however, have his mask knocked off with a first-period shot off the stick of Pierre-Luc Dubois and another in the second off the stick of Kyle Connor. Dubios and Mark Scheifele each had five shots on Mrazek in the game.

On the other end of the ice, Hellebuyck was his usual self, stopping 31 of 32 shots faced. Philipp Kurashev and Johnson matched Scheifele and Dubois, each having five shots on the Winnipeg netminder to lead the Blackhawks.

The Jets’ power play in the second period looked like a bunch of adults toying with children (Reese Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Bryan McCabe, Seth Jones) and ended up with a power play goal from Blake Wheeler, as you might expect. The Blackhawks killed off the other two power plays they faced, but one big failure is often too much for this team.

When the puck ends up in the back of the Blackhawks’ net, it seems like there are a lot of numbers in the 80s skating around with their heads either buried in their laces to looking at the ceiling. Caleb Jones is an adventure in his own end and Patrick Kane looked like he could not care less about supporting the puck up the wall on the Jets’ first goal.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler led all players with three points (two goals, one assist).

If the league is really looking to add Jake McCabe to their roster at the trade deadline, I hope they were not watching this game. He had a rough night, including turning the puck over which led to a third-period 2-on-0 that Mrazek bailed him out of.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 31st overall with a .363 points percentage ahead of only the Columbus Blue Jackets (.340). The Blackhawks are off today and Monday but travel to Quebec to face another bottom-dwelling team, the Montreal Canadiens, on Tuesday. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CST.

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, and Sean (Goldstein) Fitzgerald discuss the ever-changing Blackhawks’ position for the NHL trade deadline:

— The New York Rangers acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko

—What is going on with this Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews situations?

—Thanks to Landon on Youtube and Matt Pyz on Facebook for joining the talk.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the Twitter right here:

Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 6, Episode 8 – Is Patrick Kane Staying Put? https://t.co/PpBiXDH9nV

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) February 11, 2023

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Jeff Osborn, Sean (Goldstein) Fitzgerald, and Andrew Bard discuss several Blackhawks and NHL related items:

— Thanks to Landon on YouYube for joining in the live conversation.

— Bobby Hull passes away. How do the Blackhawks address it?

— Mark Stone injury. Do the Vegas Golden Knights go “all-in”?

— The Bo Horvat trade

— Where do we want to see Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews go?

— Trade winds?

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Blackhawks Rinkcast – S6Ep7 – Bobby Hull and the fast approaching trade deadline. https://t.co/NkJKn8mMm4

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) February 2, 2023

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 6, Episode 7 – Bobby Hull and the fast approaching trade deadline appeared first on The Rink.

Petr Mrazek made the start in goal for the Blackhawks.  Mrazek saved 25 of 27 shots and kept the Blackhawks in the game.  That is about all you can ask for out of this rag-tag goaltending group.

Patrick Kane returned to the lineup following a lingering lower-body injury but was held shotless.  One would assume that the Blackhawks could use a February Kane heater to fluff up that trade value.  He continues to be their best trade asset, and Kyle Davidson needs to come away from the March 3rd deadline with a pocket full of picks.

Rookie Kings’ center Alex Turcotte earned a call-up to play against the team he grew up cheering for.  He played only 8:10 and had one shot on goal.  It is safe to say that Turcotte has been a disappointment, thus far, for LA after being picked just two spots after Kirby Dach.  He has only appeared in nine NHL games and has failed to generate any points.

Chicago managed just 19 shots on net, and only three in the first period. Chicago was also 0–2 on the power play, generating only one shot.

Both Kings goals were scored by rookie Jaret Anderson-Dolan who came into the game with three goals and six points in 33 games and had not scored since Dec 17.

With the three-game winning streak behind them, the Blackhawks need to get back to their losing ways.  There is no shame in enjoying some mid-January wins against rivals, but their main goal is to get the best odds for the first overall pick in the June NHL draft. If they unload Kane, Toews, or any other quality players we should see a lot of losing in March and April.

For those watching the “tank index”, Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .356 points percentage followed by Anaheim Ducks (.330)  and Columbus Blue Jackets. (.326).  The Blackhawks are off today but travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks and their brand-new head coach Rick Tocchet on Tuesday. The puck drop is at 9 p.m. CST.

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Gate and Dutch get together to open the second half of the NHL season with a bang. Some big surprises and some crazy scenarios played out in the NHL. The guys are here to chat about it. Get your goalie fix!

-Why do goalies league-wide have lower save percentages recently?
-Goalie masks falling off discussion
-Kicking the net off intentionally discussion
-Jordan Binnington’s fake tough-guy act

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

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Watch the entire replay of the Twitter live right here:

The Net Perspective – Episode 3 w/ @PuckinHostile and Dutch https://t.co/niekbg3DMd

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) January 22, 2023

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 3 – The NHL Midpoint appeared first on The Rink.

Alex Stalock returned to the Chicago lineup and played well. Not only did he stop 27 of 29 shots, but he should have had an assist on Taylor Raddysh’s early second-period goal. Stalock sent an outlet pass up the middle of the ice to Philipp Kurashev, which quickly went to Jonathan Toews and finally Raddysh, who beat Columbus goaltender Daniil Tarasov. Stalock is unconventional but entertaining and seems to get good results from his teammates in front of him.

The Blackhawks’ goals were from Patrick Kane, Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou, Raddysh and Toews. Kane was on a bit of a bender and had not scored since Dec. 3 against the New York Rangers. He led the Blackhawks with seven shots on net and also had two assists to join Toews with three points apiece.

Rookie defenseman Issac Phillips and Connor Murphy each had a plus-two on the night, which is promising for the future of the Blackhawks’ depth defenders.

A win is a win, but the Blackhawks ran out of steam early in the second period and were heavily outplayed. They got themselves back together for the third period, though, and rode that out for the win.

Former Blue Jackets Max Domi (one goal, one assist) and Seth Jones had two and zero points, respectively, while former Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist returned to the lineup after a 24-game injury hiatus to play 20:09 (3:56 on the power play) with two shots on net.

The Blackhawks will take a few days off to enjoy the holiday and then head to Carolina to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CST.

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If you just look at the stats, Petr Mrazek looks like he played a bad game, but he kept the Blackhawks in the game far longer than they should have been. Saving 18 of 21 is not going to get you much favor, but he really made some huge stops early on.

Jonathan Toews scored his 10th of the season on a puck that deflected off Wild defenseman Jon Merril and snuck between Fleury’s pads.

Kirill Kaprizov had a fairly quiet three-point night. It seemed like the Blackhawks were determined to make Sam Steel look like an all-star, though. He was involved in several big plays.

If you want to look for a positive, the Blackhawks won 61% of their face-offs in this game. The only Blackhawks center that lost more than he won was Max Domi (38%), which is unusual.

The Blackhawks will host Jacob Trouba and the New York Rangers on Sunday in what is sure to be a physical tilt. Puck drop is 6:30 p.m. CST.

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Despite leading the league in face-off percentage (56.4%), the Blackhawks had a rare bad night at the dots (45%). Jonathan Toews led Chicago, winning 53% of the draws he took.

Petr Mrazek made 37 saves on top of the seven goals he gave up. He did not have a great night at all, but the team around him was no help, either. In fact, he looked frustrated (or fed up) all night.

The Blackhawks goals came from Taylor Raddysh and Jujhar Khaira (power play). Raddysh’s goal brought them within one goal, but the Jets scored two goals in just over a minute and tacked on a Mark Scheifele goal in the final two minutes of the second to carry a commanding 5–2 lead into the third period. The one ray of light was that the Blackhawks were 50% (1-for-2) on the power play.

Seth Jones and Filip Roos (who only played 14:34) both carried -3 on the night. Again, Winnipeg did not put less than 13 shots on the Blackhawks’ net in any of the periods (17, 14 and 13 for 44 total). It was a shooting gallery.

The Blackhawks are back in action Wednesday night as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers head into town for a special 8:30 p.m. CST puck drop.

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• The Blackhawks’ lone goal was of the power play variety by Taylor Raddysh. It is nice to see what can happen when you move the puck. It makes you wonder what their power play could have been in past years if they were not so stuck on the slow methodical method for so long.
• Goaltender Petr Mrazek made his return from injured reserve and gave the Blackhawks a chance to steal a road win. Mrazek made 33 saves, including 12 stops in the third period.
• Chicago absolutely clowned the Kings at the face-off dot. They won 68% in all situations, with Jonathan Toews winning a cartoonish 86%. Toews also led the Blackhawks with six shots on net. If Toews keeps playing like this, Kyle Davidson might actually get something of value for him at the trade deadline.
• Former Blackhawks prospect Phillip Danault bit his former team with a game-tying goal early in the second period. Kings forward Kevin Fiala scored the game-winner with 1.4 seconds remaining in overtime.
• The Blackhawks’ 27th-ranked penalty kill held the Kings scoreless while their 12th-ranked power play scored that aforementioned first-period goal.
• Luke Richardson’s team is continuing its blue-collar physical style, and it has been shockingly successful.

The Blackhawks stay in California to face the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. CST.

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• The Blackhawks jumped out to a quick 1–0 lead on a Taylor Raddysh power play goal and closed out the period with a late Patrick Kane goal, his first of the season. Philipp Kurashev scored the game-winner by victimizing an injured Gustav Forsling late in the second period, and Jonathan Toews had the insurance goal late in the third.
• Goaltender Alex Stalock continues to battle and keep the Blackhawks in games. Stalock stopped 28 shots, including 13 in the third period, while his teammates scored four goal on only 22 shots.
• Chicago held the Panthers to 0–6 on the power play, while scoring on one of their two power plays.
• Seth Jones was a -2 for his second consecutive game.
• Good or not, Luke Richardson has this Blackhawks team playing more physical than fans have seen in quite a long time. They registered 29 hits against Florida’s 17, which seems to be working.

The Blackhawks host Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday evening. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

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— Goaltender Alex Stalock made 36 saves on 37 shots, which should be more than enough to win. The only goal he gave up was a wicked shot on a 2-on-1. This one is on the Blackhawks’ offense.
— Speaking of offense, the Blackhawks had 27 shots on Vegas goalie Logan Thompson, which should have generated at least one goal. Props to the letfy in the Vegas net.
— The Blackhawks had their chances. Andreas Athanasiou had a breakaway, and there were quality chances from Tyler Johnson, Connor Murphy, Taylor Raddysh, and several others.
— The Blackhawks did not give up any more power-play goals after giving up four the night before in Colorado.
— Chicago led in face-off percentage, this time by a more slim margin at 51%.
— Those baby-poop colored Vegas jerseys stink.

The Blackhawks will have today off to travel to San Jose, California, to face the Sharks on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. CDT.

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Chicago Rinkcast staff members Andy Campbell, Ray Napientek, Sean (Goldstein) Fitzgerald, and Jeff Osborn provide a season preview for the Chicago Blackhawks an hour before the 2022-23 season opener.

Watch the entire replay of the Facebook live right here:

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Blackhawks Rinkcast – S6Ep3 – Ready to go? https://t.co/h0qbYZWfHD

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) October 13, 2022

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Join your fellow Rinkrats below to discuss what the Blackhawks accomplished (or didn’t accomplish) this year as the market opened.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Andreas Athanasiou	C			27	5'10" / 192	1 x $3M
Max Domi	F			27	6'2" / 190	1 x $3M
Alex Stalock	G			34	5'11" / 170	1 X $750K
Colin Blackwell	F			29	5'9" / 190	2 X $1.2M
Adam Clendening	D			29	6'0" / 190	$400K AHL deal	Rockford IceHogs Signing
Luke Philp	F			26	5'10" / 181	2 X $750K	2-way
Brett Seney	F			26	5'9" / 174	2 X $750K	2-way

These are Blackhawks trades relevant to this offseason

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
7/7/22		Alex Debrincat		'22 First round draft pick (7), '22 second round draft pick (39), a third-round pick in 2024
7/7/22		Kirby Dach		‘22 1st round pick, ‘22 3rd round pick
7/7/22		2022 2nd round draft pick (38)		First round draft pick (25) and goaltender Petr Mrazek
7/8/22		2022 6th round draft pick (167)		Rights to forward Liam Gorman

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Gate and Dutch are joined by the creator of the UNCAGE, Surjan Singh. The UNCAGE is a new revolutionary device designed to replace traditional metal bar cages for goalies to increase visibility and protection.

Watch the entire replay of the YouTube right here:

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The Net Perspective – Episode 2 – with UNCAGE creator @surjansingh_ https://t.co/YUNZ98VYAZ

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) July 13, 2022

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The players that the organization selected are listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats:

Round	Pos	Player	Height	Weight	Team	Notes
1 - 6						Traded to CBJ in S. Jones trade on 7/23/21
1 - 7	D	Kevin Korchinski	6' 2"	185	Seattle Thunderbirds WHL	Acquired from OTT in trade for Alex DeBrincat 7/7
1 - 13	C	Frank Nazar	5' 10"	180	USA U-18	Acquired from MON in trade for Kirby Dach 7/7
1 - 25	D	Sam Rinzel	6' 4"	177	Chaska (HS-MIN)	Acquired from TOR in trade with Petr Mrazek 7/7
2 - 38						Traded to TOR for Petr Mrazek and 25th
2 - 39	C	Paul Ludwinski	5' 11"	184	Kingston Frontenacs	Acquired from OTT in trade for Alex DeBrincat 7/7
2 - 57	C	Ryan Greene	6' 1"	179	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	Acquired from MIN in M.A. Fleury trade on 3/21/22
3 - 66	F	Gavin Hayes	6' 2"	177	Flint Firebirds (OHL)	Acquired from MON in trade for Kirby Dach 7/7
3 - 71						Traded to CAR on 7/24/21
3 - 81	F	Samuel Savoie	5' 10"	190	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)	Acquired from VGK in M. Janmark trade on 4/12/21
3 - 90	C	Aidan Thompson	5' 11"	181	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	Acquired from TOR in N. Zadorov trade on 7/28/21
3 - 94						Acquired from EDM in D. Keith trade on 7/12/21, then traded to ARI
4 - 103						Traded to TB with B. Hagel on 3/18/22
5 - 135						Traded to VGK with M. Janmark on 4/12/21
6 - 167						Traded to PIT for Liam Gorman
6 - 173	F	Dominic James	5' 11"	165	University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)	Acquired in S. Jones trade on 7/23/21
7 - 188	F	Nils Juntorp	6' 1"	186	HV71 (SWE)	Acquired from CAR for a '23 6th
7 - 199	C	Riku Tohila	6' 5"	190	JHT (Liiga)

Trades made leading to and during the draft

Date	The-Rink Division	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
7/7/22		Alex Debrincat		'22 First round draft pick (7), '22 second round draft pick (39), a third-round pick in 2024
7/7/22		Kirby Dach		‘22 1st round pick, ‘22 3rd round pick
7/7/22		2022 2nd round draft pick (38)		First round draft pick (25) and goaltender Petr Mrazek
7/8/22		2022 6th round draft pick (167)		Rights to forward Liam Gorman

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