The Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers completed a trade Thursday afternoon. Pierre LeBrun first reported this deal. In Brett Connolly, the Blackhawks are getting another former first-round pick. Connolly has four points this season and carries a $3.5 million dollar cap hit through 2022–23. Connolly was drafted by Tampa Bay sixth overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and signed a four-year contract with the Panthers in 2019.

Riley Stillman has appeared in eight NHL games this season and is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season. The former fourth-round pick has only appeared in 43 NHL games for his career and is still only 23 years old.

Henrik Borgstrom is currently playing in Finland after appearing in four NHL games last season. The former first-round pick has 19 points in 27 games for HIFK of Liiga. After being drafted No. 23 in 2016, Borgstrom has appeared in 59 NHL games.

The Blackhawks sent back Lucas Wallmark and Lucas Carlsson. Wallmark had signed a one-year deal with the Blackhawks prior to this season and cleared waivers earlier this week. In Carlsson, the Panthers are getting a 23-year-old defenseman. He has 18 NHL games under his belt and hopes the change of scenery will yield more results at the NHL level.

With over $20 million in long-term injured reserve cap space, the Blackhawks are able to take on Connolly’s $3.5 million dollar cap hit along with potential future assets in Borgstrom, Stillman and a draft pick. The expectation is that the Blackhawks will continue to user their LTIR cap space to acquire younger assets for the future as part of their rebuild.

Connolly and Stillman were assigned to the taxi squad by the Panthers prior to the trade being finalized, and will remain on the Blackhawks’ taxi squad while quarantining. By Connolly being on the taxi squad, his cap hit is reduced to $2.425 million until recalled to the active roster.

Please stay tuned to The Rink for future Blackhawks news.

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Brett Connolly, Riley Stillman, Henrik Borgstrom and a seventh-round pick from Florida in exchange for Lucas Carlsson and Lucas Wallmark on Thursday. (Photograph courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)

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Tuesday, March 23 — Patrick Kane celebrates his 1,000th game with a victory

Chicago ended its four-game losing streak with a 3–2 victory on Tuesday night against the Panthers, a perfect ending to the 1,000th NHL game for Patrick Kane. The Hawks would jump out to a three-goal lead and hang on late with a sigh of relief that could have been heard through the television set. 

Chicago forward Dominik Kubalik extended his six-game point streak early in the contest after beating Florida goaltender Chris Driedger. Kubalik now has 11 goals this season and continues to show an offensive flair in his second season on this side of the pond. The goal was assisted by forward Brandon Hagel and defenseman Connor Murphy.

Great setup by Brandon Hagel, who connects with Dominik Kubalik for his 11th goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9fACltcClu

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 24, 2021

Goals from forwards Pius Suter and Carl Soderberg, both assisted by Kane, gave Chicago a 3–0 lead early in the second period. Forward Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Nikita Zadorov assisted on the goals, as well. Chicago needed to hang on late, as Florida pulled Driedger for the extra attacker, and the Blackhawks did just that to claim the victory.

Chicago received excellent goaltending from Kevin Lankinen again, stopping 33 of the 35 shots faced and 28 of 29 at even strength.

Thursday, March 25 — Lankinen stands on his head

Rinse. Repeat. Lankinen continues to show he deserves all the time in net, pitching a 41-save shutout on Thursday in Chicago. The Finnish netminder had arguably his best game, even stopping a 3-on-0 midway through the game. The 25-year-old was also outstanding on the penalty kill, helping Chicago kill off all six Florida power play opportunities. The victory gave Lankinen 12 this season.

As Blackhawk fans have grown accustomed to, Kane scored a highlight-reel goal after he dug the puck out of a mad scramble in front of the Florida goal, showed patience to drag the puck into an open area of the ice and netted his 13th goal of the campaign.

Patrick Kane scores on the power play for his 13th goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/5avoDak5A1

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 26, 2021

Suter scored in his second consecutive game, beating Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, for the Switzerland native’s 10th goal this season. Hagel scored his fourth goal this season into an empty net, giving Chicago the 3–0 victory.

Kevin Lankinen makes the stop on a 3-on-0 chance for Panthers. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/w1rnjZTZ13

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 26, 2021

Saturday, March 27 — Nashville too much for stale Blackhawks

On Saturday night, Nashville scored on their first shot of the game and controlled all three periods of play in a 3–1 victory against Chicago. The victory was Nashville’s fifth straight victory. Chicago could not capitalize on either of its power play chances, and although once down by only a goal midway through the second period of action, never really seemed to be in the game.

Suter scored for Chicago, tapping home a rebound off a Kane shot, and was the only bright spot for the Hawks on the evening. The goal was Suter’s third straight game with a tally and his 11th goal of the season, which ties him with Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov for the league lead among rookies. With only five assists, Suter is sixth overall among first-year players with 16 points.

Rookie Pius Suter has a goal in three straight games @NBCSChicago | #CHIvsNSH pic.twitter.com/LsNo6oRtAI

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 28, 2021

Saturday’s game also saw the return of second-year forward Kirby Dach after his wrist surgery only three short months ago. The early return was definitely a surprise to Blackhawks fans, as he was expected to miss another couple months. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton wasted no time trusting Dach with 20:08 of ice time. The 20-year-old center finished with one shot and won 40% of his draws.

Analysis

According to HockeyReference, the Blackhawks currently rank 26th in 5-on-5 actual goal differential with a -12, but do generate 52.4% scoring changes for, which ranks 14th in the league. Chicago also scores at a 11.7% clip on their high-danger chances, ranking them 22nd overall. The team as a whole needs to do a better job scoring goals 5-on-5 and taking advantage of their opportunities. If the young team expects to hang onto the last spot in the Central Division playoff race, they cannot continue to rely on their 28.3% rate on the man advantage, which ranks third among all teams in the league. Let’s hope the Blackhawks can sustain some more pressure against Nashville on Sunday and in their following two games against the Carolina Hurricanes.

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What team would shown up in Dallas and Florida after such an up-and-down showing? It ended up we got to see both.

Tuesday, March 9 — Chicago left seeing stars in Dallas

Blackhawks forward Mattias Janmark scored against his former team, which ended up being the only bright spot in a 6–1 beating at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Janmark’s goal gave the crafty winger nine markers this season but would cap off an otherwise difficult evening for the Stockholm, Sweden, native as he finished the contest with a -3 on the scoresheet.

Chicago starting goaltender Malcolm Subban displayed his regular lack of rebound control, his inability to find the puck in traffic on a regular basis and stopped only 31 of the 37 shots he faced. His defense in front of him was nothing to write home about either, but Subban spotted Dallas two goals before the Chicago tally shrunk the Dallas lead to 2–1. However, four unanswered goals later and Dallas finished off the Blackhawks 6–1.

With the lackluster showing this evening, this looked like the Blackhawks team many thought fans would watch on a more consistent basis at the beginning of the season, not the potential playoff team we have seen. A bounce-back game was a must, as the Stars chase the Blackhawks for that fourth place spot or the Central Division. 

Thursday, March 11 — Blackhawks do a lot with a little

“It’s not how, it’s how many,” said Chicago television analyst Eddie Olczyk on Thursday night about Chicago’s surprising four goals in eight shots at the time. The Blackhawks showed they could take advantage of poor goaltending by Stars’ netminder Anton Khudobin when scoring scoring on half their shots. As impressive of a stat as that can look, those eight shots came in the first 34 minutes of the game. Sometimes the game of hockey is unexplainable, but the Blackhawks were ecstatic to take two points from Dallas in this evening when they were able to hang on for a 4–2 victory.

Chicago jumped on the board when forward Dominik Kubalik scored his 10th goal on the season. First-year Blackhawk Carl Soderberg, a forward with excellent hockey IQ and has shown to be more than just a late signing to fill the void when Kirby Dach was injured, tipped home a shot by defenseman Adam Boqvist from the point, screening Khudobin and adding another power play goal to the impressive Blackhawk special teams this season.

Duncan Keith fired his first goal of the season, while the highly offensively skilled Alex DeBrincat buried his 15th of the season late in the second period to give Chicago a lopsided 4–0 lead. The Blackhawks looked to be in control of the game despite being outshot by more than three times by the Stars.

Boqvist gets it on net and Soderberg tips it past Khudobin!

2-0 Chicago! #CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/hVQ8RVcR1e

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2021

The feel of the game changed dramatically when Dallas scored two goals midway through the third period to cut the Chicago lead in half at 4–2. Dallas registered a late push that a young Chicago team looked like it may crack, but goaltender Kevin Lankinen turned aside all the Dallas chances. At the end of the day, after a loud sigh of relief could be heard all the way back in Chicago, the road team won a game that was nothing if not underwhelming for the visitors. 

Lankinen stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced on the evening. A victory like Thursday night’s is proof that Chicago will continue to lean on their Finnish goaltender to stay in playoff contention. It was expected to see Lankinen back in net against Florida, and that is exactly what happened when Colliton faced off against former Chicago bench boss Joel Quenneville in south Florida.

Saturday, March 13 — Florida figures out Lankinen

Chicago jumped out to an early lead when winger Brandon Hagel finished off a nifty give-and-go with Kubalik finishing with Hagel’s second goal this season. The early lead would not last long, as Florida scored four straight goals—three coming in the second period of play—to give the visiting Blackhawks the 4–2 loss.

Imagine not loving hockey. #CHIvsFLA pic.twitter.com/wOAeOHpPSy

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 14, 2021

Boqvist scored Chicago’s late third period goal when the game seemed out of reach, giving the second-year Swedish native his second goal this season. Chicago’s late push would come up empty and Chicago did not have an answer for Panther goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Analysis

The middling Blackhawks stand as middle-of-the-pack as they could at 14–9–5—some would say 14–14 overall—and continue to struggle at 5-on-5 to generate much offense. Without solid goaltending from Lankinen, a dynamic duo of DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scoring nightly and an inconsistent defensive group, Chicago may not cling onto fourth place in the Central Division.

Chicago’s next five games consist of one more game against the Florida Panthers before traveling across Florida for another two-game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Chicago then travels home for two more games in Chicago against the Panthers to close out a difficult stretch of games. If the “Jekyll” Chicago team shows up each night, Chicago should have some success against teams that are more talented against them. The “Hyde” Blackhawks would probably be an indication that the last playoff spot in the division could slowly be slipping away.

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For the Hawks at this point, these games are all about finishing the year strong, and making more positive plays than mistakes, and giving experience to their young players, as they look toward the offseason.

The Blackhawks lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad  Jonathan Toews  Dominik Kubalik
Alex Nylander  Dylan Strome Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat Kirby Dach  Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore  David Kampf Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith Adam Boqvist
Slater Koekkoek  Olli Maatta
Lucas Karlsson  Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford manned the net for Chicago, and Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida.

FIRST PERIOD

The game started in typical fashion, but at 4:07, Panthers forward Mike Hoffman jumped a lackadaisical pass by Brandon Saad, generated some speed to get in wide and basically mesmerized Corey Crawford, easily tapping the puck in on a wide open side. 1–0 Florida.

At 6:26, Mackenzie Weegar took a holding penalty. The Panthers successfully blocked some Hawks’ shots before Saad made a nifty individual play with about 20 seconds left in the man-advantage to get open in close—hitting the pipe on a glorious chance. The Hawks failed to convert.

However, Saad got his redemption at 12:54, when he and Dominik Kubalik came in on a 2-on-1, causing the Florida skaters to collapse in deep as the initial shot went to the end boards. Kubalik then alertly found a wide open Adam Boqvist in the slot, who walked it in then adeptly found Jonathan Toews at the doorstep, who put it home. 1–1.

Barely 30 seconds later, at 13:26, Jonathan Huberdeau took a hooking penalty. Again, Florida killed the penalty.

Erik Haula then took a high sticking penalty at 17:13. And again, Florida proved up tot eh challenge. The period ended with shots favoring Chicago 11–4.

SECOND PERIOD

Both teams had some pressure early on. Crawford made a strong save on a nice Evgeny Dadonov shot in close at 5:20, which was part of a flurry of Panther chances during this stretch.

Drake Caggiula (aka “Dat Gritty Little Caligula”) registered a goal, when he tipped home a Connor Murphy blast at 6:21—all of which was basically set up by the strength and tenacity of Toews, who owned the puck down low for several seconds before kicking it out to Murphy at the right point. 2–1 Chicago.

At 8:09, Olli Maatta took the first Hawk penalty of the night, which was killed. But then as soon as that was killed, Duncan Keith was whistled at 10:13. Despite a couple of great Florida chances, Chicago was able to kill this one off as well.

The Panthers put on some strong, sustained pressure at around the 18:00 minute mark against the Hawks’ fourth line. But Crawford and some selfless shot blocks by the Chicago skaters maintained the team’s lead. Shots for the period were 15–13 Florida.

THIRD PERIOD

Kirby Dach took a high sticking minor at 1:11, which the Hawks successfully killed off.  Florida really poured it on in the third period, outshooting Chicago 17–2. Florida’s pressure finally paid off when Mike Matheson scored from the right circle at 18:32.

Regulation ended at a 2–2 tie, pushing the game to OT.

OVERTIME

In the 3-on-3 OT, both teams had excellent chances, with Boqvist hitting the crossbar in the third minute of OT. Both Crawford and Sergei Bobrovsky were excellent in OT.

With an impending offensive zone faceoff at the 4:36 mark of OT, Florida head coach Joel Quenneville took a timeout to try to diagram a play. But Florida came up short, and so the game would be decided by a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

In the shootout, Crawford stopped two attempts, and Toews and Patrick Kane buried theirs. Game: Chicago.

Overall a pretty good effort by Chicago—good enough anyway to beat a Florida team clawing for a playoff spot in their own building.

THREE STARS

1. Jonathan Toews
2. Corey Crawford
3. Mike Matheson

Comment below.

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Denis Malgin was acquired in a trade with the the Florida Panthers. In return, the Panthers picked up Mason Marchement. This trade follows a dismal effort against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Malgin is primarily a centre, but can play on the wing as well. He will likely be playing centre, particularly if Alexander Kerfoot, who was acquired to centre the third line, continues to play on John Tavares’ wing. Malgin has four goals and 12 points in 36 games. This season, the 23-year-old Swiss native has a low expected goal share, has been great in the past and decent recently at managing shot quality and has been good in transition. Malgin carries a cap hit of $750,000 and is scheduled to be a restricted free agent in July.

https://twitter.com/chartinghockey/status/1230163103461056512?s=21

Marchement has established himself as a reliable, skilled AHL forward. The forward has appeared in four games with the Leafs this season. He was undrafted and joined the Toronto Marlies in 2016. Marchement has played 24 games with the Toronto Marlies this season and has amassed 18 points. The reason he has struggled at the next level is that his skating is under average, and facing better competition, he has not been able to keep up.

It is important to note that Marchement has not been able to regularly make it into the Leafs lineup, while Malgin, who is two years younger than Marchement, has considerable NHL experience.

Later that day, Kyle Dubas acquired Max Veronneau in exchange for Aaron Luchuk and a conditional 2021 sixth-round pick. Veronneau has played four games with the Senators this season, and 33 with their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Veronneau is due for a new contract in July. He is set to join the Marlies as soon as he is in Toronto. On the other hand, Luchuk has spent the majority of his time in the ECHL. Although he has played three games with the Marlies this season, Luchuk has spent 45 games with the Newfoundland Growlers, amassing 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points. Luchuk has been assigned to the Belleville Senators. As for the conditional pick, the Senators receive the pick if Veronneau plays in 10 games for the Maple Leafs in 2019–20 or 10 games for the Leafs in 2020–21 if he re-signs with the club.

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