The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” is joined again by staff writers Ray Napientek and Juliana Nikac to talk about the current state of the Blackhawks.

• The Blackhawks are 2-4-2 after losing to the Flyers, Thursday night.
• Kirby Dach recalled from Rockford and played 3 games thus far.
• Connor Murphy injured against the Vegas Golden Knights
• Aleksi Saarela sent to Florida for Ian McCoshen
• Mario Tirabassi gives us another award-winning #Warpigs report.
• Gate, Ray and Juliana discuss the last 6 games and the state of the Blackhawks.
• We also discuss Corey Crawford, Robin Lehner, Brendan Perlini, Brandon Saad, and much more
• We wrap with the Rinkrat PuckBag segment where we discuss #HongKongClassic jerseys.

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The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 3 – The more things change, the more they stay the same appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks deal Saarela to Panthers, acquire McCoshen

The Aleksi Saarela era came to an end before it could even truly begin. Saarela was traded to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Ian McCoshen on Tuersday night after failing to make the Blackhawks’ NHL roster out of training camp and playing five games with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL. Through those five games, Saarela has been under performing his usual AHL standards. After two seasons with the Charlotte Checkers and back-to-back seasons of 25 or more goals, Saarela had tallied just one assist in his time with the IceHogs. He was originally acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes, along with Calvin de Haan, in exchange for Anton Forsberg and Gustav Forsling this summer.

McCoshen will join the IceHogs from the Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. A second-round draft pick in 2013 by the Panthers, McCoshen has skated in 60 games with Florida in the NHL and 115 AHL games with Springfield. So far this season, McCoshen has tallied four assists in seven games in the AHL. He is currently on a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 in the NHL and $250,000 in the minor leagues.

The IceHogs are back in action this weekend as they travel to Cleveland to take on the Cleveland Monsters on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s puck drop is set for 7 p.m. EDT, while Saturday is set for a 1 p.m. EDT start.

The post Blackhawks trade Aleksi Saarela for Ian McCoshen appeared first on The Rink.