NEWSLETTER
How’s your Friday going so far? I’d say pretty good considering the news this morning regarding the NHL and the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
• 🎶 The boys are back in town! 🎶
Rejoice! NHL Players Are Heading Back to the Winter Olympicshttps://t.co/KkWDma6rUe
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 3, 2021
• It’ll have been eight years since we last saw NHL players in the Winter Olympics when the puck drops in Beijing in February, but having the world’s best men’s hockey players playing on the biggest stage outside of the Stanley Cup Final is what is best for the league and the game world-wide.
• Now, of course, we cannot forget that we are still living through a pandemic, and there are opt-outs for the NHL to not send players to the Olympics. If COVID gets worse in China ahead of the Winter Olympics, or if the league has been forced to cancel or reschedule too many games during the season leading up to the All-Star/Olympic Break, then the league has the option to pull their participation. That decision would need to be made by January.
• The league is not going to mess around this season with COVID either. The NHL’s protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players were released yesterday and it is clear that the league does not want to play around with the potential for lost games/lost revenue.
Report: NHL COVID-19 Protocols Include Possible Suspension, Loss of Pay for Unvaccinated Playershttps://t.co/kVY2A5nRYp
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 3, 2021
• If suspensions, the potential for lost salary, being a liability to your teammates, and basically living in your hotel room all season isn’t enough for unvaccinated players to get the shots, then I’m not sure what to tell you.
• Yesterday, front office changes within the Blackhawks organization were reported by Jon Greenberg and Scott Powers of The Athletic. One of the changes reported was the addition of Dominik Zrim to the Blackhawks as the new Manager of Hockey Strategy. Zrim is coming to the Blackhawks from the legendary CapFriendly website, a site that he was a co-founder of…
As was reported by @ByScottPowers today, we want to wish a huge congratulations to the founder of CapFriendly, Dominik Zrim, for being hired by the Chicago #Blackhawks as their Manager of Hockey Strategy!
Additional details 👇 pic.twitter.com/KCbxzzjNEw
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) September 2, 2021
• This addition is an amazing move by the Blackhawks, a team that is lacking when it comes to being forward-thinking in terms of how the “new” NHL operates. Having Zrim on board should allow for the Blackhawks to have better roster and financial management moving forward. Two things that Chicago has been known for, for the wrong reasons, in the past.
• Speaking of CapFriendly, new information was released yesterday regarding Connor Murphy’s new contract with the Blackhawks that he signed earlier this week.
Connor Murphy
Chicago #BlackHawks
$4.4M x 4Contract Breakdown:
22-23: $3M
23-24: $5.8M
24-25: $5.15M
25-26: $2.65M + $1M Signing BonusThe contract includes a 10 team no trade list in all 4 yearshttps://t.co/KBJyrA2zdt
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) September 2, 2021
• What? Like you didn’t expect his deal to come with a no-trade clause of some kind?
• A double Blackhawks Birthday celebration today for Stanley Cup winners Cristobal Huet and Michal Rozsíval!
A double #Blackhawks Birthday today for two former Stanley Cup winners! Cristobal Huet turns 46 years old and Michal Rozsíval turns 43 years old! pic.twitter.com/XUk9SYqgAV
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 3, 2021
• From former Blackhawks to current Blackhawks, the Nylander brothers enjoyed one last dinner together before they headed out to their NHL homes for the 2021-22 season…
Alex (R) and William (L) have one last dinner together before they split for their NHL homes in Chicago and Toronto. The Nylander brothers will face each other October 27th (CHI) and December 11th (TOR) #Blackhawks #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/bKJQU6LmQ1
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 2, 2021
• Speaking of Alex Nylander, the Buffalo Sabres signed defenseman Henri Jokiharju to a new three-year deal yesterday.
Three more years of Joki! 👊
We’ve signed Henri Jokiharju to a three-year contract with an AAV of $2.5 million.
Details: https://t.co/AultZAqBbo pic.twitter.com/NHaAt25xfJ
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 2, 2021
• You’ll remember Jokiharju as the former 2017 first-round pick by the Blackhawks that was traded one-for-one for Nylander ahead of the 2019-20 season. Just, you know, for a refresher.
• And from current and former Blackhawks to future Blackhawks, 2021 second-round draft pick Colton Dach is in town as rookie camp and training camp start later this month. He took in last night’s Cubs game from some pretty nice seats…
https://twitter.com/BN_Blackhawks/status/1433609551572520961?s=20
• Wonder if he stayed the whole game to see the incredibly dumb way that the Cubs were able to win in extra innings over the Pirates. Like, of course the Pirates would lose a game like that.
The Cubs Just Walked It Off in the 11th Because the Pirates Simply Dropped an Infield Pop Up – https://t.co/mN8gVlUmQV (via BN)
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 3, 2021
• In other news around the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes might have a route to staying in Arizona after the team’s lease with the City of Glendale is set to expire at the end of the 2021-22 season…
Coyotes statement confirming Tempe arena bid:
“We are pleased to have submitted a proposal to the City of Tempe. As regulations surrounding the RFP process dictate, we cannot comment any further at this time, but we remain incredibly excited about this extraordinary opportunity.”— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) September 2, 2021
• Good news for the Coyotes faithful in Arizona. For now at least.
• That will do it for today. Hope you all have a great TGIF Friday!
• Oh, in case you thought I forgot…The 2021 Blackhawks Prospect Pyramid is coming THIS WEEKEND! Be on the lookout.
