NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks were the full hockey embodiment of the Undertaker sitting up out of the coffin GIF against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night in the 5-4 overtime comeback win. The victory was a defibrillator to their Stanley Cup Playoff chances and was helped along with a win by the Detroit Red Wings over the Dallas Stars last night. Heading into Friday night’s season series finale against the Predators, the Blackhawks sit just one point behind the Stars and three points behind Nashville. A win, in regulation preferably, would put them ahead of Dallas on points and within striking distance of the Predators with just eight games remaining.
I am ready to be hurt again.
• Chicago was not without fault in Wednesday’s win, clearly they had to be DOWN 4-1 to be able to come back to win the game in dramatic fashion.
• The Blackhawks’ calling card this season has been momentum deflating or flat-out momentum killing turnovers and quick goals given up. That has been the case in the last two meetings against the Predators and will need to be rectified in their season series finale tonight. The Blackhawks got off to a good start in both games, heading into each of the last two first intermissions tied 1-1. In the last two second periods, the Blackhawks have been out-scored by Nashville 4-1. If they can find the energy again that they used to spark the four-goal comeback on Wednesday, and use it to begin the game tonight, that would set them up for a head start against a troubling Nashville squad.
• It will be interesting to see who head coach Jeremy Colliton goes with in net for the season series finale tonight. Kevin Lankinen had been the long-time No. 1 goalie for the Blackhawks, starting 17 of 20 games at one point late this season. But Lankinen was pulled on Monday night and Malcolm Subban did enough to keep the Blackhawks alive on Wednesday night and helped shut the door late in the game. Subban has a .935 save-percentage in his last four appearances for the Blackhawks with a 2-1-0 record.
• Chicago is 4-2-0 in their last six games since April 10th. Over that span, they are 3-for-25 on the powerplay but are a perfect 15-for-15 on the penalty-kill. In fact, since March 25th, Chicago ranks third in the NHL on the penalty-kill with a 90.0% kill-rate. Their 30 times short-handed over that span is also tied for the fourth-fewest in the NHL.
• Chicago clearly won the Vinnie Hinostroza-Brad Morrison trade. Like, clearly. Hinostroza has seven points, all at even-strength, in eight games with the Blackhawks since being re-acquired earlier this month. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and it is clear that the Barlett, Illinois-native wants to stay with the club. We don’t know exactly what the organization has in the plans for Hinostroza, but if this new version of Vinnie (defensively active, soft hands setup-man) is the real Vinnie, there needs to be real discussion about his fit with the team for next season and beyond.
Colliton Thursday on how quickly Blackhawks teammates accepted Hinostroza: "He had a history with a lot of them. … You watch how he plays, how hard he competes, that earns a lot of respect w/ the guys in the room when you play that hard and you're willing to do the dirty work."
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) April 22, 2021
• It won’t be easy to find room though, as it appears the Blackhawks are planning to sign a good amount of their prospects soon.
• According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, the Blackhawks have plans to sign a number of their young prospects including Jakub Galvas, Lukas Reichel, and Henrik Borgström. There is also the idea of signing Russian prospect and long-time White Whale for Scott, Max Shalunov. Shalunov has been leading the KHL’s Gagarin Cup Playoffs in goal-scoring and is near the playoff lead for points with CSKA Moskva, who hold a 2-1 lead in the Cup Final over Avengard Omsk. There is a rumor that the Blackhawks may be looking at signing Shalunov in a package deal with Damir Zhafyarov, who the Blackhawks have been linked to previously, according to Powers’ report.
• The only two prospects that seem like “Locks” to be in the mix for the Blackhawks next season appear to be Reichel and Borgström from where I’m sitting. The plans have been for Borgström to join the Blackhawks next season all along, ever since he was acquired from the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline. As for Reichel, the 2020 first-round pick for Chicago has shown steady improvement from last year to this year with Eisbaren Berlin in the German DEL. He tallied his first postseason goal in Game two of their opening round series yesterday.
#Blackhawks prospect Lukas Reichel scored his first career #DEL playoff goal, had a primary assist and four shots in Eisbären Berlin's 6-0 win against Iserlohn to tie their best-of-three quarterfinal series 1-1. #EBB #HawksProspects pic.twitter.com/a8sKHBdMLh
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) April 22, 2021
• All of these incoming prospects and young players is all well and good for Chicago, but finding room for them all will be a challenge. Chicago has 14 players on expiring contracts this offseason, most notably Hinostroza, Adam Gaudette, David Kämpf, Pius Suter, and Nikita Zadorov. They also have to figure out what to do with Alex Nylander, who has been out all season and is a restricted free agent this summer. There are a few players on expiring deals that you can most likely write-off in John Quenneville, Anton Lindholm, Josh Dickinson, Brandon Pirri, and Zack Smith.
• The Nikita Zadorov contract is going to be a big key for the Blackhawks defensively this offseason. He is on an expiring $3.2M AAV deal and has arbitration rights this summer. Chicago may lose Calvin de Haan in the Seattle expansion draft, which would take a hit to their defense-first defenseman group, but could they afford to lose de Haan and Zadorov, and replace them with Riley Stillman, Wyatt Kalynuk, Ian Mitchell, and Nicolas Beaudin next season for much cheaper? Possibly.
• All I know is, here and now, the Blackhawks need all fully healthy hands on deck for the final handful of games to end the 2021 regular season and maybe get into the playoffs for Schnitzengiggles.
• A Happy 78th Birthday to Blackhawks legend and Hockey Hall of Fame Tony Esposito!
Happy 78th Birthday to Tony Esposito!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hZQrwi8PhG
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 23, 2021
• In case you missed it yesterday, the Blackhawks are hosting Pride Night on April 27th at the United Center against the Tampa Bay Lightning. As part of the Pride Night celebration, Blackhawks players will wear exclusive Pride-themed jerseys and use Pride Tape on their sticks during warmups, which will be auctioned-off to benefit local organizations that provide resources to the LGBTQ+ community or increase diversity in hockey including the Center on Halsted and the Chicago Gay Hockey Association (CGHA).
• Need this energy today!
Caution: Contents of this gif may be TOO HYPE pic.twitter.com/JZNTlO09R2
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 22, 2021
• That’s all for today, enjoy your Friday! See you later tonight for Blackhawks and Predators at 7:00 p.m. CT!
