NEWSLETTER
Last night the Oilers hung around with the Avs for… 23 minutes. After the two teams put 14 combined goals on the board in Game 1, the first period ended without a score in Game 2 and something felt awkward in the world. Colorado put that to bed quickly and emphatically early in the second, scoring three times in 124 seconds to blow the game open. They added a fourth goal in the third period and Pavel Francouz pitched the shutout in net.
Tonight the Lightning will look to rebound from a Game 1 debacle against the Rangers. The puck drops at 7 PM CT on ESPN.
• In his “32 Thoughts” column, Elliotte Friedman had a couple Blackhawks-related pieces of news. The more interesting was the departure of CapFriendly co-founder Dominik Zrim from the Blackhawks’ front office in the wake of the town hall back in February.
The #Blackhawks Reportedly Lost Their Cap Specialist Because of THAT Town Hallhttps://t.co/dxLvGa8ss9 pic.twitter.com/1apiEtwG8I
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) June 3, 2022
• The other item of note for Blackhawks fans from the Friedman column was regarding the belief around the NHL that there will eventually be a higher number of unrestricted free agents this summer than there are at this time because teams may be willing to not make a qualifying offer. Here’s what Friedman had to say:
“There are a lot of eyes on qualifying offers. Cap space is tight, and the arbitration walk-away number this summer is $4,538,958. (Teams can’t “walk-away” from any award below that number.) If they’re not convinced a player’s production matches, teams may choose to let them go free in July rather than risk an arbitration award they can’t escape. Toronto followers were confused by an Ondrej Kase Instagram post where he thanked Maple Leafs fans, taking it as an indication that he might be leaving. That’s premature, I think there are talks underway, but it’s not wrong to think the team would be spooked by an arbitration award in a tight cap situation.
Others to watch include: Ethan Bear (Carolina), Denis Gurianov (Dallas), Kasperi Kapanen (Pittsburgh), Dylan Strome (Chicago), Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha (New Jersey). It’s not to say all of these players are guaranteed to hit the market. It’s more like, teams are watching to see what decisions are made.”
• This update from Friedman is in line with recent reporting that Strome won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks and likely won’t be back in Chicago. We discussed how that would complicate an already stressful depth chart at center for the Blackhawks yesterday.
• Mike Doneghey was drafted by the Blackhawks in 1989. Now, he’s now running the organization’s prep as the Director of Amateur Scouting. The team shared a great look inside his leadership as the team gets ready for the first selections with Kyle Davidson as general manager.
Mike Doneghey is ready to head the #Blackhawks draft for the first time this July. Despite not having a 1st-round pick, five selections from No. 38 to 96 will have a big impact.
“There's going to be some good-value players there — let's go and get them."https://t.co/ObCpqm6vND
— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) June 3, 2022
• So how are the NHL’s new television deals working out with Turner (TNT) and Disney (ESPN/ABC)? I’d say all parties are pretty happy with how these playoffs have progressed. You’ve got young stars in the west and the two-time defending champs playing at Madison Square Garden in the east. And people are watching all over the country.
.@NHL_On_TNT delivers most-watched #StanleyCup Playoffs Western Conference Final, Game 1 on cable since 1999 🏒 pic.twitter.com/YCvzhjbtSg
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) June 2, 2022
Wednesday, #NHL fans couldn't miss the first game of the '22 #StanleyCup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final between the @TBLightning & @NYRangers pic.twitter.com/WgF3LTrySk
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 3, 2022
• Duncan Keith asked the Blackhawks to trade him so he could be closer to his son. Before Thursday night’s game he reminded us of the reason he’s in Edmonton. Unfortunately, his son is too young to remember the Blackhawks’ dynasty teams so it’s nice that he’ll have a chance to see Dunc try to make a fourth Stanley Cup Final.
Duncan Keith said it's cool to be back in the playoffs with his son, now 9, old enough to know what's going on. pic.twitter.com/hsUZ386Wpr
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 2, 2022
• Congratulations to former Blackhawks player and coach Darryl Sutter for being named the Jack Adams Award winner as the league’s coach of the year. Sutter was drafted by the Blackhawks in the 11th round back in 1978 and appeared in 406 regular-season games for Chicago as a player. He was the Hawks’ associate coach from 1990-91 to 1991-92 and then served as Chicago’s head coach from 1992-95.
THAT'S OUR COACH!
Darryl Sutter is the winner of the Jack Adams Award: https://t.co/NnRVmrMB2e pic.twitter.com/1x0LwozrcS
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 3, 2022
• Nobody told Cale Makar that he wasn’t allowed to defend Connor McDavid. This was a great play early in Thursday night’s game with two of the best players in the sport going one-on-one at full speed.
Cale Makar defending against Connor McDavid 👀 pic.twitter.com/llh0LbdglU
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 3, 2022
• Vote in our Western Conference Twitter poll!
Colorado now has a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference final. Does this series even come back to Denver?
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) June 3, 2022
• Since we’re thinking and talking about trade rumors with the Blackhawks, let’s do it for the Cubs, too!
June is here, which means the trade-related chatter is gonna start picking up. Latest from the rumor mill: https://t.co/RN5fGVbW2k pic.twitter.com/s6UWE1jBu3
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 3, 2022
