First Wave of Roster Cuts, Murphy’s Back Hurts, Stalock’s Scary Mask Art, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Detroit visits the United Center tonight for the second home preseason game on the Blackhawks’ schedule. Of course, only two of the three “home” games for the Hawks are at the UC this preseason because the third is being played in Milwaukee on Sunday.

  • The Blackhawks made a number of roster moves on Friday, all of which involve players heading to Rockford. So the kids who were still in camp haven’t been sent back yet. Here’s the list of moves they made:
  • Forwards Evan Barratt, Jakub Pour and defenseman Louis Crevier — who have contracts with the Blackhawks — were assigned to Rockford.
  • Forwards Bobby Lynch, Carson Gicewicz, Garrett Mitchell, D.J. Busdeker, Morgan Adams-Moisan, Riley McKay, Seamus Malone and defenseman Cliff Watson were released from their professional tryout contracts.
  • Defenseman Andrew Perrott was released from his amateur tryout contract. He was still in juniors last year but went undrafted through his eligibility; he has an AHL contract with Rockford signed.
  • I mentioned Perrott, a right-handed defenseman, as a potential trade piece that could work with the Toronto Maple Leafs. If the Blackhawks wanted to move him, they would need to sign him; his deal is exclusively with Rockford and doesn’t count toward the Blackhawks’ 50-contract limit.
  • Connor Murphy got a maintenance day earlier this week but missed practice on Friday with back soreness. Something we’ll need to keep an eye on as the season begins.
  • I’m almost done with the “Luke is way better than Jeremy” talk (promise), but Tyler Johnson said what we were all thinking on Friday.
  • Patrick was at practice on Friday and this looks like the lineup for tonight against Detroit. Have to wonder if Ethan Del Mastro gets a trip back to junior after this game. And we’ll be watching to see how many faceoffs Lukas Reichel gets (and wins).
  • Alex Stalock explained the amazing artwork on his new Blackhawks mask. Love it when the kids are involved, but mixing it with a horror movie is a bold stategy.
  • Here’s a fun one of Michigan interim coach Brandon Naurato mic’d up for a practice before the Wolverines start their season.
  • Finally, we love a good resurrection story and the Mariners wrote one for the ages last night. Goosebumps? Tears. Amazing scene in Seattle last night.
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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