DeBrincat in Ottawa, Nazar Talks Debut, Chicago Scouts Watching Jersey, and Other Blackhawks Bullets
Alex DeBrincat might play his only game against Patrick Kane as a member of the Blackhawks tonight. It’s revenge season in Ottawa with the Blackhawks visiting a team that was supposed to turn the corner this year. They’re better, but not quite there yet. We’ll see what they have in store for the visitors this evening.
- The Blue Jackets beat the Winnipeg Jets last night! I know, right? Every once in a while we’re reminded the games still have to be played and anything can happen. The Blackhawks are now this close to the cellar and have two games in-hand on Columbus.
- You still have time to vote in our Twitter poll! With the NHL Trade Deadline two weeks from this afternoon (2 PM CT), who do you think is the first player moved by the Blackhawks?
- One of the players traded away by general manager Kyle Davidson — arguably the biggest thus far — has been DeBrincat. Ben Pope chatted with him about the shock of being traded and settling in with Ottawa this season, where his production hasn’t matched what he contributed for the Blackhawks last season. It’s been an adjustment, but he’s working on getting his new team into the playoffs at some point in the future (it probably won’t happen this year).
“This year hasn’t gone great for us,” DeBrincat told Pope. “Coming into the year, expectations were high. We’re still a young team that’s still early in [the window of] what we have here. Maybe those expectations were a little too high. But we’re playing well right now. We’re still in the race.”
- One of the other players Davidson has traded away, Brandon Hagel, was featured in a piece by Joe Smith at The Athletic on Friday morning. In it, his dad didn’t pull any punches when talking about his feelings regarding the current state of affairs at the United Center.
- I jumped on Chase Thomas’ podcast earlier this week to talk about the trade deadline and the current state of affairs at the United Center. You can hear some of my thoughts here.
- Frank Nazar and Michigan have an interesting weekend ahead. They played at Ohio State last night in Columbus, but tomorrow they’ll face their hated rivals outdoors in the “Faceoff on the Lake” at FirstEnergy Stadium (home of the Cleveland Browns). It should be a terrific event if the weather holds up.
- Nazar had an assist on an Adam Fantilli goal… and yes, my mind wandered to the United Center at some point in November of 2024… anyways, back to bullets.
- Where were the Blackhawks’ scouts last night? At least one was watching the Blues and Devils. And only one of those teams is buying at the deadline…
- How about a late-week prospect goal? How about Gavin Hayes‘ 28th goal of the season? Here it is!
- As I noted in yesterday’s bullets, the apparent demise of regional sports networks (RSNs) is causing some consternation with sports owners in the NHL, NBA and MLB. The NHL commented on the situation yesterday.
- The NHLPA made it official yesterday: Marty Walsh will replace Donald Fehr as their executive director. This is an incredibly important role that will impact the future of labor negotiations with the league. Here’s hoping he can get the best for the players without costing us games!
- Finally, this one hit me in the feels yesterday. Growing up, Tim McCarver’s voice was synonymous with baseball. It seemed like he was on every national broadcast, every big game and every big moment. He’s in the National Baseball Hall of Fame because he was that good at his job with the mic; he was also a star catcher for years. RIP to an all-time great.
