Players React To Trades, Rockford’s Updated Lineup, An Intriguing Waiver Name, and Other Blackhawks Bullets
Yesterday was an emotional day for Blackhawks fans. A franchise icon was traded away, leaving us with incredible memories and hopes that we see him in a Blackhawks’ sweater some day once more before he retires. Connor Murphy admitted after the game last night that it’s been a tough couple weeks on all of the players.
- A second straight loss for the Blackhawks moves them a little bit closer to the bottom of the standings. Columbus pulled off the upset in Buffalo last night (thanks guys) and San Jose lost again as well.
- If you’re like me, it’s tough enough needing to peak at a roster sheet every once in a while to remember who’s wearing what number on the Blackhawks’ NHL roster (they need to take 28 out of circulation, but I digress…). But if the NHL roster has been changing, the Rockford IceHogs roster has seen some massive changes as well. They made a couple AHL trades, too. Here’s how they’ll line up tonight.
- This is a fun scenario that played out, giving us an interesting look at a new Blackhawks prospect. Pavel Gogolev agreed to do this interview before he found out he was being traded in the McCabe/Lafferty deal. There’s some skill there, so he’s an intriguing add for the Blackhawks with one more year on his contract.
The just-turned-23-year-old Moscow native – who is confident that you’ll see his skill and hockey IQ shine through in the multitude of clips that are available online – has created plenty of them this season in a breakout year with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers. He scored 21 goals and added 27 assists in just 33 games before an undisclosed injury, that he was just getting set to return from, sidetracked the 6-foot-1, 197-pound winger…
Ironically enough, he met his new teammates in Toronto, as Rockford is set to play there against the Marlies on Wednesday night.
- Yesterday was also the 28th of the month, which meant it was time for my monthly reminder that the Blackhawks should have retired Steve Larmer‘s number two decades ago and he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame by now. This month I shared an interview I had the pleasure of doing with Gramps a couple weekends ago when he was in town. The quote at the very end of the interview hit me square in the feels all day yesterday:
“I was fortunate enough to be able to play with a lot of great players and we had a lot of fun, because we had some really close teams. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Because when you walk away from it, all you’ve got left is friendships.”
- It played out ironically that Patrick Kane, a star right wing for the Blackhawks was traded to the New York Rangers in a three-team deal on Tuesday when I shared the interview with Larmer… who was a star right wing for the Blackhawks traded to the New York Rangers in a three-team deal on Nov. 2, 1993. Larmer helped the Rangers win the Stanley Cup in 1994. Will Kane be able to follow suit?
- After the Patrick Kane news broke, David Pagnotta at The Fourth Period dropped a video on Twitter in which Max Domi’s name came up. According to Pagnotta, there has been talk of a 3-4 year extension for the Blackhawks’ top-line center. However, if the two sides can’t agree on something — considering how insanely hot the trade market has become — the Blackhawks might entertain finding him a new home with a contender. So stay tuned on Domi’s situation.
- For what’s it’s worth, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski gave the Blackhawks a B- for the McCabe/Lafferty trade with Toronto. “it’s a first-round pick and a second-round pick for a defense-first ancillary defenseman, a few years of retained salary during a rebuild and a penalty killing depth forward. That’s not bad, even if the windfall is three years away.”
- The Pittsburgh Penguins put 28-year-old wing Brock McGinn on waivers on Tuesday afternoon. Originally a second-round pick in 2012, McGinn has scored 73 goals with 70 assists in 468 career NHL games. His career-high 30 points came for Carolina in the 2017-18 season. He has 10 goals in 59 games this season. As I tweeted yesterday, with a modest cap hit and two years of term left, McGinn is an intriguing player for a Blackhawks team to possibly add for nothing today. Remember: the Blackhawks need to get to the salary floor and they need to fill an NHL roster next year, too.
- Late last night, the Kings and Blue Jackets pulled off a stunning trade that shocked everyone — including, apparently, most of the players in the Kings’ room. LA acquired defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick and likely future Hall of Fame goaltender Jonathan Quick.
- For all of those out there who said it doesn’t matter if a team does right by an icon, the reaction from the Kings’ players last night was apparently far from ideal.
- The Chicago Bears have a new home. No, not Arlington Heights — yet. On the radio! Their games will be on ESPN 1000 beginning this season.
- Finally, there’s a lot of big-time trade buzz at Halas Hall this week, too. They already own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and they have options if they want to move down. Let’s gooooo!!
