There was a big playoff game last night. No, not in the NHL. In Kamloops, between the host Blazers and the Seattle Thunderbirds. It was a tight game through 20 minutes, tied at one heading to the first intermission. But Seattle struck twice in eight seconds in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Three more unanswered goals in the third period for the fabulous Thunderbirds skated off with a 6-1 win. Kevin Korchinski picked up an assist Seattle’s fourth goal of the night and Colton Dach scored this beauty to close the books on the win. They’ll play again Friday night.
Happy Blackhawks Get To Draft Connor Bedard This Month Day to those who celebrate!
Today is a big date on the calendar for some young players hoping for a chance at the NHL. The Blackhawks have settled the necessary books on their 2021 draft class already, but there’s a long list of players who still need to sign today or they’ll hit free agency this evening. There are a few names on this list that interest me — I’ll have more on them later this morning.
Frank Seravalli at The Daily Faceoff offered up five potential buyout candidates for the first window, which is quickly approaching. He went with some higher profile teams/players on this list (I would add Nikita Zaitsev in Chicago), but this is a noteworthy list for the Blackhawks because… well, the Hawks are in the market to take on some salary and add additional assets and there might be a trade to be made with some of these players (cough, Mikael Granlund, cough).
The Blackhawks shared a nice profile of their third first-round pick from last year, defenseman Sam Rinzel. As a reminder, Rinzel is a long-play pick for the Blackhawks who is headed to the University of Minnesota this fall. He’ll join a stacked program that’s turned out some really good NHL players recently (always have), so he’ll be in good hands. But this quote from Mark Eaton was a reminder that he isn’t necessarily viewed as a one-and-done in college:
“So I think that that will be a big piece of his development for his time at Minnesota is just training hard, training consistently with guys older than him, stronger than him and seeing what that next level of training looks like,” Eaton said.
Kyle Dubas apparently didn’t need to take time with his family to consider his next move. And isn’t sticking to his “Toronto or nowhere” statement from his end-of-season presser. He’s becoming the President of Hockey Ops for the Penguins. Which means he now gets to hire a GM and fill the front office. Interesting move…
The Seattle Kraken announced a well-deserved extension for general manager Ron Francis on Wednesday. Yeah, they are trending in the right direction.
As the parent of a couple young athletes, this one got a smile on my face. Jim’s son, Brad Treliving, was named the new general manager of the Maple Leafs yesterday.
Finally, let’s continue our excitement about Chicago prospects with some notes on future Cubs, shall we?
NEWSLETTER
