It’s Sunday, Sept. 10. It’s going to be a beautiful fall day in Chicago with the Cubs hosting an important game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley and the Bears kicking off their 2023 season against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. The Blackhawks’ prospects will report for duty, officially, for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase games on Wednesday, meaning we’re three days away from having three sports overlapping in this fine city and I am here for it!
- We should get some of the official NHL dates for the coming season soon. Pierre LeBrun reported this week the trade deadline will be March 8 this coming season. If you’re like me, your brain immediately goes to “what’s on the Blackhawks’ schedule around that date?” when you read this. Chicago has a three-game road trip with games in Colorado (March 4), Arizona (March 5) and Washington (March 9) and then come home to host Arizona on March 10. So a nice gap before this theoretical deadline, but then games on both Saturday and Sunday (and another on Tuesday) could complicate the roster if there’s a flurry of departures. I’m not anticipating as much significant selling as there was last year, but this is something to circle on the calendar.
- A brief reminder for some folks who like these sorts of things (or those who might want to win an argument and have the evidence to prove their point). I’ve got every move made by Kyle Davidson since he took over as interim general manager of the Blackhawks here on the site and am keeping the page updated with every new trade, signing and waiver move.
- New Maple Leafs general manager Bred Treliving said the next thing on his To Do List is get an extension done with forward William Nylander. That’s neat. Really a wonderful sentiment. Here’s the problem(s): Auston Matthews’ $13.25M cap hit begins next year while John Tavares’ deal is still carrying an $11M cap hit and Mitchell Marner has a $10.903M cap hit. Yeah, the cap ceiling is supposed to go nicely next year (read: $4-5 million), but that doesn’t change the fact that the Leafs have $54 million committed to 12 NHL roster players (per CapFriendly). Four players with $10M cap hits on the same roster? Good luck with your blue line of six entry-level deals…
- Speaking of teams in salary cap hell, the Lightning announced Saturday that Josh Archibald is going bye-bye so they can sign forward (and former Blackhawks) Tyler Motte to a minimum salary deal. Archibald, 30, has two years remaining on a deal with a cap hit of $800,000 — roughly the same they plan on giving Motte.
- The Bears get it going today. And I’m going to be watching with a nice cigar and a beverage. Make sure you’re following our Bears and NFL coverage this entire season. They’re the best.