A reminder for Blackhawks fans tuning in to watch the World Championship quarterfinals: Connor Bedard and Canada face Slovakia at 9:20 AM CT. At the same time, Philipp Kurashev and the Swiss will battle Lukas Reichel and Germany. Seth Jones, Alex Vlasic and the US will face Petr Mrazek and the host Czechia at 1:20 PM CT today.
Devils’ rookie defenseman Luke Hughes offered some big praise for Jones’ leadership at a previous World Championship.
This is a pretty cool next wave move for NHL broadcasts. Turner is going to offer an alternate broadcast of the Western Conference Final series weaponizing NHL Edge’s deeper stats. I’ll tune in for sure to see how it plays out! ICYMI Matt dropped some morning knowledge with his Western Conference final preview.
The Florida Panthers skated into Madison Square Garden last night and Sergei Bobrovsky pitched a fabulous shutout. The Panthers dominated the game from start to finish. For those of us who had the Rangers winning the series, this was not an ideal start.
Lyle Richardson at Bleacher Report threw around a few long-shot free agent destinations for the coming offseason and the Chicago Blackhawks were mentioned, so here we go. He ties the Blackhawks to Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, who is coming off a tremendous 57-goal season. Richardson writes: “Chicago would be well-positioned to offer him over $10 million annually on a long-term contract if he hits the open market on July 1.” Except for the whole not committing huge dollars to players quite yet part of the equation, even a 57-goal scorer. Love me some Sam Reinhart and would be thrilled if he came to Chicago, but I don’t think he’s the kind of contract GMKD is going to chase — or write — this summer.
While we’re talking free agents, Scott Powers over at The Athletic dropped a mailbag again on Thursday morning. And, like myself and pretty much anyone else who writes/talks about the Blackhawks, he was asked about a potential reunion with Patrick Kane. His response is interesting, including this nugget:
I’ve heard enough in the past few weeks to believe that the Blackhawks are going to at least internally discuss whether to re-sign Kane. The answer may not change, but I do think it’s an agenda item as they lead up to free agency.
My sense is that the answer (read: no, they’re not bringing him back) won’t change. The Blackhawks like what’s developing between Bedard and Kurashev (who played RW with 98 last year). Would it warm my heart to see 88 back in a Blackhawks sweater? Absolutely. But my hopes aren’t higher than they were before. But Powers’ comment is noteworthy.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will speak with the media in Denver at 9:30 AM MT today. The 31-year-old captain of the Avs hasn’t appeared in a game in two full regular seasons because of an injury. If this morning’s presser is to announce his retirement, he’s had one helluva run. Much respect to a really good captain.
There were a couple coaching moves in the NHL on Wednesday, with the Kings and Devils making decisions on their next head coaches. Also on Wednesday, Vancouver’s Rick Tocchet was named the winner of the Jack Adams Award, given to the NHL’s coach of the year. Which he deserved for turning that team around completely and having them come up one goal short of the Western Conference final.
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported on Wednesday that DJ Smith is expected to stay in LA as a part of Jim Hiller’s staff.
Marc Savard is no longer an assistant coach in Calgary, as the two sides agreed to break up on Wednesday.
We can apparently add Marco Sturm to the list of (remaining) candidates for the San Jose Sharks gig. With veteran coaches taking all of the other jobs, the team with the No. 1 overall pick is still looking for a new bench boss.
Finally, something Blackhawks fans can be all-too familiar with: a young player makes his debut and impresses while the team loses miserably.
NEWSLETTER
