NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks will host the Nashville Predators tonight. Word on the street is the Preds will raise a banner if they can get back to .500 before the end of the month. There’s hope the Blackhawks won’t contribute to their turnaround. After a couple hard days of practice since two flat performances, it’s going to be very interesting to see how the Hawks come out of the room and skate in the first period tonight. The leaders have all said they need to be better. The coaches shouldn’t have to, but they have as well. At this point, it’s up to the players who are on the ice to execute their responsibilities. So… yeah. Here we go!
A couple Blackhawks injury updates to get this Friday party started:
- Alec Martinez skated before practice on Thursday and joined the team for the start of the full skate.
- Laurent Brossoit is still ramping up his on-ice work. He will not be with the team to start the upcoming road trip but might join the team during the trip if possible.
- Head coach Luke Richardson made one change to the top power play unit at practice on Thursday. Expect to see Alex Vlasic on that unit tonight with the Preds in town. Richardson said his conversation with Seth Jones (see above) was about that and his overall performance against Vancouver.
“It was about [the power play change] but also about 5-on-5 play and he said he wasnโt the greatest, as our whole team wasnโt the greatest last game or the smoothest. And just to make sure he understands heโs a great athlete, but we just need him to be like any other D: move the puck quick, join the rush in the second wave. We donโt need him to lead the rush and be up and down the ice 200 feet, wasting all of our energy, especially with Martinez out right now. Thatโs a lot of weight on him and Vlasic to play against top lines, especially when we have the last change at home. That takes a lot of energy out of the game, and they defend well. So, they have to do that for us but then we need them to have some energy to also play on the power play and make a difference there. so we canโt have them exhausted every shift, going up and down the ice trying to do everything. Just to kind of settle things, let the game come to him. Heโs been good this year and has had a good start so we want it to continue.”
- I will also note that Lukas Reichel was playing the bumper position on the second power play unit on Thursday.
- Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen confirmed on Thursday that defenseman Artyom Levshunov will make his pro debut this weekend in Manitoba.
- While we’re on the subject of the Rockford IceHogs, let’s go ahead and put together a couple other storylines in the Blackhawks organ-I-zation. Yesterday I wrote about the Blackhawks being prominently mentioned in trade rumors this week by prominent insiders, saying Chicago is in the market for a second-line center. When I wrote about that, I noted that the job was effectively not addressed in the summer spending spree by general manager Kyle Davidson because they wanted to leave the door ajar for Frank Nazar to grab the job. Nazar did not win an NHL roster spot in camp and is now in Rockford… where he’s doing exactly what you would want from a top prospect: he’s playing very well, impacting every game and putting points up. He has two goals and two assists in three games and is playing well on both special teams and at even strength.
- On Friday morning, Scott Powers over at The Athletic wrote a terrific piece about the Blackhawks’ development plan for Nazar. It’s a very good read (which is why I’m including it here) but I specifically wanted to pull this quote from GMKD. This is pretty consistent with what we’ve heard the front office and coaches telling young players like Nazar, Landon Slaggert, Colton Dach, Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro and others as they get the bus ticket to Rockford. It’s encouraging. And it’s a reminder that this front office — unlike its predecessor — is truly valuing the IceHogs as a development tool.
โI thought (his preseason) was strong, perhaps just not enough to kick the door down and jump into the NHL,โ Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson recently said. โBut thereโs some things we really liked about Frankโs game, and you can just see heโs such a smart player. He can make these plays that not a lot of other players can make. We love his pace. I think itโs just getting used to the pro game. Consistency for any young player is a big thing, but consistency using what heโs best at, his assets to his advantage, I think is something thatโs best repped out in Rockford. But I thought he was really good. I wouldnโt say he had a below-average camp or an average game. I thought he had a really good camp. Just we had bodies here and it just wasnโt enough to kind of bump someone out of a spot at the NHL level. But heโs got every opportunity to go down there and show us that he is ready to come up and stay.โ
- Ben Pope wrote a really good dissection of Tyler Bertuzzi‘s first seven games in a Blackhawks sweater. He’s had chances, but it’s how he’s gotten there — and where he hasn’t — that got Ben’s attention. Good read here, which also speaks to the Blackhawks’ still evolving lineup.
- This is pretty cool. Michael Leighton was on the wrong end of arguably the most famous goal in Blackhawks history but also spent four seasons with the Norfolk Admirals when they were the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate (2001-05) and then the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons in Rockford with the IceHogs. Leighton was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in the sixth round of the 1999 NHL Draft. He’s being inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame next year! Congrats!
- We’re intentionally a little light on the non-Blackhawks news in this morning’s Bullets because we already took a lap Around the NHL.
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- It’s almost time for the NFL’s trade deadline (yes, that’s a thing) and the Bears have been linked to one of the best pass rushers in the entire league.
- The Bulls lost their first game of the season, but Zach LaVine had a solid night.
- The first set of free agent projections for Major League Baseball are out. There are a few noteworthy Cubs included.
