NEWSLETTER
Ladies and gentlemen and everything in between, it’s go time! Frank Nazar is back with the NHL club just in time for a back-to-back starting in New Jersey at noon today and then at home for another run at the Islanders tomorrow.
Even with all of the excitement that Nazar brings — and I advocated for his recall previously — I still want to encourage everyone to exercise some patience with him, Kevin Korchinski and the other young players on the roster. Nazar is enjoying a terrific first professional season. But he isn’t going to individually solve all of the offensive issues this team is experiencing. Korchinski isn’t going to change the defense by himself. There’s a lot of work that still needs to get done.
But the fact that we’re starting to see young guys coming up to make an impact is fabulous. And it’s exciting and that’s all we can ask for — well, that and a few wins.
- According to Ben Pope, Nazar was on the top power play unit at the skate on Friday.
- Here’s Pope’s story on Nazar being the latest top prospect to matriculate to the NHL level. He’s right: the more young players we see come up to the NHL, the more tangible the rebuild feels. But those young players need to succeed — not all the time, and not in huge, game-breaking ways. But small battles, faceoffs, loose pucks and (yes, hopefully) scoring plays are where they need to become comfortable competing at the NHL level. And we need to have patience for them to make mistakes.
- Craig Smith is dealing with a lower back issue and will be back out of the lineup later today. We’ll see if he requires an IR trip or if he’s back (no pun intended) sooner than later. The Blackhawks have five games in the next seven days…
- On Friday, the Islanders placed Oliver Wahlstrom and Pierre Engvall on waivers. I’ll have my eye on their roster today to see if Isaiah George or either of these guys is assigned to their AHL affiliate because the Islanders have three important players appearing to be ready to return to their lineup as soon as… tomorrow in Chicago against the Blackhawks. Nothing says fun on the weekend like the team that scored five unanswered goal against you on Thursday night getting Barzal and Duclair and Pelech back for the Sunday afternoon rematch…
- Hockey Canada named their roster for the 2025 World Juniors. I still think Nick Lardis would have looked good on this team…
- Yeah, I keep my eyes on the 2025 NHL Draft even while the NHL season is going on (you know this). And Porter Martone is a name I have had circled at the top of the draft for the Blackhawks for some time. This is a great look at the prospect ahead of the World Juniors.
How about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?
- As we get closer to the holidays and the start of the World Juniors, schedules in junior and college are getting lighter. But Blackhawks prospects still had a nice night on Friday. In the OHL, Jack Pridham scored twice for Kitchener in a 3-2 Rangers overtime win.
Friday night 🚨 from #Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham for @OHLRangers
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 14, 2024
pic.twitter.com/Eoh3FfYdRj
A second 🚨🚨 on Friday night for #Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham for @OHLRangers
pic.twitter.com/5GTJfp3lrP— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 14, 2024
- Nick Lardis had one goal and one assist for Brantford. His assist was the primary helper on the overtime game-winner as the final score was 2-1. Here’s his 26th goal of the season:
JIRICEK🤝LARDIS!🐶@NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis opened up the scoring for @BulldogsOHL with a beautiful shot after a nice pass from @StLouisBlues prospect Adam Jiricek!🚨⚫️🟡#OHL | @CHLHockey | #Blackhawks | #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/MYVIfj76VG— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) December 14, 2024
- Alex Pharand‘s heater continued for Sudbury. He was credited with two assists in a 5-4 win that also required overtime.
- In the NCAA ranks, Minnesota fought hard for a 3-3 tie against Michigan State. Because of injuries, the Gophers only had 10 available forwards for the game and Nick Michel got the showers early for an illegal hit, limiting them to one fewer player for a significant portion of the game. Oliver Moore had one assist (it was a beauty, Clark) and Sam Rinzel skated big, big minutes in the tie.
#Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore shot out of a cannon here, picks up the primary 🍎 on the @GopherHockey goal
pic.twitter.com/Xc1q6EXbcv— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 14, 2024
- Aidan Thompson had one assist in Denver’s 5-4 loss to Colorado College.
- Sacha Boisvert had this gorgeous assist as North Dakota beat St. Cloud State 2-0.
Gorgeous 🍎 here from #Blackhawks prospect Sacha Boisvert here for @UNDmhockey
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 14, 2024
pic.twitter.com/5nlQ7qzzwx
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- Michael’s on board with the Cubs extending Justin Steele.
- The Bears and Vikings are getting the top shelf stuff on Monday Night Football.
- The Bulls provided some injury updates.
