West Notes: Blackhawks, Markstrom, Sveningsson

While this season has been a disappointing one for Chicago, it doesn’t appear as if any front office changes are on the horizon.  Team chairman Rocky Wirtz told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) that team president John McDonough, GM Stan Bowman, and head coach Jeremy Colliton are all expected to return for next season.  The Blackhawks currently sit in the basement of the Central Division and barring a significant expansion of the playoff pool, they’ll miss the postseason for the third straight year.  Powers notes that Bowman’s last announced contract extension took him through 2020-21 so if there hasn’t been anything signed since then, he’ll be entering the final year of his deal.  McDonough wouldn’t comment on whether or not a new contract for him is already in place.

More from the Western Conference:

• Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom has fully recovered from his knee injury, GM Jim Benning acknowledged in an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). With Vancouver on the outside looking in at a Wild Card spot (tied with Nashville but they hold the tiebreaker), that’s good news for any potential stretch run.  Benning also reiterated his desire to get the pending UFA signed to a contract extension but with next year’s salary cap in question given everything that has happened these last few weeks, it’s unlikely that there will be much in the way of negotiations in the next little while.
• Flames prospect Filip Sveningsson confirmed to Simon Holm Stalhand of Hockey Sverige that has been released from his SHL team in Oskarshamn. The winger was a seventh-round pick back in 2017 after a strong showing offensively at the junior level.  However, that has yet to carry over to the pros as injuries and general ineffectiveness limited him to just two goals and two assists in 29 SHL games this season.  Sveningsson indicated that some other teams in Sweden have shown interest but if Calgary has any plans on signing him (they have until June of 2021 to do so), this would be a good opportunity to bring him over to North America.