Blackhawks winger Andre Burakovsky suffered an undisclosed injury last night against Seattle and was quickly ruled out for tonight’s game against Buffalo as well. However, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be out for too much longer. Head coach Jeff Blashill indicated to CHGO Sports pregame (Twitter link) that the veteran is listed as day-to-day. Acquired from the Kraken over the offseason, the 30-year-old has rebounded quite well with his new team. He has seven goals and eight assists in 18 appearances so far, his best point-per-game mark since 2020-21 when he was with Colorado. Landon Slaggert returned to the lineup tonight to take Burakovsky’s spot in the lineup.
More from the Central:
- While Stars winger Mikko Rantanen didn’t receive any supplemental discipline for his hit on Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov earlier in the week, he is a little lighter in the wallet. Today, the league announced that he has been fined $2K for his second citation of embellishment this season. The first instance came back on October 16th while the second was a week and a half ago against Ottawa. The fine money will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
- With the Predators off to a tough start this season following a rough 2024-25 campaign, some have wondered if GM Barry Trotz, a long-time coach, might think about returning behind the bench if he wants to make a coaching change. Trotz poured cold water on that suggestion, telling Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean that there is a 0.0% chance he’d return behind the bench on a full-time basis. Trotz took over as GM back in 2023 and while it used to be relatively common for someone to serve as head coach and GM, those days are long gone. Nashville has won just six of their 20 games so far in 2025-26 after recording only 68 points last season.
“On a full time basis” seems to leave a little wiggle room there. Regardless, Brunette needs to go.
That “full-time basis” phrase caught my eye too but it’s not included in the linked article. “it would be for a game just because we didn’t have someone that day” was what Trotz said which doesn’t hint at a coaching change or anything imo.
I don’t know what’s going on in Nashville though. Are Brunette and Trotz a package deal?
Sadly, I think it will take 80% of the house being burned down before Trotz would make the change.
Trotz makes 3 bad moves for every good or neutral move he makes. He should have been fired after his first year as GM, and like Doug Wilson’s son, should have never been hired in the first place. Is there a more overrated exec in league history than David Poile?
The only reason I can think of for not replacing Brunette is that Barry is hoping to win the lottery.