Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blackhawks Rumors

Anders Sorensen Likely To Remain On Blackhawks’ Staff

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Blackhawks have been linked to Jeff Blashill for their head coaching vacancy in the last few weeks and are widely expected to make that hiring official in the coming days. That begged questions about the future of Anders Sorensen, who finished the season as interim head coach after Chicago fired Luke Richardson in the early going. He’ll be remaining with the club, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports, although whether that’s as an assistant on Blashill’s staff or back where he started 2024-25 in AHL Rockford remains to be seen.

It’s unclear if Sorensen was ever a legitimate candidate to have his interim tag removed. The Blackhawks kept their search rather tight-lipped over the last couple of months, with Blashill and University of Denver coach David Carle’s names the only ones ever firmly connected to their vacancy.

He’s definitely no stranger to the organization. The 50-year-old Swede has served with the Blackhawks in some capacity dating back to 2014, first as a development coach with the NHL and AHL clubs before being tabbed as an assistant coach for Rockford in 2018-19. He was promoted to serve as Rockford’s head coach in November of 2021 and held the role until Richardson’s firing last December.

There’s been a slow but clear upward trajectory for him in the organization. It makes sense that, assuming he wasn’t getting many calls from other teams about their head coach vacancies, he’d be happy to stick around with a club, either in Chicago or Rockford, that he’s obviously quite comfortable with.

Chicago finished the season with a 17-30-9 (.384) record under Sorensen, just marginally better than the 8-16-2 (.346) mark they started the season with under Richardson. Their new hire will be their fifth coach in as many years, including interim bench bosses.

Blackhawks RFA Aku Raty Signs In Finland

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Blackhawks pending restricted free agent forward Aku Raty won’t be returning to the club next season. He’s inked a two-year contract with Karpat of his native Finland’s Liiga, the club announced today.

Chicago acquired Raty from the Mammoth in a minor trade-deadline deal, headlined by retired defenseman Shea Weber’s contract changing hands from Utah to the Hawks. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Coyotes in 2019 and made his NHL debut in the franchise’s final game in 2023-24, recording an assist. That stands as his only NHL appearance to date. While he made the trip to Utah with all of his former Arizona teammates, he was assigned back to AHL Tucson at the beginning of the season and never got a call-up.

Raty’s minor-league showing in 2024-25 was also a steep regression from the prior year, which was his first in North America. The 6’0″ winger was among Tucson’s top scorers in his first taste of AHL hockey with a 15-29–44 scoring line in 55 games, more than earning a brief look in the Coyotes’ lineup. But Raty posted just four goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 50 games for Tucson this year, combined with a -12 rating, before being dealt to the Blackhawks. A change of scenery with Chicago’s affiliate in Rockford helped somewhat, posting six points in 15 outings down the stretch, but that evidently wasn’t enough for him to consider remaining in the Chicago organization.

Raty will return to Karpat, where he played most of his youth hockey and spent three Liiga seasons from 2019-20 to 2021-22. His breakout campaign overseas in 2022-23 came after he transferred to Ilves. The Blackhawks can still retain his signing rights through 2029 if they opt to issue him a qualifying offer.

Jeff Blashill Remains Overwhelming Head Coach Favorite

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Lightning assistant Jeff Blashill isn’t just the only name firmly linked to the Blackhawks’ vacancy this summer; he’s becoming the clear favorite for the role, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast. Talk around the league sprouted up aggressively this week after Blashill canceled an interview he had with another club about their opening.

It’s premature because the Blackhawks also have a strong interest in someone on the staff of a recently eliminated team, Friedman said. “It’s possible that one of the reasons there has been a bit of a delay is somebody who is central to the process with the Blackhawks was not available at the end of last week, so it had to be pushed into this week. He is a very serious contender there. I just can’t tell you it’s 100% his job” (via CHGO Blackhawks).

The fact that Blashill’s the only name leaked from what’s otherwise been an airtight coaching search for Chicago likely speaks volumes about how highly the club values him compared to other candidates they’ve interviewed. Chicago surely hopes that after a few years of working under Jon Cooper in Tampa, he’s able to get the Blackhawks to greater heights exiting their rebuild than the success he had as head coach of the Red Wings at the beginning of theirs.

Reichel Out For Rest Of Worlds

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • Germany winger Lukas Reichel won’t play in the rest of the event due to an injury sustained on Tuesday, reports Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription link). It’s expected he’ll need more time beyond that to recover but he is expected to get close to a full offseason of training in.  The 23-year-old is coming off a disappointing season with the Blackhawks, one that saw him record just eight goals and 14 assists in 70 games while seeing his playing time drop below 11 minutes per game.

Blackhawks Fire Strength Coach Paul Goodman

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Blackhawks Interview Jeff Blashill For Head Coaching Vacancy

at CDT | by 19 Comments

As Chicago has searched for its next bench boss, they’ve been linked to very few candidates.  Aside from potentially retaining interim head coach Anders Sorensen, the only external candidate they were known to speak with was David Carle who instead is remaining at the University of Denver.

However, another coach has popped up in the search.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link) that the Blackhawks have interviewed Jeff Blashill for their head coaching position.

Blashill has only been the bench boss once at the NHL level but it was a fairly lengthy stint as he spent seven years at the helm of Detroit, running from 2015-16 to 2021-22.  While the Red Wings made the playoffs in his first year with the team, they failed to do so in the other six (and haven’t since he was let go, either).  Under the 51-year-old’s tutelage, Detroit played to a 204-261-70 record, good for a points percentage of just .480.

Blashill has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Lightning and has been a speculative candidate for other roles before now.  It appears that Chicago isn’t the only team potentially interested in him as Seravalli added that Seattle is believed to be considering him as well.  At this point, it certainly feels like Blashill is going to get another opportunity to run an NHL bench but whether Chicago, a team that’s looking to emerge from its rebuild and become much more competitive in a hurry, is the right fit for his services remains to be seen.

Chicago brought in Luke Richardson as their head coach in 2022 with an eye on more of a development-focused approach.  However, the team struggled mightily with him at the helm, winning just 57 of 190 games, resulting in Sorensen being brought up from AHL Rockford back in early December to take over the rest of the way but the Blackhawks only won 17 of 56 games following the change, resulting in a coaching search that is nearing the one-month mark.

Marc-André Fleury Announces Retirement

at CDT | by 13 Comments

The last goaltender selected with the first overall pick has officially hung up his skates. As expected after his farewell tour, the NHL Alumni Association announced that Marc-André Fleury has retired from the NHL after 21 seasons.

Fleury’s career began on October 10, 2003, on a rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins’ team, losing to the Los Angeles Kings. He wouldn’t have to wait long for his first win, as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings a few days later on October 18th.

It wouldn’t be Fleury’s win against Detroit either. Although they lost in a hotly contested 2008 Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins won a year later. Thanks to a game-saving win against Nicklas Lidstrom in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final, Fleury backstopped Pittsburgh to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1992.

Although the Penguins had successful seasons, it took a few years for them to return to the Stanley Cup Final. When they finally made it back, Fleury had moved into a backup role, while Matt Murray took over as the starting goaltender. Murray helped lead the Penguins to consecutive championships in 2016 and 2017.

This was largely the end of Fleury’s tenure in Pittsburgh. The team left Fleury exposed in that summer’s expansion draft, again in favor of Murray, leaving the upstart Vegas Golden Knights to select him.

Fleury, with an impressive record of 29 wins, 13 losses, and 4 overtime losses, along with a .927 save percentage in 46 games, helped the Golden Knights not only reach the playoffs but also advance to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year.. Unfortunately, Vegas couldn’t capitalize on their Cinderella run, it was a clear resurgence in Fleury’s career.

He experienced several more successful years with Vegas before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in late summer 2021. ’Flower’ only spent one year with the Original Six organization before being traded to the Minnesota Wild at the subsequent trade deadline.

Finally, Fleury’s career ended last night at the hands of the Golden Knights. He finished his career with a 575-339-97 record in 1,051 career games with a .912 SV% and 2.6o GAA. He won the Vezina Trophy along with the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2020-21 and currently sits second all-time in goalie win leaders, besting Patrick Roy by 24 wins and falling short of Martin Brodeur by 116.

Ed Van Impe Passes Away

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Former NHL defenseman Ed Van Impe, who played in the league from 1966 to 1977, has passed away at age 84, according to a statement from the Flyers.

Undrafted, Van Impe spent six years playing minor professional hockey with the WHL-Sr.’s Calgary Stampeders and the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons before earning his first NHL contract with the Blackhawks (then the Black Hawks) at age 26. The hard-hitting 5’10”, 205-lb lefty impressed as a rookie, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting in the final season of the Original Six era with an 8-11–19 scoring line, a +29 rating, and a team-leading 111 PIMs in 61 games.

Van Impe was drafted by the Flyers in the expansion draft the following offseason, marking the beginning of where he spent the vast majority of his career. The Saskatchewan native appeared in 620 regular-season games for the Flyers over the next nine seasons, posting 19 goals, 107 assists, 126 points, and a +68 rating with 891 PIMs. He was part of the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1974 and 1975, posting seven points and a +18 rating in 34 games across the two championship runs.

A three-time All-Star Game participant, Van Impe spent the final season and a half of his NHL career with the cross-state rival Penguins following a 1976 trade deadline deal. He finished his NHL career with 27 goals, 126 assists, 153 points, and a +99 rating in 703 games. Even today, he’s still fourth on the Flyers’ all-time list of games played among defensemen.

All of us at PHR send our condolences to Van Impe’s friends and family and the Flyers organization.

David Carle Withdraws From Consideration For Blackhawks Head Coaching Position

at CDT | by 20 Comments

The Blackhawks are one of a handful of teams looking to find their next head coach.  Among their perceived top candidates was Denver University bench boss David Carle.  However, they’ll have to turn their sights elsewhere as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Carle has withdrawn from consideration for the position, adding that Chicago made an aggressive pursuit for his services.

The 35-year-old has been a mainstay at Denver since his playing days unexpectedly came to an end when he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy just before his draft year.  The school honored his scholarship offer and he worked with the team as a graduate assistant coach for four years before he moved to the USHL, joining Green Bay as an assistant coach.

That only lasted parts of two seasons before Carle rejoined Denver in 2014 where he has been ever since.  He was an assistant with them until the 2018-19 when he took over as their head coach and his stock has been on the rise since then.

During his time with the Pioneers, Carle has three NCHC titles along with a pair of NCAA championships.  Internationally, he led Team USA to gold medals in each of the last two years.  With nothing left to prove at the collegiate level, Carle has been a speculative candidate for pretty much every coaching search thus far.

It’s unclear as to why Carle pulled his name out of the mix with the Blackhawks who would have been an intriguing fit for him as a young team that’s still developing but has plenty of young players including seven who played for him either in college or at the World Juniors, including top youngsters Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and Sam Rinzel.

It’s possible that another team has emerged as a front-runner for Carle, resulting in the withdrawal as he focuses on finalizing a contract.  Alternatively, Carle could have withdrawn after not liking Chicago’s offer or wanting to go through what’s likely to be a couple more years of a rebuild.  It’s also possible that Carle decides to stay at Denver which has become a top program and is likely to add more quality prospects for next season.

In the meantime, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson will have to turn his focus elsewhere in terms of finding his next head coach.  At the moment, there aren’t any candidates who are known to have interviewed with Chicago while interim bench boss Anders Sorensen remains in consideration for the full-time position.

Offseason Checklist: Chicago Blackhawks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Chicago.

Last summer, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson upped his spending, bringing in several veterans with an eye on raising the floor of the current group while allowing some of their prospects to get more time in with AHL Rockford.  It accomplished the latter but not the former as they finished second last for the second straight year while being in the bottom three overall for the third consecutive campaign.  As a result, there’s another busy to-do list for Chicago this offseason.

Hire A Head Coach

One of the first items that Davidson will need to do is get his coaching situation sorted out.  Following a slow start to the season, Luke Richardson was let go after the team played to just an 8-16-2 record.  Anders Sorensen was then promoted from AHL Rockford on an interim basis but couldn’t get much more out of the group as Chicago was 17-30-9 the rest of the way while former Blackhawk blueliner Seth Jones bemoaned the lack of progress the team had made just a few days before he was dealt to Florida.

While Sorensen is expected to receive consideration for the full-time head coaching position, it would be a surprise to see him get the role given the lack of improvement following Richardson’s dismissal.  More likely is that he remains with the organization either as an assistant or returning to the IceHogs.

There are a couple of options that Davidson can go here.  He can opt for another first-time head coach that can focus on player development or look for a more experienced one to try to give them a short-term boost to get them out of the basement in the standings.

On the first-time coach front, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported last week on CHSN (Twitter link) that Denver University head coach David Carle sits atop their wish list of candidates.  Carle’s coaching experience is predominantly limited to his time with Denver (spanning more than a decade) aside from a brief assistant coach role with USHL Green Bay previously and running USA Hockey’s World Junior team the last two seasons.  While that’s not necessarily the typical route for a coach to take before going to the NHL, Carle is widely considered to be one of the top options available this year.  They could also look to some AHL bench bosses if they want to go with more of a development coach.

But after three years of being in the bottom three, there’s an expectation that Chicago should be starting to move to the next phase of its rebuild, one that makes them much more competitive.  In that case, they could be inclined to look toward a more experienced coach, one with a track record of getting more out of their team quickly.  This wouldn’t necessarily have to be the long-term hire for the rebuild but rather someone to help take them through the next phase of being more competitive.  With other teams having openings now, Davidson will have to move fairly quickly if he has a top target or two to try to land.

Bedard Extension Talks

While Connor Bedard’s first two NHL seasons may not have quite lived up to the lofty expectations that were placed upon him, they were still pretty good.  After putting up 61 points in 68 games in his rookie year, he picked up 23 goals and 44 assists in 82 games this season, leading the Blackhawks in scoring for the second straight season.  Thrown to the wolves in terms of getting top minutes and the toughest defensive assignments, the good more than outweighed the bad even with the 2023 top pick struggling a bit more often than expected.

Nonetheless, there’s no reason to think that Bedard isn’t going to be a significant part of their long-term core.  Even if he doesn’t become the next elite NHL superstar, he appears well on his way to being an impact top liner.  Basically, he’s already there at age 19.  Accordingly, there should be no hesitation in trying to lock him up to an extension as soon as possible.

In this case, as soon as possible is July 1st as that’s when Bedard officially begins the final year of his entry-level contract which makes him extension-eligible.  He has made it clear that he wants to remain with Chicago long-term so both sides will almost certainly be focusing on trying to get a deal done this summer.

As is often the case in these situations, there’s a lot of projecting that will need to be done on both sides in terms of trying to extrapolate how much more Bedard can do offensively.  Based on his output the last two years, his likely AAV would come in around $8.5MM.  But it’s unlikely Bedard would sign for that on a long-term deal at this point; it would make more sense for him to wait and see if he has a big boost in production that could up his price tag considerably in the 2026 offseason.  With that in mind, it’s going to take a fair bit more than that to get something done now.

The projected cap increases make older comparisons a little less usable now but high-end picks were often coming in between 9.5% and 11% of the cap when they were signed.  Bedard should feasibly be in that range.  Based off the NHL’s tentative target of a $104MM Upper Limit for 2026-27, that would put Bedard’s range between $9.88MM and $11.44MM.  Connor McDavid’s second deal was an outlier but checked in at 15.74% which would be $16.37MM in 2026-27 dollars.  That would be the richest deal in league history so Bedard’s unlikely to land there but something toward the top of that 11% range could very well be what’s needed to get something done in the months ahead.

Restart Donato Discussions

Going back to before the trade deadline, one of the discussions going on was with forward Ryan Donato.  The pending UFA was in the midst of a career year and the hope was that they could get a deal done and avoid any speculation of moving him by March 7th.  That didn’t happen but Davidson elected to set a very high asking price, one that no one was willing to meet so Donato stayed put for the stretch run.

Now that the season is over, it’s time for those talks to get rekindled.  Before the deadline, Scott Powers of The Athletic reported (subscription link) that the deal that the team put on the table was a three-year offer worth somewhere around $4MM per season.  Considering the 29-year-old made $2MM the last two years, that’s a fairly significant improvement while giving him some medium-term stability which is notable considering he’s played for five teams in his eight-year career.

However, a price tag around there isn’t exactly commensurate with the season Donato just had.  He finished second to Bedard in team scoring with 31 goals and 31 assists in 80 games while even spending a bulk of the season at center, a position that’s in high demand on the open market.  Other players with a track record of that type of production could command $7MM or more a few months from now.

Of course, Donato doesn’t exactly have that track record of production.  Before this season, he had only reached 30 points twice while his personal bests in goals and assists were 16 and 18, respectively.  As a result, this season was quite the outlier for Donato and that is certainly factored into Chicago’s offer to retain him.  Their offer is a relatively low-risk one given that they have ample cap space and several veterans coming off the books in 2026.

Donato will need to assess if he’s better off staying in a situation that he has clearly had success in or testing the market to see if someone’s willing to make a more lucrative and/or longer-term offer, assuming there isn’t much wiggle room in what the Blackhawks currently have on the table.  There’s still lots of time to get something done but after getting their new head coach in place, this should shift to the top of Davidson’s short-term priority list.

Make A Splash

Last summer, the Blackhawks had plenty of cap space, leading some to wonder if they might take a big swing.  Instead, they spent on bringing in plenty of veterans, highlighted by Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen up front and Alec Martinez on the back end.  There were varying degrees of success with those signings; Teravainen wasn’t far behind Donato for second on the team in scoring while on the other end, T.J. Brodie struggled so much that he might be a buyout candidate in June.

That approach worked with this being another year where expectations weren’t particularly high.  Their prospects got more development time in Rockford, again, to varying degrees of success.  But while they got away with this strategy last summer, it feels like they need to something much more substantial to at least drag the rebuild forward.

Chicago needs to find a way to land an impact talent or two.  In a perfect world, they outbid teams for one of the top players up front, giving Bedard a running mate to see if that helps him take the next step forward toward living up to his lofty potential.  With a little over $30MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, the money is certainly there to spend this summer.  Meanwhile, even with Bedard heading for a big-ticket contract in 2026, it should be affordable with the Blackhawks having a deep prospect pool, allowing them to have most cost-controlled players over the coming years.  The time feels right for Chicago to take a big swing this summer.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top