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Chicago Blackhawks Sign Dennis Gilbert To Three-Year Deal

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After we saw Jordan Gross sign with the Arizona Coyotes yesterday, another Notre Dame defenseman has decided to turn pro. Dennis Gilbert has signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, that will take him through the 2020-21 season. Gilbert is headed to the Rockford IceHogs for the remainder of the year on an amateur tryout.

While Gross may have more offensive upside, there is little to dislike in Gilbert’s defensive game. The 6’2″ 200-lbs defenseman is an outstanding athlete, and has taken huge strides to improve his skating over the past few seasons. A feared body checker and shut down player, he was named the Hockey East best defensive defenseman in 2017. That ability in his own end could pave a quick route to the NHL for Gilbert, who is no slouch with the puck on his stick.

Though he doesn’t carry it through the neutral zone as often as some of his contemporaries, he has a good first pass and get the puck out of his own end with possession. Deployed as a shadow of the opponent’s best players this season, he recorded just 10 points, but had 22 assists the year prior. The third-round pick from 2015 is still developing too, and could grow in to a full-time player for the Blackhawks.

2018 NHL Draft Lottery Odds

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The regular season is over and for the first time in NHL history there are 15 teams on the outside of the playoff picture. For those squads and their fans, it’s a long wait for anything positive to come, with the 2018 NHL Entry Draft more than ten weeks away, scheduled for June 18th, and the start of free agency another two weeks after that. However, the odds for this year’s NHL Draft Lottery are now set and teams can at least look forward to the ping pong balls being drawn at the end of the month, on Saturday, April 28th. With the teams in the running now set, here are the odds for the #1 overall pick in this years draft:

31st – Buffalo Sabres: 18.5%

30th – Ottawa Senators: 13.5%

29th – Arizona Coyotes: 11.5%

28th – Montreal Canadiens: 9.5%

27th – Detroit Red Wings: 8.5%

26th – Vancouver Canucks: 7.5%

25th – Chicago Blackhawks: 6.5%

24th – New York Rangers: 6.0%

23rd – Edmonton Oilers: 5.0%

22nd – New York Islanders: 3.5%

21st – Carolina Hurricanes: 3.0%

20th – New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames): 2.5%

19th – Dallas Stars: 2.0%

18th – Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis Blues (top-ten option)): 1.5%

17th – Florida Panthers: 1.0%

If you are a fan of one of these teams, you can entertain yourself for the next few weeks with this Lottery Simulator from Tankathon.com.

Snapshots: World Championships, Wild, Mariners

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Jeff Blashill will once again be the head coach of Team USA at the upcoming World Championships, with Dan Bylsma, Don Granato and Seth Appert joining him behind the bench. Blashill coached last year’s squad to a fifth-place finish, but he’ll be getting some star power this time around.

Patrick Kane has announced that he will suit up for the tournament, and he will serve as captain of Team USA. Alex DeBrincat will also be joining Kane for the US squad, a nice reward after an outstanding rookie season that saw him lead the Blackhawks with 28 goals.

  • The Minnesota Wild have recalled Carson Soucy, and expect him to be in the lineup for Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets. They might get another huge boost on the blue line though, as Jared Spurgeon was back on the ice today at practice. Spurgeon hasn’t yet been cleared to return to game action, but was paired with Soucy at practice and will attempt to get into the lineup for Wednesday’s match.
  • The New York Rangers have signed an affiliation with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL that will start in 2018-19. The Rangers had previously been affiliated with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, but will now have both of their minor league partners—their AHL affiliate is the Hartford Wolf Pack—located in the northeast.

Chicago Blackhawks Focused On Keeping Young Talent

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The Chicago Blackhawks have an interesting summer in front of them, as they try to turn around what was a disastrous season and compete again in 2018-19. The core of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford will all be on the wrong side of 30 by the middle of November, making a rebuild out of the question.

Because of that group and how much cap space is needed to retain them, the Blackhawks have been forced to trade away young talent over the years. That’s not the plan anymore, as GM Stan Bowman explained to reporters today at an end-of-year press conference (via Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times):

Our No. 1 priority as we move forward is to make sure we can keep these young players: [Alex] DeBrincat, [Nick] Schmaltz and [Vinnie] Hinostroza and some other young players. That’s the direction we’re headed.

While it’s true that the Stanley Cup-winning core is heading out of their prime, the young blood that has joined the team is something to look forward to. DeBrincat led the team with 28 goals as a rookie and would be getting more attention for the Calder trophy in a regular year (that is, one without the outstanding crop of first-year players the league has seen) while Schmaltz slid into a role beside Kane and recorded 52 points.

Only Hinostroza, who played only 50 games and recorded 25 points, is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. His deal shouldn’t be financially crippling, especially because of the room afforded by Marian Hossa’s long-term injury. Bowman spoke on that as well, telling reporters that there is “no indication that he’s going to play next season.” 

With the cap increasing by somewhere around $5MM, the Blackhawks should have a little money to play with in free agency if they so choose. As Lazerus reports though, Chicago won’t be handing out any long-term deals—meaning they’ll probably be out of the running on most of the top names. While that may be disappointing, the team has to still think of where their salary structure will sit in a few seasons when Schmaltz, DeBrincat and others do need raises.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Western Notes: Blackhawks, Greenway, Horvat, Dahlen, Kovalchuk

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Don’t expect too many changes in the Chicago Blackhawks roster this season. At least that’s what Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times writes as he examines the roster and the team’s salary cap flexibility.

Coach Joel Quenneville admitted that many things went wrong this year, but he believes that if the team comes back and all play better, the Blackhawks should return to the playoffs next season. Factor in the loss of Marian Hossa, the injury to goaltender Corey Crawford and some down years by several key players, perhaps a turnaround is possible.

“If we all collectively have better years in all aspects … I believe we’re very capable of [rebounding],” Quenneville said. “We’ve seen many games this year where we look like we could be a really good team. [It’s] just that consistency, putting that in place.”

Lazerus writes that the team should look into adding a top-four defenseman, but was quick to point out that it’s unlikely the team will go after Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson as that pricetag would be too high even though it looks as if the Blackhawks should have considerable cap space. He also adds the team desperately needs to find a quality backup goaltender to avoid the problems the team had to endure during the second half of this season.

  • Sarah McLellan of the StarTribune writes that while the Minnesota Wild’s bottom line of Tyler Ennis, Matt Cullen and Charlie Coyle has been successful of late, but head coach Bruce Boudreau might break it up as it sounds like the coach is leaning towards starting rookie Jordan Greenway over Ennis. “I don’t know where he’s going to play [in the playoffs], but I’m sure I’ll find a spot,” Boudreau said.
  • Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet tweeted that Vancouver Canucks forward Bo Horvat received an invitation to play for Canada at the upcoming world championships in Denmark this summer.
  • Dhaliwal also adds that Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen will rest for a few days before reporting to the Utica Comets of the AHL. Dahlen, a prospect the Canucks acquired at the trade deadline in 2016 for Alexandre Burrows, has been lighting up the Allvenskan league and helped lead his team Timra to be promoted to Sweden’s top tier league.
  • European reporter Alex Nunn tweeted that KHL star Ilya Kovalchuk has confirmed that he will spend the next two or three seasons in the NHL. Kovalchuk will be an unrestricted free agent on April 15, when he turns 35 years old.

Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Boychuk, Pulock, Ward, Kempny

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With the New York Rangers being the first team in almost a year to be looking for a head coach after firing Alain Vigneault Saturday evening, the team has said it will commence with their search immediately. The team must decide whether they are looking for a big name coach, a up-and-coming coach or a coach that is good at working with young players.

The New York Post’s Larry Brooks offers 10 potential candidates to replace Vigneault, leading those suggestions with three collegiate coaches, including the University of Denver’s Jim Montgomery, Boston University’s David Quinn and Union College’s Rick Bennett. He also suggests Toronto Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe of the AHL would be a good fit.

According to Brooks, there are also several veteran NHL coaches available, including Dan Bylsma, Darryl Sutter, Dave Tippett and Patrick Roy.

  • Andrew Gross of Newsday reports that veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk will undergo surgery Monday, but would not reveal what it is for. The 34-year-old defenseman missed quite some time this season, playing in just 58 games this season. He is expected to be 100 percent by June.
  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that while little has gone right this year, one bright spot has been the strong finish of rookie defenseman Ryan Pulock. The 23-year-old blueliner finished with 10 goals, most in the NHL for rookie defensemen. His 18:24 of average ice time was second among rookie defensemen behind Boston’s Charlie McAvoy. Staple suggests that his improvement on the defensive end could potentially make him a top-pairing defenseman.
  • The Charlotte Observer’s Chip Alexander wonders what will happen to long-time goaltender Cam Ward now that the season is over. The veteran goalie who has spent 13 years with the organization will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and at 34 years old, the team must decide whether they want to bring him back or go in a different direction. Despite taking a backup role this year, Ward still played in 43 games and finished with a 2.78 GAA and a .906 save percentage as he had to fill in for a struggling Scott Darling. Of course, with no general manager in place yet, it might be a while before the team sorts that out.
  • After going out a year ago and trading for star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and then being eliminated in the first round, the Washington Capitals have taken the opposite course this year, quietly trading for Michal Kempny from the Chicago Blackhawks. While hardly a headlining defenseman, Kempny has been a good fit with Washington and has changed their defense for the better, according to Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. Kempny, who was often a healthy scratch for Chicago has filled in as a top-four defenseman and is averaging 16:46 per game. As the team prepares for a matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs, they hope the improvement of their defense might help them with a long playoff run.

Minor Transactions: 4/8/18

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With the Eastern Conference still undecided until today’s final regular season game, the Western Conference has no questions as the Colorado Avalanche finished off the St. Louis Blues in a 5-2 victory Saturday as they clinched the final playoff spot. The Nashville Predators got the top spot and will face the Avalanche. In other first-round matchups, the Vegas Golden Knights will face the Los Angeles Kings, the Anaheim Ducks will face the San Jose Sharks and the Minnesota Wild will face the Winnipeg Jets. 

Florida Panthers’ Radim Vrbata To Retire After Season

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The Florida Panthers honored veteran Radim Vrbata during tonight’s game and announced that tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres will be his final appearance in an NHL uniform. He is not expected to play tomorrow and will retire at the end of the season, confirms Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington.

The 36-year-old winger has only appeared in 41 games this season and hasn’t played since March 8. He has just five goals and 19 points this season, a far cry from a season ago, when he scored 20 goals and tallied 55 points with the Arizona Coyotes.

In his 17-year career, Vrbata has played for multiple teams, including the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and the Panthers. He has played in 1,056 games, putting up 284 goals and 339 assists for 623 points and had two 30-goal seasons.

Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp To Retire At End Of Season

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Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Sharp played in his final home game Friday and is expected to play his final game of his career Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg, ending a lengthy career since 2005 and including 10 years as a integral piece to the Blackhawks, which led to three Stanley Cup championships.

“I think I’ve known what I wanted to do for a long period of time here and it’s never easy, you know?” an emotional Sharp said in the Blackhawks’ dressing room following the loss via Chris Kuk of The Athletic. “But I think I’m just ready to take that next step in my life, and I’m looking forward to it.”

In two stints with Chicago, the 36-year-old Sharp has tallied 249 goals and helped the Blackhawks to Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015. After winning the title in 2015, Sharp was then traded to the Dallas Stars where he 28 goals over two seasons. He signed a one-year, $800K contract to return to Chicago. With his skills on decline, the winger played the lowest average minutes of his career since his rookie season, averaging 12:50, scoring 10 goals and 21 points in 69 games.

While Sharp didn’t announce his retirement beforehand, it was quite obvious to anyone who watched Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Sharp played the most minutes of the season, playing 19:03. His parents were in attendance and the veteran started on the team’s top line. He wore his old “A” on his sweater and the team gave him a video tribute during the third period. At the end of the game, Sharp skated to center ice under the spotlight teammates stayed on the bench and tapped their sticks.

On a whole, including two seasons playing for the Philadelphia Flyers who drafted him in the third round back in 2001, Sharp finished his career with 287 goals, 333 assists and 620 points in 939 games. He also was part of Team Canada’s gold medal Olympic team in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Joel Quenneville, Stan Bowman Will Return To Blackhawks In 2018-19

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The decision has been made, and both Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman will return to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018-19 according to team president John McDonough (via Mark Lazerus of the Chicag0 Sun-Times).

Quenneville has faced rumors over his future all season as the Blackhawks struggled, and he was even included in TSN’s latest list of coaches that could be fired on Monday. That speculation can end now that McDonough has made it clear he’ll keep the same group in place.

Chicago played spoiler to the St. Louis Blues last night, and now sit 23rd in the league with 76 points on the season. That’s easily bad enough to miss the playoffs, but won’t give them a huge chance at winning the draft lottery in a few weeks. Still, the Blackhawks haven’t picked in the top-15 of the first round in a decade, selecting Kyle Beach 11th-overall a year after taking Patrick Kane with the first-overall pick.

The question is how patient Bowman and Quenneville will be, and how patient can they even afford to be. Kane and Jonathan Toews are no longer young ascending players, and core members of their Stanley Cup teams like Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp are a shadow of what they once were. There is a new young wave of players in the form of Nick Schmaltz and Alex DeBrincat, but it’s not clear if they’ll be enough to crack the championship window back open in the coming years. A return to health for Corey Crawford would help, but there are problems on the Chicago blue line that would cause struggles for any goaltender.

Obviously this isn’t a rebuild situation, not with players like Toews and Kane still on monster contracts and still on the right side of 30. With that in mind, it is understandable to stick with the group that has brought you success in recent years, even if this season was a disappointing hiccup. Whether or not they’ll be able to navigate another tricky offseason and bring glory back to Chicago is unclear, but they certainly have enough experience to do so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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