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Trade Interest In Lukas Reichel Increasing

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Last summer, Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel was a speculative trade candidate but he wound up signing a low-cost, two-year bridge deal to remain with Chicago.  But after the first year of that contract didn’t go well, the trade speculation is back.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that interest in Reichel has started to pick up in recent days with teams viewing him as more of a secondary target at this point.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Chicago back in 2020, going 17th overall after playing well with Eisbaren Berlin in the German men’s league when he had 24 points in 48 games.  That improved to 27 points in 38 outings the following season before Reichel came to play in North America.

Reichel spent the bulk of the first season of his entry-level deal with AHL Rockford and was quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 36 assists in 56 games while also getting into 11 games with the Blackhawks.  The following year in 2022-23, he was similarly productive with the IceHogs, notching 20 goals and 31 helpers in 55 contests, earning him a longer look with the big club where he got into 23 games, collecting 15 points.  It looked like he was ready for full-time NHL duty.

But the 2023-24 campaign was a tough one for Reichel.  He struggled with Chicago, scoring just five goals along with 11 assists in 65 games while his possession numbers took a tumble as well.  He was more productive with eight points in a ten-game stint in Rockford but at this point, there were questions about his longer-term fit in the organization with the Blackhawks having one of the deepest pipelines in the NHL.

Those questions still remain after this season, one that saw Reichel only slightly improve offensively with eight goals and 14 assists in 70 games while seeing his ice time drop to below 12 minutes a night, a career-low.  With several prospects in the pipeline that could benefit from an extra roster spot to try to compete for, it’s understandable to think that Chicago could make Reichel available this summer.

Of course, with how things have gone the last two seasons, trade offers aren’t going to be anywhere near the level of the first-rounder they used on Reichel in the past.  But with an affordable contract at $1.2MM, he’s the type of buy-low candidate that some rebuilding teams will want to take a chance on to see if a change of scenery can help get him going.  Whether that results in a trade later today in the draft or later on in the summer once the dust settles remains to be seen but it certainly seems like there’s a good chance that Reichel could be on the move this offseason.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire 29th Overall Pick, Select Mason West

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Carolina Hurricanes have traded the 29th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 34th and 62nd overall picks, plus a fifth-round pick in 2027. With their third first-round pick of the evening, the Blackhawks have selected Mason West from the USHL’s Fargo Force.

West, who will be joining the NCAA’s Michigan State University Spartans in the fall of 2026-27, is an intriguing prospect for a few reasons. He’s a towering forward, considering his talent, standing at 6’6″, 218lbs. Although he finished the year with USHL Fargo, he spent much of the year with Edina High School in Minnesota, scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 31 games.

Once he transitioned to Fargo toward the end of the year, he scored one goal and nine points in 10 games. The most fascinating part about West is that he’s never been a full-time hockey player. Throughout his time with Edina, West doubled as a premier high school quarterback and could receive D1 scholarships if his senior season this autumn goes well.

Because of his non-zero chance of cracking an NFL roster someday, West was projected to fall into the second round, anywhere between the 45th and 55th overall picks. The Blackhawks see potential in West and believe he will continue his professional hockey career.

Blackhawks Select Anton Frondell Third Overall

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The Chicago Blackhawks have added another high-end forward to their deep cupboard of prospects. With the third overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks selected Anton Frondell from the SHL’s Djurgårdens IF.

There’s a reason Frondell was listed as the top available European skater in this summer’s draft. The 6’1″, 205lbs Swede scored 11 goals and 25 points in 22 games for Djurgårdens IF HockeyAllsvenskan team, with another three goals and seven points in 16 postseason contests.

He shone on the international stage, too. The Trångsund, Sweden native scored one goal and three points in five tournament gams for Sweden’s U18 team at the U18 World Junior Championship this past season. Overall, Frondell was far and away Sweden’s top talent, scoring eight goals and 18 points in 19 international contests.

It’ll be interesting to see if Chicago decides to let Frondell make the jump to North America right away or continue his development overseas in the SHL with Djurgårdens IF, who have recently been promoted. At any rate, the Blackhawks organization and their fans will likely see Frondell participating in the 2025-26 U20 World Junior Championships.

As a natural center, Chicago may have cemented a powerful one-two punch down the middle with Frondell’s selection. Connor Bedard has already carved out his role as the team’s top center moving forward, which would allow Frondell to thrive on the second line or play on Bedard’s wing.

Seney Signs Two-Year Deal In Rockford

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  • Pending Blackhawks UFA winger Brett Seney has decided not to test the open market after all and will remain with the organization. But after playing on an NHL deal in recent years, that won’t be the case anymore as their affiliate, AHL Rockford, announced that they’ve signed the 29-year-old to a two-year contract.  Seney has 66 career NHL appearances under his belt, including four in 2023-24, but spent all of this season in the minors where he notched 10 goals and 19 assists in 58 games.

Blackhawks Buy Out T.J. Brodie

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June 22: Brodie has cleared unconditional waivers and will have the final season of his contract bought out, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic confirms. There are no new pending buyouts today.

June 21: The Blackhawks have placed Brodie on unconditional waivers for buyout purposes, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.  In doing so, they’ll be able to buy out the final year of his contract on Sunday, assuming he’s not claimed.

June 18: The Blackhawks will likely buy out defenseman T.J. Brodie when the first window opens later this week, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The vast majority of his $3.225MM total compensation for next season was via a $2.45MM signing bonus, which is unaffected by a buyout.

He’ll only see a reduction in his base salary from $775K to $517K, which will be paid out over two years, and he will become an unrestricted free agent. Brodie will still count $3.23MM against the cap for Chicago in 2025-26, savings of $517K on his original $3.75MM cap hit, but will only incur a $258K penalty in 2026-27 before coming off the Hawks’ books.

Brodie, 35, signed a two-year, $7.5MM contract with Chicago in free agency last summer. The $3.75MM cap hit was an understandable expense given his long track record of success as an excellent two-way option in the top four for the Flames and Maple Leafs, but a multi-year commitment raised some eyebrows. Brodie was aging, coming off an underwhelming performance in Toronto in 2023-24 that meant the team had no trouble letting him hit the market, and there were questions about how his declining speed would hold up on a much thinner Blackhawks blue line.

The fears of the deal were realized as Brodie’s 2024-25 season was his worst as an NHLer. He only posted a 2-8–10 scoring line in 54 games, and his defensive impacts declined further following a sharp dropoff with the Leafs the year prior.

While Chicago initially signed him as a support piece for their emerging young defensemen, he was entirely removed from the lineup in March. He didn’t log a single appearance for the club after the trade deadline, serving as a healthy scratch for the final 22 games of the season. That was even after the club traded top righty Seth Jones to the Panthers, and the left-shot Brodie had spent most of the year in a familiar spot on his offside, where he’s spent most of his career.

As it stands, the Blackhawks enter the offseason with established NHLers Alex Vlasic and Connor Murphy set to be joined by a complement of high-end prospects to round out their top six on defense, including Nolan Allan, Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov, and Sam Rinzel. Levshunov, Murphy, and Rinzel are all righties, giving the Hawks an even three/three split on handedness.

That also doesn’t include potential roster players Louis Crevier and Wyatt Kaiser, both of whom are pending RFAs needing new deals. There simply isn’t a spot for Brodie on next year’s roster, at least not one that involves significant playing time. Instead, they’ll allow him to pursue other opportunities on a new, cheaper deal instead of being saddled with the burden of an overpriced contract and likely ending up in the minors.

Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky

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The Kraken and Blackhawks have made a swap of underperforming forwards.  Chicago has acquired winger Andre Burakovsky from Seattle in exchange for center Joe Veleno in a one-for-one move.  Both teams have confirmed the trade.

Burakovsky became a key secondary scorer when he was acquired by Colorado back in 2019.  Over three seasons with the team, he had two seasons of more than 40 points while his last one with them saw him record a career-best 61, allowing him to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time while being one of the better options available on the open market.

That helped him land a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the Kraken in 2022 and the deal has not gone particularly well thus far.  The 30-year-old produced at a similar rate in 2022-23 from a points per game perspective but while he had 39 points in 49 games, missing 33 outings due to injury made for a disappointing year.  2023-24 was more of the same on the injury front as he once again missed 33 games, but to make things worse, his output fell considerably, down to just seven goals and nine assists.

This past season, Burakovsky was able to rebound a bit.  For starters, he was able to play in 79 games, one shy of his career best in that regard.  Meanwhile, while he didn’t get back to the type of production he had back in Colorado, he was able to chip in with 10 goals and 27 assists.

Last summer, Chicago added wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen in free agency, giving themselves some upgrades up front and some veterans to work with their young forward core.  This move appears to follow that same idea while they’ll be taking on the final two seasons of Burakovsky’s deal at a $5.5MM price tag to make that happen.

As for Veleno, he’s on the move for the second time in a matter of months.  The 25-year-old spent parts of five seasons with Detroit after being a late first-round pick by the Red Wings back in 2018 but he was moved to the Blackhawks at the trade deadline in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek.

This past season, Veleno played in 74 games between the two teams, notching eight goals and nine assists in a little over 12 minutes per night of playing time.  It was the first time in three years that he failed to reach the 20-point mark with his career high in that regard coming in 2023-24 when he had 28.  While he was a productive scorer at the junior level, Veleno has been more of a checker at the professional ranks.

Veleno has one year left on his contract at a $2.275MM cap charge and joins a center group that is starting to become a bit crowded.  They already have Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, and Shane Wright down the middle while Jared McCann, a natural center, is already on the wing.  Top prospect Berkly Catton is expected to push for a roster spot in training camp as well.  While the Kraken solved one logjam by moving out Burakovsky following the recent acquisition of Mason Marchment, they’ve created another with this move.

Speculatively, Seattle has a relatively easy way to solve it.  If they’re primarily looking for cap flexibility and can’t move Veleno in the coming days, he could become a buyout candidate.  Since he’s still 25, the cost of buying out that final year would only be one-third, not the standard two-thirds.  That would cost the Kraken a cap charge of $795.8K next season and $295.8K in 2026-27, allowing them to effectively remove the majority of Burakovsky’s $5.5MM cost from their books.  Alternatively, they could give Veleno a chance to lock down the center spot on the fourth line as he has shown himself to be useful in that role for several years now and see what happens from there.  Either way, their early offseason shakeup continues.

Photos courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz (Burakovsky) and David Banks (Veleno)-Imagn Images.

Blackhawks Sign Ryan Donato To Four-Year Extension

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The Chicago Blackhawks are reportedly nearing a four-year, $16MM contract extension with forward Ryan Donato, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The deal was later seconded by Scott Powers of The Athletic and confirmed by Charlie Roumeliotis of Chicago’s WGN Radio. The team also confirmed the move. Donato had a breakout season in 2024-25, scoring a career-high 62 points, split evenly. He was previously set to become an unrestricted free-agent on July 1st.

The Hawks will clean up an important piece of business with this move. Donato may have been the season’s biggest riser, having led Chicago in goals and ranked second in points after signing a two-year, $4MM contract in 2023. His breakout this year leaned heavily against a 17.0 shooting percentage, more than five-percent greater than his previous career-high. His total scoring ended up perfectly double his prior high of 31 points as well. Both of those marks will be difficult to sustain through multiple seasons.

With that said, Donato will have more than enough runway to maintain his top-six role in Chicago. He averaged over 16 minutes of ice time through 80 games on the year, and reached the 30-goal mark despite often getting deployed on the Hawks’ second power-play unit. The team continues to add high-tempo, playmaking talents to their roster in the form of Oliver Moore, Landon Slaggert, and Frank Nazar. Any of the three could provide Donato the surge of support – and clear space in the offensive end – that he needs to remain a top sniper with the club.

If anything brings Donato down, it’d reason to be whether he can hang onto the center role he needs to thrive. His career-year was coupled with a career-high in faceoffs taken – though his 44.6 faceoff win-rate lands firmly in the red. He made up for that drawback by fearlessly diving into the dirty areas of the ice and racking up 104 hits on the year, good for third-most on the Blackhawks.

While his new price tag likely banks on Donato maintaining some layer of scoring, it’s likely his hard-nosed effort that Chicago’s excited to keep around. They’ll rank as one of the – if not thee – youngest teams in the NHL next season and will rely heavily on aged veterans to prop up the roster. With this deal out of the way, Chicago will move forward just over $25MM in projected cap space – plenty enough to bring in multiple strong additions to the top-six.

Blackhawks Trade Rights To Victor Soderstrom To Bruins

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The Chicago Blackhawks have traded the rights to Swedish defenseman Victor Soderstrom to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defense prospect Ryan Mast and a seventh-round pick, per Scott Powers of The Athletic. Soderstrom made a return to Sweden’s SHL this season, after spending the last four years muddling through the Arizona Coyotes depth chart. Chicago acquired his rights alongside the rights to depth forward Aku Raty and retired defender Shea Weber at the 2025 Trade Deadline. In return, the now-Utah Mammoth received a 2026 fifth-round pick.

It’s an apt time to buy high on Soderstrom’s NHL rights. He had a true breakout year in the SHL, netting nine goals and 37 points in 49 appearances. Those marks ranked Soderstrom second on the Brynas IF blue-line in scoring, two points behind Charle-Edouard D’Astous. Soderstrom had no shortage of flashy plays over the course of Brynas’ season, using deceptive stickhandling and instinctive offense to blow by opponents and set up his teammates. One of his favorite targets was former Anaheim Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg, who led Brynas in scoring with 47 points in 52 games.

But despite the strong return to Swedish pros, Soderstrom’s tenure in North America is still one to forget. He was originally drafted 11th-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, but quickly struggled to find a role in the Arizona pipeline. He joined the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners in 2020-21 and scored 10 points in 32 games played, good enough to also earn the first four games of his NHL career, where he potted two points. But Soderstrom then ran cold, and didn’t manage any scoring through 16 NHL appearances in the following year. He did bolster his minor-league scoring, though, with 19 points in 32 games – just enough to earn another trip to the NHL in 2022-23. That tenure proved a bit more promising – headlined by nine points in 30 games – but Soderstrom again struggled to make it stick. He completed two more productive seasons in the minors, but closed his trip through North America with a measly 11 points in 53 NHL games, despite 82 points in 170 AHL games.

A move to Boston will mark another potential home for the flashy puck-handler. The Bruins could sorely use a right-shot defender after trading shutdown man Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Deadline. Soderstrom is still only 24-years-old and could reasonably spend a few more years in Sweden before offering Boston his prime years. That will be the upside Boston hopes for, at least – though it’s a shrewd bet at the cost of just a depth prospect and fifth-round pick.

The other focal piece of the move, defender Ryan Mast, played through his rookie year in the AHL this season. He recorded just five points, 19 penalty minutes, and a plus-seven through 37 games with the Providence Bruins – quaint totals after he posted 16 points in 47 ECHL games last year. Mast is 6-foot-5 and plays his best hockey on the defensive side of the puck, where he uses a long and effective reach to force opponents into the corners and away from the puck. Hot scoring won’t be what many fans remember Mast for, but he could find his way into a small NHL role with a few more years of learning to handle pro offenses. He’ll be a low-risk, low-reward addition to a Blackhawks’ pipeline geared firmly on the future.

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson Previews Draft

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In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson discussed the team’s offseason plans, draft strategy, and excitement surrounding the franchise’s younger players.

With the third pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, Davidson didn’t name any specific players the team is targeting, unwilling to tip his hand. He did, however, discuss the team’s decision not to participate in the tradition of taking draft prospects to dinner, noting that those types of events do not provide the team with much information.

“We didn’t do any dinners this year. It was much more doing it in the room. I think it’s probably born out of, we don’t learn anything. We haven’t learned much new in those interviews in the past. … It’s funny because there’s no place to hide here either, right? There’s only so many (restaurant) options, and everyone’s bopping around to the same spot. I don’t know if I’ve ever really drawn any connection between dinners to list/ranking or anything like that,” he said.

Davidson added that the team is prepared to take the best player available with the third pick. While Davidson avoided names, Powers believes the Blackhawks are likely considering Anton Frondell or Caleb Desnoyers, unless Michael Misa slips to three.

While Davidson was cautious to provide details on the draft, he did open up more about what the team may look to do in free agency. With a potential generational talent like Connor Bedard, Davidson understands that the fanbase expects significant additions to support the team’s young core. With that said, Davidson believes that big moves cannot be made without strategy.

“Look, we’re always open to exploring these things, but it’s got to be right. It’s got to make sense. We can’t do something that’s going to be counter to the path that we’ve set out on. If there is a big move that presents itself, that makes sense, then I’m all for exploring that and pursuing something that does make sense. But to say we’re going to do something just to say we did something, and then it doesn’t make sense with where we’re at or where we’re going, then I don’t think we can do that. That would be irresponsible,” he said.

Davidson acknowledged that the team would be willing to trade draft capital to acquire the right NHL player. However, he cautioned that quality NHL players may be harder to come by. With the salary cap rising, Davidson noted that teams have a better chance of retaining their own players. He said, “Normally, the No. 1 motivator of movement is salary-cap constraint, and a lot of teams have been relieved of that this year.”

Snapshots: Larionov, Rotenberg, Vellucci, Bjorklund

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Top Russian club SKA St. Petersburg announced on Monday that they’ve relieved head coach Roman Rotenberg of his duties, and hired Igor Larionov as an immediate replacement. The move concludes Rotenberg’s four-year tenure as SKA’s head coach, which began when he took over for Valeri Bragin partway through the 2021-22 season. It is currently unclear if Rotenberg will continue on in his role as SKA’s Vice Chairman, though it’d be hard to imagine the prolific Russian stepping down after 14 years in the club’s front office.

SKA has seemed to fall short in every single season as of late. They lost in the conference finals each year between 2021 and 2023, then followed it up with earlier exits in the last two years. St. Petersburg also finished seventh in the KHL’s Western Conference this season, despite tremendous performances from star youngsters Ivan Demidov and Alexander Nikishin, midseason acquisition Evgeny Kuznetsov, and top goalie prospect Yegor Zavragin. A seventh-place finish is SKA’s lowest since the 2008-09 season, when they finished eighth.

To curb that poor momentum, SKA will turn to Igor ’The Professor’ Larionov. The legendary Russian player served as SKA’s Director of Hockey Operations in 2008-09, but didn’t kick off his coaching career until he began supporting Russia’s U20 club in 2019-20. He moved to KHL club Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in 2022-23, and has led the club to quaint finishes and conference quarterfinals exits in each of the last two seasons. Larionov was a true star in the NHL. He won three Stanley Cups across his 14-year career, and served as a gut-punch scorer on the Detroit Red Wings at the turn of the century. His career concluded with 644 points in 921 NHL games, sprinkled across tenures with five different clubs.

Other notes from across the league:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have rounded out their coaching staff with the hire of Mike Vellucci into an assistant coach role. Vellucci has spent the last five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and served as an assistant on the gold-medal winning Team USA at this summer’s World Championship. He’s a seasoned-in name in the hockey world, having served as the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers from 2001 to 2014, then pursuing an assistant GM and Director oh Hockey Operations role with the Carolina Hurricanes until 2019. Part of his time with Carolina also saw Vellucci serve two years as head coach of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, who he led to a Calder Cup championship in 2019. He also served one year as the GM and head coach of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Vellucci should be another strong veteran voice to help guide Chicago’s young roster to a new era.
  • The Washington Capitals have signed AHL depth goaltender Garin Bjorklund to a one-year, two-way contract for next season. He will make a league-minimum $775K at the NHL level and $110K at the AHL level. Bjorklund spent the bulk of this season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, where he posted a .927 save percentage and 21-4-1 record. Those marks stand as the sixth-highest save percentage and wins in the league, despite Bjorklund ranking 35th with 29 total appearances. It was a true breakout year for Bjorklund, capped off by a 2-0-0 record and .942 save percentage in the first two AHL games of his career. A new deal should give the 22-year-old a chance to gain footing in the AHL next season, and potentially eye the starter’s role should he be able to keep up the stonewall performances.

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