- Already confirmed to be out of the lineup in tonight’s matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman, Seth Jones, received X-rays during the team’s game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Although there has been no official update on the status of Jones, team doctors indicated that he was only feeling a ’little sore’ and should be able to make it back to the lineup after the team’s road trip (X Link).
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Blackhawks Rumors
Blackhawks Place Boris Katchouk On Waivers
12/12: Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that Katchouk has successfully cleared waivers, and will report to Rockford.
12/11: The Blackhawks placed winger Boris Katchouk on waivers Monday for the purpose of assignment to AHL Rockford, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Katchouk, 25, has been a healthy scratch in four straight games. His last appearance came on December 3 against the Wild, in which he registered a -1 rating and one shot on goal in 12:55 of ice time.
As The Athletic’s Scott Powers notes, forwards Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman have impressed the team since they recalled them from Rockford around Thanksgiving, and they’ve both surpassed Katchouk on the team’s internal depth chart. While there’s no pending injured reserve activation forcing the Blackhawks to clear a roster spot, the organization would rather Katchouk see consistent game action in the minors rather than have him sit in the press box in the NHL.
Drafted 44th overall by the Lightning in 2016, Katchouk spent nearly six years in Tampa Bay before the Blackhawks acquired him as part of the deal that sent Brandon Hagel to the Sunshine State in 2022. Katchouk struggled immediately after the swap, logging just one goal and a -10 rating in 21 contests with Chicago to close out the campaign.
His numbers improved in the following season, but he’s still provided marginal offense in a replaceable bottom-six role. In 96 total contests with Chicago since the trade, Katchouk has eight goals, 13 assists, 21 points, and a -18 rating while averaging 11:40 per game. He has, however, posted solid possession metrics dating back to last season, including a relative Corsi mark of 3.3% at even strength in 2022-23, despite seeing primarily defensive zone usage.
It’s unlikely he’ll ever reach the scoring potential he flashed by posting over a point-per-game in the minors in the Lightning organization in 2020-21, but he is a high-energy player who should end up back in the league at some point if he passes through waivers unclaimed. This season, Katchouk has two goals and two assists, along with a +2 rating, in 17 contests with Chicago. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $2.275MM deal carrying a $758,333 cap hit and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Blackhawks Place Jarred Tinordi On Injured Reserve, Recall Filip Roos
The Chicago Blackhawks have placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi on injured reserve, retroactive to December 5th, and recalled Filip Roos back to the NHL lineup. Tinordi has already been sidelined once this season, moving to IR in mid-November with an oblique injury. He was activated off of IR on December 2nd, making his movement back to the list that much harder to stomach.
Tinordi has appeared in 12 games with the Blackhawks this season, netting one assist, 11 penalty minutes, and a -4. He’s in his second season with the club, although his 2022-23 season was limited by a nagging hip injury and facial fractures that earned him three assignments to IR throughout the season. He managed to appear in 44 games around those injuries, recording eight points, 40 penalty minutes, and a -11. Despite the injuries, these 44 games marked the most NHL games that Tinordi has played in a single season since making his debut in the league in 2012-13. He’s combined for 165 NHL games in the 11 seasons since then, scoring 22 points and recording 181 career penalty minutes. Tinordi has also spent substantial time in the minor leagues, recording 429 career AHL games and recording 75 assists, 96 points, 567 penalty minutes, and a collective +14.
Rookie defenseman Filip Roos will fill in for Tinordi, poised to make his first NHL appearances of the season despite being recalled to fill in for Tinordi’s injury in mid-November as well. While he has yet to make his season debut this year, Roos did appear in 17 NHL games last season, recording three points, four penalty minutes, and a -5. The 24-year-old defender has played in 16 AHL games this year, scoring four points and recording a -6.
Blackhawks Recall Isaak Phillips, Place Kevin Korchinski On Non-Roster List
The Blackhawks have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against St. Louis. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Isaak Phillips from AHL Rockford. To make room for him on the roster, Chicago has moved defenseman Kevin Korchinski to the non-roster list.
Phillips has been up a couple of times with the Blackhawks already this season, getting into nine games where he had three assists while logging just under 16 minutes per contest. He has put up similar numbers with the IceHogs, collecting a goal and two helpers in ten appearances with them. Chicago had just sent the 22-year-old down last Saturday but it turned out to be a short-lived stint.
As for Korchinski, the 19-year-old has done a nice job locking down a regular spot in Chicago’s lineup so far. He has played in all 25 games, picking up two goals and five assists along with 30 blocked shots while averaging 19:31 per night. That puts him fifth among all NHL rookies; his teammate Connor Bedard is sixth in NHL rookie ATOI.
After Saturday’s morning skate, head coach Luke Richardson clarified to reporters including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Korchinski’s designation is for a family reason, not a loan for the upcoming World Juniors of which he’s eligible to play in. Accordingly, Phillips’ recall is likely to only be a short-term on.
Latest On Andreas Athanasiou, Jarred Tinordi
- The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus relays word from Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson who says that forward Andreas Athanasiou is inching closer to a return and is close to returning to skating. Although a full return to the ice is still a long way off for Athanasiou, this is a positive development as the forward works his way back from a groin injury. The speedy 29-year-old last played on November 9th and scored 20 goals and 40 points last season.
Andreas Athanasiou Likely To Return To Practice This Week
- Injured Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou aims to return to practice by the end of this week as he recovers from a groin injury, head coach Luke Richardson tells NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis. The 29-year-old has missed 12 games with a groin injury sustained on November 9 against the Lightning and is listed as week-to-week. Athanasiou recorded 20 goals for the second time in his career last season in Chicago, but offense had been harder to come by through 11 games this year, recording four assists, no goals, and seeing his ice time drop to under 13 minutes per game. He signed a two-year, $8.5MM extension last summer to remain in the Windy City.
Jarred Tinordi In Concussion Protocol
According to NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi will not practice with the Blackhawks today, as he has been placed in concussion protocol. Tinordi has already missed time this season due to an oblique injury, and has in total played in just 12 games this season.
Lukas Reichel To Be Healthy Scratch
Chicago Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel will be a healthy scratch for today’s game, according to head coach Luke Richardson. Reichel will be in the press box even though Anthony Beauvillier will be unavailable for the game today as some of the logistics related to his trade from the Canucks are still to be sorted out.
Blackhawks Announce Several Roster Moves
The Blackhawks are in action today against Winnipeg and have made several roster moves in advance of that game. The team announced that Jarred Tinordi has been activated off injured reserve while blueliner Louis Crevier has been recalled from AHL Rockford. In corresponding moves, defensemen Wyatt Kaiser and Isaak Phillips have been sent to the IceHogs.
Tinordi is returning after missing the last three weeks with an oblique injury. The 31-year-old has played in nine games so far this season, picking up an assist along with 23 hits and 19 blocks while averaging a little under 15 minutes a night. Last season, Tinordi established himself as a regular in the second half, suiting up in a career-best 44 games, helping to earn himself a one-year, $1.25MM contract. He’ll be set to test unrestricted free agency this summer.
Generally, a 6’6 player being added to the roster would be considered a pretty big addition size-wise but Tinordi is the smaller of the two additions to Chicago’s active roster as Crevier stands 6’8. The 22-year-old is in his second professional season and has five assists in 16 games with Rockford, matching his rookie season output. This is his first-ever NHL recall.
As for Kaiser, he made Chicago’s roster out of training camp and has played in all 21 games so far this season after seeing nine games with them down the stretch after his college campaign came to an end. The 21-year-old has four assists in those contests while averaging a respectable 16:34 per game. However, he has struggled a bit in his own end in recent games and this demotion will give him a chance to reset while playing a much more prominent role with the IceHogs.
Phillips, meanwhile, is no stranger to being shuffled back and forth as this is his third demotion of the year already. The 22-year-old has played in nine games with Chicago this season, collecting three assists while picking up a goal and two helpers in eight games with Rockford. It stands to reason that he’ll be one of the first recalls when further injuries arise as the season progresses.
Blackhawks Notes: Tinordi, Guttman, Hall
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago Blackhawks injured defenseman Jarred Tinordi will take some contact in the team’s practice tomorrow before they evaluate if he is ready to return to the lineup. Tinordi suffered an oblique injury back on November 9th in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and hasn’t dressed since then.
He was placed on the injured reserve on November 11th; however, it was retroactive to the 9th. The Blackhawks then called up Isaak Phillips from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League to take his place. Phillips has fared well as of late with three assists in his last four games although he has struggled to manage the puck during his NHL run. Tinordi brings more edge and physicality to his game than Phillips, averaging nearly three hits a game this season. However, he is limited offensively having posted just one assist in nine games this season.
In other Blackhawks notes:
- Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago forward Cole Guttman suffered an upper-body injury on Sunday in the Blackhawks loss to the St. Louis Blues and is now day-to-day. The 24-year-old was scratched on Tuesday night in what many had assumed was a healthy scratch capacity but given the news today, it appears that Guttman’s injury kept him sidelined and will likely keep him out of tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Guttman has dressed in five games this season for the Blackhawks, registering a single goal which came in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that forward Taylor Hall underwent successful surgery on Monday to repair his right ACL. Hall is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season effectively ending his first season with the Blackhawks. Hall was dealt to Chicago in the offseason alongside Nick Foligno and was expected to ride shotgun next to rookie phenom Connor Bedard. Things didn’t work out as planned with Hall registering just two goals and two assists in ten games before the ailment cut his season short.