The Blackhawks were without goaltender Alex Stalock tonight against the Panthers as the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran is out due to illness. The 35-year-old has been a bright spot for Chicago this season, posting an impressive .920 SV% in 17 games, a mark that would put him in a tie for fourth in the league if he had enough qualifying appearances. With the decision being announced so late, the Blackhawks didn’t have time to recall someone from AHL Rockford so instead, they’ve signed Zach Andrews, Florida’s emergency goaltender, to an ATO agreement. The 31-year-old had a 45-12-4 record in four seasons with UMass-Boston from 2012 through 2016 with a .906 SV% and a 2.66 GAA.
Blackhawks Rumors
Blackhawks Sign Luke Philp To One-Year Contract
The 25-year-old winger is having a tremendous season in the AHL. He has piled up 25 goals and 50 points in 54 games for the minor-league Penguins, leading the team in goals and points. He hadn’t played a game in the NHL since the 2020-21 season, when he scored ten goals and 26 points in 65 games for the Chicago Blackhawks.
- The Chicago Blackhawks announced forward Luke Philp has signed a one-year contract extension. The 27-year-old forward starred for the University of Alberta Golden Bears for three seasons before signing to play in the AHL. This is his fourth season in the AHL, and he is putting up big numbers with 18 goals and 38 points in 45 games for the Rockford Ice Hogs. He was called up earlier this season to make his NHL debut with the Blackhawks and picked up his first career NHL point with an assist in a pair of games.
Pavel Gogolev Clears Unconditional Waivers
March 9: Gogolev has cleared unconditional waivers and will see his contract terminated.
March 8: It seems as though Pavel Gogolev won’t be with the Chicago Blackhawks organization for very long. The young forward is on unconditional waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, for the purpose of a contract termination.
Gogolev, 23, was included in the recent Jake McCabe trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, coming over along with Joey Anderson. His inclusion was mostly about contract slots for Toronto but there was at least some hope that Gogolev could make the jump to the AHL in the Chicago organization.
After two games (and one goal) with the Rockford IceHogs, it appears as though he’s headed back overseas. A contract termination will leave him an unrestricted free agent, able to sign somewhere else to continue his hockey career.
While an overseas assignment is a usual outcome in these situations, it’s not like Gogolev is new to North America. The Russian forward came to Canada a decade ago to play hockey at various academies, before being the eighth overall pick in the 2016 OHL draft.
After a professional career that has been spent mostly in the ECHL, he’ll now have to catch on somewhere else to keep his hockey journey moving forward.
Andreas Englund, Austin Wagner Out Long Term
- According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Blackhawks will be without a couple of depth players for the foreseeable future. Andreas Englund has a pulled hamstring and will not travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. The team’s next home game is March 14th. Austin Wagner was acquired by the Blackhawks on trade deadline day and the team was aware he had an injury that had become infected. He is meeting with doctors to try and determine a clearer timeline on when he can make his debut with the Blackhawks.
Cam Talbot Scratched Late Due To Injury
Tonight’s Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators matchup has had a couple of interesting developments just hours before game time. Mads Sogaard will now be get the start for the Senators as Ottawa netminder Cam Talbot has been scratched with what TSN 1200 is reporting as a minor lower body ailment. Talbot had a slow start in his first season with Ottawa but has been better as of late for the Senators, having won his last three starts.
Kevin Mandolese has been called up from Belleville (AHL) but will likely not make it down to Chicago in time for the game. Mandolese has been quite good for the Senators this season with a 1-1 record and a .928 save percentage. The 22-year-old netminder last dressed for Ottawa in a loss to the Boston Bruins on February 20th, a game in which he stopped 29 of 32 shots.
For this evening, Ottawa may have to dress an emergency backup goaltender (EBUG). In Chicago, that would be Scott Foster, who famously backstopped the Blackhawks to a 6-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets in 2018. Foster stopped all seven shots he faced in his one NHL appearance, and was named the game’s first star despite not being credited as the goalie of record.
Foster was signed by Chicago back in March 2018 to an amateur tryout contract because presumed started Anton Forsberg was sidelined at the time with an injury. Should he dress tonight for Ottawa, he would once again be working in as an emergency backup goaltender for a team that employs Forsberg.
Trade Deadline Roundup: Western Conference
While trade deadline day was largely a dud in itself, that was because so many moves were made in the days leading up to March 3rd. With that in mind, here is a recap of the trades made in the Western Conference in the ten days leading up to deadline day to show who all moved where in what was a busy trade period overall. Players and picks that were acquired and then flipped are only noted for their final destination.
Anaheim Ducks
Acquired: F Brock McGinn, F Nikita Nesterenko, D Chase Priskie, F Dylan Sikura, F Josiah Slavin, D Andrej Sustr, 2024 third-round pick (PIT), 2024 third-round pick (SJ), 2025 fifth-round pick (MIN)
Traded: F Hunter Drew, F Max Golod, D John Klingberg, D Dmitry Kulikov, D Austin Strand, D Henry Thrun
Arizona Coyotes
Acquired: D Michael Kesselring, D Connor Mackey, F Brett Ritchie, F Jakub Voracek, Shea Weber, 2023 first-round pick (OTT), 2023 third-round pick (EDM), 2023 sixth-round pick (CBJ), 2024 second-round pick (OTT), 2025 third-round pick (NYR), 2023 fifth-round pick (VGK), 2026 third-round pick (CAR), 2026 sixth-round pick (OTT)
Traded: F Nick Bjugstad, D Jakob Chychrun, D Cam Dineen, G Jon Gillies, D Shayne Gostisbehere, D Dysin Mayo, F Nick Ritchie, D Vili Saarijarvi, D Troy Stecher
Calgary Flames
Acquired: F Dryden Hunt, F Nick Ritchie, D Troy Stecher
Traded: D Connor Mackey, F Brett Ritchie, F Radim Zohorna
Chicago Blackhawks
Acquired: F Joey Anderson, F Anders Bjork, F Hunter Drew, D Andreas Englund, G Anton Khudobin, F Pavel Gogolev, F Max Golod, D Vili Saarijarvi, F Austin Wagner, D Andy Welinski, D Nikita Zaitsev, 2023 second-round pick (NYR), 2023 second-round pick (OTT), 2025 first-round pick (TOR), 2025 second-round pick (DAL), 2025 fourth-round pick (NYR), 2026 second-round pick (TOR), 2026 fourth-round pick (OTT)
Traded: F Max Domi, D Jack Johnson, F Patrick Kane, F Sam Lafferty, D Jake McCabe, F Dylan Sikura, F Josiah Slavin, G Dylan Wells, D Cooper Zech, 2024 fifth-round pick, 2025 fifth-round pick
Colorado Avalanche
Acquired: F Lars Eller, D Jack Johnson, G Keith Kinkaid, F Gustav Rydahl
Traded: F Anton Blidh, F Shane Bowers, D Andreas Englund, 2025 second-round pick
Dallas Stars
Acquired: F Evgenii Dadonov, F Max Domi, F Scott Reedy, G Dylan Wells
Traded: F Denis Gurianov, G Anton Khudobin, F Jacob Peterson, 2025 second-round pick
Edmonton Oilers
Acquired: F Nick Bjugstad, D Cam Dineen, D Mattias Ekholm, F Patrik Puistola, 2024 sixth-round pick (NSH)
Traded: D Tyson Barrie, D Michael Kesselring, F Jesse Puljujarvi, F Reid Schaefer, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 third-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick
Los Angeles Kings
Acquired: D Vladislav Gavrikov, G Joonas Korpisalo, F Zack MacEwen, G Erik Portillo, F Nate Schnarr
Traded: D Frederic Allard, F Brendan Lemieux, G Jonathan Quick, F Austin Wagner, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 third-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2024 fifth-round pick
Minnesota Wild
Acquired: D John Klingberg, F Marcus Johansson, F Gustav Nyquist, F Oskar Sundqvist, 2023 second-round pick (VGK), 2024 fifth-round pick (BUF)
Traded: F Jordan Greenway, F Nikita Nesterenko, D Andrej Sustr, F Andrei Svetlakov, 2023 fourth-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Nashville Predators
Acquired: F Rasmus Asplund, D Tyson Barrie, D Cal Foote, F Isaac Ratcliffe, F Austin Rueschhoff, F Reid Schaefer, 2023 first-round pick (EDM), 2023 second-round pick (PIT), 2023 third-round pick (TB), 2023 fourth-round pick (TB), 2023 fifth-round pick (TB), 2024 second-round pick (TB), 2024 second-round pick (WPG), 2024 fourth-round pick (EDM), 2025 first-round pick (TB)
Traded: D Mattias Ekholm, F Mikael Granlund, F Tanner Jeannot, F Nino Niederreiter, 2024 sixth-round pick, 2025 seventh-round pick
San Jose Sharks
Acquired: D Arvid Henrikson, F Andreas Johnsson, D Shakir Mukhamadullin, D Nikita Okhotyuk, D Henry Thrun, F Fabian Zetterlund, 2023 first-round pick (NJ), 2023 seventh-round pick (PIT), 2024 second-round pick (NJ), 2024 fourth-round pick (PIT), 2024 seventh-round pick (NJ), 2025 fourth-round pick (WPG),
Traded: F Nick Bonino, G Zacharie Emond, F Michael Eyssimont, D Scott Harrington, D Santeri Hatakka, F Timur Ibragimov, F Timo Meier, D Tony Sund, 2024 third-round pick, 2024 fifth-round pick (COL), 2024 fifth-round pick
Seattle Kraken
No trades made
St. Louis Blues
Acquired: F Zach Dean, F Jakub Vrana
Traded: F Ivan Barbashev, F Dylan McLaughlin, 2025 seventh-round pick
Vancouver Canucks
Acquired: F Josh Bloom, D Filip Hronek, F Vitali Kravtsov, 2023 third-round pick (TOR) 2023 fourth-round pick (DET), 2024 fourth-round pick (NJ)
Traded: D Wyatt Kalynuk, F Curtis Lazar, F William Lockwood, D Luke Schenn, D Riley Stillman, 2023 first-round pick (NYI), 2023 second-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick
Vegas Golden Knights
Acquired: F Ivan Barbashev, F Teddy Blueger, D Dysin Mayo, G Jonathan Quick
Traded: F Zach Dean, F Peter DiLiberatore, G Michael Hutchinson, D Shea Weber, 2023 fifth-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 seventh-round pick
Winnipeg Jets
Acquired: F Nino Niederreiter, F Vladislav Namestnikov
Traded: 2024 second-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Austin Wagner
The Los Angeles Kings, after making a handful of moves the last few days, have slipped one in just before the buzzer. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Austin Wagner has been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations.
Wagner, 25, was a regular in the Kings lineup for three seasons, playing 171 games between 2018-2021. But after failing to really establish himself as much more than a fourth-line forward, he was back in the AHL last season, playing all year for the Ontario Reign. This time around has been much of the same, with Wagner playing 24 games for Ontario so far, scoring nine goals and 12 points in the process.
The physical, scrappy forward will get a better chance in Chicago than he was ever going to get again in Los Angeles, and his trade clears some cap off the books for the Kings. The forward is in the final season of a three-year deal with a cap hit of $1,133,333—just over the $1,125,000 that can be buried in the minor leagues. He’s due a qualifying offer of $1.36MM at the end of the season to keep his rights as an RFA, something the Kings weren’t going to do, given his place on the organizational depth chart.
For Chicago, they need someone to play the rest of the year, and why not take a look at Wagner to see if they can coax some NHL production out of him again. Even if they don’t want to hand out that qualifying offer, they could still sign him to a cheaper extension in the coming months.
Andreas Athanasiou May Remain With Chicago Past The Deadline
- When Andreas Athanasiou was signed to a one-year, $3MM deal by the Blackhawks in free agency, it seemed likely that he’d be getting moved by the trade deadline. However, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period indicates (Twitter link) that at the moment, the sense is that the winger will be sticking around. Athanasiou has 14 goals and eight assists in 60 games this season and it would likely take salary retention to get a deal done. Chicago does have one retained salary slot remaining.
Dallas Stars Acquire Max Domi
7:00 am: The Stars confirmed late last night that Khudobin and a 2025 second-round pick are heading to Chicago in exchange for Domi and Wells.
6:52 pm: It appears the Dallas Stars have found their forward to put alongside Tyler Seguin. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the Stars have acquired forward Max Domi, along with minor-league goalie Dylan Wells, from their division rival Chicago Blackhawks. 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs hero Anton Khudobin and a second-round pick are heading the other way, with no salary retained in the deal.
Playing primarily on a line with now-former Blackhawk Patrick Kane, Domi has enjoyed one of the better statistical seasons of his career. With 49 points in 60 games on the low-scoring Blackhawks, Domi is on pace to have the best season of his career since 2018-19. One of Domi’s most notable improvements has been inside the faceoff dot. With a career faceoff percentage of 48.1%, Domi has bumped up his success rate to 53.7% this year. As Stars’ faceoff weapon Luke Glendening remains out with injury, Dallas will have the benefit of employing Domi in a lot of important situations.
Chicago receives a second-round pick, bringing their total of draft picks in the first two rounds up to a whopping 14 in the next three years. It recoups value for Domi at the deadline, fulfilling Chicago’s initial plan when they signed him and Andreas Athanasiou to one-year contracts last offseason.
They also receive Khudobin in the deal, who, despite slipping down to ’buried in the minors’ status in the Stars depth chart, could serve a purpose in the NHL for the Blackhawks. Both Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock have had injury-prone seasons, forcing young goalies like Arvid Soderblom and Jaxson Stauber into NHL action maybe earlier than they’d like. Khudobin gives them an additional recall option and allows Soderblom and Stauber to hold the fort with AHL Rockford in what could be a lengthy playoff run. The 36-year-old Khudobin has yet to play in the NHL this season and has a .899 save percentage in 24 appearances with AHL Texas.
Seravalli was the first to report that Khudobin would be included in the trade, while Sportsnet’s Eric Engels was the first to report an unnamed AHL netminder and a second-round pick would be included in the trade.
Anaheim Ducks Acquire Dylan Sikura
The Anaheim Ducks have announced a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, acquiring forward Dylan Sikura in exchange for Max Golod.
Sikura will immediately report to the Ducks’ AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls, while Golod will report to the Blackhawks’ ECHL affiliate, Indy Fuel. In 52 games so far this season, Sikura has scored 14 goals and 32 points in the AHL. Much like their NHL affiliate, the Gulls’ season has been incredibly bleak, currently dwelling in the basement of the Pacific Division. Last season, Sikura scored over a point per game with the Colorado Eagles, so the Gulls are banking on him finding his scoring pace again.
Golod has spent the last three seasons split between the AHL and ECHL. It wasn’t until this year that he found his scoring touch, now scoring slightly over a point per game with the Tulsa Oilers. Transitioning now over to the Fuel, Golod will look to build on the most successful season of his professional career.