Blackhawks Andreas Athanasiou And Jarred Tinordi Suffer Injuries
The New York Islanders have announced that defenseman Adam Pelech will be out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old was on the ice for the team’s optional morning skate but was a late scratch for this evening’s game against the Boston Bruins. He has been in and out of the lineup this week having previously missed the Islanders 4-3 OT loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Pelech did return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild but took a maintenance day yesterday before the morning skate today.
Pelech has just a single assist in ten games thus far this season but has averaged over 20 minutes of ice time per game when available. The Islanders seventh defenseman Samuel Bolduc has filled in for Pelech during his absences including tonight as he is slotted beside Scott Mayfield. While Bolduc has played hard, he has struggled to fill the void left by Pelech and has no points in eight games.
In other injury notes:
- The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Travis Dermott will be out of the lineup week-to-week with an apparent upper-body injury. The Coyotes called up Michael Kesselring yesterday to work in Dermott’s absence, although it is likely that recent healthy scratch Josh Brown will slot into Dermott’s place and Kesselring will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. Very little is known about Dermott’s ailment or when he suffered the injury but for now it appears at least for the time being that Dermott’s absence will be an extended one. Dermott has a single assist in ten games so far this season and is currently a -4.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that defenseman Jarred Tinordi left tonight’s game and will not be returning. The 31-year-old left without any obvious reason or clear injury and no specifics have been given yet. Tinordi drew back into the lineup tonight for the first time since last Saturday and was tasked with replacing Nikita Zaitsev. Tinordi has dressed in eight games on the season and has a single assist while playing roughly 16 minutes a night.
- The Blackhawks also announced that forward Andreas Athanasiou will not be returning to tonight’s game after suffering an apparent injury. Athanasiou left the game near the end of the second period although little is known as to the reason why. The 29-year-old was a healthy scratch recently and has struggled so far this season with no goals and four assists in ten games. Last year he posted 20 goals and 20 assists in 81 games and seemed to have more jump in his game.
Blackhawks Activate Taylor Hall Off Injured Reserve
It has been an eventful first month in Chicago for winger Taylor Hall as shoulder issues have limited him to just five games so far. Now, it appears as if he is cleared to return as Scott Powers of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Hall will play tonight, meaning he has been activated off injured reserve.
Hall was injured in the second game of the season and was believed to be out longer term originally. He then decided that he could play through the pain and returned after missing just one game. However, his effectiveness was limited and after three games of playing through the injury, Hall was shut down to allow him ample time to recover.
Hall was brought in to be a capable veteran linemate for top rookie Connor Bedard and he’ll likely be with the most recent top pick quite soon if not right away. He has two assists in the five games he has played so far but if he is indeed fully recovered, he should be able to be more productive.
It’s worth noting that Chicago had a full 23-man roster so a roster move needed to be made to formally activate Hall off IR. Isaak Phillips is the casualty on that front as the defender was just brought up on Sunday and is waiver-exempt; the Blackhawks have returned him to AHL Rockford.
Blackhawks To Keep Kevin Korchinski On Roster
The Blackhawks will keep defenseman Kevin Korchinski on the active roster after his nine-game trial wrapped up Monday night against the Coyotes, head coach Luke Richardson told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic yesterday. The 19-year-old will not be returned to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, thereby putting his three-year, entry-level contract into effect starting this season.
Selected seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Korchinski has quietly seen top-four minutes thus far to start the campaign. While all the media attention is rightfully on 2023 first-overall choice Connor Bedard, Korchinski has done quite well through his first nine NHL contests. His -8 rating may make it seem like he’s struggled defensively, but that’s more a product of the team around him. In fact, his 49.4% Corsi share at even strength is much better than the team’s quite poor 44.8% average, doing so while consistently taking over 20 shifts per game and routinely crossing the 20-minute mark in terms of ice time.
Korchinski is still looking for his first NHL goal but has managed to put three assists on the board, his only primary helper coming in last night’s 8-1 loss to the Coyotes – a goal scored by Bedard and assisted secondarily by Seth Jones, a combination Blackhawks fans will certainly see a lot of in the coming seasons.
While negligible for a team in Chicago’s situation, the entry-level slide from last season confirms that Korchinski’s cap hit will be $918.3K through the 2025-26 season rather than the $950K listed when he initially signed the deal. That’s because while an entry-level deal slides, signing bonuses are paid out even in years when the contract is not in effect – lowering the cap hit on the deal when it does go into effect because less money than anticipated is being paid out in the third year of the deal.
Last season with WHL Seattle, Korchinski finished third among defensemen in the league with 1.35 points per game behind Ducks prospect Olen Zellweger (1.45) and Blue Jackets prospect Stanislav Svozil (1.39), the latter of whom was teammates with Bedard.
Chicago Recalls Phillips, Expects Vlasic To Miss Time
- The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Isaak Phillips to the NHL. This move likely signals that Alex Vlasic, who was injured in the Hawks recent game against Vegas, is likely set to miss at least one game. Phillips has appeared in five AHL games this season, scoring one goal and three points. He has 20 NHL games under his belt, with five career points. Vlasic has been a major bright spot through the early going, making his absence a stinger for the Hawks.
[SOURCE LINK]
Andreas Athanasiou A Healthy Scratch
One of the most notable missing pieces in the team’s win tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights was Chicago Blackhawks’ forward, Andreas Athanasiou, who was a healthy scratch. Signed to a two-year, $8.5 MM extension after last year’s season, Athanasiou has not gotten off to a strong start this year with Chicago (Tweet Link).
There is no doubt that the relatively high salary the Blackhawks gave him over the summer had to do with the team reaching the salary cap floor for the season, but the team should still be seeking more production out of his play. In any case, even on a rebuilding team in Chicago, Athanasiou will need to raise his level of play to earn a full-time spot in the Blackhawks lineup.
Taylor Hall Suffers Setback, Out Week-To-Week
10/24/23: According to Roumeliotis, the Blackhawks have officially placed Hall on injured reserve due to his shoulder injury. The placement is retroactive to October 21st.
10/23/23: After attempting to return from a shoulder injury suffered earlier in the month, Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall will now be on the shelf longer term. Head coach Luke Richardson told reporters today, including NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, that Hall will be out for “a bit” after aggravating the injury and is listed as week-to-week.
Hall sustained the injury in an October 11 game against the Bruins after he was checked hard by Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo. Initially listed as week-to-week after exiting the lineup, Hall missed just one game before returning to the lineup a week ago Monday against the Maple Leafs. After seeing his ice time dip in the following two contests and playing just 12:39 against the Golden Knights on Saturday, it was determined Hall would need a longer recovery period.
The Blackhawks acquired the final two seasons of Hall’s four-year, $24MM contract from the Bruins this summer in a trade that gave the Bruins some much-needed salary cap relief. It also gave Chicago a skilled, veteran player drafted first overall many moons ago, making him an ideal linemate and mentor for 2023 first-overall selection Connor Bedard. While Bedard has been as good as can be expected so far this year, Hall has logged just two assists in five games while fighting the injury. The entire team has struggled to control possession, and Hall is no different, posting a Corsi share of 41.2% at even strength.
With Hall out of the lineup, Bedard is projected to get some new linemates. He’ll be flanked by seasoned veterans on both sides in Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno, both of whom have three points in six contests this year. Johnson leads the team in goals with three in the early going.
Kurashev Hoping To Make Debut On Tuesday
- After taking the entire summer to rehab a shoulder injury sustained towards the end of last season, Chicago Blackhawks’ forward, Philipp Kurashev, suffered a wrist injury during training camp before the start of this season, keeping him out of the lineup up to this point. With a serious need for more secondary scoring in their lineup, Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports-Chicago is reporting that Kurashev is looking to make his debut for the team on Tuesday, as they take on the Boston Bruins for the second time this season.
[SOURCE LINK]
Chicago Blackhawks Assign Cole Guttman To AHL
According to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago, the Chicago Blackhawks have assigned forward Cole Guttman to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
Guttman, 24, was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks’ past two games and has seemingly played his way back to the AHL in the early part of this season.
The five-foot-nine pivot has skated in three NHL games this year for head coach Luke Richardson, tallying one goal.
The Blackhawks signed Guttman as a college free agent after his productive final collegiate season, and he had an impressive debut season as a pro last year. But despite the early success he had as a professional, especially in the AHL, he’s been passed this season on the Blackhawks’ center depth chart.
Guttman began the year as Richardson’s third-line center, skating between Boris Katchouk and Andreas Athanasiou.
He’s since lost that job to Mackenzie Entwistle, who offers far more size at the position, but scored just four more points than Guttman last season despite playing in 52 additional NHL games.
With Lukas Reichel entrenched as the team’s second-line center (despite his early-season struggles) and Connor Bedard untouchable on the Blackhawks’ top line, there simply isn’t much room for Guttman in the lineup outside of that third-line center role.
It’s seemingly been made clear with the consecutive games spent as a healthy scratch that the Blackhawks want to see more from Guttman in order for him to retain a regular spot in their lineup. With this reassignment, the next step for him will be to play some impactful games for the IceHogs so he can earn a recall to Chicago and re-enter their lineup on stronger footing.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Taylor Hall To Return To Lineup Monday
Oct. 16, 10:06 a.m.: Call it a miraculously short recovery period for Hall, who says he expects to draw into the lineup Monday night against Toronto. “I wouldn’t say I’m 110 percent, but definitely good enough to play and much better than I was even two days ago,” Hall said. It’s great news for Chicago, who wasn’t expecting to see their top-line winger for quite a while longer.
Oct. 13, 1:56 p.m.: Per Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, Taylor Hall has been upgraded from week-to-week to day-to-day with an upper-body injury. NBCS Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Hall told Richardson he feels like a “miracle healer” with how quickly he’s bounced back from the Wednesday night injury. He even felt good enough to skate at the Blackhawks’ practice today and, while he’s set to miss Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, could be eyeing a quick return.
This would be great news for Blackhawks fans, as Hall has spent nearly all of his ice time playing alongside rookie sensation Connor Bedard, even providing the primary assist on the 18-year-old’s first NHL goal. Their line, which is completed by winger Ryan Donato, has been a focal piece in Chicago’s early season, with Bedard averaging 21-and-a-half minutes of ice time through the first two games.
The Blackhawks acquired Hall this off-season, looking to add a sparkplug to work with Bedard. Hall has played for five different clubs over the last seven seasons and has struggled to return to the 90-point upside he flashed in the 2017-18 season. The closest he’s gotten was in 2021-22 when he netted 61 points in 81 games with the Boston Bruins. Hall will look to regain his former scoring potential, now playing alongside a historic talent and fellow first-overall draftee.
In Hall’s absence, Andreas Athanasiou joined Bedard and Donato on the team’s top line. However, it was Taylor Raddysh who skated with the duo at the team’s Friday practice, while Athanasiou worked with Raddysh’s old line of Lukas Reichel and Tyler Johnson. With Hall slated to miss at least one game, who the Blackhawks decide to pair with Bedard could be interesting.
Taylor Hall Expects To Return Monday
Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach left last night’s contest against the Chicago Blackhawks with a lower-body injury, according to an announcement from the club. Dach was the recipient of a big hit from Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi, one that sent Dach into the Blackhawks’ bench. It appears as though Dach’s injury came from that hit, and at this moment the team has not released any additional details on Dach’s absence.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall told the media today, including the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope, that he’s preparing to play Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Such a return would represent a quick turnaround for Hall, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Blackhawks’ second game of the season, against his former team the Boston Bruins. Hall said that although his shoulder still “doesn’t feel great” it’s good enough to allow him to return to the lineup.