- Sam Lafferty will be out for a few games, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago. The Chicago Blackhawks forward is dealing with an upper-body injury, leaving the door open for Boris Katchouk to re-enter the lineup. Lafferty, 27, has three goals and seven points in 19 games this season after signing a two-year, $2.3MM contract extension in the spring.
Blackhawks Rumors
Chicago Blackhawks Activate Seth Jones
The Chicago Blackhawks have lost four in a row and are starting to look a lot more like the team many expected in the offseason. As the players try to turn things around, they are getting a big reinforcement tonight. Seth Jones has been activated from injured reserve and will be in the lineup against the Dallas Stars.
Jones, 28, hasn’t played in a month thanks to a thumb injury suffered while blocking a shot. The veteran had four points in his first eight games and was averaging more than 25 minutes a night.
With Jones in the lineup, the Blackhawks were actually above .500, going 4-3-1 before he was put on the shelf. After going 2-6-2 without him, they’ll try to get the ship righted and stay competitive as long as possible.
While the front office has made it clear that a complete rebuild is underway, head coach Luke Richardson and the players have still been competing as hard as possible. For a player like Jones, who is signed long-term and likely not going anywhere, accepting a lost season isn’t natural.
Still, after allowing 16 goals against in their last three, it will be a tough task for Jones and company to turn things around.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Chicago Blackhawks
As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Who are the Blackhawks thankful for?
Sure, Kane’s production (14 points in 18 games, a 64-point pace) so far this year isn’t quite where it was last year. But looking at the bigger picture, the person the Blackhawks should undoubtedly be most thankful for is Kane. Why? Because the Blackhawks have been upfront with their team’s direction, and Kane has been and will continue to be extremely helpful in getting GM Kyle Davidson where he wants his franchise to go.
Davidson is made it no secret, the Blackhawks are rebuilding. They are engaged in a relentless pursuit of as many future assets as possible and have begun building a formidable war chest of draft picks and prospects. Kane currently represents their most significant contributor toward building that stockpile this season.
First and foremost, Kane is the team’s most attractive free agent. While his no-move protection and Blackhawks’ desire to do right by their franchise icon may limit the trade return the team receives in any Kane deal, Kane is still likely to be the most sought-after player at next year’s trade deadline. If Kane is traded, the Blackhawks will still net major assets in return, the type of assets the team craves as they build toward future contention.
Additionally, Kane’s play is elevating the team’s pursuit of future assets in other ways. This summer, the Blackhawks signed Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou to identical one-year, $3MM deals. The implied intention of these deals was to give Domi and Athanasiou, two skilled offensive players, a wide-open environment to score as much as possible and turn themselves into attractive flippable assets at the trade deadline.
As Kane’s center and left winger, respectively, Domi and Athanasiou have produced well (12 points for Domi and eight for Athanasiou) and have firmly placed themselves in the mix of forwards set to be dealt next year. If the Blackhawks receive more for Domi than the Blue Jackets received last year, Domi being able to ride shotgun next to Kane, one of the game’s biggest stars, will be one of the reasons why.
So while Kane may not be able to bring one more Stanley Cup to Chicago, his potential parting gift to the franchise is still shaping up to be a valuable one.
What are the Blackhawks thankful for?
The strength of the 2023 draft class.
This was mentioned in the Thankful For piece on the Arizona Coyotes, but it’s applicable to the Blackhawks as well. As a team expecting to be among the NHL’s worst by the end of this season, the Blackhawks are likely to have their pick from the cream of the crop at the 2023 NHL draft. And luckily for them, this draft is shaping up to be quite the harvest of talent.
The Blackhawks will likely have a strong chance to land potential franchise-altering talent Connor Bedard, and even if they miss out on the big prize, Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov, and Leo Carlsson would each be quite the consolation prize.
But beyond just the top-end, the Blackhawks’ many trades and their trades to come have put them in a position to have quite a few more draft picks at this draft than their originally-allotted seven selections.
The depth of this draft is as highly-regarded as its top-end, and the Blackhawks have placed themselves in a premier position to infuse their farm system with some major talent. While the losses to come this season will hurt, the quality of this upcoming draft class is definitely something to be thankful for.
What would the Blackhawks be even more thankful for?
Elite play from Seth Jones.
If Kane is indeed traded at any point this season, he will pass the torch as the Blackhawks’ most important player to Jones. The 28-year-old blueliner is on a major $9.5MM AAV deal that will expire in the summer of 2030 and is in a position to be the linchpin of Chicago’s defense for the rest of the decade.
The Blackhawks would be even more thankful this holiday season, then, if Jones could return and display the sort of form he showed during his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jones wasn’t bad last season, scoring 51 points in 78 games in an all-situations, minutes-eating role, but he wasn’t the sort of elite, top-ten defenseman his salary pays him to be.
This year, Jones has gotten off to a slower offensive start with four points in eight games, but his minutes have remained heavy, as he’s averaging over 25 minutes per night.
Having turned 28 last month, Jones might not wish to remain in Chicago for the rest of his peak years while the team rebuilds. But for what it’s worth, Jones has not communicated any sort of clear desire to be moved. And since he has a full no-movement clause and a hefty salary, the Jones-Chicago partnership is likely here to stay.
So, with that in mind, having Jones return to the lineup and put forth a dominant season on both ends of the ice would be an extremely welcome development for both the player and team, and it would be something Blackhawks fans could definitely be thankful for.
What should be on the Blackhawks’ holiday wish list?
Other teams interested in acquiring the Blackhawks’ veterans.
We’ve already covered the fact that the Blackhawks are likely to shop Domi and Athanasiou this season, but the potential names the Blackhawks could move doesn’t end there. Veterans such as Jack Johnson, Connor Murphy, Jujhar Khaira, Colin Blackwell, Sam Lafferty, and Jason Dickinson could be of interest to other clubs, especially so in the cases of certain players off to hot starts, such as Lafferty and Dickinson.
What the Blackhawks should have on their wishlist, then, is a robust market of other teams interested in bidding on and eventually acquiring their players. While the success of Chicago’s rebuild is unlikely to be singularly determined by their ability to extract as much as they possibly can from another team in exchange for their middle-of-the-lineup players, one just needs to take a short look to the East to see how other teams have jump-started their rebuilds through savvy deadline deals.
The New York Rangers, for example, took an in-decline Rick Nash and got a first-round pick and Ryan Lindgren, among other pieces, for him. Even as recently as last season, the Montreal Canadiens were able to pry a second-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Brett Kulak, and that second-rounder became Lane Hutson, who is currently terrorizing Hockey East defenders as a Boston University Terrier.
The Blackhawks have enough veteran players to add a glut of draft picks or prospects to their organization, so with that in mind the Blackhawks should definitely have heavy trade interest in their players on their 2022-23 holiday wishlist.
Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Latest On Patrick Kane
- San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier isn’t a pending unrestricted free agent, but his expensive qualifying offer (he’s making $10MM this season on just a $6MM cap hit) and the current state of the Sharks (7-11-3, 25th in the NHL) leads one to believe that his time in San Jose could be coming to an end. Seravalli writes that it’s “unlikely” that the Sharks commit to a long-term pact with Meier, meaning a trade could be the most likely outcome for his future in teal. According to Seravalli, Meier’s “starting value on the [trade] market is considerably less than the Alex DeBrincat deal last summer,” the deal that netted the Blackhawks three draft picks, including the seventh-overall selection.
- Legendary forward Patrick Kane could be the most sought-after name on this spring’s trade market, and it appears that the process of working towards trading him is set to begin soon. Per Seravalli, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to “begin an initial conversation with Kane to gauge his interest in a trade.” Kane has full no-move protection, meaning he controls much of this trade process. Kane has been a Blackhawk for his entire career, so it’s certainly possible that being traded isn’t something he’ll allow. But if he wants to chase another Stanley Cup, remaining a Blackhawk won’t get him there.
Jalen Luypen To Play In WHL When Cleared To Return
- Back in August, when the Blackhawks signed prospect Jalen Luypen to an entry-level contract, it was expected that the 20-year-old would play with AHL Rockford this season. However, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the plan has changed now that his junior rights were acquired by Tri-City. Instead of turning pro, Luypen will report for his final season in the WHL once he’s cleared to return after he underwent rotator cuff surgery in the summer. Even though he’ll go back to junior, he will burn the first year on his contract this season.
Alec Regula Returned To AHL; Ian Mitchell Recalled
Nov 18: As expected, Mitchell has been recalled from the minor leagues.
Nov 17: The Chicago Blackhawks don’t play again until Saturday, and they’ve cleared a bit of salary off the roster in the meantime. Alec Regula has been sent down to the AHL, clearing up another roster spot for whatever the Blackhawks do next.
That could just be Regula coming back up in a day or two, saving the team some money – he’ll earn the AHL salary of his entry-level contract while in the minor leagues – but it could also hint at a different move. Seth Jones has been on the ice the last few days but just yesterday head coach Luke Richardson told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that the team is going to wait seven to ten days before getting another x-ray done. His return is not imminent.
It could be Ian Mitchell’s recall, after he has shown exactly why many believed he would be on the Blackhawks roster to start the year, had it not been for injury. The 23-year-old defenseman has two goals and five points in his three games since being activated from injured reserve and sent to the Rockford IceHogs.
With the Blackhawks really struggling on defense without Jones in the lineup, at least one recall is expected. The team has several options and if they truly want to stay competitive, as Richardson claims, they can’t keep icing the same group that gave up five to the St. Louis Blues last night.
Doubting the veracity of that claim is fair, given the offseason that the Blackhawks had. Some might say that things are now going to plan, with a 2-5-3 record in their last ten.
Ian Mitchell Activated, Loaned To AHL
For the first time this season, Ian Mitchell appears ready to compete. The young defenseman has been activated by the Chicago Blackhawks and loaned to the Rockford IceHogs, according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.
Mitchell suffered a wrist injury that stole his entire training camp, meaning he’ll need some minor league action before the Blackhawks consider moving him into the NHL lineup. The 23-year-old is still waiver-exempt, meaning he can be moved up and down without issue.
After recording 35 points in 57 games with Rockford last season, and getting into eight games with Chicago, Mitchell was expected to challenge for a full-time role with the Blackhawks. While that was delayed, he could quickly earn a call-up if he shakes off the rust quickly and shows he’s back to last year’s level.
It’s an important year for Mitchell to carve out his place in the organization, given he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer. After signing out of the University of Denver in 2020, he has eight points in 47 career NHL games.
Chicago Blackhawks Activate Petr Mrazek; Waive Dylan Wells
The Chicago Blackhawks have activated Petr Mrazek, while moving Alex Stalock to injured reserve. With a goaltender coming back, they have also placed the recently-signed Dylan Wells on waivers, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets.
Mrazek, 30, has played just three games for the Blackhawks this season, posting a .873 save percentage so far. That performance is actually even worse than his dreadful 2021-22 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs which led the team to trade away a draft pick so Chicago would take on the rest of his contract.
He’ll now presumably take over as the team’s starter, though Arvid Soderblom has been excellent through his four appearances, posting a .924. Those Blackhawks fans hoping for a true tank and the best chance at the first-overall pick might want Mrazek starting every game, given the younger netminder’s impressive performance. That is of course if Soderblom is even healthy enough to play, given he left his last start after two periods.
Stalock, meanwhile, is still in concussion protocol after taking a hard hit from Casey Cizikas (who received a suspension for the play) a few days ago. It is not clear when he will return to action but his IR placement is retroactive to November 1, meaning he can be activated at any time.
Things worked out pretty nicely for Wells, who earned an NHL deal out of the situation and his debut at the highest level. The 24-year-old entered the game in relief of Soderblom and stopped 12 of 13 shots in his NHL debut. His placement on waivers suggests that Soderblom will be okay but the team has not updated that situation yet.
Mitchell: Wrist Injury Is A Matter Of Pain Tolerance Now
- Blackhawks defenseman Ian Mitchell told reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that his wrist injury basically boils down to a pain tolerance issue at this point. He’s hoping to skate with the team next week when they return from their current road trip and if all goes well, he could be cleared to return soon after. That said, while he should be getting back to game action before much longer, it appears that this injury will linger for a little while yet.
Mrazek Likely A Week From Returning, Groin Injury Not As Bad As Last Year
While Chicago was forced to convert Dylan Wells’ minor league agreement to an NHL deal earlier today, it seems like he won’t be around for long. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that Petr Mrazek might be a week away from returning to the lineup and it’s a light rest of the week for the Blackhawks. He has been dealing with a groin injury for the last couple of weeks but with Alex Stalock and Arvid Soderblom both doing alright, there was no immediate need to try to rush him back and risk a recurrence which has plagued him in the past. However, Mrazek indicated that the injury wasn’t as bad as last season which certainly is a good sign as he looks to re-establish himself after a tough showing with Toronto last year.