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Chicago Blackhawks Sign Dylan Wells

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With Alex Stalock entering concussion protocol last night, the Chicago Blackhawks will be forced to add another goaltender. Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that it will be Dylan Wells, who was signed to an AHL contract. The Blackhawks have signed the young goaltender to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL and $80K in the AHL.

Petr Mrazek is still out with a groin injury, while the only other goaltender signed, Jaxson Stauber, was injured over the weekend. That means it will be Arvid Soderblom and Wells for the time being, at least until one of Stalock and Mrazek are able to return.

Despite a strong early start to the year, things are trending in the wrong (or right?) direction for the Blackhawks. Wells, 24, has never played in an NHL game, and has just 24 games of AHL experience under his belt. Most of his time as a professional has come in the ECHL, and even there he has struggled to put up consistently strong numbers.

With Seth Jones and Tyler Johnson both out, the goaltending situation a complete question mark, and the team now on a four-game losing streak, the Blackhawks could quickly be down at the bottom of the standings where most expected them to be this season.

Seth Jones Moved To Injured Reserve; Alec Regula Recalled

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The Chicago Blackhawks have moved Seth Jones to injured reserve retroactively to October 29 as he deals with a thumb injury. Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago reports that the team has recalled Alec Regula in his place.

Jones is expected to miss three to four weeks, meaning there may be a chance for Regula to get into a few more games. He was practicing as an extra today, but the 22-year-old already did play one with the Blackhawks before being sent down last month.

Selected 67th overall in 2018, Regular has 19 career games in the NHL but was excellent for the Rockford IceHogs last season, registering 26 points in 41 games. The 6’4″ defender logged just over 17 minutes in his first game this season.

After an excellent start to the year, the Blackhawks have now lost their last three. Each of those games has been decided by just one goal (or a shootout), and head coach Luke Richardson has his band of misfits playing hard. Losing Jones will be a blow, but no one expected Chicago to even be competitive this season and they’ve proved us wrong, so perhaps they can keep their head above water without the high-priced defenseman.

Ian Mitchell Not Close To Returning, Blackhawks Will Be Cautious With Petr Mrazek

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  • Blackhawks defenseman Ian Mitchell was initially ruled out for six weeks with a hand injury that occurred nearly six weeks ago. However, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes (Twitter link) that the 23-year-old has just resumed stickhandling and is nowhere near a return.  Mitchell is in the final year of his entry-level deal and after spending most of last season with AHL Rockford, a longer-than-expected absence isn’t exactly the start to the year he was hoping for.  Meanwhile, goaltender Petr Mrazek has resumed skating but the team will be cautious and inch him along for the time being.

Seth Jones Out Three to Four Weeks With Thumb Injury

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ blueline will be without its best player for the next few weeks. The Blackhawks have announced that defenseman Seth Jones will miss the next three to four weeks due to an injury to his right thumb. Per head coach Luke Richardson, Jones injured his thumb blocking a shot in yesterday’s game.

This news comes as the Blackhawks have gotten off to a surprisingly strong start. The team is 4-3-1, an impressive early-season record for a squad most expected to spend most of this season in the basement of the NHL standings.

Jones’ play has helped Chicago get off to this quality start. The 28-year-old defenseman has four assists in eight games and has registered 25:14 time-on-ice per game, more than five minutes higher than the next-most-utilized player. Four of those minutes per night come on the penalty kill and nearly four have come on the power play. He’s been an all-situations defenseman for Richardson, who will now need to find a new way to fill that heavy workload.

The Blackhawks’ defense beyond Jones is shaky. Connor Murphy and Jack Johnson each play over 19 minutes per game, and it’s possible that one or both of these players sees their ice time rise to above 20 minutes per game in Jones’ absence. This injury certainly isn’t ideal for the Blackhawks, especially with number-one goalie Petr Mrazek still sidelined.

Still, it’s an early test of the team’s mettle that will at the very least provide an opportunity for others to make more of a mark on the Blackhawks’ season than they might have been able to with Jones healthy.

Max Domi Approached Toronto About A Cheaper Contract This Past Summer

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  • While Max Domi joined the Blackhawks early in free agency on a one-year deal, it appears as if that wasn’t his original preference. In his latest column for the Toronto Star, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports that Domi’s camp had approached the Maple Leafs to gauge their interest in a one-year deal at a significantly lower price than the $3MM he received from Chicago.  Obviously, Toronto opted to go in a different direction, adding Nicolas Aube-Kubel on the opening day of free agency and Calle Jarnkrok two days later as forwards signing for more than the minimum.

Tyler Johnson Placed On Injured Reserve

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After suffering an ankle injury on Tuesday, Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson has been moved to injured reserve. While it might seem like placement on regular IR is encouraging for his timeline, that’s not necessarily the case. With the Blackhawks nowhere near the salary cap ceiling, there is no need to use long-term injured reserve. It is not clear how long Johson will be out.

It’s a tough blow for Johnson, who was experiencing something of a renaissance with Chicago this season after some down years. The versatile forward had six points through six games, including an assist against the Florida Panthers before exiting. Playing top-six minutes with powerplay time, the 32-year-old was setting himself up to have a nice bounce-back year.

With Johnson unavailable, Jujhar Khaira will move onto the second line with Jonathan Toews and Taylor Raddysh and play the net front on the second powerplay unit according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago. The Blackhawks have been steadfast in keeping top prospects in the minor leagues to play with the Rockford IceHogs, and this injury likely won’t change that. For now, it appears as though they’ll go with 12 forwards on the roster, though that may change once they head out on the road.

Philadelphia Flyers Acquire Evan Barratt

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The Chicago Blackhawks are busy today. After already completing one minor trade with the Montreal Canadiens, the Blackhawks have sent Evan Barratt to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Cooper Zech. The pair of young players will each report to their new minor league affiliates.

Barratt, 23, was a third-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2017 and has spent the last two seasons in the minor leagues after signing his entry-level contract. That contract expires at the end of this season and it is obvious that the new Chicago front office is focused on changing the entire organizational depth chart. The young forward was rather successful last year, with 28 points in 63 games, but hadn’t scored yet in his first two matches with Rockford this year.

He’ll join Lehigh Valley and try to prove to his new organization that he deserves a qualifying offer at the end of the year. Like the earlier trade, which sent Nicolas Beaudin back to where he grew up, Barratt is also headed home. The Bristol, Pennsylvania native played three years at Penn State and now gets a chance to play in front of friends and family once again.

Zech, meanwhile, is an undrafted defenseman that signed with the Flyers in 2021 after playing a few years on AHL contracts with the Providence Bruins. The 23-year-old is the kind of undersized player that can only climb the ladder by putting up big offensive numbers, but unfortunately only had 11 points in 53 games last season for Lehigh Valley.

While he may be a fine depth piece for Rockford, this is another player that could potentially be non-tendered by the Blackhawks at the end of the year. It should be noted that with so many draft picks coming into the organization, Chicago will need to keep contract slots to sign them open over the next few years. The moves today allow two players that are buried on the depth chart go play near their hometown, and hopefully make a bigger impact than they were ever going to have in Chicago.

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Nicolas Beaudin

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens have completed another trade that will see a former first-round pick head north. Nicolas Beaudin, selected 27th overall in 2018 by the Blackhawks, has been traded to Montreal in exchange for Cameron Hillis.

Similar to the move for Kirby Dach, this brings a struggling former top prospect to Montreal where he will likely get a better opportunity. Beaudin, 23, has played 22 games in the NHL but had obviously been passed by other young defensemen in the Chicago system. He cleared waivers earlier this month and was playing with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

With the Canadiens, there’s at least a chance that Beaudin can make good on some of his potential and help them fill out the NHL lineup at some point down the road. The team did send Corey Schueneman to the AHL today, opening a roster spot, but are expecting Joel Edmundson back soon to fill it.

Of course, this is also an example of the Canadiens bringing in another hometown kid, as Beaudin is from Châteauguay, a Montreal suburb. He was a star for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL as a junior player and should be extremely excited about the move.

Hillis, meanwhile, is a third-round pick of the Canadiens from 2018 that has had a very odd professional career so far. Last season, when the team was struggling with injuries, Hillis was brought up straight from the ECHL to make his NHL debut. He was back in the ECHL this season and looks like he might be a potential non-tender candidate for the Blackhawks unless he finds a new level of play with Rockford, where he will initially report.

Mostly, this deal looks like it was made to find a new home for a young player buried in the depth chart, one that the Blackhawks had no intention of using.

Chicago Blackhawks Place Petr Mrazek On Injured Reserve

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10/23/22: The Blackhawks have announced that Mrazek has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to October 21st. Per the announcement, Mrazek’s injury is a groin strain. Mrazek is unfortunately no stranger to groin injuries, and he has missed time due to similar ailments in the past. Given the relative lack of goaltending depth in Chicago, the team is no doubt hoping that Mrazek’s current groin injury is a minor one.

10/22/22: Staying healthy has been a challenge for Petr Mrazek throughout his 11-year NHL career.  The injury bug crept up again last night as head coach Luke Richardson told reporters including NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis that the veteran went to him after the second period and indicated he felt he had a small injury that warranted his removal from the game.  Alex Stalock came on in relief and the Blackhawks picked up the overtime victory.

However, with Chicago set to play their next game on Sunday, they needed to get a second healthy goalie on the roster so the team has announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Arvid Soderblom from AHL Rockford.  Mrazek hasn’t been placed on IR yet so the team needed to clear a roster spot for the youngster so defenseman Alec Regula was sent to the IceHogs.  NHL.com’s Tracey Myers relays (Twitter link) that Mrazek has a groin injury; he missed 20 games with that issue last season.

Soderblom is in his second season in North America and made three NHL appearances last year while having a strong season in Rockford, posting a .919 SV% in 38 games.  The 23-year-old has suited up twice in the minors this year.  As for Regula, he suited up in one of Chicago’s first four games this season and had 26 points in 41 games with Rockford last season.

Colton Dach In Concussion Protocol For The Second Time In A Month

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  • Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach has been placed in concussion protocol, notes Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). It’s the second time in a month that he has been moved there after entering protocol in mid-September.  The 19-year-old had gotten off to a good start with WHL Kelowna with three points in as many games but now, it’s likely he’ll be shut down for a little while.  Dach has already signed his entry-level deal with Chicago and will likely turn pro next season.

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