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Jonathan Toews Pushing For NHL Comeback

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Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews remains serious about an NHL comeback at the age of 37 even though he hasn’t played a professional hockey game in almost two years (as per Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has been plagued by health issues for several years now but says he is in a good place both mentally and physically and has even begun skating in Arizona as he begins an attempted comeback.  Toews never officially retired when he wrapped up his time in Chicago and refers to his time away from the game as a “hiatus.”

With Toews ready to give hockey one last shot, many people will wonder about potential suitors for his services. One team that he will not play for is the Blackhawks as they have made it clear in the past that they were ready to move on from Toews and hand the keys over to their new core. Toews holds no hard feelings over this and acknowledged that he understands their reasoning.

Toews had skated just once since last playing in the NHL back on April 13th, 2023, dressing in a charity exhibition game in Slovakia. He returned to the United States last month and had his hockey gear sent to him in Arizona. Since then, he’s been doing skill work and conditioning skates but admits he doesn’t have his legs under him yet, which is understandable given the length of his absence. Toews tells Lazerus that he is excited to skate with other NHLers when their seasons end and will have a better idea at that time whether or not an NHL comeback is feasible.

Toews returning to the NHL would make for an exciting story, given the challenges he has dealt with. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native has nothing left to prove at any level of hockey but does admit that the desire to play in the NHL again is still burning strong.

Blackhawks Notes: Donato, Soderstrom, Sorensen

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On Friday, the Blackhawks rekindled discussions about a possible contract extension with pending unrestricted free agent forward Ryan Donato and while an agreement wasn’t reached, Chicago elected to hold onto him anyway.  Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the deal that the team put on the table was a three-year offer worth somewhere around $4MM per season.  That would effectively double his current price tag while the term is low enough that he’d be off the books when some of their younger core will be heading toward pricey second contracts.  The 28-year-old has a career-best 23 goals and 25 assists through 62 games this season despite not even averaging 16 minutes a night.  He’ll now have to weigh if he can do better than that on the open market or if he’s better off staying in a place he knows he fits with.

More from Chicago:

  • Also from Powers’ piece, he notes that the Blackhawks will look at signing defenseman Victor Soderstrom for next season. Acquired as part of the trade that saw Chicago pick up Shea Weber’s contract earlier this week, the 24-year-old returned to play in Sweden this season and has fared quite well, tallying 36 points in 48 games with Brynas.  Soderstrom has 53 career NHL games under his belt with Phoenix (who drafted him 11th overall in 2019) and 170 outings in the AHL.  But if Chicago views him as more of a depth option on a two-way deal, Soderstrom could elect to stay and play a prominent role at home.
  • During his post-deadline press conference (video link), GM Kyle Davidson noted that with the deadline now gone, they will turn their focus to a decision on their head coach. Anders Sorensen is the interim bench boss following the early-season dismissal of Luke Richardson but the team doesn’t have an inclination of what route they intend to go with Sorensen just yet.  The team has played to a 12-19-7 record, good for a .408 points percentage compared to the .346 they were at before the change.

Blackhawks’ Artyom Levshunov Recalled, Expected To Make NHL Debut

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The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled top prospect Artyom Levshunov to the NHL roster. This marks the second call-up of the 2024 second-overall pick’s young career. He is expected to immediately step into the Hawks lineup, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Levshunov’s last call-up came on February 3rd, in the days leading up to Chicago’s two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. He stuck around the NHL roster for two days worth of practices, but was returned to the minor leagues before he had a chance to break into the Blackhawks lineup. Levshunov has nine points in 12 AHL games since being reassigned – a major uptick on his 13 points in 38 games prior. With 22 points in 50 games across the full season, Levshunov ranks ninth among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring.

The Blackhawks controversially opted for Levshunov’s stout defense over the dynamic scoring of winger Ivan Demidov and the physical presence of center Cayden Lindstrom with their top pick in last year’s draft. The decision came after Levshunov fought his way into the role of number-one defenseman for the Big Ten’s Michigan State University, after transferring from the USHL to college hockey late into the 2023 summer. The quick move was just one year after Levshunov moved from Belarus’ juniors league to the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. He adjusted quickly to both junior hockey and collegiate hockey – and now seems to be bringing along his scoring at a pro level too.

Chicago will get a chance to bank on Levshunov’s hot streak with this recall. The Blackhawks have a glaring hole on right-defense after trading star defender Seth Jones ahead of the Trade Deadline. Jones’ minutes have been filled by Louis Crevier and Connor Murphy in the immediate wake of the deal, but have allowed an average of 37 shots-against in their four games since the Jones trade. That’s a ton of pressure for new acquisition Spencer Knight in net, and while he’s handled it well – finding a way to stop up the barrage of shots will be a top priority for Chicago’s remaining season. The stout two-way play of Levshunov could be exactly what Chicago needs, and gives the Blackhawks an even better chance to lean into their future amidst a punted season.

Laurent Brossoit Not Expected To Return This Season

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Laurent Brossoit’s first year with the Blackhawks hasn’t gone well, to say the least.  Signed to a two-year, $6MM contract last summer to try to give Chicago some stability between the pipes, he has yet to play for them this season.  It doesn’t look like he will either as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays that goalie coach Jimmy Waite recently indicated that he doesn’t expect the netminder to be able to return this season.

The 31-year-old underwent meniscus surgery in late August that was initially expected to carry a five-to-seven-week recovery timeline.  While that would mean he’d miss training camp, the thought was that he’d be ready to play early in the regular season and he was originally thought to be ready to debut partway through their opening road trip.  Then in late October, he was supposed to begin skating and would need a few weeks to ramp up.  Two weeks later, his timeline was changed to being out indefinitely.

Brossoit then underwent a second procedure on his knee at the end of November with no timeline for a return although GM Kyle Davidson was hopeful back in late January that his new netminder would be able to play this season.  Clearly, that’s no longer the case although Brossoit recently expressed some optimism to Waite about his recovery which could be a good sign for next year.

Brossoit posted a 2.00 GAA and a .927 SV% in 23 games with Winnipeg in 2023-24, a solid bounce-back performance after being in the minors at times the year before.  That made him one of the bigger wild cards heading into free agency but even with his inconsistent track record, he still landed the biggest financial commitment of his career and looked to be part of Chicago’s short-term plans at the very least.

But that fit is much less certain now.  Arvid Soderblom, who Brossoit was likely signed to replace in the goaltending platoon, has bounced back quite well after a disastrous performance last season, upping his save percentage by 25 points along the way.  In doing so, he’s back to being in at least the shorter-term plans in goal as well with prospects Drew Commesso and Adam Gajan not ready for full-time NHL duty just yet.

Meanwhile, Chicago also picked up Spencer Knight from Florida as a key part of the return in their trade for Seth Jones earlier this month.  At 23, he’s now their goalie of the present and future so he figures to be the top option in their tandem with Soderblom as the backup.

Chicago was able to move Petr Mrazek on Friday to avoid an extended stretch of carrying three netminders but assuming Brossoit is able to play next season, they’ll be in that situation once more.  But Davidson at least has some time to come up with a plan for how to handle that situation as now with Brossoit effectively ruled out for the rest of this season, it won’t be an issue until training camp in the fall.

Blackhawks Activate Philipp Kurashev

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While Chicago won’t have newly acquired center Joe Veleno in the lineup tonight against Utah, they will get another forward back.  The team announced that Philipp Kurashev has been activated off injured reserve.  He had missed the last week and a half with a hand injury.

After a breakout showing last season, it looked as if Kurashev’s stock was on the rise and that he’d be a fixture in Chicago’s lineup for a while.  After all, a 54-point season from a then-24-year-old made it appear that he could be a key cog in their top six.

But things haven’t gone anywhere near as well this season.  Kurashev has just six goals and four assists through 42 games while his -29 plus/minus rating is tied for the fourth-lowest in the league.  Instead of being a top liner like he was a year ago, his playing time is down by nearly five minutes a game while he has been healthy scratched at times.

As a result, his long-term outlook with the organization has certainly changed.  Instead of looking like a fixture for the foreseeable future, Chicago was shopping him earlier in the season and couldn’t find a suitable trade.

A pending restricted free agent, Kurashev will be owed a $2.25MM qualifying offer this summer while he’ll also have salary arbitration rights.  Considering how things have gone this year, it seems unlikely he’ll be tendered that offer so he’ll need to use this final six-week stretch of the season as a showcase for what’s likely to be his first trip through unrestricted free agency in July.

Blackhawks To Reassign Colton Dach, Ethan Del Mastro

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  • Strictly as a paper move, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Chicago Blackhawks have reassigned forward Colton Dach and defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. Both players will remain in the Blackhawks’ lineup for the rest of the season before they are returned to AHL Rockford at the end of the season, should they qualify for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs. Dach has scored two goals and six points in 18 games with Chicago, while Del Mastro has registered two goals and three points in 12 contests.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Utah Trades Shea Weber’s Contract To Blackhawks

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The Utah Hockey Club is trading the contract of retired defenseman Shea Weber to the Blackhawks, per Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports. Chicago has also acquired the signing rights to defenseman Victor Söderström and right-wing prospect Aku Räty for taking on the final year-plus of Weber’s deal. Houston later reported that Utah is sending a 2026 fifth-round pick to Chicago.

From Utah’s perspective, the deal is simply salary cap management for next season. Weber has effectively been retired since skating in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. It’s the third time his contract has been traded since becoming dead weight in 2021-22. Although his $7.857MM salary wasn’t a hurdle for Utah this year, it would have been next year as the team looks to make significant additions to the roster.

On the other side of the trade, the Blackhawks essentially purchased a pair of younger players from Utah. Söderström is the most notable of the two, being the former 11th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. Still, he has yet to pan out at the NHL level.

Söderström debuted in the NHL with the Arizona Coyotes during the 2020-21 campaign. Since then, he’s scored one goal and 11 points in 53 contests, averaging 16:10 of ice time per game. Chicago is likely interested in Söderström’s past performance in the AHL and his current production in the SHL with Brynäs IF. The Skutskär, Sweden native has recorded nine goals and 36 points in 47 SHL contests this year, tying for third in scoring on the team.

It’ll be a solid acquisition for the Blackhawks should Söderström replicate that performance with Chicago. However, it’s important to note that although the Blackhawks now own Söderström’s contractual rights, he’s under no commitment to return to the NHL.

Meanwhile, Räty is another prospect who has yet to break out meaningfully. He scored 15 goals and 44 points in 55 games for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners last season but has followed it up disappointingly with four goals and 19 points in 50 games this year. Räty will now have a fresh start in AHL Rockford with the IceHogs, where he can help the team compete for a berth in the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs.

PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed to this article. 

Blackhawks Acquire Joe Veleno From Red Wings

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The Detroit Red Wings announced that they’ve traded forward Joe Veleno to the Chicago Blackhawks for netminder Petr Mrázek and forward Craig Smith.

Thanks to his performance this season, Veleno became an interesting trade candidate from the Red Wings’ perspective. The former 30th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft recently achieved back-to-back 20-point campaigns in Detroit in a bottom-six role but hasn’t performed up to that standard this season. Veleno has registered five goals and 10 points for the Red Wings in 56 games, averaging 11:57 of ice time per game.

The native of Montreal, Quebec, hasn’t translated well to Todd McLellan’s system. In 26 games under the new head coach, Veleno has underperformed, scoring only one goal and accumulating four points, with a disappointing shooting percentage of 4.3%. Even as his physicality has increased in the last several years, Veleno hasn’t added much value in a bottom-six role for Detroit.

Still, he’ll have plenty of runway to produce with Chicago. He’s signed to a reasonable $2.275MM salary through next season and could make for a decent change-of-scenery candidate with the Blackhawks. As a natural center, Veleno allows Chicago to move Lukas Reichel or Nick Foligno to the wing in the team’s bottom six.

Veleno’s inclusion in the deal is the only non-puzzling portion for the Red Wings. Mrázek is signed to a relatively expensive $4.25MM contract through next season and becomes the third NHL-caliber goalie on Detroit’s roster. Additionally, since July 1st last summer, Mrázek has become the fourth goalie brought in by general manager Steve Yzerman in the past eight months.

Although the Red Wings’ tandem of Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon have disappointed recently, Mrázek won’t be much of an improvement should he maintain his production from the Blackhawks. Without factoring in his W/L record, Mrázek has a .890 SV% and 3.46 GAA in 33 starts this year with a 93rd-ranked goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck.

Meanwhile, Smith probably wouldn’t have been on Detroit’s radar if rookie Carter Mazur wasn’t injured in last night’s contest. Mazur was expected to fill the void of Christian Fischer in the team’s bottom-six after they lost him on waivers to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The veteran winger has recorded nine goals and 16 points in 40 games for Chicago this season, losing a handful of games to a nagging back injury.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report on the deal. 

Blackhawks Discussing Extension With Ryan Donato

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As a pending unrestricted free agent, there has been an expectation that the Blackhawks would be moving forward Ryan Donato before today’s 2 PM CT trade deadline.  However, that might not be the case, as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are discussing a potential contract extension.  Even if an agreement on that front can’t be reached, LeBrun adds that teams have been told that Chicago won’t move him unless they’re blown away with an offer.

The 28-year-old is in the midst of a career year, tallying 23 goals and 23 assists in 60 games, buoyed by a 16.9 shooting percentage.  By comparison, his previous personal best in points in a season was 31.  Perhaps more impressively is that he has done so without a dramatic jump in playing time as Donato is logging just 15:30 per night.

Donato is in the final season of a two-year, $4MM contract signed with Chicago after Seattle non-tendered him back in 2022 to avoid giving him salary arbitration eligibility.  With the year he’s having, Donato appears to be well on his way to potentially doubling his current price tag if not more on his next deal.

In the meantime, GM Kyle Davidson has set a high asking price for Donato’s services.  Earlier this week, as relayed by All CHGO’s Mario Tirabassi, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Blackhawks are seeking a first-round pick to move Donato.  While that might seem lofty given his overall track record of being more than a depth scorer, Donato has been a legitimate top-six forward this season and his price tag from a salary cap perspective is much cheaper than many of the other top-six options out there.  Notably, Chicago has used its three retention slots so they won’t be able to pay down any of the contract to help facilitate a move.

Clearly, Chicago’s preference is to get Donato locked up to a new deal but even if that doesn’t happen, it appears as if there’s at least a chance he’ll remain with the Blackhawks for at least the rest of the season.

Chicago Blackhawks Reassign Andreas Athanasiou

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  • According to the AHL transactions page, the Chicago Blackhawks have reassigned forward Andreas Athanasiou to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. Despite a disappointing season, the IceHogs are competing for a playoff spot in the AHL’s Central Division and would qualify if the season ended today. Athanasiou has been a large part of that hunt. Since clearing waivers and being reassigned in early November, Athanasiou has scored eight goals and 16 points in 16 games with AHL Rockford. Should they qualify by season’s end, he’ll be an important part of their playoff success.
  • In a move similar to the Blackhawks, the Calgary Flames announced that they have reassigned defenseman Ilya Solovyov to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The Mogilev, Belarus native has again spent much of the time in the AHL this season, scoring six goals and 21 points in 43 contests. His point production is good for fourth on the team among defensemen, and his +16 rating is the second-best. 

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