- While Lukas Reichel is currently up with the Blackhawks, they’re expected to send the rookie down before their next game on Friday, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 19-year-old has certainly held his own in his first four NHL contests but if Chicago can limit him to nine or fewer NHL appearances this season, he won’t burn the first year of his entry-level contract and it appears that the team is preferring to give him a few short stints rather than one extended stretch to get to that threshold.
Blackhawks Rumors
Snapshots: Niemelainen, Goloubef, Debunked Rumors
The wallet of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Markus Niemelainen is a little lighter today. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced today that Niemelainen has been fined $2043.75 for cross-checking, the maximum fine allowed under the terms of the CBA. The incident in question occurred during the Oilers’ match-up with the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Niemelainen cross-checked Jets forward and fellow Finn Kristian Vesalainen in the third period as he cut toward the net on a scoring chance. Despite what in retrospect was an obvious and vicious cross-check to Vesalainen’s face, no penalty was called on the play. Niemelainen is somewhat fortunate to have escaped with only a fine in this situation.
- Following multiple PTO’s with the AHL’s Belleville Senators this season, including suiting up for 11 games, veteran defenseman Cody Goloubef finally has a contract – except it isn’t with Belleville nor with Ottawa. Instead, the 32-year-old has signed a contract with SC Bern of the Swiss National League for the remainder of the season. Goloubef undoubtedly had his sights set on a return to Ottawa, having played in 29 games with the club over the last three seasons, but for whatever reason that did not come to fruition. An alternate captain for Belleville last season, Goloubef clearly still has strong ties to the Senators organization but it is unknown if he was offered a contract with the AHL Sens and opted to go to Switzerland instead. Bern gains a two-way defender with 160 NHL games to his credit as they fight to earn a playoff berth.
- The nearer to the trade deadline, the more rumors begin to emerge and, of course, not all rumors are grounded in truth. Two such whispers that were put to rest this weekend revolved around Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub and Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Hagel. While both the Sens and the Hawks are struggling again this season expect to be sellers at the deadline, they aren’t eager to move cost-controlled assets that are actually contributing on a regular basis. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports rather definitively that Zub will not be moved this season, which makes perfect sense. The 26-year-old is signed through next season at $2.5MM and while he will be an unrestricted free agent at that time, possibly making him a deadline target next season, the Senators don’t want to move on too quickly from a blue liner playing top pair minutes while also leading the team in plus/minus. In Chicago, the Blackhawks have even less reason to trade young winger Hagel, signed on for just $1.5MM AAV for two more years and still a restricted free agent after that. The 23-year-old is fourth on the team in scoring and second in goals, shooting percentage, and Corsi. While Chicago is understandably receiving interest in Hagel, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus reports that they have zero interest in moving him.
Blackhawks Expected To Be Among Teams Interested In Andrei Kuzmenko
The Department of Player Safety announced that Stars winger Jamie Benn has been fined $5K for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s game against Chicago. The incident occurred after Blackhawks winger Mackenzie Entwistle was hit into the stanchion early in the third period and had to head off for concussion protocol. While skating to the Dallas bench to leave the ice, Benn squirted Entwistle with his water bottle. The fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA.
- The Blackhawks are expected to be among the teams interested in Russian free agent winger Andrei Kuzmenko, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). Chicago has had some success with players coming over from overseas with the likes of Artemi Panarin, Pius Suter, and Dominik Kubalik among those that have signed and made the jump to the NHL which could be appealing to the 26-year-old who finished second in KHL scoring this season. Powers adds that Kuzmenko is expected to interview with teams after the KHL playoffs come to an end so a decision on where he ultimately signs is still a fairly long way out.
Blackhawks Send Brett Connolly To Rockford
- The Blackhawks have sent winger Brett Connolly back to AHL Rockford, reports Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). The veteran has been shuffled back and forth between the NHL and the minors this season and has just one assist in nine games with Chicago.
Marc-Andre Fleury Hopes To Play Next Season
While Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is unsure if he’ll be staying in Chicago past next month’s trade deadline, it seems like he’s making plans for next season. The veteran told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers, that while his playing days are coming to a close, he’s hoping to play a 19th season in the NHL:
Fleury is a pending unrestricted free agent and carries a pricey $7MM AAV but there has been some speculation of some contending teams being interested. While he doesn’t carry full trade protection, the Blackhawks have assured him that he will have a say on where he goes, if he winds up being moved. Fleury mentioned that while he has yet to speak to management about the possibility of a trade, he believes his agent Allan Walsh has been in touch with the team about that.
Teams Calling On Brandon Hagel
- Among the top few names on Daily Faceoff’s trade targets board is one that wouldn’t normally be expected; Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Hagel is listed fourth, with Frank Seravalli noting that the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, and Calgary Flames have all looked into the young forward. With two more years on his contract at a very inexpensive $1.5MM cap hit, Hagel’s price tag would likely be extremely high.
Blackhawks Linked To Toronto Raptors Executive
- The Chicago Blackhawks continue to interview candidates from outside of the hockey world for their vacant general manager position. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet connects the Blackhawks to Teresa Resch, currently the Toronto Raptors vice president of basketball operations & player development. The Blackhawks already interviewed Chicago Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg, along with several more traditional hockey candidates.
Dominik Kubalik Wants To Stay In Chicago
Blackhawks winger Dominik Kubalik is one of the more interesting wingers that currently is in trade speculation. He’s only two years removed from a 30-goal campaign and still has another year of team control remaining through arbitration. However, he isn’t having a particularly strong year and that qualifying offer stands at $4MM, a high price for someone whose production is on pace for a 31-point season. Accordingly, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic pegs (subscription link) the 26-year-old as a deadline enigma. If Kubalik has his way, he’d like to stick around with Chicago and not be moved:
The question for Blackhawks interim GM Kyle Davidson will be figuring out where the line is between opting for what would probably be an underwhelming trade return (relative to how he played a couple of years ago as a rookie) and where the smarter play would be to keep and qualify him this summer to give him one more chance. In the meantime, Kubalik will have another month to try to up his value both on the trade and contract front.
Colorado Has Shown Interest In Marc-Andre Fleury And Claude Giroux
With several key veterans heading towards unrestricted free agency and a strong roster that’s already one of the top offensive teams in the league, expectations are high in Colorado with the belief that they will look to make a big splash to cement their contender status. As part of his trade bait list released earlier today, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported in a separate segment (video link) that they’ve shown interest in a pair of prominent veterans in Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and Flyers center Claude Giroux.
Fleury has had a quiet year with Chicago compared to his Vezina-winning campaign last season but has still managed a respectable .910 SV% and a 2.88 GAA in 34 starts. For context, starter Darcy Kuemper’s numbers are only a little better at a .916 SV% and a 2.54 GAA. Pavel Francouz has been even better in limited action but missed all of last season and most of this one due to injury so some quality insurance between the pipes would make some sense.
As for Giroux, he has continually made it clear that he has not yet decided whether or not he’ll waive his trade protection to facilitate a trade. It’s a decision that seems likely to come close to the March 21st trade deadline but it’s easy to see why the Avs would be interested. He’s on pace for close to 30 goals and 70 points and would make a strong attack much deeper. He’d also be a big boost for them at the faceoff dot as Colorado’s team success rate is only 47.3% while Giroux is one of the league leaders at 60.6% and with greater emphasis placed on situational draws in the postseason, that’s an element that will be of interest to many contenders, not just the Avs.
However, while Colorado may want these players, finding a way to fit them in on the cap will be tricky. They project to have less than $1MM in cap space at the deadline, per CapFriendly while Fleury carries a $7MM AAV and Giroux checks in at $8.25MM. Clearly, the Avalanche would need at least 50% retention on either player if they were to get one of them and would either need to send some sort of salary offset the other way or involve a third team to hold back another 25% of their contract to make the money work. The fact GM Joe Sakic is showing interest in some of the top talents suggests that this is their year to go all-in and if there’s a way to get another top veteran, they’ll find a way to make the money work.
Edmonton Oilers Fire Dave Tippett
The Edmonton Oilers have had enough, and Ken Holland has finally fired a coach. Dave Tippett is out, according to Darren Dreger of TSN, after another embarrassing loss last night. The Oilers managed 41 shots but fell 4-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks, allowing early powerplay goals in both the first and third periods. Dreger adds that Jim Playfair has also been fired, while Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson from the Bakersfield Condors will take over as head coach and assistant respectively. In a release that followed, the team confirmed the dismissal of Tippett and Playfair, adding that assistants Glen Gulutzan and Brian Wiseman will remain with the team.
Tippett, 60, was in his third year as head coach of Edmonton and had thus far put up a 95-62-14 record. While that doesn’t look bad overall, the 23-18-3 mark this season just hasn’t been good enough for a team led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The team has struggled to defend, has had a carousel of inconsistency in net, and still doesn’t have the secondary scoring required to contend for the Stanley Cup. While a lot of that is due to poor roster construction, Tippett will pay the price after some of his deployment concerns.
Mike Smith started both ends of a back-to-back over the last two days, despite him just coming back off an injury recently. He lost both, allowing four goals in each, and now has an .890 save percentage on the season. Smith has been connected to Tippett for years, and hasn’t been able to play to the level he showed last season.
Notably, the veteran coach’s contract expired at the end of the season anyway, one that was unlikely to be renewed given the way the Oilers have performed this year.
Woodcroft comes in as a fresh face, having never been a head coach at the NHL level. He has been in charge of the Condors since 2018 and previously served as an assistant with the Oilers and Sharks, but those aren’t the most interesting assignments on his resume. It’s the years he spent with the Detroit Red Wings that stick out here given he’s now being promoted by Holland. Woodcroft was a video coach with the Red Wings right after his playing career came to an end, and comes from that coaching tree that spawned Todd McLellan, who eventually brought him to San Jose and then Edmonton.
This is the first time that Holland has fired a coach in the NHL, something he has been vehemently against in the past. At a press conference earlier this year, he suggested that dismissing Tippett wouldn’t be the answer and that the Oilers couldn’t “keep whipping through coaches” to try and solve the problem. Well, they are now on the seventh coach since the 2012-13 lockout, as Woodcroft will follow Tippett, Ken Hitchcock, McLellan, Todd Nelson, Dallas Eakins, and Ralph Krueger trying to get the best out of a frustrating lineup.