Blackhawks Reassign Drew Commesso
The Blackhawks are sending goaltender Drew Commesso back to AHL Rockford, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com. He had been recalled under emergency conditions over the weekend after Spencer Knight was sidelined with an illness, but he’s now cleared to return and will be available for tomorrow’s road outing against the Mammoth.
Now in his second season seeing NHL action, the 23-year-old has made three starts for the Hawks this year, posting a .918 SV%, 2.31 GAA, and a 2-1-0 record. That’s a significant step forward from what the 2020 second-rounder showed in his first NHL start last year, allowing four goals on 24 shots against the Devils in his lone appearance. After recording a win over Utah on Monday in his only showing on this call-up, he’s now saved 1.6 goals above expected and, in a small sample, has been Chicago’s analytically strongest goalie this year on a per-60 basis with a 0.528 GSAx/60, per MoneyPuck.
Nearly six years on from being drafted, Commesso remains Chicago’s top goalie prospect and is the #7-ranked player in their pool overall, writes Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. His promising NHL starts this season do run in contrast to what’s been a career-worst season for Commesso in Rockford, though. After coming up with a .906 and .911 SV% in his first two pro seasons, respectively, he’s logging a .899 SV% and 3.07 GAA in 28 games this year with a 9-16-3 record. Those numbers aren’t all on Commesso, though – Rockford has been a tough defensive environment this season, and those are still far superior numbers to backup Stanislav Berezhnoy‘s.
Blackhawks Recall Nick Lardis And Drew Commesso
The Blackhawks have made a pair of roster moves before tomorrow’s game in Dallas. The team announced that winger Nick Lardis and goaltender Drew Commesso have been recalled from AHL Rockford.
It’s the second recall of the season for Lardis, whose first stint with Chicago lasted nearly six weeks. During that stretch, he got into 21 games, his first taste of NHL action. The 20-year-old certainly made a strong first impression, collecting five goals and two assists in those appearances while logging 12:39 per game of ice time. He has been considerably more productive with Rockford, however, tallying 18 goals and 14 assists in 35 games with the IceHogs in his first season with them.
As for Commesso, it’s also his second stint with Chicago of the season, although his first look was much shorter, lasting all of three days. However, he did make a pair of starts in that stretch, turning aside 55 of 60 shots while winning one of those two contests. The 23-year-old has played in 28 games with Rockford, putting up a 3.07 GAA with a .899 SV%. With Spencer Knight unavailable due to illness for a second straight game, Commesso will likely dress as the backup to Arvid Soderblom.
Because of Knight’s absence, Commesso’s recall will qualify as an emergency one and thus will not count against Chicago’s post-deadline regular recall limit which is up to five this season. Unless there is another injury or illness up front, however, the promotion of Lardis will count against their recall limit.
Blackhawks Assign Drew Commesso, Kevin Korchinski, Stanislav Berezhnoy To AHL
The Chicago Blackhawks have sent goaltenders Drew Commesso and Stanislav Berezhnoy, along with defenseman Kevin Korchinski, back to AHL Rockford, per the team.
No corresponding transactions were made, the team jumping back into action tomorrow at home against Edmonton. However, today’s moves suggest that regular netminders Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom are likely to return, along with defender Louis Crevier, as suggested by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.
It has been a busy week for goaltenders in the Blackhawks organization. Even outside of the injuries to their #1 and #2 options on the big club, the team dealt Laurent Brossoit to San Jose. Therefore, Chicago had to clear the shelves from Rockford, summoning Commesso and Berezhnoy to get them through their last two contests.
Commesso surrendered five goals on Friday in a loss to Washington, and it figured to be another potentially tough night on Saturday, as the usual AHLer had to step right back into action in a back-to-back against Nashville. Impressively, instead he put up a 36-save shutout, immediately inflating his save percentage to .917 on the season.
Naturally, his prompt reassignment after a career night is disappointing, but as Rockford’s #1 goalie, the plan was never for Commesso to stay longer than urgently needed. His efforts in Nashville will be remembered this summer in contract discussions, as the 23-year-old will be a restricted free agent. Drafted 46th overall in 2020, Commesso figures to be a possible NHL backup in the future.
Berezhnoy, an undrafted free agent in his first North American season, earned his first call-up just to serve as backup last night, but with Brossoit now moved out, he will have a larger role in Rockford going forward.
Finally, Korchinski got into his first two NHL games of the season, and much like Commesso, played better in Nashville than against Washington. The 21-year-old top prospect heads back down after averaging 13:59 of ice time, recording an assist. Jumping right into the Hawks roster out of the WHL in 2023-24, warranted as he was drafted seventh overall, Korchinski played in 76 games, notching 15 points, as a rookie. Since then, he has spent more time in the AHL, as Chicago takes their time with the smooth-skating puck-carrier, especially as they’ve worked through tough seasons in recent years. His production as a teenager out of the gate was impressive, but Korchinski did finish the campaign a -39, indicative that seasoning in Rockford was needed.
Now a .500 team in January, out of their darkest days, Korchinski has been unable to re-join the lineup fully just yet, as he has led IceHogs defensemen in scoring, but is still working to put it all together, especially in his own end. After what may have been throwing him into the fire too quickly to start his professional career, Chicago is now trying to be patient with the Saskatchewan native. He may not be the brightest defenseman prospect of the Hawks today, thanks to Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov, but Korchinski still should blossom into a true top four blueliner pending further development.
After each filled in admirably, Chicago will go into a four game home stand next week looking to build off their strong play of late and continue to show progress as a group. Even if they come short of the postseason, it seems to be a real step going into 2026-27.
Blackhawks Activate Connor Bedard, Recall Kevin Korchinski, Drew Commesso
1:43 p.m.: The Blackhawks announced they’ve activated Bedard from injured reserve. They also recalled defenseman Kevin Korchinski and goaltender Drew Commesso from AHL Rockford to account for their game-time decisions tonight. Korchinski, the seventh overall pick in 2022, would be making his season debut if he draws into the lineup. He hasn’t exactly been lighting up the AHL, but has 19 points and a -12 rating in 32 showings for Rockford. Commesso, on the other hand, has been a strong starter with a .909 SV% and 2.72 GAA in 19 games.
12:00 p.m.: The Chicago Blackhawks will have their lineup star back from injury when they host the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Connor Bedard confirmed that he will return to the lineup after missing the last 12 games due to a shoulder injury to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Bedard skated on the top power-play unit at Friday morning’s practice.
Bedard was injured in the final second of Chicago’s Dec. 12th loss to the St. Louis Blues. He was on a scoring tear before his injury, with five goals and 11 points in his last seven games. Those marks brought Bedard up to 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games on the season. That ranked the Blackhawks youngster third in points and fourth in goals in the NHL.
Naturally, Chicago hit a skid once Bedard fell out of the lineup. Their average goals per game fell from 2.9 to 2.1 over their remaining eight games in December, leading to a 1-6-1 record to end 2025. Surprisingly, the young roster snapped out of that struggle in the New Year. Chicago is currently riding a four-game win streak, capped off by a 7-3 win over the Blues on Wednesday. That win was spurred by young forwards Oliver Moore, Nick Lardis, Landon Slaggert, and Ryan Greene.
With that quartet now clicking down the lineup, Chicago will be in a perfect position to add their top scorer back to the lineup. Bedard spent most of his time next to Greene and Andre Burakovsky prior to his injury. That line outscored opponents 13-to-6 at even-strength, the most of only four Blackhawks lines with a positive goal-differential. The chances that Bedard returns to that line on Friday could be slim, though, as Greene has taken on the second-line center role with Frank Nazar also injured.
Chicago will need to spread their depth after forwards Nick Foligno and Ilya Mikheyev, goaltender Arvid Soderblom, and head coach Jeff Blashill all missed Friday’s morning skate. The team isn’t yet sure which of those four will be available for Friday night’s game, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. The four seem to have fallen victim to a flu bug making its way through the Blackhawks locker room right now. The injury-ridden Blackhawks have two extra forwards – Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert – but had to call upon famous emergency backup goaltender Scott Foster to backup at practice. They would be eligible for an emergency recall should they need to fill an additional spot.
Should Blashill need to sit on the side, Chicago would likely ask Anders Sorensen to fill the head coach spot. Sorensen coached the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs from 2022 to 2025, then earned a promotion to an interim head coach role partway through last season. He remains with Chicago as an assistant coach this year.
Blackhawks Activate Petr Mrazek Off IR, Drew Commesso Re-Assigned To AHL
The Chicago Blackhawks have reportedly activated goaltender Petr Mrazek off the injured reserve and re-assigned netminder Drew Commesso to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (as per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720). Mrazek was considered close to a return on Tuesday but was not activated until this morning. The 32-year-old has been dealing with a left groin strain that has kept him out of action since December 7th.
Mrazek has dressed in 20 of Chicago’s 32 games to start the year and has put up a 7-11-1 record with a respectable .906 save percentage and 2.83 goals-against average. He dressed in 56 games for Chicago last season, posting a goals saved above expected of 1.6 (as per Money Puck), and a save percentage of .907, with an 18-31-4 record.
22-year-old Commesso started his first NHL game on December 14th for Chicago and played okay as he carried a shutout into the third period but ultimately lost the decision 4-1. He spent nearly two weeks in Chicago during Mrazek’s absence but saw just two appearances during that time. The former second-round pick now heads back to Rockford where he has put up pedestrian numbers in ten games this season with a 4-6 record and a 3.34 goals-against average as well as an .879 save percentage.
Chicago is at home tonight to face the Seattle Kraken, and we should know later today whether Mrazek will start or will be the backup.
Blackhawks Place Petr Mrazek On IR; Recall Kevin Korchinski, Drew Commesso
The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Kevin Korchinski and goaltender Drew Commesso, per Charlie Roumeliotis of Chicago’s WGN Radio. The duo will help fill in for starting goaltender Petr Mrazek and top-four defender Alec Martinez. Both players left Chicago’s Saturday game early with injury – Mrazek after getting his legs swept from under him, and Martines after a deflected shot found its way under his visor. Roumeliotis adds that Mrazek has been moved to injured reserve with a left-groin injury.
With Martinez joining top Hawks defender Seth Jones on the list of injuries, Chicago will give top prospect Korchinski another chance to establish an NHL role. The 20-year-old spent the entirety of last season on the NHL roster amid a severe lack of defense depth. He recorded five goals, 15 points, and a -39 in 76 games – prompting Chicago to start him in the minors this year. That’s proven the right move early on, with Korchinski leading Rockford IceHogs defenseman in scoring with two goals and 11 points in 21 games. He’s served a top-line role for Rockford and seems to be gaining more and more confidence on the puck, with routine highlights showing him driving play from end to end.
This call-up likely won’t guarantee Korchinski minutes. He’ll have to first earn a role over Nolan Allan and Wyatt Kaiser – assuming Chicago doesn’t play any of their defenders on their off-hand. Allan has proven a stout fill-in amid injuries, with four assists and a -5 through 20 games this season. Kaiser has been far less productive, boasting just one assist, 14 penalty minutes, and a -1 in 25 games. Korchisnki’s scoring upside could be enough to earn minutes, but he’ll likely have to quickly take advantage of the opportunities he’s provided.
Commesso has spent the last two seasons splitting starts in Rockford. He found his way into the role of de facto starter last year – his first professional season – stepping into 38 games and recording 18 wins and a .906 save percentage. He narrowly beat out Jaxson Stauber in ice time and save percentage – with Stauber posting a .902 in 31 games – but Commesso hasn’t found the same success this year. He’s lost the majority share of starts to three-year pro Mitchell Weeks, who has a .901 save percentage in 12 starts to Commesso’s .879 in 10 starts. Both netminders have four wins.
Mrazek’s forced week-long absence should give Commesso a chance to earn his NHL debut. Meanwhile, Rockford has recalled ECHL starter Benjamin Gaudreau to help support the AHL lineup in Commesso’s absence. Gaudreau – another top goalie prospect in his draft year – has set a 5-5-2 record and .907 save percentage in his first 12 pro games this season.
Blackhawks Notes: Teräväinen, Commesso, Frost
A few teams have alternated the dubious distinction of last place this season, but after dropping three in a row for the second time, the Blackhawks now hold that honor with a 6-12-1 record and .342 points percentage.
That skid has the team getting “less confident for sure,” free-agent returnee Teuvo Teräväinen told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. He said the team’s lack of scoring is frustrating – an understandable sentiment considering he has just one goal on 28 shots in his last 16 games after starting the year with three goals in three outings.
“I’ve got to work harder or something,” Teräväinen continued. “I’m chasing the game a lot. [My] confidence is just getting lower and lower — like everybody, I feel like — but it’s just how it is.” Chicago’s 2.32 goals per game are 31st in the league, ahead of only the Predators. Their 19.6% power-play success rate, though, is exactly middle of the pack.
Other items of note from Chicagoland:
- With Petr Mrázek back in goal tonight after a brief personal leave, the Blackhawks have returned Drew Commesso to AHL Rockford, per the NHL’s media site. Chicago recalled the 22-year-old on Tuesday to back up Arvid Söderblom against the Stars, but he didn’t enter the game. It’s the third Blackhawks game he’s sat on the bench for this season without playing. Their current lone AHL recall option with Laurent Brossoit on the shelf has a 3.71 GAA, .854 SV%, and a 2-4-0 record in six games for Rockford this season.
- Keep Flyers center Morgan Frost in mind as a potential trade pickup for Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet opined Thursday. Frost is now fully in trade speculation after sitting in the press box for four of Philadelphia’s last five games, and the 25-year-old has just one goal and six points in 16 games on the year and is seeing his lowest average ice time since the 2021-22 campaign. The Blackhawks are casting a wider net in their search to add down the middle, but Friedman zeroed in on Frost as an age-appropriate option for their rebuild without too high of an acquisition cost.
Central Notes: Athanasiou, Mrazek, Joseph, Heinola
The AHL’s Rockford IceHogs have announced that forward Andreas Athanasiou has suffered a wrist injury and will miss the next four to six weeks. He’s just three games into a tenure with Rockford, after passing through waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on November 13th. Athanasiou recorded two goals on four shots in his AHL debut but didn’t manage any scoring in two games this weekend. He’s playing in his first minor league games since the 2015-16 season, working to earn a recall after failing to score in his first five NHL games this season.
The slow start this season has continued Athanasiou’s unpredictable career. He’s only two seasons removed from a 20-goal, 40-point season with a much weaker Blackhawks lineup, but was limited to only 28 games last season by a lower-body injury that lasted nearly five months. He hasn’t rediscovered his scoring on the other side of that injury – and now gets stifled from a potential resurgence in the minor leagues for the time being. Athanasiou carries a $4.25MM cap hit and is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Other notes from the Central Division:
- Sticking in Chicago, starting goaltender Petr Mrazek will sit out of the team’s Tuesday night game against Anaheim for personal reasons per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720. Arvid Soderblom will take over the starting crease, and Drew Commesso has been called up to serve as backup. Soderblom has posted a .934 save percentage in five games this season, well ahead of Mrazek’s .906 in 13 games. He’ll need to stay strong, with no indication of how long Mrazek may miss and Chicago currently on a two-game losing streak.
- It will be Mathieu Joseph stepping out of the St. Louis Blues’ lineup to make room for Robert Thomas‘ return from a fractured ankle per NHL.com’s Elise Butler. Joseph only has one point in his last seven games, and has fallen to a fourth-line role after a strong stint in late October. St. Louis acquired Joseph and a third-round pick for future considerations from the Ottawa Senators this summer. Joseph scored a career-high 35 points last year, but has so far struggled to find his scoring in St. Louis. He’ll look to take better advantage of his minutes when he’s called on again, while Oskar Sundqvist also steps out of the lineup in favor of Zachary Bolduc.
- Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel said that defender Ville Heinola could rejoin against Minnesota on Monday, shares NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton. Heinola was assigned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for a conditioning stint after starting the year on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He hasn’t slotted into the Jets’ lineup since January of 2023, when he was assigned to the minors after scoring just one point in 10 NHL games. He went on to score 64 points in 89 AHL games over the last two seasons, though he continues to fight with routine injury. Heinola was the 20th-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Blackhawks Recall Drew Commesso
The Blackhawks announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Drew Commesso from AHL Rockford. Arvid Söderblom is the projected starter tonight against the Ducks, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720 relays, indicating that Petr Mrázek likely isn’t available for a yet-to-be-disclosed reason.
Commesso, 22, has already been recalled once this season. He came up to the NHL roster for a few days in late October while Söderblom was dealing with an illness, but Mrazék started a set of back-to-back games against the Predators and Stars while Commesso remained on the bench as the backup.
A 2020 second-round pick, Commesso has been a contender for Chicago’s “goalie of the future” moniker for a few years. The 6’2″ netminder isn’t off to a promising start in Rockford this season, though, posting a 3.71 GAA, .854 SV%, and a 2-4-0 record in six appearances. He’s likely earned some grace after a spectacular run of play at Boston University and a decent .906 SV% in 38 games for Rockford last year, but being outperformed by the AHL-contracted Mitchell Weeks so far this season is undoubtedly a cause for concern.
Nonetheless, Commesso gets what’s likely a short-term summons to relieve Mrázek as the Blackhawks’ only available recall option. Chicago entered the season with only four goalies under contract, including veteran UFA signing Laurent Brossoit, who’s been on injured reserve since the beginning of the year while recovering from meniscus surgery.
Brossoit’s missed around a month more than expected, leaving the Blackhawks in a pinch. They have seven contract slots remaining, though, and could easily sign Weeks to an NHL deal if necessary to give themselves another option to add to the roster.
Nonetheless, goaltending hasn’t been an issue for the Blackhawks this season. Mrázek has floated around last year’s numbers with a .906 SV% and 2.79 GAA, along with some improved team defense, while the 25-year-old Söderblom has taken leaps and bounds forward in his development with a sparkling .934 SV% and 2.22 GAA in five appearances. Despite that stellar play, Chicago has just a 1-3-1 record with him between the pipes.
Transaction Notes: Benson, Smith, Commesso
The Buffalo Sabres will have to wait a little longer for the return of their top prospects. As expected, Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio reported earlier that the organization placed forward Zach Benson on injured reserve to make room for Nicolas Aube-Kubel tonight.
Buffalo has been fairly vague regarding Benson’s timeline, but he has sat out the last two games and the team’s most recent practice with a lower-body injury. There is some indication the injury has plagued Benson for much of the regular season with the youngster going scoreless in six games to start the year.
Line rushes from yesterday morning indicated that Aube-Kubel will assume the left-wing role on the team’s second line where Benson should end up upon his return. The organization will likely make the IR placement retroactive to Benson’s last game on October 19th meaning he’s already eligible to be activated once fully healthy.
Other transactions:
- With their road trip ending tonight, it was inevitable that the Carolina Hurricanes would shorten their roster. The team has done just that announcing they reassigned defenseman Ty Smith to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Smith has been with the team as a seventh defenseman for much of the road trip with his original recall coming on October 18th. Unfortunately for Smith, the team’s blue line was fully healthy during the road trip eliminating any chance for him to enter the lineup.
- Chicago Blackhawks netminder Arvid Soderblom has fully recovered from his illness meaning the team no longer requires goaltender Drew Commesso on the NHL roster. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports the team has reassigned Commesso to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. It marked Commesso’s first call-up with the Blackhawks this season although he has yet to make his NHL debut. He’ll return to an IceHogs roster where he’s already played two games this season with a .854 save percentage.