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.
Central Notes: Korchinski, Bjugstad, Kalynuk
The Chicago Blackhawks have gotten quality contributions from several young defensemen this season, but the name they haven’t heard from at the NHL level thus far in 2025-26 has been that of Kevin Korchinski. The 2022 No. 7 overall pick played in just 16 NHL games last season and has spent all of this year so far with the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. While Korchinski has played well in Rockford, and has 10 assists in 15 games so far this season, his path back to the NHL in the short term, without an unforeseen injury to an NHL blueliner, looks increasingly cloudy. The Athletic’s Scott Powers wrote on Thursday that while Korchinski is “still a major part of the Blackhawks’ plans,” the emergence of Matt Grzelcyk as a quality NHL option has made it so the path for Korchinski to steal an NHL role has narrowed.
The Blackhawks’ unexpectedly strong start to 2025-26 has also complicated Korchinski’s path to an NHL call-up, according to Powers. While Chicago surrendered nine goals in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night, their form in that game is not indicative of how they’ve played for most of the year. Chicago has a 10-7-3 record, with a 5-3-2 record in their last ten games. They’ve positioned themselves firmly in the race for a playoff spot in this early portion of the season. While the team’s focus is still very much towards a future window of real Stanley Cup contention, an NHL team with a chance to make the playoffs is going to do everything in its power to try to reach the postseason, even teams that self-assume the tag (or are assigned the tag by the media) of a “rebuilding team.” Therefore, as s a result of Chicago’s increased focus on short-term results thanks to their success so far this year, Korchinski’s odds of quickly returning to the NHL appear to have decreased.
Other notes from the NHL’s Central Division:
- One team that hasn’t gotten off to a strong start in 2025-26 are the St. Louis Blues, who have begun the year with just six wins out of 21 games played. While the root cause of their struggles is larger than any one player, some players have gotten off to notably slower starts than others. One player who has struggled recently is veteran Nick Bjugstad, who has been a healthy scratch of late. The Blues signed Bjugstad to a two-year, $1.75MM AAV deal this past summer in part to help stabilize their bottom-six, but that hasn’t happened, with Blues head coach Jim Montgomery telling The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford that the veteran is “just not having the same impact he was having” earlier in the year. While Montgomery did note that Bjugstad has “done a lot of good things” defensively, he noted that his all-around impact has slowed down. As recently as 2023-24, Bjugstad scored 22 goals and 45 points. The Blues don’t need that much production from Bjugstad, but they’ll definitely need his play to improve (along with getting similar improvements from numerous other players) if they’re to have any hope of turning around their season and returning to true playoff contention.
- Former Blackhawks blueliner Wyatt Kalynuk was traded in the KHL yesterday, according to an official release from the league. The 28-year-old was a solid three-year NCAA player with the University of Wisconsin who left school early to begin his pro career in Chicago, getting into 21 NHL games in his rookie professional season in 2020-21. At that point, Kalynuk looked like a potential future NHL player, but his game didn’t take any expected steps forward. He got into only five NHL games in 2021-22, and ultimately left the Blackhawks organization to sign with the Vancouver Canucks. In stints with Vancouver and later the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues, Kalynuk was unable to find a way back to an NHL roster, and after going two full seasons without an NHL game, he decided to leave the North American pro game and sign in the Finnish Liiga. His strong play in his first year in Finland (33 points in 59 games) earned Kalynuk a deal in the KHL with Ak-Bars Kazan, but he was traded to Ufa Salavat Yulayev after just two games. Now, he’s been traded a second time in 2025-26, this time landing with Gerard Gallant’s Shanghai Dragons. Gallant was the coach of the Rangers in 2022-23 when Kalynuk was in the organization, playing in 15 regular-season games, and nine playoff games for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
Minor Transactions: 10/4/25
With the preseason wrapping up today, some teams will be recalling players they’ve already cut to give them one more game or they will be returning players recently brought up for that purpose. We’ll keep track of those moves here along with any other minor transactions.
- The Sabres announced that defensemen Vsevelod Komarov and Zach Metsa have been returned to AHL Rochester. Komarov is entering his second professional season while Metsa was one of the top-scoring blueliners in the minors last season, notching 46 points with the Amerks.
- The Devils have brought up forwards Jack Malone and Matyas Melovsky from AHL Utica, per a team release. Malone had 13 points in 57 games with the Comets in his first professional campaign while Melovsky is entering the first year of his entry-level deal after putting up 83 points in 57 games with QMJHL Baie-Comeau last season.
- The Blackhawks announced that they’ve recalled more than half a lineup from Rockford for their preseason finale. Returning from AHL Rockford are goalie Mitchell Weeks, defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald, Taige Harding, and Kevin Korchinski, plus forwards Gavin Hayes, Paul Ludwinski, Martin Misiak, Samuel Savoie, Brett Seney, Aidan Thompson, and Dominic Toninato.
- Veteran defenseman Andrej Sustr was let go from his NHL PTO last weekend. However, he has found a new team to try out for as Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News relays (Twitter link) that the 34-year-old has inked a PTO deal with AHL Bridgeport. Sustr split last season between Czechia and Finland and hasn’t played in North America since 2022-23 when he split time between Minnesota and Anaheim’s farm teams.
- The Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forwards Chase Bradley, Maros Jedlicka, Taylor Makar, Jayson Megna, Tristen Nielsen, and T.J. Tynan, along with defensemen Sean Behrens and Alex Gagne from AHL Colorado. They were all cut earlier in training camp and should be sent back to the Eagles in short order following their game tonight.
- The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled goalie Callum Tung and forward Casey Terrance from AHL Hartford. Tung will be entering his first full professional campaign after signing with New York out of college late last season while Terrance was acquired this past offseason as part of the Chris Kreider trade.
- As expected, a day after recalling forward Shane Bowers, defenseman Braden Hache, and goalie Jakub Skarek from AHL San Jose, the Sharks announced (Twitter link) that all three players have been returned to the Barracuda.
- A day after recalling him, the Oilers announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent goaltender Matt Tomkins back to AHL Bakersfield. Tomkins is in his first season with Edmonton and cleared waivers earlier this week.
- The Lightning have brought a few players back for their preseason finale. The team has recalled forwards Dylan Duke, Boris Katchouk, Scott Sabourin, and Wojciech Stachowiak, plus defensemen Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Roman Schmidt from AHL Syracuse, per a team release.
Minor Transactions: 4/16/25
The NHL season has come to an end, or soon will, for teams around the league that missed out on this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. That fact has driven many to begin the process of assigning their waiver-exempt players to more successful teams in the minor leagues. We’ll cover the bulk of those assignments here:
- In a rare move with playoff implications, the St. Louis Blues have assigned top forward prospect Dalibor Dvorsky to the minor leagues. Dvorsky hasn’t played since April 9th, when he made his second career appearance in the NHL. He has no points and an average of nine minutes in ice time over his first two games. This move will return him to a star role in the minor leagues, where his 20 goals and 44 points in 59 games rank third and fourth on the Springfield Thunderbirds respectively. Springfield have squeaked into the Calder Cup playoffs with 74 points in 70 games this season. Dvorsky will be a major boost to their postseason roster, unless the Blues opt to include him in their inevitable wave of Black Ace recalls.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned top defense prospects Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov to the AHL after the end of their season, per a release from the Rockford IceHogs. Both players have manned dominant roles in the IceHogs lineup this season – Korchinski looking to find his comfort after a hard NHL role last season, and Levshunov looking to vindicate his second-overall selection in last year’s draft. They lead the Rockford blue-line in scoring, with Korchinski netting 27 points in 54 games and Levshunov scoring 22 points in 50 games. Levshunov proved the more productive in all three zones at the NHL level. He recorded six assists, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-13 in his first 18 games in the NHL. Korchisnki only scored two points in 16 NHL games this season, though his minus-five was the fourth-best on the Chicago defense. The duo will offer a well-rounded impact to Rockford’s playoff push – Korchinski bringing strong offense and Levshunov showing strong two-way play.
- The San Jose Sharks have assigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni back to the minor leagues after recalling him to play in their latest game, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Cagnoni recorded an assist and two penalties in roughly 18 minutes of Monday’s overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The score was his second assist in six NHL games this season, on top of eight penalty minutes and a minus-four. Cagnoni was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on Wednesday – high praise after he led all rookie defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 49 points in 62 games this season. Cagnoni had a breakout season in his first professional campaign, and already seems to be outperforming his fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He will look to keep a good year going as the San Jose Barracuda prepare for a playoff push.
- Winger Kailer Yamamoto represents the first veteran on this list. He’s headed back to the Tucson Roadrunners alongside goaltender Matt Villalta, after the end of the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Yamamoto has been a force in the minor leagues. He leads Tucson in scoring this season with 53 points in 52 games. It’s been a valiant performance that earned the depth forward 12 appearances in the NHL. He scored three points in those games. Villalta has stood tall as Tucson’s starting goaltender as well, with a team-leading .906 save percentage in 41 games this season. He played in just the third NHL game of his career this season and recorded a win, with 28 saves on 31 shots. Yamamoto will return to Tucson’s top-line, while Villalta will likely return to the starter’s role ahead of Jaxson Stauber.
- The Nashville Predators have assigned Ryan Ufko back to the minor leagues, per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. Ufko made his NHL debut on Monday. He didn’t manage any notable stat changes in 15:37 of ice time. Ufko has emerged as a top-four defender for the Milwaukee Admirals this season. His eight goals and 29 points in 71 games lead the Admirals blue-line in scoring. Ufko is still rounding out the physical and two-way aspects of his game, but his emergence as an AHL rookie has proven promising on a Preadtors team well capable of honing defenders into NHL talents.
Central Notes: Blues, Yamamoto, Korchinski
The Blues are one of two teams eligible to clinch a playoff spot tonight. They and the Oilers can book their ticket to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs if the Flames lose to the Sharks in regulation. St. Louis will need to hold up their end of the bargain by defeating the Jets in regulation to wake up tomorrow morning with an “X” next to their name in the standings. Doing so would mark their 13th straight win, the longest winning streak since Edmonton won 16 straight last year between Dec. 21 and Jan. 27. The Blues haven’t lost since a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Penguins on March 13. They’re now 34-16-6 since replacing Drew Bannister with Jim Montgomery behind the bench in November and are two points ahead of the Wild for the first wild card in the Western Conference. Both St. Louis and Minnesota have four games remaining. The Blues have a 64% chance of holding onto the WC1 spot, a 33% chance of falling back behind the Wild and finishing in the WC2 slot, and a 1% chance of lapping the Avalanche for third place in the Central, per MoneyPuck. Their streak has been fueled by top-line center Robert Thomas, who leads the league in scoring since March 15 with 4-19–23 in 12 games.
More from the Central Division:
- Utah has recalled winger Kailer Yamamoto from AHL Tucson after papering him down to the minors yesterday. The 26-year-old righty has a goal and an assist in five games since being recalled from Tucson on March 26, his first time on the NHL roster since clearing waivers early in the year. The 2017 first-round pick signed a rich two-way deal with Utah at the end of training camp following a successful professional tryout, although he’s spent most of the year in the minors for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. While he only has those two points to show for eight NHL appearances this year, he’s Tucson’s leading scorer with 19-34–53 in 52 games with a +14 rating. He’s recently seen time in a second-line role with Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz and will presumably return there when Utah hosts the Kraken tomorrow.
- Despite iffy boxcar stats this season, the Blackhawks are pleased with how 2022 No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski has developed in 2024-25. “We forget how young he is,” Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sörensen told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. “His development curve this year overall has been a positive one, and it’s going up.” Korchinski highlighted his own defensive improvement – a must this season, considering his lack of offensive production. The 20-year-old lefty is a passer first and foremost and was dominant offensively in juniors, but he has no points to speak of in 13 NHL games this season and has been underwhelming with AHL Rockford with 3-24–27 in 54 games.
Blackhawks To Recall Kevin Korchinski
The Blackhawks are calling up top left-handed defense prospect Kevin Korchinski from AHL Rockford, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic. The seventh overall pick of the 2022 draft could make his first NHL appearance in three months tomorrow night against the Golden Knights.
Korchinski joins a Chicago blue line that boasted just one defender over the age of 23 in its last outing, with veterans T.J. Brodie (healthy) and Alec Martinez (upper body) not dressed. They’ve recently brought up top right-shot prospect Artyom Levshunov, the 2024 second-overall pick. That high-powered duo joins other young names like Louis Crevier, Ethan Del Mastro, and Wyatt Kaiser, who have seen in-season promotions, as the Blackhawks evaluate which of them could appear on their opening night roster next fall.
Unlike Levshunov, Korchinski isn’t a rookie. The 20-year-old was a full-timer on Chicago’s blue line last year but understandably struggled without much support. After being limited to 5-10–15 with a -39 rating in 76 games in 2023-24, the Blackhawks deemed it best for his long-term development to spend more time down a level in Rockford. The IceHogs aren’t the strongest club offensively, producing 2.87 goals per game, and that’s reflected in the team’s stars’ semi-conservative point totals. Korchinski still leads their blue line with 3-24–27 in 54 games, but he’s still behind the curve defensively as he adjusts to professional hockey. His -17 rating is the worst on the team.
However, his upside always primarily stemmed from his skating, offensive involvement, and power-play versatility. He ranks third among Chicago prospects and 28th overall on Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s most recent ranking of league prospects. While there remains concern about his defensive-zone decision-making, he’s a good stick-checker that could make him an effective transition defender – once the rest of the Blackhawks’ roster is filled out enough to play better system-oriented hockey.
In nine NHL games this season, coming on a December recall, Korchinski went without a point and logged a minus-five rating while seeing 16:46 of ice time per game. He controlled 46.6% of shot attempts and 50% of expected goals at even strength, however, both notable improvements on last year’s possession numbers (44.4 CF%, 40.4 xGF%).
Korchinski, a World Juniors gold medalist with Canada in 2023, still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent in 2026. He’s under team control for at least five seasons beyond this one and won’t be arbitration-eligible until he logs four seasons with at least 10 NHL games.
Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.
Blackhawks Reassign Kevin Korchinski, Recall Wyatt Kaiser
The Chicago Blackhawks are making a roster swap with two of their depth defensemen. The organization announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Kevin Korchinski to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, and recalled Wyatt Kaiser to the NHL roster.
Korchinski is not a depth defenseman in the true sense of the word but he has been utilized like one this season. He’s only three years removed from being the seventh overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft and played through his rookie season last year. There’s reason to believe Korchinski was inappropriately rushed to the NHL last year as his rookie campaign yielded lethargic results.
It was never going to be an easy transition for Korchinski. He was tasked with shouldering top-four minutes on a weak Blackhawks’ roster and he ended the year with five goals and 15 points in 79 games with an eye-popping -39 rating. Chicago understandably sent Korchinski down to the AHL this season to help the young blue-liner regain confidence and take a small step back in his development.
Under his current recall, Korchinski skated in nine games for the Blackhawks but failed to find the scoresheet averaging 16:46 of ice time per game. He saw a minor increase in his CorsiFor% but a nine-game trial isn’t enough to make any serious judgement calls about Korchinski’s current development.
He’s produced better offensively with AHL Rockford scoring two goals and 11 points through 21 games but hasn’t quite yet gained the defensive maturity required for professional hockey. Still, being back with the IceHogs will allow increased playing time and an opportunity to compete for a playoff spot down the stretch.
Kaiser is back on the Blackhawks roster after a small demotion over the holiday break. He’s suited up in 28 games for Chicago this season but had been serving as a healthy scratch for their last three. He sits fourth on the team in blocked shots and will likely slot into the bottom-pairing duo next to T.J. Brodie for the team’s game against the Dallas Stars later today.
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.
Central Notes: Wild, Avalanche, Korchinski
The Minnesota Wild have shared that Jared Spurgeon (lower-body) and Joel Eriksson Ek (broken nose) will both miss the team’s Tuesday night matchup against St. Louis. Forward Marcus Johansson is also questionable with an undisclosed injury, shares Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johansson was absent from the team’s Tuesday morning practice, while both Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek also missed the team’s Sunday game.
Injury news hasn’t favored Minnesota through the early going. The absentees – Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek – stand as two of the most-utilized Wild skaters, each playing over 19 minutes of ice time in the team’s season debut. Eriksson Ek recorded an assist and three shots in the outing, while Spurgeon’s only recorded stat was a pair of shots. The duo are both pillars of Minnesota’s lineup, and they left big shoes to fill when they went down with injuries. The Wild responded by moving Zach Bogosian and Marco Rossi into bigger roles on Sunday, though that outing resulted in an overtime loss to Winnipeg.
Minnesota now not only has to find fill-ins for a pair of top-liners, but could also need a replacement for Johansson’s spot on line-three. Johansson has recorded two points in three games through the early going – one of just five Wild with multiple points so far. It’ll be extra forward Travis Boyd who steps in, should Johansson be downgraded to out.
Other notes from the Midwest:
- The Colorado Avalanche also have a pair of injury updates, announcing that defender Devon Toews (lower-body) is hopeful for the team’s Wednesday game, while forward Jonathan Drouin (upper-body) has been ruled out, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Drouin seemed to suffer an injury in Colorado’s season opener last Wednesday, and has missed both games Colorado has played since. No specifics of his injury have been revealed. Toews also missed Colorado’s most recent game. The specifics of his injury are also unclear, especially with no clear indication of when the injury occurred. Oliver Kylington filled Toews’ role on the top-pair in his’ absence, and stands to continue garnering more minutes should the star sit out once again.
- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski scored a flashy, coast-to-coast goal in the AHL Rockford IceHogs’ season debut, leading to conversations about when Korchinski may be ready to return to the NHL. He played in 76 games on a deprived Blackhawks blue-line last season, but posted a less-than-inspiring 15 points and -39. That prompted Chicago to assign him to the minors to start this season, with Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson telling Scott Powers of The Athletic that the team hopes it’ll boost Korchinski’s confidence. Davidson acknowledged that the team may have asked too much of the rookie last season, and that building up his confidence will be top priority in the AHL. He told Powers, “You just want him to get that confidence back that he had in junior, and that’s going to take time, especially at the pro level.” IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen agreed with Davidson, adding that he’s encouraging Korchinski to drive the puck downhill and challenge opposing forwards more. The 20-year-old defender certainly showed that ability with his inaugural AHL goal, and could be on a quick route back to the NHL roster once he gains the confidence to do that routinely.