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Lukas Reichel

Central Notes: Khudobin, Reichel, Knak

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Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin has been given a clean bill of health, notes Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News.  He underwent hip surgery in the spring and Dallas was very careful with how they used him in the preseason.  With a trade market unlikely to materialize, it’s likely that the veteran will be on waivers in the coming days, allowing them to free up $1.125MM of his $3.33MM cap hit.  Notably, the return to health takes away any chance of them placing Khudobin on LTIR to start the season which might have aided in terms of freeing up cap flexibility to re-sign Jason Robertson.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Chicago’s decision to cut top prospect Lukas Reichel raised some eyebrows as the 20-year-old showed plenty of offensive skill in training camp. However, head coach Luke Richardson told reporters, including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, that they felt that his defensive game needed considerable improvement and it’s much easier for that development to happen in the minors than in the NHL.  Richardson hinted that Reichel would have been battling for a spot on the fourth line had the youngster stayed on the roster and he’ll get considerably more ice time with the IceHogs than being in that role with the Blackhawks.
  • The Predators will be waiting a while to sign prospect Simon Knak as HC Davos of the Swiss NLA announced that they’ve signed the winger to a three-year extension that runs through the 2025-26 season. Nashville selected the 20-year-old in the sixth round in 2021 (179th overall) on the heels of a season split between Davos and Portland of the WHL.  Knak is off to a solid start this season with four points in his first seven games but he’ll be staying in Switzerland for the foreseeable future.

Camp Notes: Duhaime/Dewar, Reichel, Malone

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Excitement surrounds the Minnesota Wild yet again, as young players like Calen Addison and 2020 ninth-overall pick Marco Rossi are expected to become important contributors to the team this season. Rossi, a center, still needs to work his way up the depth chart though, and he’s meshing on a prospective fourth line with wingers Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar, notes The Athletic’s Michael Russo.

It may seem odd to have a player with Rossi’s skill level playing that low in the lineup (and with players like Duhaime’s more physical playstyle). But evidently, the line has played so well in training camp that Rossi hasn’t even gotten a look between Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Boldy on the team’s second scoring line, according to Russo. Rossi is looking to make a Calder Trophy push after scoring 53 points in 63 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year. Dewar has also demonstrated a solid scoring touch in the minors, so some chemistry there is more realistic than most would think. With Duhaime’s imposing presence, it could make for a well-blended, two-way fourth line in Minnesota this season.

  • Many expected top Chicago Blackhawks prospect Lukas Reichel to win a spot on the team out of camp, but it wasn’t to be, as the team sent him down to AHL Rockford earlier today. The Athletic’s Scott Powers notes that it’s not an indication that the organization thinks Reichel isn’t NHL-ready, but rather, that the team doesn’t see him as a fit in their top six at this time. The Blackhawks believe that top minutes in Rockford are more beneficial to Reichel’s development than more limited minutes in the NHL at this time.
  • Buffalo Sabres forward Sean Malone is on waivers today, but don’t expect any NHL team to claim him, says Buffalo News Sports’ Mike Harrington. Malone, an AHL veteran, is day-to-day and is still dealing with a “lingering injury” from an August procedure. The 27-year-old Malone has just two NHL games under his belt but has developed into a top-line AHL player in recent years.

Blackhawks To Burn First Year Of Lukas Reichel’s Entry-Level Contract

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Generally speaking, the nine-game threshold for junior-aged players only comes into effect at the beginning of the year when teams need to decide what to do with their prospects that are pushing to make the team out of training camp and can’t go to the minors.  That wasn’t the case for the Blackhawks and winger Lukas Reichel as he was able to play in the AHL and has spent most of the season there.

However, the 19-year-old is in his third stint with Chicago this season and has played in nine games so far.  Interim head coach Derek King indicated to reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago that he will play in his tenth this afternoon against Nashville.  Reichel, the 17th pick in 2020, hasn’t recorded a point yet in the NHL but has played quite well with AHL Rockford, recording 21 goals and 28 assists in 49 games.  He’s expected to return to the IceHogs at some point over the next couple of weeks as well to help in their playoff run.

Roumeliotis suggests that burning the first year this season may actually be more beneficial to the Blackhawks from a longer-term planning perspective.  When he’s up for a new deal in the 2024 offseason, he’ll only have at most two full NHL seasons under his belt which should keep the AAV lower, giving Chicago a bit more short-term cap flexibility.  Chicago will have some pricey contracts expiring by then – particularly those of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at $10.5MM each – but having a core piece on a cheaper second deal certainly can’t hurt.

It’s worth noting that Chicago will not lose a year of team control by doing this.  In order to receive a year of service time, Reichel would have needed to have gotten to 40 games on the active roster and that’s clearly not going to happen with the Blackhawks already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.  As a result of this, Reichel will need his second contract a year sooner but Chicago will still have seven years of team control remaining.

West Notes: Reichel, Nichushkin, Gurianov

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Chicago Blackhawks fans will get one more chance to see one of their top prospects in action at the NHL level this season, but it comes with an asterisk. Chicago recalled forward Lukas Reichel from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs today, presumably for the third and final time this season. But, as NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis notes, how much he plays down the stretch impacts his contractual situation in the long run. Reichel only needs to play five more NHL games to burn the first year of his entry-level contract, as the team still retains the ability to slide his contract a year forward provided he plays nine or fewer NHL games this year. But as Chicago soldiers on toward a rebuild, cost-effectiveness probably isn’t top of mind right now. While Reichel has averaged 14:10 per night in his five NHL games this year without a point, he has 49 points in 49 AHL games this year. You’d be hard-pressed to find a good argument as to why Reichel doesn’t deserve another look in Chicago during the last, inconsequential month of the season.

Elsewhere from the Western Conference tonight:

  • Valeri Nichushkin isn’t playing for Colorado tonight, compounding a long list of current injuries to important players for the Avs. It’s a non-COVID illness holding him out of the lineup, as the bug that everyone seems to be catching has hit the 27-year-old forward. He’s had a breakout season in a near-constant top-six role, potting 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points in 51 games. That now makes half of Colorado’s top-six out of the lineup for now, as he joins Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri on the scratch list.
  • It’s a pesky non-COVID illness striking again, this time against the Dallas Stars. Denis Gurianov is out of the lineup now as the team continues to battle with Vegas and Nashville for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. The skilled shooter has 30 points in 63 games this season.

Central Notes: Zuccarello, Borowiecki, Matteau, Reichel

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Wild winger Mats Zuccarello was a late scratch for their game in Ottawa tonight with what the team revealed (Twitter link) was an upper-body injury.  Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the injury is not believed to be too serious.  The 34-year-old is well on his way to a career year with 52 points in just 41 games, good for second on the team in scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov.

More from the Central:

  • The Predators announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Mark Borowiecki is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and didn’t play tonight against Florida. The veteran – who recently signed a contract extension – has played in 41 games this season, recording just two assists but has 137 hits and a league-high 103 penalty minutes.
  • The Avalanche activated winger Stefan Matteau and assigned him to AHL Colorado, per a team release. The 27-year-old was recalled to the Avs back in October but suffered a lower-body injury in his first game and has been out since then.  Matteau’s assignment clears another $750K off Colorado’s books, a small bit of savings towards their trade deadline spending.
  • 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.

Snapshots: Staal, Carter, Reichel

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It wasn’t so long ago that Eric Staal was scoring 42 goals during the 2017-18 season for the Minnesota Wild. A 22-goal and a 19-goal campaign followed, but then 2020-21 was a mess. He started with the Buffalo Sabres before ending up with the Montreal Canadiens, struggling in both cities.

Now, as he prepares to represent Canada at the Olympics instead of playing in the NHL, Staal is expected to sign an AHL professional tryout contract with the Iowa Wild, according to Ken Campbell of Hockey Unfiltered. Staal hasn’t been officially named to the roster yet, but without any professional games to his name this season he’ll need some sort of competitive action to prove he’s ready.

  • Speaking of Canadian Olympians getting closer to the end of their playing days, Jeff Carter recently turned 37 and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. When Josh Yohe of The Athletic asked him about whether or not tomorrow’s Pittsburgh Penguins game would be the last time Carter plays in Los Angeles, the veteran forward suggested he is still hoping to play a few more years. Carter is having another strong year for the Penguins with 11 goals and 20 points in 29 games, and certainly appears as though there is more for him to give over the next few seasons. Now going on more than 1,100 games at the NHL level, the veteran forward will be an interesting case to follow this offseason should he hit the open market.
  • On the other end of the spectrum is Lukas Reichel, who was recalled to the Chicago Blackhawks taxi squad today. Interim head coach Derek King confirmed to reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago that Reichel’s NHL debut will come tomorrow night and it certainly seems like he’ll be a legitimate part of the gameplan. The 20-year-old forward was practicing with Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome today, but King did caution that “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” in terms of developing prospects, and that he’ll likely be sent back down after a few games. Reichel has 20 points in 20 games in Rockford and was the 17th overall pick in 2020.

Prospect Notes: Peterka, Reichel, Zavgorodniy, Byfield

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Sabres winger J.J. Peterka and Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel were expected to anchor Germany’s entry into the upcoming World Juniors.  However, neither player was on the preliminary camp roster that their federation announced yesterday.  It’s not a matter of letting them stay in the minors a little longer before joining the team either as it was revealed that after consulting with both players, it was agreed that they will remain with their respective farm teams and not play in the tournament.  Peterka is averaging more than a point per game with AHL Rochester this season while Reichel has a dozen points in 15 contests with Rockford.  With both seemingly being on the cusp of a recall at some point, the decision has been made to not interrupt their progress even though it will make Germany’s attempt to stay in the top division that much harder.

More prospect news from around the hockey world:

  • Flames prospect Dmitri Zavgorodniy is expected to leave AHL Stockton to return home to play in the KHL for the remainder of the season, reports Championat’s Pavel Panyshev. The 21-year-old forward has been limited to just six games this season with the Heat and going overseas would give him a chance at more playing time.  He last played in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg but his rights in that league now belong with HC Sochi after they swung a deal for his rights earlier today.
  • Kings center Quinton Byfield took part in a full practice on Friday as he continues to work his way back from a fractured ankle sustained in the preseason, relays Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. The 2020 second-overall pick played in six games with Los Angeles last season plus 32 in AHL Ontario where he had 20 points in 32 contests, impressive numbers for someone that was basically a double underager in that league.

Blackhawks Sign Lukas Reichel

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June 9: Now that the tournament is over, the Blackhawks have officially signed Reichel to his three-year entry-level contract. The deal comes with a cap hit of $925K. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman released a statement on his newest forward:

Lukas made tremendous strides in his second year as a professional. The game appeared to slow down for him this past season, which allowed his play-making skills to be on full display. Bringing him over to North America is the logical next step for his continued development and we’re excited to be able to add such a young, dynamic player to our forward group.

May 22: After being drafted last fall, Blackhawks prospect Lukas Reichel estimated that he was a couple of years away from being ready for the NHL.  However, after a strong season with Eisbaren Berlin in Germany where he worked his way up the lineup down the stretch while transitioning from the wing to center, that timeline could be accelerated.  To that end, Reichel’s agent Allain Roy told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that the expectation is that the youngster will sign his entry-level deal at the conclusion of the World Championships.

The 19-year-old was a late riser in the 2020 draft and went from being ranked as a second-round pick by some agencies to the 17th pick by Chicago after a good first season with Berlin.  He followed that up by finishing fifth in scoring with Berlin this season on a veteran-laden team with 10 goals and 17 assists in 38 games while chipping in with five more points in nine playoff contests.  That helped him earn an invite to the Worlds where he is tied for the tournament lead in scoring through the first few days with two goals and three helpers in just two games.  His presence at that tournament prevents him from being signed right away which is why they’ll have to wait a couple of weeks.

Chicago doesn’t have to have Reichel in the NHL right away, however.  Though he’s still junior-aged, he is eligible to play with AHL Rockford since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL and that might not be a bad idea for his development to ease his transition to the smaller North American ice surface.  In that event, his deal would be eligible to slide a year if he plays in nine or fewer NHL games next season.  Either way, Reichel should be playing under the watchful eye of the organization in 2021-22.

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