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MacKenzie Entwistle

MacKenzie Entwistle Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made a couple of announcements this morning, moving Mackenzie Entwistle to injured reserve retroactive to February 14 and revealing that Reese Johnson has been put in the concussion protocol.

Entwistle, 23, has been out for the past week with a wrist injury but was skating on his own before the rest of the Blackhawks hit the ice this morning. The young winger has collected seven points in 46 games, while racking up 88 hits in a depth role. There will likely be plenty of opportunity for players like him down the stretch if Chicago decides to sell several veteran forwards. Still, he’ll have to be healthy enough to take advantage.

Johnson, meanwhile, is in a similar situation as a depth forward on the NHL roster. The 24-year-old has six points in 46 games and leads the club with 142 hits. On Sunday against Toronto, he played over 11 minutes and recorded six hits, three blocks, and a shot on goal. It is unclear how long he’ll be out, but it seems likely that a recall is coming because of the Entwistle IR designation.

The Blackhawks play at home tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights before traveling to Dallas, San Jose, Anaheim, and Arizona on a long road trip.

Patrick Kane Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have moved Patrick Kane to injured reserve retroactively to January 3 when he last played. That means he can come off whenever deemed healthy enough to return. Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago reports that Kane is feeling better and hopes to play on Saturday.

Today’s transaction was to clear room for MacKenzie Entwistle, who has been activated from injured reserve and is ready to go. The 23-year-old winger hasn’t played since December while dealing with a wrist injury.

If Kane does return for Saturday’s game, it means another move is coming down the pipe. The Blackhawks remain at the maximum of 23 players on the roster, without a lot of obvious forward options to send down.

Lukas Reichel, who is still waiver-exempt, has been playing great in this latest call-up, scoring three points on Sunday in just his third game of the season. The 20-year-old is one of the team’s top prospects and looks ready to contribute at the NHL level, but might end up on his way back to the AHL in a few days.

For now, Kane will take time to fully heal and continue to make sure that there is no lingering effect. The legendary Blackhawks forward will be the focus of many trade rumors over the next few weeks, as he decides whether he wants to stay in Chicago or chase the Stanley Cup somewhere else.

If he’s not healthy, that decision doesn’t matter.

Chicago Blackhawks Recall Lukas Reichel, Brett Seney

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The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled a top prospect, bringing up Lukas Reichel from the minor leagues along with Brett Seney. The club needed some extra bodies after placing MacKenzie Entwistle and Jujhar Khaira on injured reserve (retroactive to December 27).

Reichel, 20, is arguably the team’s top forward prospect, selected 17th overall in 2020. After spending his post-draft season in Germany, Reichel has come and dominated at the AHL level, scoring 93 points in 88 games since the start of 2021-22. During that time he has also received 12 games at the NHL level, but is still looking for his first goal.

Only one of those appearances has come this season, as the Blackhawks continue to keep most of their prospects sheltered in the minor leagues. No more, apparently, as it looks like Reichel may get a chance to test himself at the highest level. In 32 games with the Rockford IceHogs this season he has 36 points, but that actually trails the player he’s coming up with.

Seney, 26, has long been a minor league star and has 38 points to lead the IceHogs and trail only Michael Carcone for the league lead. The undersized forward has just 55 appearances at the NHL level, almost all of them coming with the New Jersey Devils in 2018-19, when he scored all 13 of his career points.

Reichel is in the second year of his entry-level contract and won’t be a restricted free agent until the summer of 2024. The Blackhawks may want to give him a good look before potentially inserting him full-time into the lineup next season. But a return for both players to Rockford should eventually be expected, giving the minor league club a chance to compete for a championship. Rockford is 19-10-3 so far and has won four in a row.

Snapshots: Benn, Kuzmenko, Kinnunen, Carlo

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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.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • 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.
  • Panthers prospect Santtu Kinnunen has signed a one-year contract extension with Tappara of the SM-liiga, the Finnish team announced. The 22-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick of Florida (207th overall) back in 2018 and they have until June 1st to sign him to an NHL entry-level contract.  This extension doesn’t prohibit Kinnunen from signing with Florida but if he does sign and doesn’t make the NHL roster, he’d have to go back to his Finnish team.  Kinnunen has equaled his 2020-21 output of 19 points in 20 fewer games this season with four goals and 15 assists in 39 contests.
  • The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Brandon Carlo is listed as questionable for tonight. He took a skate blade to the face in the morning skate from goaltender Linus Ullmark.  Boston has seven defensemen on their active roster so they don’t need to make a roster move to bring someone up as insurance in case Carlo is unable to suit up.

Chicago Blackhawks Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Chicago Blackhawks will roll out a new look forward corps when they next take the ice on Monday. The team has announced that rookie Reese Johnson has been placed on injured reserve while fellow rookie Mike Hardman has been reassigned to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. Taking their place on the roster will be veteran Brett Connolly and another rookie, Mackenzie Entwistle.

The news on Johnson is a disappointing development for the Blackhawks. It may not show on the scoresheet, but the 23-year-old has been playing well of late, even in his limited role. The team reports that Johnson suffered a fractured right clavicle on Saturday and is out indefinitely. Johnson will undergo further evaluation on Monday, after which the Blackhawks hope to have a more timeline for his return this season.

In the meantime, the Blackhawks could do far worse than bringing in the experienced Connolly. Acquired from the Florida Panthers last season, Connolly played in ten games with Chicago down the stretch but failed to make the team in training camp this year and was buried in the AHL. He has made the most of his time in Rockford, currently second on the team in scoring with 11 points in 16 games. While Connolly may not be the 20-goal threat he once was, the physical winger can still contribute in Chicago.

As for the swap in rookies, Entwistle has done more with his opportunity than Hardman this season. Though a top college free agent who got off to a hot start to his pro career last year with three points in eight NHL games, Hardman has only managed two assists in 19 games with the Blackhawks so far this season. In contrast, Entwistle has three points in 12 games, including a pair of goals.

MacKenzie Entwistle Out 4-6 Weeks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have placed MacKenzie Entwistle on long-term injured reserve and expect the young forward to miss between four and six weeks with an ankle injury. The team did not have an update on Brandon Hagel, but announced that Henrik Borgstrom is also out for tonight with a non-COVID illness.

Entwistle, 22, has played in 12 games this season for the Blackhawks, scoring two goals and three points in limited minutes. He’s averaged just 11 minutes a game as he tries to establish himself at the NHL level but will now have to deal with a long rehab before getting back on the ice.

Selected in the third round of the 2017 draft by the Arizona Coyotes, Entwistle was involved in the Marian Hossa trade in 2018 and signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks. That entry-level deal is set to expire after this season, but earlier this summer the team signed the young forward to a two-year extension. The one-way contract carries a cap hit of just $800K, but suggests that Chicago had plans of keeping Entwistle with the NHL club moving forward.

Still, that deal was signed by a different front office and with the different coaching staff, meaning there’s still plenty to prove Entwistle. Losing more than a month at this point is certainly not ideal for a prospect still looking to make his stamp, and will only open the door for other young players to receive additional ice time with the Blackhawks. He’ll have to work even harder upon his return to prove he belongs at the highest level.

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