Blackhawks Daily: Brossoit Injury Update; RFA Madness

At Chicago Hockey Now, we were just talking yesterday about how the Chicago Blackhawks need their goaltenders to step up for the team to have a good year in 2024-25.

There are young goalies that they need to protect but it will also benefit the skaters at the NHL level if they know that their guy can cover up for any mistakes regularly.

Well, there is a fork in the road. On Wednesday, we learned that Laurent Brossoit is going to be away for 5-7 weeks as he recovers from a knee issue. This is a tough break for Brossoit and the Blackhawks.

Now, he isn’t going to miss a whole lot of time when it comes to actual games recovering from the injury. However, it may take him a minute to get into game shape as he will miss all of camp and the entire preseason.

Petr Mrazek was always going to be the starter but Brossoit is expected to make things a little bit easier for him. Brossoit backed up Winnipeg Jets star Connor Hellebuyck as he won the Vezina Trophy for the second year in a row. He only had to play in 15 games with a workhorse like Hellebuyck ahead of him but he was great when called upon.

The Hawks have to hope that Brossoit has a speedy recovery and he is on top of his game when he can get back into game shape. It won’t be easy but he can do it.

Around the NHL, the big story right now is the remaining RFAs that are still out there. There are impact players out there like Jeremy Swayman and Dawson Mercer amongst others who need to get their contract situations figured out. The NHL is an interesting place with just a few days left in August and these stories make it even better:

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks must get better goaltending in 2024-25.

Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks is a top-20 NHL center.

The Chicago Blackhawks would be wise to utilize the Rockford Ice Hogs in 2024-25.

National Hockey Now

San Jose Hockey Now: Alexander Barabanov had some harsh words for the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The New Jersey Devils will see Ethan Edwards expand his leadership at the University of Michigan.

Ottawa Hockey Now: Ottawa Senators star Claude Giroux has a case to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.