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Blackhawks Daily: Preseason Length Debate, Injuries, More

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Blackhawks' Kevin Korchinski celebrates with Seth Jones after a big goal for Chicago against the San Jose Sharks

The Chicago Blackhawks have played four of six preseason games as of Thursday. For the Hawks, the preseason has been a good learning experience, an opportunity to check in with where the team is at entering the new year. For other teams, the preseason has led to injuries.



The Los Angeles Kings are without Drew Doughty. San Jose Sharks first overall pick Macklin Celebrini was injured on Tuesday. Artemi Panarin was also injured Tuesday in a Rangers matchup against the Devils.

Other teams have been hit with injuries as the Montreal Canadiens are without Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher for multiple months. While the preseason can serve as a great opportunity to get ready for the season, this year has shown just how costly the exhibition games can be if stars are hurt.

The NHL may revisit the preseason length down the line, there definitely is a sweet spot between too few and too many preseason games and that magic number may be closer to four compared to six to eight games.

The Blackhawks enter the 2024-25 NHL Season relatively healthy. Wyatt Kaiser has been absent throughout the start of training camp, but head coach Luke Richardson said Kaiser has been cleared to return to play.

Richardson said Kaiser had been out of the lineup due to a concern that came up during his pre-training camp physical. Kaiser had been undergoing testing, but has since been cleared to return to the ice.

Outside of Kaiser, the Blackhawks are also missing Laurent Brossoit and Artyom Levshunov. Levshunov returned to the ice skating in a non-contact jersey last week. Brossoit is expected to be cleared to play near the beginning of the regular season.

Brossoit started his time in Chicago with an injury, missing the start of training camp while recovering from a meniscus surgery. Brossoit was signed to help back up Petr Mrazek in the net and should be back sometime within the next few weeks – potentially by the home opener.

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From Around The National Hockey Now Network:

San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks labeled Macklin Celebrini as day-to-day following a lower-injury he sustained in the preseason.

Colorado Hockey Now: The Colorado Avalanche cut its roster down to 30 after the team’s 6-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan opened the door for Harrison Brunicki to make the Penguins roster on Wednesday.