Connect with us

Chicago Blackhawks

Morning Chirps: Two New Blackhawks Appear in Trade Talks, Ovechkin Closer to History

Published

on

It’s my pleasure to bring my Morning Chirps here to Chicago Hockey Now! This daily post will catch up on news and rumors around the Chicago Blackhawks organization. I’ll catch you up on all the happenings across the National Hockey League.



Last night, the Blackhawks lost their seventh straight road game to the Nashville Predators. While the shootout loss was disappointing, there were plenty of positives to take away from it. In addition, two new names can be added to the trade rumor mill, as Kyle Davidson will be a big player before the March 7 trade deadline.

 Blackhawks Chirps

  • Thursday night was a prime example of Anders Sorensen’s 2-1-2 system working when the team pays attention to the deals. The defensemen were active in the offensive zone, and the forecheck was effective. Frank Nazar showed how aggressive he can be hunting the puck. Connor Bedard’s goal directly resulted from Nazar pressuring Brady Skjei into turning over the puck.
  • Bedard, Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi were excellent. They felt dangerous every time they jumped over the boards. They were the only line to finish with a Corsi for percentage (CF%) over 50 at 5v5. In 10:07 of ice time, they were on the ice for 11 shot attempts while allowing nine.
  • The craziest stat to come out of last night’s game was Arvid Soderblom’s shootout history. He’s been in three career shootouts and has failed to stop any of the nine attempts he’s seen.
  • The second craziest stat came from the broadcast on CHSN. Entering the game, Bedard had the same number of goals, assists, points, and shots on the road as he does on home ice. He will need a goal and three shots on Saturday night against the Vegas Golden Knights to keep this trend going.
  • Seth Jones rebounded nicely from his miserable game against the Calgary Flames on Monday. In 25:55 of ice time, he had an assist, a hit, and a blocked shot to finish as a plus-2. He made multiple rushes back to break up potential Nashville scoring chances.
  • Jones’ contract has been a hot topic since the ink dried. However, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Blackhawks have received multiple calls on the veteran defenseman despite not actively shopping him. The five years left with the $9.5 million AAV will make any trade difficult. Jones also has a full no-movement clause, so he must approve any trade. It is doubtful that a deal could be made before the deadline. These types of complicated moves usually happen in the offseason.
  • Another name that hasn’t been discussed much popped up on Thursday night. During his segment on the CHSN pregame show, Frank Seravalli reported that Lukas Reichel has started to show up in trade circles over the past couple of weeks. He said nothing is imminent, but he believes Davidson has been getting some calls on the young forward.

NHL Chirps

  • The Minnesota Wild are having a rough run of bad health recently. Forward Marcus Johansson was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that he suffered a concussion when Connor McDavid caught him with a stray elbow to the head on Wednesday. They also placed superstar Kirill Kaprizov on long-term injured reserve. He is eligible to return as early as Saturday. The Wild are already missing Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Brock Faber.
  • Speaking of McDavid, he scored his 20th goal of the season in the Edmonton Oilers’ epic 4-3 comeback win over the Colorado Avalanche. It was Edmonton’s second multi-goal comeback victory in as many days. McDavid became the sixth player in team history to have nine 20-goal seasons, tying his teammate Leon Draisaitl and Wayne Gretzky. Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier all have 10.
  • Seravalli was a busy man on Thursday. He told Sports Prime on Canada that the Avalanche have not given Mikko Rantanen an ultimatum to sign an extension before the trade deadline, or else they will look to move him. He believes Rantanen is looking for a deal in the $14 million range, similar to what Draisaitl got last year. The Avalanche want to keep him closer to the $12.6 million they are paying Nathan MacKinnon. The respected insider thinks talks will pick up again during the break for the Four Nations Faceoff.
  • Former Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson and his wife dropped the puck ahead of the Ottawa Senators game with the Washington Capitals. They sported jerseys for the Do It For Daron foundation in memory of their daughter Daron, who lost her life to suicide in 2010. Richardson’s nephew and Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun took the ceremonial draw with Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
  • Once the game started, Alex Ovechkin got closer to history. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime to move within 21 of Gretzky’s all-time record. It was his 134th game-winning goal, putting him one behind Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history. The “Great 8” also passed Jagr for scoring against the most goaltenders in league history, with Leevi Merilainen becoming the 179th.
  • Finally, a stick tap goes out to a pair of veteran blueliners. Marc-Eduard Vlasic, Alex’s cousin, played in his 1300th game for the San Jose Sharks, a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Victor Hedman recorded his 600th assist during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-3 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks.