Morning Chirps: Wyatt Kaiser Back to Rockford, Gary Bettman Retiring?

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action tonight as they will host the Tampa Bay Lightning. For those of you going to the United Center tonight, keep in mind that the game starts at 7 p.m. Thursday was a busy day as the Blackhawks placed a forward on injured reserve, swapped out defensemen with the Rockford IceHogs, and signed a 2024 draft pick to his entry-level contract. Plus, is the NHL in the market for a new commissioner?

Blackhawks Chirps

• Before practice started, the Blackhawks put forward Craig Smith on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from the AHL. He had plenty to say about how his second stint in the NHL is different from his first.
• The Blackhawks also signed 2024 third-round pick AJ Spellacy to his NHL entry-level contract. In case you’re wondering where he will play next season, he will still be too young to play in the AHL, so he will return to the Ontario Hockey League for another year.
• The recall of Del Mastro caused many to wonder why the Blackhawks were carrying eight healthy defensemen. They remedied that Thursday afternoon by reassigning Wyatt Kaiser to the IceHogs.
• On this date in 1960, Glenn Hall tied an NHL record for goalies by playing in his 328^th straight game.
• Happy Contract Extension Anniversary to Petr Mrazek who inked a two-year $8.5 million contract extension with the Blackhawks one year ago.

NHL Chirps

• NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has not said anything publicly about retiring, but he is starting to have private conversations about it. According to a report from Michael Russo and Chris Johnston of The Athletic, Bettman is planning to step down in “a couple of years” and has started the process of finding his successor. Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leopold let the cat out of the bag on a recent podcast with Pierre McGuire and Jimmy Murphy.
• There has been a lot of trade chatter around the Pittsburgh Penguins. It has been no secret that general manager Kyle Dubas wants to get younger. Earlier this week, reports were that he was ready for a “fire sale” before the March 7 trade deadline. Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now has been all over the story, which Dubas flat-out said is not true. Reminder: take everything a general manager says leading up to the trade deadline with a grain of salt.
• New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom left Wednesday night’s game with an injury, causing quite the panic in the Garden State. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported that Markstrom suffered a knee sprain and will miss some time, but the injury is not as bad as the team feared.
• Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin played in his 700^th career game Thursday night. He had a goal and an assist in a massive 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
• Joonas Korpisalo got some revenge on his former team by shutting out the Ottawa Senators 2-0. He has three shutouts in 15 starts this season. This was the second straight game Ottawa failed to score a goal and the fifth time they’ve been shut out since Jan. 1.
• Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 18 saves in the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 win over the Columbus Blues Jackets to earn the 300^th victory of his career. He is the 42^nd netminder in NHL history to win 300 games.