Morning Chirps: Ryan Donato Gaining Interest, Nick Lardis Stays Hot

The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the Minnesota Wild later tonight. It is their fourth out of eight straight games against playoff teams as they try to extend their season-high point streak to five games. Last night, the Rockford IceHogs still couldn’t figure out their inter-state rivals. Plus, more fall out from Friday’s colossal trade, and an impressive streak comes to an end.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks were back at the Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, so they will not have a morning skate today. Yesterday, we got updates on the status of defensemen Connor Murphy, Seth Jones, and Alec Martinez.
• Friday night’s blockbuster trade was still on everybody’s mind Saturday morning. The Blackhawks played a small role in the mega deal by sending Taylor Hall to the Carolina Hurricanes for a third-round pick. By retaining half of Mikko Rantanen’s salary, they got their pick back from Carolina. That pick will be one of the first three picks in the round, while if they had received Carolina’s pick, it would be at least 20 spots later.
• Hall was acquired in 2023 to be a veteran leader for Connor Bedard. His being a former number-one overall pick, too, made him an attractive addition. Unfortunately, a knee injury cut his season short last year. The duo didn’t spend much time on the same line this season. Hall’s inconsistency landed him on the fourth line for the final few games of his run in Chicago. However, Bedard appreciated his relationship with the former Hart Trophy winner.

“When you have a question or anything, he was usually the first guy I’d go to for something like that. He meant a lot to me coming in. I’m excited to play against him and see him [on Thursday]. It’s an exciting opportunity for him to go there and compete for a Cup.”

• Undoubtedly, the Hall trade was the first of multiple moves general manager Kyle Davidson will make before the March 7 trade deadline. Chris Johnston of The Athletic has Ryan Donato 13^th on his trade board and says he is starting to attract some attention from other teams.
• Nick Lardis continued his assault on Ontario Hockey League goaltenders. He became the first player in the OHL to score 40 goals when he notched a power-play tally in the second period. The 2023 third-rounder had so much fun potting his 40^th goal that he scored his 41^st later in the third period. Imagine keeping him off your World Juniors roster! Marek Vanacker scored his eighth goal of the season as the Brantford Bulldogs fell 6-3 to the Barrie Colts. In case you’re wondering, Lardis turns 20 in July, so he would be eligible to play in the AHL next season.

• From the future to the past, on this date in 1967, Stan Mikita scored his 200^th career goal during a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
• On Jan. 26, 1978, only 527 fans made it to the Chicago Stadium through blizzard conditions. The small crowd was treated to a 5-0 win over the Cleveland Barons, which was Tony Esposito’s 62^nd career shutout.
• Doug Wilson scored the lone hat trick of his career to help beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Jan. 26, 1991. He joined Dick Redmond as the only defensemen in franchise history with hat tricks.
• Finally, a decade later, on Jan. 26, 2001, Steve Sullivan set the team record for the fastest two shorthanded goals by one player when he netted a pair 51 seconds apart in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

IceHogs Chirps

• The IceHogs lost 3-2 in overtime to the Chicago Wolves on Saturday night. They drop to 2-4-1 against their I-90 rivals. Landon Slaggert was the offensive star of the night with two primary assists. The first came on Zach Sanford’s shorthanded goal, and the second set up Joey Anderson’s power-play tally. Slaggert has 10 goals and 25 points in 39 AHL games. It will be interesting to see who gets recalled ahead of the Blackhawks’ road trip. They have only 12 forwards on the roster, so somebody will be heading to Chicago, possibly as soon as tomorrow. Slaggert and Anderson are the leading candidates.

NHL Chirps

• Perhaps nobody was caught more off guard by the Rantanen trade on Friday than the Avalanche locker room. According to Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now, Nathan MacKinnon never saw the move coming and was open and honest following a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins Saturday afternoon.

“Really great friend. Nine years, 10 years together, won a Cup, obviously. It’s just sad. I mean, I don’t know exactly what happened. I called Mikko pretty shortly after. We talked for close to 20 minutes. But yeah, it’s just unfortunate. Losing a great friend, great teammate. I’m going to miss him.”

• Staying in Colorado, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reported that Gabriel Landeskog has been skating more than ever, even though general manager Chris MacFarland says his status has not changed.
• The New York Rangers signed defenseman Will Borgen to a five-year, $20.5 million contract extension. He was acquired from the Seattle Kraken for Kaapo Kakko on Dec. 18 and has played well since arriving on Broadway.
• Heading into Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning had gone 113 games without being shut out, the longest active streak in the NHL. Then Cam Talbot stopped all 28 shots he faced to blank the Bolts 2-0. He joined Sean Burke as the only goaltenders in NHL history to record multiple shutouts with six franchises.