Morning Chirps: Artyom Levshunov Scores, Blackhawks Land 7 Prospects in Top 100

Chicago Blackhawks fans are going through withdrawal after back-to-back nights with no hockey. The good news is that the 4 Nations Face-off begins tonight, with Canada hosting Sweden in Montreal. The Rockford IceHogs lost in their return to home ice last night. Plus, some big names continue churning in the NHL’s trade rumor mill.

Blackhawks Chirps

• If you were looking for reasons to watch the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks season after the international break, I gave you three good ones.
• Teuvo Teravainen and Finland will kick off their tournament against the United States on Thursday night. Team Finland held their first full practice on Tuesday after Monday was an optional skate. Teravainen was on the third line with Erik Haula and Joel Armia. He was also on the second power-play unit. Finland is running five forwards on each unit due to the injuries on defense. Juuso Valimaki averages the most power-play time out of the blueliners, with 15 seconds per game.
• The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler released his winter 2025 list of the top 100 NHL-drafted prospects. Seven Blackhawks’ picks appear on the list: Artyom Levshunov (3), Frank Nazar (27), Kevin Korchinski (28), Sam Rinzel (54), Oliver Moore (64), Sacha Boisvert (79), and Nick Lardis (94). Check out Scott’s list for detailed scouting reports on all 100 prospects.
• An interesting tidbit came up on the most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. Elliotte Friedman mentioned that Luke Haymes will be a highly-touted undrafted free agent once his college career ends this spring. The 6-foot-1 Dartmouth College center has 36 goals and 62 points in 73 NCAA games over the past three seasons. Being an Ottawa native, Friedman mentioned the Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs as potential suitors. The Blackhawks lack true centers in the system, so checking in on Haymes would be a good idea.
• On this date in 1975, Tony Esposito became the 17^th goaltender in history to win 200 games by beating the Boston Bruins 8-3.
• Two years later, Dick Redmond became the first Blackhawks defenseman to score a hat trick in a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
• Finally, on Feb. 12, 1988, Denis Savard scored a goal and recorded three assists in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues to give him his fifth and final 100-point season.

IceHogs Chirps

• The IceHogs returned home to BMO Center last night, but the Milwaukee Admirals were rude house guests by handing them their third straight loss. The Admirals scored on their first two shots against Mitchell Weeks to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. That’s how the score remained until the opening minute of the third period when Levshunov scored on the power play. It was the young blueliner’s fourth goal of the season and second on the power play. The Admirals iced the game with a late empty-net goal.

• Drew Commesso was not in uniform for the IceHogs after leaving Saturday’s game with an apparent leg injury. It occurred early in the second period against the Texas Stars. He remained on the ice for a few minutes before gingerly going to the locker room. Ben Gaudreau was recalled from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel and backed up Weeks last night.
• Former Blackhawk and IceHog Anders Bjork has been a real thorn in Rockford’s side this season. He had two assists for the Admirals last night, bringing his season total to two goals and five points in three games against the IceHogs this season.
• The IceHogs have lost three in a row and seven of their last 10 games. They are hanging on to the fifth and final playoff spot in the Central Division. Thankfully, the Iowa Wild and Manitoba Moose are having terrible seasons. Rockford returns to action Friday night when they host the Chicago Wolves.

NHL Chirps

• The 4 Nations Face-off kicks off tonight with Canada and Sweden playing in Montreal. Canada’s head coach, Jon Cooper, announced that Jordan Binnington would be his starting netminder for the tournament opener. Goaltending is Canada’s most glaring weakness heading into the competition.
• Team USA will have extra motivation when they play their first game tomorrow night by hanging Johnny Gaudreau’s USA jersey in their locker room. There is no doubt he would have been on the roster if he wasn’t tragically killed with his brother, Matthew, last August. His memory has been a massive inspiration for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season, and it’s carried over into the United States locker room.

“He’s a guy that went to a ton of World Championships, scored big goals, big goals in the World Juniors. He was a USA Hockey legend. He’s a guy that probably would have been on this team. It definitely gives us some extra motivation.” – Zach Werenski

• Brock Nelson was a popular player after Tuesday’s Team USA practice. He is in the final year of his contract with the New York Islanders, and the team must decide whether to re-sign the veteran center or trade him before the March 7 deadline. When asked about it, Nelson did not give any insight into how the contract talks are going. It looks like he learned from John Tavares about what not to say in the final year of a contract. Russ Macias of New York Islanders Hockey Now gave us three ideas of what a possible extension could look like. If Nelson hits the open market this summer, he should be on the Blackhawks’ list of players to talk to.
• Friedman has recently linked Blues captain Brayden Schenn to the Vegas Golden Knights. Hannah Kirkell of Vegas Hockey Now wrote how adding Schenn would work for the Knights and why it wouldn’t.
• TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reported that Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman will have the appeal of his 10-game suspension heard on Friday.
• Finally, former Blackhawks forward Brendan Perlini has signed on to play with Switzerland’s Lausanne HC for the rest of the season. The former first-round pick had his contract with the KHL’s Spartak Moskova mutually terminated after only four games.