Morning Chirps: Toews Officially a Jet, Chicago-Native Announces Retirement

The Chicago Blackhawks have wrapped up their development camp, and now we wait to see if they will make any moves via the trade market. The greatest captain in franchise history is officially wearing another jersey, while another former Blackhawk has been asked if he wants to come out of retirement. Let’s get to those Saturday Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• Gail Kauchak of The Hockey Writers wraps up her first experience at the Blackhawks’ development camp. It was far from the most newsworthy week, but there were plenty of tidbits.
• Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times talked to first-round pick Vaclav Nestrasil about when he embraced being a power forward.
• Happy 68^th birthday to Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Wilson! The Blackhawks drafted him with the sixth overall pick of the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. He won the Norris Trophy for being voted the best defenseman in the league by scoring a career-high 39 goals and 85 points during the 1981-82 season. His 554 assists and 779 points for the Blackhawks are the most by a defenseman in franchise history. 
• Other Blackhawks celebrating birthdays today are Ron Ingram, Michal Sykora, Lucas Carlsson, and Aku Raty.

NHL Chirps

• Jonathan Toews is officially a member of the Winnipeg Jets. His hometown team introduced the three-time Stanley Cup winner on Friday. Seeing him wear anything besides a Blackhawks sweater is bizarre.

• How thin is the goaltending market this summer? According to agent Allan Walsh, five teams have checked to see if his client Marc-Andre Fleury is interested in coming out of retirement.  
• Nazem Kadri’s name has been appearing in trade rumors of late. However, TSN’s Darren Dreger says the Calgary Flames have no interest in moving the veteran forward. The Toronto Maple Leafs were rumored to be a team interested in Kadri because you can’t have a hockey trade rumor without involving them.
• According to Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Flyers forward Tyson Foerster might miss the start of the season. He recently had elbow surgery to clear up an infection from a bicep injury suffered at the World Championships.
• Per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey, defenseman Madison Bowey has signed a one-year contract with the Augsburger Panther of Germany’s DEL. Bowey played two games with the Blackhawks during the 2020-21 season and had an assist. He was eventually traded to the Vancouver Canucks for the fourth-round pick used to draft Ethan Del Mastro.
• Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byrum remains one of the most sought-after players this summer. Will he be traded? Will someone sign him to an offer sheet? Will he stay in Buffalo? At this point, the Sabres should trade the young blueliner because his value will never be higher with multiple teams interested. Even though they should get a good return, this is why the Sabres are continuously rebuilding. They have no patience with their young players. You could win the Stanley Cup with players given up on in Buffalo. The Blackhawks are doing the exact opposite with their youngsters.
• Christian Fischer announced his retirement in an interview with Max Bultman of The Athletic. The Chicago native started his road to the NHL with the Chicago Mission before playing for the USNTDP. The Arizona Coyotes took him in the second round of the 2015 draft. He scored 62 goals and 137 points in 523 NHL games for the Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings, and Columbus Blue Jackets.