Defensemen & Goalies
#Blackhawks returning to practice this morning at Fifth Third Arena. Maintenance days for Calvin de Haan and Marc-Andre Fleury, while Jake McCabe is out with lower-back soreness.https://t.co/X8HFUAW6RQ
— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) February 22, 2022
If Jake McCabe is out longer than expected, the blueline could look something like the pairs listed below. It's not improbable that the Chicago-Rockford shuttle revs up again to rotate Alec Regula back to the AHL and Ian Mitchell, Jakub Galvas, or Wyatt Kalynuk up to the NHL.
de Haan - S Jones Gustafsson - Murphy C Jones - Regula
By the time the TDL has come and gone, one would think that at least de Haan and possibly one or maybe more of pending free agents Erik Gustafsson and Caleb Jones are with new franchises. At that point, Riley Stillman should be at full health again and ready to rejoin the D corps.
Also, interim head coach Derek King said in post-practice interviews yesterday that Kevin Lankinen is expected to start in one of this weekend's games either against the Devils on Friday or versus the Blues on Sunday. Rest for Fleury on occasional game days is a good thing, too.
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Forwards
Hogs on the Move: #Blackhawks Re-Assign Slavin to Rockfordhttps://t.co/NiwwYa5URN
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) February 21, 2022
DeBrincat - Reichel - Kane Hagel - Strome - Kubalik Kurashev - Dach - Borgstrom Lafferty - Carpenter - Entwistle
With these lines, trade targets Brandon Hagel, Dylan Strome, and Dominik Kubalik are put in top 6 roles to optimize their scoring chances. Henrik Borgstrom is bumped up from the 4th line and periodic healthy scratch to a top 9 role in place of Sam Lafferty who is unlikely to be moved.
This assumes management keeps Lukas Reichel up with the big club for a while longer but hopefully not for the rest of the season. But if and ideally when Reichel gets sent back to the IceHogs, Brett Connolly may get recalled so he can be showcased despite having limited trade value.
Keep in mind that Tyler Johnson and Reese Johnson are due back within the next few weeks. If that's the case, keep one or both of them on Chicago's active roster as the 12th and 13th forwards and send Reichel to the Hogs. Connolly could also take a spot while Reese Johnson heads to the minors.
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Goalie Prospects
Semifinalists for 2022 Richter Award are Announcedhttps://t.co/XuunzK4z9r
— Hockey Commissioners Association (@chcommissioners) February 22, 2022
Though he didn't make the cut to advance to the next round, 2019 draft pick Dominic Basse was nominated as a member of the Tigers of Colorado College. NCAA free agent signee and current IceHogs goalie Cale Morris won the award in 2018 as a member of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
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See you on the boards!