Game vs Capitals
IT’S GAMEDAY pic.twitter.com/mvvikTyzzT
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 15, 2021
The Predators then stop by the United Center on Friday but that game could be in peril as the NHL was bombarded with what seemed like non-stop reports of players going into COVID protocol to the point of teams -- like Calgary and possibly Nashville -- needing to cancel games.
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Roster Updates
Blackhawks lines in practice
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) December 14, 2021
DeBrincat-Strome-Kane
Hagel-Toews-Connolly
Kubalik-Dach-Kurashev
Entwistle-Carpenter-Slavin
It makes more sense to have Connolly playing in the top 9 given his solid showing in Rockford as one of the IceHogs top players who proved he can still get up and down the ice with pace and generate offense with one of the NHL's most accurate and strongest shots.
As for Entwistle, he's tailor made for the bottom 6 and particularly the 4th line. He's miscast as a top 6 player even if bumped from center to wing. On the 4th line, starting at wing coming off injury may be sensible yet he could start in the middle in due course.
Regardless, Entwistle should still be deployed on the penalty kill and used increasingly in defensive situations. While his advanced stats may not presently reflect such usage, his calling card in the NHL is as a defensive forward who can chip in offensively like Josiah Slavin.
Kurtis Gabriel is dealing with his Visa coming from Canada. Henrik Borgstrom is still sick.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) December 14, 2021
As for Kurtis Gabriel, he also can sub in for Carpenter. If Slavin's time in the NHL has an end date so he can return to the AHL for more seasoning, then Gabriel can be inserted for him instead. Either way, he's a spare forward destined for 4th line duty when he does play.
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IceHogs Updates
IceHogs Medical Update:
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) December 14, 2021
FW Lukas Reichel and G Arvid Soderblom have been removed from concussion protocol
FW Dylan McLaughlin is removed from COVID-19 protocolhttps://t.co/69TCdb1XAl pic.twitter.com/RgocHnA2uP
Then with the return of Lukas Reichel and Dylan McLaughlin to the lineup, they vastly improve Rockford's center depth by essentially regaining their top 6 pivots. Additionally, the overall forward ranks recalibrate to become more reasonable and balanced.
Nylander - Reichel - Altybarmakian Teply - McLaughlin - Hardman Morrison - Barratt - Gicewicz Pour - G Mitchell - Busdeker
Reserves: Osipov, Yetman
Hogs on the Move: We recalled FW Chad Yetman from the @IndyFuel
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) December 13, 2021
He had a busy week - With us Friday/Saturday vs. Henderson and Sunday at Kalamazoo! pic.twitter.com/uohVZTkClK
World Junior Championships
Introducing the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team! 🇺🇸 #WorldJuniors
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 14, 2021
Full announcement → https://t.co/AlRSCKp1vQ pic.twitter.com/er1mEvPkzv
It's not surprising that Connor Kelley got cut given how deep the pool of invites was for Team USA's blueline. As for other Blackhawks prospects, Michael Krutil is likely to represent the Czech Republic. However, Reichel is already confirmed as out for Germany.
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Winter Olympics
USA Hockey's John Vanbiesbrouck says AHL, NCAA and international players would be part of a "Plan B" if the NHL opts out of the 2022 Beijing Games.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 14, 2021
Canada
* High: Nicolas Beaudin, Wyatt Kalynuk, Ian Mitchell * Low: None
Czech Republic
* High: Jakub Pour, Michal Teply, Jakub Galvas * Low: None
Germany
* High: Lukas Reichel * Low: None
Finland
* High: Antti Saarela * Low: Niklas Nordgren
Russia
* High: Maxim Shalunov * Low: Andrei Altybarmakian, Artur Kayumov
Sweden
* High: Victor Stjernborg, Arvid Soderblom * Low: None
United States
* High: Landon Slaggert, Wyatt Kaiser, Alex Vlasic, Drew Commesso * Low: Ryder Rolston, Jake Wise, Connor Kelley
Realistically, most of the Blackhawks prospects won't get selected but there may be greater chances since NHL players aren't in the mix. Also, some of the better players in the AHL may be on the cusp of the NHL so teams may prefer that they remain available in case of increased COVID outbreaks.
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See you on the boards!