thank YOU guys for following along tonight â¤ï¸ pic.twitter.com/cYP9FJ3hA9
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2021
Day 9 of Blackhawks training camp featured the back end of the home-at-home series against the Blues. In addition to this preseason game, the most noteworthy news was Jonathan Toews finally taking a day off plus a dozen roster cuts. The following players were reassigned to Rockford:
Forwards * D.J. Busdeker * Liam Folkes * Carson Gicewicz * Kale Howarth * Riley McKay * Dylan McLaughlin * Garrett Mitchell * Chris Wilkie * Chad Yetman
Defensemen * Ryan Stanton
Goalies * Tom Aubrun * Cale Morris
No surprise with these cuts as all of them are on AHL contracts. If there are any who have a leg up to potentially land an NHL deal at some point, center Dylan McLaughlin and goalie Cale Morris are prime candidates and perhaps by next summer.
McLaughlin is a solid 200-foot player who has above average offensive skills, hockey IQ, and creativity and capacity to play in all situations. Morris is a mechanically sound netminder who has little to no panic or wasted movements in the crease.
Also, here was the practice lineup for those players left in camp who didn't travel to the Kansas City area for the preseason game:
DeBrincat - T Johnson - Kane Pour - Carpenter - Hagel Osipov - Barratt - Reichel Nylander - Slavin - Altybarmakian Morrison
McCabe - S Jones Mitchell - de Haan C Jones- Murphy
Fleury Lankinen
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Remaining Roster
Henrik Borgstrom is confident, but he also knows there's plenty of competition for the final 2-3 forward spots. https://t.co/Tg1Lgzav7l
— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) October 1, 2021
Forwards * Ryan Carpenter * Brett Connolly * Kirby Dach * Alex DeBrincat * Adam Gaudette * Brandon Hagel * Tyler Johnson * Patrick Kane * Jujhar Khaira * Dominik Kubalik * Dylan Strome * Jonathan Toews
Defensemen * Calvin de Haan * Caleb Jones * Seth Jones * Jake McCabe * Connor Murphy * Riley Stillman
Goalies * Marc-Andre Fleury * Kevin Lankinen
The following are in the mix to make the team:
Forwards * Henrik Borgstrom * MacKenzie Entwistle * Philipp Kurashev * Alex Nylander * Lukas Reichel
Defensemen * Jakub Galvas * Wyatt Kalynuk
Goalies * None
And the following are likely to get cut eventually:
Forwards * Andrei Altybarmakian * Evan Barratt * Matej Chalupa * Colton Dach * Mike Hardman * Reese Johnson * Cam Morrison * Dmitri Osipov * Jakub Pour * Josiah Slavin * Michal Teply
Defensemen * Nolan Allan * Nicolas Beaudin * Louis Crevier * Chad Krys * Ian Mitchell * Isaak Phillips * Alec Regula
Goalies * Collin Delia * Arvid Soderblom * Malcolm Subban
Thoughts on roster decisions:
* If the Blackhawks can find new homes for Brett Connolly, Alex Nylander, and/or Dylan Strome, that would open up spots for up to 3 of Henrik Borgstrom, MacKenzie Entwistle, Philipp Kurashev, and/or Lukas Reichel.
* While there may be the most excitement to see what Reichel can do at the NHL level, it may be best for his long-term growth to start on the 1st line for the IceHogs and play in all situations, perhaps even at center.
* However, as it stands today, Borgstrom or Nylander would most likely make the team as the 13th forward while the other one would have to clear waivers in order to be sent to Rockford and could be claimed by another team.
* For the 7th spot on the blueline, Jakub Galvas could be favored over Wyatt Kalynuk due to his 5 years of pro experience in the Czech Republic and Finland so sitting once in a while may not necessarily stunt his growth.
* Kalynuk, on the other hand, shouldn't be a healthy scratch so he should either be an everyday player for the Hawks or play on the top D pair -- and perhaps be the #1 defenseman -- for the Hogs then be the first recall.
* Although highly unlikely, is there a slight chance that Kevin Lankinen isn't a lock to make the Hawks? If this is the case, then who is the front runner between Collin Delia and Malcolm Subban?
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Game Notes
Thanks Kansas City 🤠that was fun! pic.twitter.com/zXhcBYHOW0
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2021
This was a projected starting lineup by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Kurashev - K Dach - Kubalik Connolly - Strome - Gaudette Borgstrom - C Dach - Hardman Khaira - Entwistle - R Johnson
Phillips - Kalynuk Galvas - Stillman Allan - Beaudin Crevier
Subban Delia
Scoring Recap
1st Goal: Krug (0-1) 2nd Goal: Borgstrom (1-1) 3rd Goal: C Dach (2-1) 4th Goal: Entwistle (3-1) 5th Goal: Hardman (4-1) 6th Goal: Kubalik (5-1)
Shootout
Blackhawks * Borgstrom (goal) * Gaudette (miss) * Kubalik (miss) * C Dach (miss) * Strome (goal)
Blues * Kyrou (miss) * O'Reilly (miss) * Alexandrov (miss) * Anas (miss)
Goal by Colton Dach
is it just us or is it loud in here?? pic.twitter.com/lTbUmy0zT6
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2021
🚨KUBYYYYY🚨
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 3, 2021
It’s 5-1 ladies and gents! pic.twitter.com/RNzpaL1XuZ
See you on the boards!