The Blackhawks start a 5-game road trip tonight in Columbus for a pair then a deuce in Detroit. After the Motor City, the Hawks have a crucial 3-game set with the Predators first in Nashville and the rest back in Chicago.
Brett Connolly and Riley Stillman join their new team in Columbus so they should make their Blackhawks debut either this evening or on Monday. Malcolm Subban and/or Collin Delia could also start in this series.
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Game Day
Game 42, April 10:
Blackhawks @ Blue Jackets
6:00pm CST
Records:
Blackhawks, 18-18-5, 41 Pts (5th)
Blue Jackets, 15-19-8, 38 Pts (7th)
Season Series:
4-2-0
Goals For/Game:
Blackhawks, 2.73 (19th)
Blue Jackets, 2.48 (28th)
Goals Against/Game:
Blackhawks, 3.10 (21st)
Blue Jackets, 3.19 (25th)
Power Play:
Blackhawks, 31-126, 24.6% (6th)
Blue Jackets, 14-99, 14.1% (29th)
Penalty Kill:
Blackhawks, 84-115, 73.0% (30th)
Blue Jackets, 78-100, 78.0% (21st)
For Columbus, Emil Bemstrom and Gustav Nyquist are on IR while Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski suffered recent injuries that have taken them out for the remainder of the season.
Also, neither the Hawks nor the Jackets have any players on the NHL COVID-19 Protocol List.
The Jackets projected lineup (per DailyFaceoff.com):
Laine - Texier - Bjorkstrand
Robinson - Domi - Foligno
Grigorenko - Roslovic - Atkinson
Matteau - Dalpe - Foudy
Carlsson - Jones
Gavrikov - Del Zotto
Lehtonen - Kukan
Merzlikins
Korpisalo
Also available: Ryan MacInnis (C), Kole Sherwood (W), Kevin Stenlund (W), Scott Harrington (D), David Savard (D), Cam Johnson (G).
It has been reported that Savard is healthy but being kept out of games to protect him from injury as he's on the trade block as the TDL draws close this Monday at 2:00pm CST.
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Depth on the Wings
In a blog this past Monday, I took an early glance at what the center situation could be for next year. Next, let's do a brief exercise to chart out early projections of wingers for the 2021-22 season.
Definitely on the team:
* Patrick Kane
* Alex DeBrincat
* Dominik Kubalik
Likely on the team:
* Brandon Hagel
* Philipp Kurashev
* Alex Nylander
* Pius Suter
Possibly on the team:
* Ryan Carpenter
* Brett Connolly
* Vincent Hinostroza
Possibly on the team as a center but could start at wing:
* Henrik Borgstrom
* Lukas Reichel
Likely not on the team:
* Matthew Highmore
* Mattias Janmark
Likely not healthy:
* Andrew Shaw
Likely rookies in the mix:
* Andrei Altybarmakian
* Evan Barratt
* MacKenzie Enwistle
* Reese Johnson
* Josiah Slavin
The first two categories have 7 wingers filling 8 spots in the starting lineup leaving one opening plus at least one more for a reserve forward. Keep in mind Kurashev and Suter can also play pivot.
Mapping out the forward lines including potential centers:
DeBrincat - Dach - Kane
Hagel - Strome - Kubalik
Suter - Kurashev - Nylander
Hinostroza - Kampf - Entwistle
Carpenter/Connolly
Assumptions:
* Jonathan Toews is in the same category as Shaw, i.e. not healthy thus indefinitely unavailable while on LTIR.
* Borgstrom and Reichel sign contracts and start in Rockford but could be recalled to Chicago in short order either out of necessity or because they earned it.
* Hinostroza is retained and at least one of Carpenter or Connolly is, too.
The permutations of the lines when considering the options up the middle and on the flanks are numerous and amplify in complexity if Toews is ready to go plus Borgstrom and/or Reichel are NHL primed.
As to be expected, the upcoming TDL, offseason transactions (trades and free agency), expansion draft, and even the entry draft should theoretically generate a clearer picture of who stays and who goes.
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Rockford Updates
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See you on the boards!
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