Without a doubt, Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach have clear spots secured playing center in the top 6 once they are cleared to return. The center depth has been at a deficit all season with them on LTIR.
Also on LTIR is winger Alex Nylander. Unlike Toews and Dach who could return as early as next month, Nylander is out until the start of the next season unless the Blackhawks get into the playoffs.
Another difference between Nylander's situation and that of Toews and Dach is the Canadian-born Swede may not have a spot in the lineup, at least if he were to matriculate back onto the current roster.
In other words, where would Nylander play? Toews and Dach would play center along with David Kampf and one of Dylan Strome or Carl Soderberg. This would bump Pius Suter and Philipp Kurashev to wing.
The wings also have Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Dominik Kubalik, Mattias Janmark, and Brandon Hagel then one of Ryan Carpenter, Matthew Highmore, Lucas Wallmark, or even Strome or Soderberg.
Nylander could foreseeably be a candidate in that latter group to fill the 8th wing spot. Even when taking into account that several forwards may be gone by the TDL or summer, Nylander's spot isn't a guarantee.
The other aforementioned wingers are higher on the depth chart and deserve to play everyday given their compete level and impact. They collectively are the benchmark by which Nylander should be measured.
Can Nylander play effectively in all zones, display strong work ethic, and be a force with and without the puck? If not, other youngsters will leapfrog him and render him a healthy scratch and/or trade bait.
The question then moves on to whether Nylander is even worth retaining once his ELC expires at season's end. He would be cheap to re-sign given his mediocre 2019-20 campaign and present incapacitation.
If kept, what would his next contract look like? One year at less than $1M seems reasonable. However, one year is risky as teams could just wait until he's a free agent rather than trade assets for him.
A term of 2 years, though, may be more viable to give the Blackhawks more flexibility. The less than $1M in AAV wouldn't hurt the cap and his contract would be attractive and tradeable even just for scraps.
Assuming he's back in the fold and can finally put everything together consistently, Nylander would be a welcome (back) addition to the lineup as at least a top 9 winger. Top 6 if he's a well-oiled machine.
But if not, Nylander would be a frequent guest in the press box as a healthy scratch. It's unknown whether the NHL will institute taxi squads again next season so that may not be an option for him either.
Then there's not keeping Nylander at all. A plausible scenario is going with Janmark over him. Doing that, though, would be a double whammy as the Hawks would lose Nylander and Henri Jokiharju for nothing.
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Game Day
Game 33, March 23:
Blackhawks vs Panthers
7:00pm CST
Records:
Blackhawks, 14-13-5, 33 Pts (4th)
Panthers, 20-7-4, 44 Pts (3rd)
Season Series:
0-3-1
Goals For/Game:
Blackhawks, 2.91 (17th)
Panthers, 3.35 (4th)
Goals Against/Game:
Blackhawks, 3.25 (26th)
Panthers, 2.77 (14th)
Power Play:
Blackhawks, 28-100, 28.0% (3rd)
Panthers, 25-98, 25.5% (9th)
Penalty Kill:
Blackhawks, 71-98, 72.5% (28th)
Panthers, 77-95, 81.1% (11th)
For Florida, Noah Juulsen is on IR. Also, neither the Hawks nor the Cats have any players on the NHL COVID-19 Protocol List.
The Panthers projected lineup (per DailyFaceoff.com):
Verhaeghe - Barkov - Duclair
Huberdeau - Wennberg - Hornqvist
Vatrano - Luostarinen - Tippett
Marchment - Acciari - Lomberg
Weegar - Ekblad
Forsling - Gudas
Yandle - Stralman
Bobrovsky
Driedger
Also available: Brett Connolly (W), Vincent Hinostroza (W), Juho Lammikko (W), Kevin Connauton (D), Markus Nutivaara (D), Riley Stillman (D), Philippe Desrosiers (G).
While Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are the best forwards for the Panthers, the Blackhawks need to keep tabs on Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair who have killed them in prior series.
Aaron Ekblad is the one to watch at both ends of the rink as he is dangerous on either side of the puck. As one of the top defenseman in the NHL, he can shut down the opposition and also drive offense.
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Rockford Updates
Cale Morris picked up his 2nd win of the season making 38 stops to help the IceHogs cruise 6-1 over the Iowa Wild in a heated contest. Nicolas Beaudin, Reese Johnson, and Chris Wilkie picked up 2 goals apiece.
Starting Lineup
Scoring Recap
1st Goal: Johnson (1-0)
Wilkie chipped the puck to himself along the right boards to break free and create a 2-on-1 feeding Johnson with a one timer from the left circle after he streaked down the left lane.
2nd Goal: Wilkie (2-0)
Wilkie forced a turnover at the blueline as the Wild tried to clear. Evan Barratt hacked the puck to the corner for Johnson to skate around the net and find Wilkie in the slot for the tap in.
3rd Goal: Wilkie (3-0) SH
Wyatt Kalynuk cleared the puck to the neutral zone where Wilkie flagged it down to jet up ice and play catch with Dylan McLaughlin on a 2-on-0 before sending the puck home for the shortie.
4th Goal: Mayhew (3-1) PP
Gerry Mayhew received a pass in his end and carried the puck from the far blueline down central avenue and fired a roof shot from the slot after splitting 3 defenders between the circles.
5th Goal: Beaudin (4-1) PP
The Hogs moved the puck left to right across the circles from McLaughlin in the left circle to MacKenzie Entwistle in the slot to Beaudin in the right circle who painted the corner.
6th Goal: Johnson (5-1)
Tim Soderlund was finally rewarded as he was buzzing all night into the dirty areas to snuff out pucks and generate turnovers. He poked the puck loose behind the net and fed Johnson in front.
7th Goal: Beaudin (6-1)
Beaudin picked up his second of the game with a shot from the blueline after Michal Teply stole the puck behind the net and moved it to Andrei Altybarmakian who mailed it north to Beaudin.
Player Notes
Isaak Phillips took a puck to the head that knocked him to the ice and out of the rest of the game late in the 3rd.
While he netted a duo of goals, Beaudin struggled quite a bit managing gaps and defending under pressure.
In addition to his pair of goals, Wilkie had a 3-point night picking up an apple. His 6 goals lead the Hogs and his 3 SHGs lead the AHL.
Not to be outdone, Johnson also had a 3-point night with 2 goals and an assist to go along with his rough-and-tumble play.
Now on a 4-game point streak with a goal and assist last night, McLaughlin has 2 goals and 5 assists total over that span.
Ivan Nalimov gave Matt Tomkins a rest and backed up Morris. It was the first Nalimov has ever dressed for a game in North America.
Tom Aubrun is back with the Hogs after being on loan again with the Indy Fuel. The Hogs are back to 4 goalies.
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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