Articles in Chicago Blackhawks

from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic,

All summer, and throughout the Blackhawks’ unexpectedly fun start, people around the league — other reporters, radio hosts across Canada, execs from other front offices, and in two surprising incidents, other NHL players — asked me what I expected Kane to do. And my answer was always the same — I really didn’t know. Everyone else was so sure he was a goner, but I wasn’t. Everything I had gathered from my own reporting and everything I knew about Kane, having covered him for a decade, told me that he was looking for a reason to stay. That he wanted to stay. That he wanted to be a Blackhawk for life and he wanted to play alongside Bedard or whichever other young superstar the Blackhawks draft and he wanted to still be here when the Blackhawks came out the other end of this process.

I still believe that.

But I no longer think it’ll happen. I can’t. It’s too real now, too bleak. And the losses, the hopelessness, seem to be weighing on Kane now. He’s not scoring at his usual pace, with just 16 points (and just three goals) in 21 games. He doesn’t have his usual jump. And he doesn’t seem to be having much fun out there. After Athanasiou’s ill-fated goal on Sunday — which was created when Kane, swarmed by three Jets, managed to muscle the puck to the low slot, where Athanasiou tipped it in — Kane pointed to Athanasiou and pumped his fist over his head, like he so often does when a teammate does something well. Nobody loves scoring and creating goals like Kane does. But the joy was short-lived. As it has been all season.

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from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic,

Do you have any mixed emotions about this start? The pro scouting has been a success, the guys you’re bringing in are the right fit, they work hard and Luke (Richardson)’s obviously building an identity. You’re establishing something here. But it’s also messing up the plans a little bit. We all know the worst thing you can do is finish like 10th place in the conference.

It’s not mixed emotions. It’s just kind of, when it comes time to pick, wherever we’re going to pick, you just have to find talent wherever you end up. Before the season and over the summer, it was just, ‘Oh, they’re just doing whatever they can to get a top-three pick.’ The idea of trying to do that is so hard. To finish anywhere specific in the standings is so damn hard. Because one, there’s much more parity in the league than anyone really wants to say. And two, the players just want to win.

Right, players don’t tank.

They do not. They just want to win every night. And we’re trying to build an identity of a way we think we can win down the road. And we’ve got a coach that’s aligned in that. So that’s going to lead to some good nights and some good stretches. And you know what? I think it’s more important that we do show some positive steps throughout the season because that’s going to be conducive to winning. And where we end up, we’ll see. It’s our job at that point to find the talent wherever we pick. It’s way too hard to say, “Oh, we’re going to do whatever we can to finish last.”

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from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

What if general manager Don Sweeney could swing a deal, ideally now, for the 33-year-old Kane and his $10.5 million cap hit?

Too old? Not really. The prolific Kane is actually a few months younger than Brad Marchand.

Not enough offense? Uh … Kane, whose 1,180-point output since his rookie 2007-08 season has been exceeded only by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, rolled up 92 points last season. That was tied for No. 14 on the league list. The top-scoring Bruin, Marchand, delivered 80 points.

Too close to the end of his career? No way. The compact Kane, 5 feet 10 inches and 180 pounds, rarely misses a shift, never mind a game. He looks worthy of a four-year extension, at which point he would be 38 and perhaps ready for one of those year-to-year deals such as Patrice Bergeron, 37, and David Krejci, 36, recently signed with the Bruins.

Adding Kane as an elite right wing with David Pastrnak, to ride with Bergeron or Krejci, would make for two of the NHL’s most dynamic lines.

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Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has acquired defenceman Riley Stillman from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Jason Dickinson and a 2024 second round draft pick.

Stillman, 24, appeared in 52 games with Chicago last season, recording a career-high 12 points (2-10-12) and 36 penalty minutes. He also registered 67 blocked shots, ranking fifth on the team, and led all Blackhawks defencemen in hits per 60 minutes (9.34).

In 108 career regular season games split between Chicago and Florida, Stillman has 18 points (3-15-18) and 68 penalty minutes. The 6'1", 196-pound defenceman also appeared in three playoff games with the Panthers during the 2020 qualifying round.

A native of Peterborough, Ontario, Stillman was originally selected by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round, 114th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.