Before the Blackhawks hosted — and beat — the Avalanche last night, Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a strong piece about the Hawks’ leadership group getting together to have some serious conversations about defining themselves/the team in the immediate future. Nick Foligno said it’s on the players to do that, acknowledging that more actions need to follow words because there’s been plenty of talk from everyone in the room but the results haven’t changed.
Seth Jones had some interesting quotes in the piece. Here’s a section that got my attention:
‘‘Do we want to be a run-and-gun team that trades chances and scores four goals and gives up four goals a game?’’ Jones said. ‘‘Or do we want to be a hard team, a forechecking team [that plays] 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 games? We have to make that decision. A lot of people understand where we are and where we need to probably be, but we have a mixed view of how we’re playing.”
In Jones’ opinion, the low-scoring identity is more viable.
‘‘We understand that we’re not the most skilled team,’’ he said. ‘‘Everyone understands that, including the media, coaches and everyone. So we need to play a smart game and not open ourselves up. [We should] make plays when they’re there, but if there’s a chance that things are getting turned over, we can’t afford it. We can’t afford to put the pressure on the goalies time and time again.’’
These comments from Jones raised my eyebrows… because it sounds like there’s some disconnect or friction between the way Luke Richardson coached (read: trying to limit chances against, play a strong, conservative, low event game) and the way Anders Sorensen is now coaching (push the tempo, take more chances) with the leadership group. Pope acknowledges as much, writing “By giving players more freedom to jump into rushes and be aggressive — and also more responsibility to cover for teammates doing those things — his tactics are inherently higher-risk, higher-reward than former coach Luke Richardson’s were.” Rock: meet Hard Place.
The Blackhawks have an identity crisis.Not only are they losing constantly, but they're also unsure what they are. In the season's second half, they need to change that."We have to make that decision."New story: t.co/W0EL6oN81d
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 7, 2025 I said this in my takeaways last night and I’m going to say it again here because of the amount of negative talk surrounding the player: Jones showed up last night. That was easily his best performance since returning from injury. Jones was credited with two shots on net (two more that missed the mark), one hit and his four blocked shots were half of the Blackhawks’ eight total as a team. He was engaged the entire night, played a physical game, skated… again, seeing games like last night and knowing where the bar could be is part of the frustration. Here’s what Sorensen said about Jones’ performance after the game:“He competed harder. He closed in on guys defensively a lot better. In the first period, he had two or three shots. That’s what we expect from him, so that was a good game from him.”
The (interim) head coach having to say one of his assistant captains “competed harder” as rationale for a strong night implies that compete level isn’t consistently there. Hopefully we see more of it. I didn’t spotlight him much in my postgame beyond his great work in the faceoff circle (again), but Jason Dickinson continues to be special. He drew the assignment of skating against one of the (maybe the) hottest lines in the NHL last night. Nathan MacKinnon might win the Art Ross and another Hart this year. I mentioned in my pregame that Mikko Rantanen came into the game last night with 23 points during his 14-game point streak. And Artturi Lehkonen is a tremendous player in his own right. Dickinson spent 13:40 on the ice directly against MacKinnon, 13:10 against Rantanen and 12:49 against Lehkonen at 5-on-5 last night. They out-shot the Blackhawks 8-1 in that time. They did not score. And MacKinnon was visibly frustrated throughout the game. You know what I did love that I heard last night in the room? Frank Nazar, who scored his first goal of the year, was asked Colton Dach picking up his first career NHL point on the play. His response: he was happy to be part of Dach’s first point, and that’s what it was about. Nazar is a really engaging, well spoken young man whose still figuring it out in the NHL but holy **** does he show flashes of being a dynamic offensive threat. We’re starting to see some of the youth movement come up and make an impact. THAT is exciting. And that is what should give Blackhawks fans hope.goodnight Hawks fans? pic.twitter.com/nyxh0JNa0O
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 9, 2025 This weeks kinda-sorta awkward news: Nazar has been named the Rockford IceHogs’ representative in the 2025 AHL All-Star Game. He is… not currently in the AHL (because the numbers he put up that made him an all-star earned him a promotion). Congrats, Frank!Hey now, Frank's an All-Star ⭐️Congratulations to Frank Nazar III for making the 2025 AHL All-Star Roster presented by @FloHockey!!?: t.co/nkVhcBC4bK#GoHogs | @TheAHL pic.twitter.com/0JW5MlkPrH
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) January 8, 2025 An interesting collection of thoughts from Pierre LeBrun at The Athletic here. In the wake of Frank Vatrano signing a Bobby Bonilla-like contract with a unique setup of deferred money, there’s been a lot of conversation about that trend moving forward. LeBrun thinks about how that might influence the Avalanche (with Mikko Rantanen) and the Maple Leafs (with Mitch Marner) when two superstars hit the market as UFAs this coming summer — if they don’t get an extension from their respective clubs before then. LeBrun wrote:On the one hand, you can understand a team’s perspective on wanting to preserve that internal cap.
But from the agent and player perspective, the fact is that the salary cap is going up and may go up pretty aggressively depending on how CBA talks go between the league and NHLPA. It’s not about the cap number for the agents repping Rantanen and Marner. It’s about the percentage of the cap.
Could deferred payments help solve that riddle? Only if the player in each case believes he’s doing the team a solid as far as the cap. But I’m pretty confident that neither player’s agent would view it as sound financial advice to recommend deferrals. I don’t believe either camp would be terribly interested in that scenario.
Still, food for thought now that the cat’s out of the bag with these deferred payment contracts.
I’ve previously written about loving the idea of either of these guys coming to the Blackhawks if they hit the market. They’re exactly the kinds of Tier One superstars the Blackhawks need to complement Connor Bedard moving forward. The Blackhawks don’t have the existing cap limitations that already exist in Colorado or Toronto (duh! they haven’t had to pay guys like Matthews, Nylander, MacKinnon or Makar already).Reaction to Vatrano contract, Canucks listening on stars and Matthews’ 4 Nations status: my latest Rumblings for @TheAthletic ⤵️ t.co/9DnmiH1kGw
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 8, 2025 “Hey, Tab. What happens if somebody on a 4 Nations Face-Off roster gets hurt?” I’m glad you asked! Someone would have to replace said injured player (we’re all thinking Auston Matthews but I really hope he’s good to go because he’s so freakin’ good). Matt Larkin at Daily Faceoff looked at some players who might have thrown their hat back into the ring as a potential replacement based on their recent play. And, yes, 98 is mentioned.Which previous snubs could be summoned as replacements at the 4 Nations Face-Off if injuries force any players to withdraw?@MLarkinHockey's 10 names to watch include #Blackhawks Bedard, #SJSharks' Celebrini, #letsgobuffalo's Thompson & more: t.co/U4NoHxHMJu
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) January 8, 2025 Getting back to Rockford, how about this report that the Blackhawks were considering an AHL game at Wrigley Field for the IceHogs! If they had stayed with the four Big Ten games later in the week that would have been crazy. And awesome at the same time.There doesn't appear to be any AHL outdoor games on the 2024-25 schedule.I'm told Chicago Blackhawks looked into having Rockford host an AHL outdoor game at Wrigley Field but were unable to make it work.We could see AHL potentially return outdoors in 2026 though ? #StayTuned
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) July 11, 2024 Speaking of Rockford (again), but threw some cryptic stuff out on the Twitters about a big announcement on Sunday. I’ve heard a few whispers (an AHL All-Star Classic?) but nothing confirmed (yet). Stay tuned…?❄️???
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) January 8, 2025Hey how about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?
Nick Lardis scored his 33rd (yes, I said thirty-third) goal of the season for Brantford last night. He was “only” credited with seven shots on net in the game. Marek Vanacker also picked up an assist in the game, giving him seven points in his last eight games.Meanwhile…#Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis’ 33rd ? of the season for @BulldogsOHL pic.twitter.com/QDZPH75tZs
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 9, 2025 Martin Misiak had one assist for Erie last night in their 5-4 OT win at Guelph. He’s now up to 27 points in 27 games. Misiak has a point in 10 of his last 12 games and has been credited with four goals and 11 assists during that stretch. He, too, is warming up. Alex Pharand had a nice evening for Sudbury. He had two assists, including one he kicked to a teammate (below) and was plus-three in a 7-1 win. Pharand now has a point in 15 of his last 17 games, and has been credited with nine goals and 13 assists during that stretch. He’s been hot all year; Pharand now has 38 points in 35 games.Sudbury strikes first ??Kocha Delic fires a beautiful shot into the top of the net for his 16th goal of the season to give the @Sudbury_Wolves a 1-0 lead early in this game!#OHL | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/3niENtFCqY
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) January 9, 2025MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
Kevin Warren continues to insist the Bears will break ground on a new stadium in 2025 Which current (and former!) Cubs prospects rank among the best in the game according to execs? A report says Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic is the Warriors’ top trade target. Read More Details
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