Archive for the ‘Transactions’ Category

Michael Frolik acquired from Panthers

February 10th, 2011 by Leigh Michael Dengis

About an hour before last night’s game with the Edmonton Oilers the Jack Skille era with the Blackhawks came to an end. He was traded to the Florida Panthers with forwards Hugh Jessiman (AHL) and David Pacan (OHL) for forward Michael Frolik and goaltender Alexander Salak (SEL).

And the peasants rejoiced.

As the Blackhawks played themselves out the top eight in the West and the trade deadline neared, it became apparent Stan Bowman would shake-up the roster one way or another. Frolik has scored 20-plus goals in his first two seasons in the league, is top-six talent and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

With the addition of the 22-year-old Czech – and subtraction of Skille – the Blackhawks are an improved squad. One step closer to being a true contender to repeat. Now Bowman will need to address the blue line – a third-pairing, penalty-killing defender at a nice price.

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Warm up to Nick Leddy

January 17th, 2011 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Nick Leddy was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs on Monday. Per usual, the move was made in order to circumvent the cap free up cap space. According to capgeek.com, the Blackhawks will save $6,007 each day the 19-year-old defenseman isn’t on the roster. It’s a given he’ll back with the NHL club before Saturday’s game against the Red Wings.

In eleven games with the Hawks, Leddy has tallied only one goal – a fluky one at that. His defensive positioning is suspect, his back-checking leaves a lot to be desired and he needs to be strong in front of the net. Leddy’s development would benefit from playing games at the AHL level, but the Blackhawks need him rounding out their third defensive pairing. With him in the lineup – since he was re-called earlier this month – the Blackhawks are 4-0-1.

The recent success is less about the addition of Leddy to the blue line, but more so the subtraction of Nick Boynton from it. The Blackhawks are willing to sit through the growing pains with the former. Leddy and Jordan Hendry give them the best chance to win, which is why the organization was willing to burn a year on his entry-level contract to keep him in Chicago.

This won’t be the last time Leddy will be demoted to Rockford, as the Blackhawks are right up against the cap ceiling. Despite how you feel about him or his readiness, he’s going to be part of the defensive corps indefinitely, or as long as Boynton has the ‘flu’.

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Jeremy Morin replaces Marian Hossa, tallies assist

November 30th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

In case you’ve been living under a rock or missed tonight’s 7-5 victory over the much loved St. Louis Blues, the news regarding Marian Hossa‘s health is of the breaking variety. Hossa was helped from the ice after colliding with defenseman and perennial whipping-boy Nick Boynton at Monday’s practice. It was announced today that he will miss up to three weeks with a lower-body injury.

This is the second time this season Hossa will miss a handful of games due to injury. A clean hit by Jarret Stoll in the October 27 match against the Kings forced him to miss five games. In his stead, the Blackhawks re-called forward Jeremy Morin from Rockford (AHL) this morning.

In his third game with the Blackhawks this season, Morin tallied his first NHL point against the Blues. He assisted on Troy Brouwer’s power-play goal in the second period. Morin dumped the puck into the offensive zone, which took a favorable bounce off the boards, leaving the net wide-open for Brouwer to tap it in. The 19-year-old had a plus-two rating, a five-minute fighting major and had 11:38 of ice-time (a career high).

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Jeremy Morin to make NHL debut in Atlanta

November 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The Blackhawks have re-called forward Jeremy Morin from Rockford (AHL) this morning, and will suit up against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday. Ironically, Morin will make his NHL debut against the team that selected him 45th overall in the second round of the 2009 entry draft. The Hawks acquired him in the deal that sent Dustin Byfuglien to Atlanta this summer.

In eight games with the IceHogs, Morin has three goals and an assist with a plus-one rating. He missed two games due to a lower-body injury he sustained in October, but he returned to the lineup last weekend.

Morin will be a welcome addition to the roster for a myriad of reasons. The most substantial being that Coach Quenneville won’t have to put two defenseman on the fourth line as wingers. One was already too many. Morin should also inject some life into an offense that has looked flat, and fill-in for Marian Hossa on the power-play unit. With Rockford, three of his points came on the power play.

Projected forward lines –

Stalberg – Toews – Kane
Brouwer – Sharp – Morin
Kopecky – Dowell – Bickell
Scott – Pisani – Skille

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Ben Smith to replace the injured Marian Hossa

October 29th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Ben Smith at rookie tournament in London, Ont. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

The Blackhawks recalled 22-year-old forward Ben Smith from Rockford to replace Marian Hossa in the lineup. In case you missed it, Hossa was injured in Wednesday night’s game against the Kings, and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury. Smith will make his NHL debut against the Oilers tonight in front of the home crowd. Stan Bowman and company likely bypassed some of the bigger names currently stationed in Rockford because promoting Smith comes cheap.

Smith is a gritty, two-way forward who will have no objection to mucking-it-up down low. The Hawks signed him to a two-year contract following the Golden Eagles’ National Championship run, where he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four tournament. In eight games with the IceHogs this season, Smith has one goal and three assists with a minus-3 rating. We have him ranked as the #18 prospect in the Blackhawks’ system.

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Blackhawks’ opening night roster set

October 5th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

The Blackhawks have cleaned up the roster, and appear to have their opening night roster set. Hannu Toivonen was assigned to Rockford after he cleared waivers on Saturday, and Jeremy Morin will join him on the IceHogs after being demoted on Monday. Morin will benefit from getting top-six minutes in the AHL, which he wasn’t guaranteed in Chicago. Ryan Potulny and Jassen Cullimore were placed on waivers Tuesday morning. As it stands the Hawks have a 22-man roster, which includes the injured Brian Campbell.

Projected opening night lineup

Kopecky – Toews – Hossa
Brouwer – Sharp – Kane
Stalberg – Bolland – Skille
Bickell – Dowell – Pisani

Keith – Seabrook
Leddy – Hjalmarsson
Hendry – Scott

Turco
Crawford

Injured – Campbell
Suspended – Boynton (1 game)

A short Nick Leddy rant

Nick Leddy is not a NHL-ready defenseman, yet the organization is rushing him into the lineup in place of the injured Brian Campbell. It takes years for a defenseman to hone his craft, and I saw nothing from Leddy in prospect camp or during the pre-season that would prove he’d be the exception to the rule.

There is no way the kid can hang with the big boys when the begin playing for keeps. Leddy was drafted out of high school, and only has one year at the collegiate level under his belt. In 30 games at Minnesota, he scored three goals with eight assists. Leddy is better suited for the Canadian Hockey League at this point in his development, not thrust into the pressure cooker that is the NHL.

Random opening night notes

- Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa looked great playing together in the last few games of the pre-season. Hossa appears to be healthy, and ready to dazzle fans with jaw-dropping plays. Tomas Kopecky will try his best to keep up.

- Troy Brouwer will stick somewhere in the top-six. From what I saw, it looked like he improved his play in front of the net this off-season. He was battling with defenders, screening goalies and was in position to re-direct pucks.

- The penalty kill will be spearheaded by Toews and Hossa, followed by Dave Bolland and Fernando Pisani. Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer and Jake Dowell will also see playing time in shorthanded situations.

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More cuts, and notes from the underground

October 1st, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

In the latest round of roster cuts, the Blackhawks assigned forwards Kyle Beach, Igor Makarov, Brandon Pirri and Ben Smith with defenseman Brian Connelly to Rockford (AHL). Yep, this is the second time this fall that Pirri will make the 90 mile drive to join the IceHogs training camp. He was re-called for last night‘s exhibition game in St. Louis, while goaltender Alec Richards was demoted.

As it stands the training camp roster sits at 26 players, and the Hawks’ brass will need to trim four more players from the roster before the season starts. Jassen Cullimore and Hannu Toivonen are as good as gone, but prospects Jeremy Morin and Nick Leddy have a fighting chance to stick around when camp breaks.

Jack Skille is day-to-day with an arm injury he suffered against the Blues, and Nick Boynton is suspended for one game because of his throat-slash gesture. Morin will be skating with Jonathan Toews Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane in tonight’s game vs. the Penguins.

Training camp roster –

Forwards (14) – Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Jake Dowell, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Tomas Kopecky, Jeremy Morin, Fernando Pisani, Ryan Potulny, Patrick Sharp, Jack Skille, Viktor Stalberg, Jonathan Toews

Defensemen (9) – Nick Boynton, Brian Campbell, Jassen Cullimore, Jordan Hendry, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Nick Leddy, John Scott, Brent Seabrook

Goalies (3) – Corey Crawford, Hannu Toivonen, Marty Turco

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Cristobal Huet and others clear waivers

September 27th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Huet's natural habitat

Stan Bowman was finally able to sweep the Cristobal Huet problem under the rug. To the surprised of no one, he cleared waivers making it possible for him to play in Switzerland. As rumored, Huet is set to join HC Fribourg-Gotteron SA of the Swiss National League A on loan. His $5.6 million annual salary will no longer count against the Hawks’ salary cap, as it will be stashed in the AHL.

He’s an NHL-caliber goaltender that became victim to the contract he signed two summers ago. On the bright side, he’ll be playing Switzerland – where he played prior to the NHL – and will earn another salary on top of the $5.6 million.

In two seasons with the Blackhawks, Huet played 89 games with a 46-29-8 record, a 2.51 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.

Forwards Evan Brophey and Jeffe Taffe also cleared waivers today, and have been assigned toRockford. The IceHogs’ training camp is already in progress. Hugh Jessiman was also placed on waivers earlier today. We’ll find out his fate tomorrow.

Training camp roster as it stands -

Forwards (19) – Kyle Beach, Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Jake Dowell, Marian Hossa, Hugh Jessiman, Patrick Kane, Tomas Kopecky, Igor Makarov, Jeremy Morin, Fernando Pisani, Ryan Potulny, Ludvig Rensfeldt, Patrick Sharp, Jack Skille, Ben Smith, Viktor Stalberg, Jonathan Toews

Defensemen (10) – Nick Boynton, Brian Campbell, Brian Connelly, Jassen Cullimore, Jordan Hendry, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Nick Leddy, John Scott, Brent Seabrook

Goalies (4) – Corey Crawford, Alec Richards, Hannu Toivonen, Marty Turco

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Twelve cut by Blackhawks this weekend

September 26th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Twelve players were cut from the Blackhawks’ training camp roster this weekend. Forwards Brandon Bollig, Chris DiDomenico, Rob Klinkhammer, Brandon Pirri and defensemen Jonathan Carlsson, Simon Danis-Pepin, Shawn Lalonde, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Ryan Stanton were assigned to Rockford. Forwards Nick Tarnasky and Ratislav Pavlikovsky were released along with fellow non-roster camp invite, defenseman Wade Brookbank.

In related news, today was the first day of the IceHogs’ training camp.

Training camp roster as it stands –

Forwards (21) – Kyle Beach, Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Evan Brophey, Troy Brouwer, Jake Dowell, Marian Hossa, Hugh Jessiman, Patrick Kane, Tomas Kopecky, Igor Makarov, Jeremy Morin, Fernando Pisani, Ryan Potulny, Ludvig Rensfeldt, Patrick Sharp, Jack Skille, Ben Smith, Viktor Stalberg, Jeff Taffe, Jonathan Toews

Defensemen (10) – Nick Boynton, Brian Campbell, Brian Connelly, Jassen Cullimore, Jordan Hendry, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Nick Leddy, John Scott, Brent Seabrook

Goalies (4) – Corey Crawford, Alec Richards, Hannu Toivonen, Marty Turco

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Blackhawks cut one before weekend home-and-home

September 24th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Only one player was cut from the Hawks’ roster before this weekend’s home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings. Forward David Gilbert was assigned to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) this afternoon. He saw fourth-line minutes in Wednesday’s first pre-season game against the Lightning, and didn’t scratch the score sheet in the 4-2 loss.

Training camp roster as it stands –

Forwards (27) – Kyle Beach, Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Brandon Bollig, Evan Brophey, Troy Brouwer, Chris DiDomenico, Jake Dowell, Marian Hossa, Hugh Jessiman, Patrick Kane, Rob Klinkhammer, Tomas Kopecky, Igor Makarov, Jeremy Morin, Ratislav Palikorovsky**, Brandon Pirri, Fernando Pisani, Ryan Potulny, Ludvig Rensfeldt, Patrick Sharp, Jack Skille, Ben Smith, Viktor Stalberg, Jeff Taffe, Nick Tarnasky**, Jonathan Toews

Defensemen (16) – Nick Boynton, Wade Bookbank**, Brian Campbell, Jonathan Carlsson, Brian Connelly, Jassen Cullimore, Simon Danis-Pepin, Jordan Hendry, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Shawn Lalonde, Nick Leddy, John Scott, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Stanton, Ivan Vishnevskiy

Goalies (4) – Corey Crawford, Alec Richards, Hannu Toivonen, Marty Turco

** Non-roster invitee

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