Earlier this morning I shared a video from the NHL that aired on NHL Network this weekend and is available on Youtube that follows seven prospects around behind the scenes leading up and and during the 2023 NHL Draft. Two of the seven players highlighted are Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore, both of whom are coming to Chicago — which makes it a lot of fun to watch.
As the draft begins, Moore is very talkative. I could tell from his brief time with the media in Chicago during development camp that he’s got a future in media (hopefully in a LONG time when his career is over) but hearing him talk to his family as names are called is fun. He was into it! And when the Blackhawks come back up to make the 19th overall selection, he tells his family he would love to go to Chicago and go against Bedard in development camp. Well… they didn’t skate this year, but his wish was granted. Give it a watch!
Even though, in theory, the arbitrator is supposed to send their ruling to NHL players and teams within 48 hours of the hearing ending, that window came and went at some point yesterday with the Blackhawks and Philipp Kurashev. So we continue waiting. Monday is tomorrow, so maybe they’ll settle up to start the new business week.
Ben Pope shared a nice story about Ryan Donato‘s learning curve in the NHL. Pope points out that Donato “brings a sneaky-good scoring touch — he potted 16 and 14 goals in his two Kraken seasons and has a 10.1% career shooting percentage — while generating shots at, again, a remarkably consistent rate. He has averaged between 15.3 and 16.1 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five each of the last four seasons — higher than anyone on the 2022-23 Hawks.” I love this quote from Donato about doing whatever is asked to get himself into the lineup and contributing in whatever role he’s given.
“I’ve had to adapt … because sometimes other guys were in situations that I wanted to be in, and I had to learn to play in other situations to get my playing time. Now that I’ve adapted and learned, I feel like I can be more valuable to some teams in the sense that I can fill whatever role necessary.”
The Blackhawks organization lost a coach on Saturday. Peter Aubry, who was the goaltending development coach, is moving on to Omaha. This opens the door for a new voice to enter the mix in Rockford as Drew Commesso begins his professional journey. Certainly interesting timing for the departure.
Finally, I appreciate it so much when an athlete struggles, works on whatever is “broken,” and emerges with a hot streak. So let’s consider Seiya Suzuki’s current run for a moment.
