Toews Thanks Rocky, IceHogs Thoughts, World Junior Roster Construction, Cooley Signing? and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Statements of condolences continued to pour in on Wednesday in the sake of the sudden passing of Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz. Last night, the longest tenured captain in the history of the franchise posted a statement on Instagram. had a unique relationship with Rocky; he was the on-ice leader of the team for the majority of the time Rocky owned it. I’m sure he and some of the other players from the dynasty are having a tough time with the news, still today.

  • As the summer continues, I’m becoming increasingly interested in the roster construction of the Rockford IceHogs. Last year they had a number of AHL veterans on the roster to support young players like Lukas Reichel. This season, there should be a number of additions with NHL contracts — Colton Dach, Nolan Allan — and they’ve added 2023 draft pick Marcel Marcel on an AHL deal. This is a nice interview with Andrew Perrott from the IceHogs on his return to Rockford for the coming season. Perrott turns 22 in August and appeared in 13 games on the blue line for the IceHogs last year. He’ll have his work cut out for him on what could be a crowded defense group this coming season, depending on which young players make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster.
  • USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase begins this weekend. The Blackhawks have four prospects in the camp: Gavin Hayes and Oliver Moore are on the Blue team while Frank Nazar and Sam Rinzel are on the White team. They’ll play some games over the weekend so if you’re in the area stop by and watch! All games from the World Junior Summer Showcase will be streamed live at  for those who want to tune in without the drive.
  • Hockey Canada is not holding an evaluation camp for their World Junior Championship roster this summer. They are doing virtual meetings with 45 players being considered for the team, however. Three of the Blackhawks’ prospects are on the list. That makes six of the Blackhawks’ 2022 draft picks being considered between the USA showcase and Canada’s meetings. Love to see it!
  • This would be significant news in the Central Division. Logan Cooley, the runner-up for the Hobey Baker Award and No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had a stellar freshman season at Minnesota. When asked about turning pro at the conclusion of the year, he said he was going back to college; he understandably had some concerns about the Coyotes ability to have a stable arena situation. If he signs, that would take a marquee player out of the lineup at Minnesota. I was hoping to see Oliver Moore potentially skate with Cooley this coming season.
  • Patrice Bergeron held his retirement press conference on Wednesday morning in Boston. He’s always been a class act. Here he is thanking Bruins fans.
  • Predictably, the Maple Leafs announced goaltender Matt Murray — and his $4,687,500 cap hit — are going on LTIR for the coming season. Murray has been a debacle for Toronto, and they’re in a rough spot with the cap right now. With Murray and Jake Muzzin potentially being on LTIR, they’re still more than $2 million over the ceiling right now (according to ). So there’s work to do in Toronto before training camp.
  • Finally, the Angels are apparently buying. And the White Sox are selling. The first big trade before the deadline went down last night, and it saw Lucas Giolito (and Reynaldo Lopez) go to Anaheim (or are we still laughingly saying LA?) for a couple prospects.
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    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the and is the author of three books about the Blackhawks: (Triumph Books),"100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Bef🉐ore T🀅hey Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Pres🥀s, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1T🧜ab

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