The Blackhawks had a gym day (nothing on ice) so there isn’t much news to report. So let’s wander around the prospect pool and the rest of the league because last night had a lot going on. To start, Blackhawks forward prospect Martin Misiak had himself a lovely evening in Saginaw last night. He posted his first OHL hat trick and add🧸ed an assist in a big win for the Otters. Misiak, 19, was selected in the second-round of the 2023 NHL Draft with a pick the Blackhawks acquired from the Rangers in the Patrick Kane trade. He now has eight goals and eight assists in 14 games to start his post-draft season after Erie selected him with the No 1 overall pick in the import draft this summer.
Blackhawks prospects will be involved in some great college games this weekend, starting tonight. We’ve got the entire schedule for you.
The Friendship Four continues! And a couple programs that have had affiliations with the Blackhawks in recent years — and currently have Chicago prospects on their roster — will be in Belfast in 12 months. Boston University, Notre Dame, Harvard and Merrimack will compete for the Belpot Trophy. For those not familiar, this tournament has been held annually since 2015 in Belfast, making these the only games that count played outside of the United States. Landon Slaggert won’t be at Notre Dame at this time next year and I’m hoping Ryan Greene signs a contract before then, too.
Did you catch my updated rankings of the Blackhawks’ top prospects earlier this week?
TJ Oshie owns , a company that makes shirts and neck guards from “blade resistant technology.” He invested in the company in 2018, starting something that would help protect players — even if he didn’t wear some of the protection pieces every night himself in the NHL. Since the awful death of Adam Johnson over the weekend, a whole new awareness has been placed on neck guards specifically. I noticed a number of Blackhawks players wearing Warroad longsleeve shirts in the dressing room earlier this week. Last night, Oshie wore the neck guard for warm ups and during the Caps’ game.
William Nylander is off to a terrific start this season, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and wants to get paid. Like his teammates Auston Matthews and John Tavares got paid. In the $10 million range. Which is going to require some cap gymnastics in the next eight months from Leafs’ management. Scott Wheeler wrote a great piece looking at how good Nylander is, which I present here with only adding he’s still waiting on that new contract and the Blackhawks have a truckload of cap space this coming summer.
We’re going to get a look at Jack and Luke Hughes on Sunday when the New Jersey Devils visit the United Center. They’re hot right now, but brother Quinn isn’t exactly slacking on the far opposite coast with the Canucks. Through last night, the three Hughes brothers are out-producing the entire Sharks roster! I still want to know how/when Quinn winds up playing with the other two, even though he’s now the captain in Vancouver.
Hey Canada — Where you at? As Jeff Marek noted before last night’s games, there wasn’t a single Canadian player in the league’s top ten in points. Which is wild because the assumption has been for some time that Connor McDavid would spend the next decade in the 1, 2 or 3 spot from opening night until he decides he doesn’t want to be there any more.
This isn’t good for the Leafs. Timothy Liljegren was averaging over 18 minutes per game before last night but got tangled up with Brad Marchand and crashed into the boards. He’s an important part of their blue line so “significant time” is a big blow for Toronto.
Finally, hopefully winning “Comeback” player of the year inspires Cody Bellinger to come back to the Cubs on a longer term contract this winter.
