Let’s Talk Defensemen, Development Timelines, Nazar’s Ridiculousness, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Alex Vlasic Chicago Blackhawks
Alex Vlasic Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have put together a really good, strong, big pipeline of defensemen. And the model we’re watching for many of them moving forward is Alex Vlasic, who spent almost a full year in Rockford before making the jump to the NHL. This past season, we saw Vlasic become one of the better shut-down defensemen in the entire league — and earn a nice contract as a reward. How will the next wave of young defensemen follow his lead? That’s something we’ll all be watching in the coming years.

  • NHL Network posed their top 20 defensemen list. Zero Blackhawks. That’s not an enormous shock… but I do wonder at what point we see Vlasic force himself into the conversation?
  • Speaking of young Blackhawks defensemen, Kevin Korchinski updated his life on . He dusted off his jersey from the Cubs’ game on a boat. We might need to get him a new one with his new number on it!
  • While we’re talking about Korchinski — who some have on the outside looking in for a roster spot in October — (and Lukas Reichel while we’re at it), I read a really good post Brett wrote yesterday about a couple young Cubs that got me thinking. Miguel Amꦐaya and Pete Crow-Armstrong are showing treme𒈔ndous improvements lately for the Cubs. Why? As Brett wrote, reps help. There have been mechanical changes and a lot of coaching, but reps — and learning from mistakes — are big. We’ve seen it on the ice from guys like Philipp Kurashev, too. Maybe, just maybe, allowing guys to grow as you’re building is a thing? Yeah, the Blackhawks brought in a lot of veterans this season to help the organization more appropriately develop young players in Rockford. But some guys just take a little longer to find “it” than others.
  • I had a little late-August fun on Twitter yesterday. Where would you sit on this plane?
  • And now, a reminder that Frank Nazar did this in a significant college game this past season:
  • Chris Johnson of The Athletic and TSN shared some relatively surprising news for Leafs fans . It was widely reported on July 1 that Toronto was signing veteran defenseman Jani Hakanpää. Well, apparently the Leafs never registered his contract and… now it looks like they won’t be signing him. Hakanpää, 32, was still recovering from the knee injury that limited him to 64 regular-season games in Dallas this past season. Apparently the medicals don’t look good (Johnston said his knee is “basically bone on bone”).
  • Here’s a fun one for those wondering how we’re going to watch Blackhawks games this season (remember: the new Chicago Sports Network launches in October): the  they’re going to make all of their regional games available for free(!!) this season. The Ducks partnered with A Parent Media Co. Inc. to put their games on the soon-to-launch Victory+. 
  • Finally, there was an awkward moment in the Cubs’ game last night. Justin Steele had to go… wash his hands? Can I get these umps to talk to my kids before dinner?
  • written by

    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 Thi𓆉ngs Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @Thꦛe1Ta꧅b

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