Breaking Down Blackhawks FINAL Training Camp Battles | Blackhawks Breakaway

Breaking Down Blackhawks FINAL Training Camp Battles | Blackhawks Breakaway

[Applause] Welcome to the Blackhawks Breakaway podcast. It’s brought to you by Toyota. Toyota has more all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles than any other brand. Find yours and shine on Toyota. Let’s go places with Charlie Romelotus. I am Pat Bole. Training camp is winding down. The season opener is on the horizon. Uh, how are you feeling as we approach the final cuts? The way I’m feeling right now is I’m excited for next year’s training camp when there are only four season only four preseason games next year, which means a shorter training camp. It feels like it’s been going on forever. Did I hear Detroit has eight preseason games that they play? I didn’t know you could play in that. I didn’t know either. I thought they were playing in Detroit’s usually higher up. I thought they were playing in seven, but geez, that is I’m ready for some for some meaningful games. All right, so uh the roster is the maximum players is 23 right now with injuries. They’re at 26. Yep. So, three more cuts need to be made. It probably either be two forwards and one D or 2D and one forward. We think in our thought process of the the forwards that are being considered be Ryan Green, Oliver Moore, and I put Lucas Reichel in it not as a as a cut sending him to to Rockford, but I put him in the we’re trying to trade him category. Right. it. There are a lot of layers to just getting down to the final three because like you mentioned, Laurent Bruis, Ty Henry, Joey Anderson, they’re technically still on the roster, but they will go on injured reserve as soon as the the opening night rosters are finalized. And so that gets the number down from 29 to 26. And so, like you mentioned, Chicago can take this two ways. They can go two forwards, one defenseman, or one forward, two defenseman. And if we’re talking about the forwards up front, Ryan Donado, Connor Baddard, Andre Burkovski first line, Terravine and Nazar Bertusi second, Slagert Dickinson McKay third. Doc really liked his game on Tuesday night uh at the United Center. I thought he positioned himself well to solidify one of the 12. He was great in St. Louis what he brought to the table. Yeah. And so Laferty and then FelinO obviously round out those 12. So, we’re essentially talking about who’s going to be the extra forward, Moore or Green. if if they’re on the outside looking in, they’re better off just starting the year in Rockford and because there’s no there’s no point in keeping them around if they’re just going to wait for a spot to open up to get into the everyday lineup or which potentially feels more likely is that Lucas Reichel does get moved prior to opening night which leaves a spot open for Oliver Moore or Ryan Green. And if that is the case, it feels like Moore or Green, I would say Mort has the inside track. I would correct. I would agree with that. Yeah. So, I think Green would like is likely going to start the year in Rockford. If the Hawks have seen enough from Moore here, here’s how I would handicap it. If you told me right now, is Oliver Moore one of the the the top 12 forwards on the Blackhawks roster? I would say yes. I think he is. the the the problem isn’t is he the one of the best 12 forwards right now. It’s what happens if come November, December, he’s hitting a rookie wall and they want to work more closely with him developmentally. I I think you would rather him start working on that down in Rockford now and go on the Frank Nazar plan. So then it’s like, okay, let’s just make sure that he’s really, really, really ready to be a full-time NHL player. And then when he does kind of blow the doors down in Rockford, he’s telling us, okay, he is ready and he’s not going to see Rockford again. And so if you can convince me that the Hawks feel like Moore is ready to be a consistent everyday player from game one, I would say he should be on the opening night roster. But if it’s going to be one of those things where he’s going to sneak in as a 13th forward and then wait for a spot to open, you’re better off just letting him start Rockford. There’s no sense in having one of your top prospects not dress and not play if he’s up here. U if if Green or more are up with the team they should be playing. Uh so I am with you. I think Oliver has the inside track. I think um I think Green in the prospects camp, I think his lack of production seems like it it kind of carried uh a little bit of a stigma with it into training camp. Yeah. And Tuesday’s preseason game yesterday, he only logged 7 minutes and 33 seconds of ice time. He was the fewest of any player on the Blackhawks. Now, there were six power plays that the Hawks had, so that played into it, but everyone else was in the double digits. So, I think that gives you a glimpse of if he’s not getting that consistent ice time in those different roles, you’re better off just sending him to Rockford and letting him play, you know, 18 plus minutes a night. All right, so that is kind of the forward situation. Let’s talk about the D. And in the group that could be considered to be sent down or just part ways with it would be Ethan Delmastro, Louis Creier, Nolan Allen, and Matt Grizzlick who’s here in a PTO, right? The interesting part about this right now as we record this is Alex Vlic suffered an injury in Sunday’s preseason game. Now, he if you heard Jeff Blau, he said he took a skate to to the lower body. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound it looked like he avoided serious injury because he had cut resistant socks on. Now, he’s not going to play in any of the final two preseason games, but Blashel said they’re hopeful he would be ready by opening night. If he is not ready by opening night, that allows the Blackhawks to kick the can down the road for a couple extra days to figure out when Alex is ready to return. Then they have to figure out what they’re going to do. Personally, if Vlic is healthy, it feels like the top four is pretty set. Vlicenzelle, Kaiser, Levchinoff, and then Conor Murphy solidified the five spot. If you would have told me at the beginning of training camp, it sounded like Ethan Delmastro was pencled into that. It sounded like that like all of training camp, but he has really struggled to the point where today where as we record this after practice on Wednesday, um Nolan Allen took Ethan’s spot in that third pairing role with Conor Murphy and Ethan was skating with Louis Krevier on the outside. So that tells me Ethan has to play his way back into that third pairing role. Now, whether it’s is he gonna be the seventh defenseman or is he still going to be the sixth or did he has he potentially played his way out of the conversation of even making the opening night roster? That’s to be that’s remains to be seen what he doesn’t have going for him. Damastro and Allen are both uh waivers ex like they have to go or they can go they can get sent to Rockford without having to go through waiverss. Louis Krevier does not. So, it sounds like he’s kind of pencled into that seventh defenseman role because you don’t want to lose him. You don’t want to lose him and it’s just a math game at this point. I’ve been on record saying I wouldn’t be opposed to signing Matt Grizzlick to a contract and you just carry eight defenseman because if you’re healthy scratching Louis Krevier on a nightly basis because he’s the seventh defenseman, that’s fine. Grizzlick, if he’s your eighth defenseman, well then who who cares cuz he was he wasn’t going to be on the team anyway. Right. Right. And so I think if I was running the Blackhawks, I would carry two defenseman and have one extra forward and I would have Krevier and Grizzlick as my seventh eighth defenseman and whoever wins between the Delmastro Allen battle is slotted into that third pairing role with Conor Murphy for me. Okay, I can buy that. I just Whoever you send down, let’s say let’s say Delmstro’s the odd man out. um when he gets the seasoning and his confidence is back and he’s ready to go. I I have Grizzlick and I have uh who’s the other person that you’re going to you have as as the Krebier and Krevier kind of taking a spot away from him so to speak. I mean, do you worry about the log jam down the road or are you okay with your seven and eight defenseman kind of and let Rockford settle itself out? I I I think where I’m coming from too is let’s just say opening night hits. Let’s just say Alex Velic is healthy, but it could be the opening road trip and somebody gets hurt and now you immediately need that that extra defenseman rather than having like Conor Murphy is the only veteran on this D. So let’s just say Conor Murphy was like unavailable for a Chicago at some point. Well, there’s no one above 23 years old on this on the back end. And so that’s where maybe a guy like Matt Grizz, you can throw him into the lineup and partner him with a Creier or an Allen or a Dumb Astro and you still have that veteran presence versus, oh no, we are now very thin on the back end as far as youth goes and we don’t really have that veteran presence. Okay, I can buy that. Um, so the final training camp battles, we’re looking at three cuts. Could be two forward and a D. Could be two D and a forward. On record, Charlie’s up for Krevier and signing Grizzlick to be your seven and eight. Let Allen and Delmastro battle it out. Yeah. again. And this is if Lassic is injured, then we kick the can down and run a little bit. Yeah. If if Lassic is healthy and it comes down to Delmastro or Allen for that third pairing role on the left side with Connor, I still tend to lean towards Del Mastro, it just feels like he has one, he’s got the size going for him. And Jeff Blasild today when I asked him about it, he still really gushed over uh what Del Mastro can be in the long term. He didn’t seem like a guy that was overly concerned about his tough training camp. And I think there’s there’s more offensive upside there with Del Mastro as well because he for team Canada, he ran the power play. Like in juniors, he ran power play. So if he has that offensive potential upside, whereas with Allen, he’s more defensive minded, likes to hit guys. And if you have him and Murphy as your third pairing, it’s really limited when it comes to generating offense. And so that’s where I would lean towards Delastro. Frank Saravali had a report the other day and we’ve been talking about it since the summer. Uh Lucas Reichel situation. Yeah, Kyle Davidson made it abundantly clear at the start of training camp. This was a prove it camp for him, a prove it year. I think at this point it’s still an uneven performance and probably a change of scenery is going to be better for for all parties. Do you expect him to be dealt between now and Monday? say I think the Blackhawks are probably hoping that is the case because here’s the challenge. If he’s included on the opening night roster, you either he’s either going to be sitting as a 13th forward every night and his trade value is not going up by doing that or you’re going to be forced to play him and it’s going to take away a spot from another young guy. And so, how many opportunities can you give a guy like Reichel? And so I think at this point it’s trending in a direction where where he’s going to be moved at some point. I’ve been on record saying I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Edmonton just that reunit reuniting with with Stam Bowman who drafted him and believed in him. And also Edmonton plays fast. They need cheap players on kind of entrylevelish contracts. Reicho would fit that. And so that’s the dilemma with Reicho because man, you see the skill and the talent, but he’s been here for several years now. and I believe that he can be that player. I just don’t think it’s going to be here in Chicago anymore. All right. Uh Frank Nazar, he had a hat-tick uh over the weekend, had two shots on goal, three missed shots in the game against Detroit at the United Center. Uh he was uh 12 and 10 at the faceoff dot. So 55% of the draws he won. Is he poised, do you think, to have a uh a really stellar first full season in the National Hockey League? I I feel like a breakout season is coming for Nazar. So, there were when Frank Nazar signed the seven-year extension with Chicago over the summer, there were two camps. there was the Chicago Blackhawks fan base that understands, wow, that could be a bargain in several years or even as short as a couple years because they see the talent and they see what he did towards the end of last season and then that carried over into the worlds. And then there’s the general NHL fan base that hasn’t watched many Blackhawks games and are like, “This guy just got a seven-year whatever, however many it was the the the long or the biggest contract by a player that has played the mo the fewest amount of games.” And they’re saying, “Wow, that’s a lot of money for a player that hasn’t really shown it.” I think the the Blackhawks fans are right. and the NHL fans that haven’t watched many Chicago games are soon going to be like, “Wow, that Frank Nazar kid is a player.” And to see him perform the way he did over the weekend against uh Minnesota where he scored the hattick. I know it’s just the preseason and they didn’t feel a significant roster, but there were so many moments that even when he wasn’t scoring, he was skating around guys. He was forchecking hard and it just feels like he’s poised for a really big breakout season. We did um we did on our Blackhawks live show on Monday, Jack and I predicted what his point total could be. And I think the favorite was uh between 61 and 70. And I think that’s where he might end up. Like my prediction for Frank this year is 62 points. I think 26 goals, 36 assists. And I think because he’s going to get a lot of power play time in that bump roll, but I think he’s also going to get a lot of penalty kill time. And he might steal a few cookies there as well. I think he’ll lead the league in short-handed goals and I’m going to set the number at six. Wow. I I I like the boldness, but just the fact that we’re talking about a 60 plus point season for Frank Nazar in his first full NHL season would be a huge win for Chicago. And if you look at his splits last year, he got off to a really slow start offensively. And it was he had I think he was like nine one point in his first 10 games. Yeah. and he had nine points in his final eight and then he had 12 points in 10 games at the Worlds and then you see what he’s doing in preseason and you’re like, okay, the guy that finished off last season and carried into the Worlds, I think Frank is that player more than he was and that’s what the Blackhawks are banking on and that’s why they made the deal they made, right? And so I’m I’m really excited. We were just talking about this a little bit off the air just projecting lines. I would love to see Nazar and Baddard at some point be together because I think they would really be able to play off each other. Well, I think it and again it’s cliche sometimes when we go to the Kane Taves references, but in this case I do think it’s applicable. I think um there’s times where Blashel can see a TV timeout coming and put the two of them out there to if if both lines aren’t buzzing. I I’ll give Bertusi credit. I I think Bratusi’s been pretty noticeable here with Nazar to start. I thought Tavo had a had a rough night last night, but I I I do see the chemistry between Bertusi and Nazar. Yeah, I see less of the chemistry with Bard and Burkovski. Yeah, I think that’s going to take a little bit of time because we know there’s chemistry between Baddard and Donado, but trying to find the third player on that wing and ideally I think Donado plays lower in the lineup. I he had such an incredible year last year that it’s hard for him to rep replicate that as a topline player. I think ideally he’s more of a middle six guy and so that’s why you know if Baddard and Nazar find a way to to play with each other occasionally I think that could spark Chicago on some nights. All right. So, uh, stay tuned for a Frank Nazar, uh, podcast that where I sit down with him and and we talk about a litany of of topics and we’ll have it for you on uh, Countdown Live on our Blackhawks coverage as we start uh, next week, the regular season begins. So, he told a story that I don’t think he’s told publicly, and it’s about his entry level deal. And if you remember, his season with Michigan ended in the Frozen Four on a Thursday. So, that team was knocked out in the semi-final round. And uh you remember the brotherhood of that team. They were singing. There was a quite a bond. He was bummed. Friday, he goes back to Ann Arbor and now he’s got to contemplate whether or not he’s going to jump to the NHL and sign this this entry level contract with the Blackhawks. So, Saturday comes around, they’re discussing and there’s a deadline of 400 p.m. He had to sign by 400 p.m. so that he could play the next day, which was a Sunday when he would make his debut. So, he decides around 3:00 like, “All right, I’m doing this. I’m going to leave Michigan even though we’re poised to, you know, win. I’m ready to go to the National Hockey League.” So, he asks his roommate for his printer to print out the contract to sign it. And the printer is out of ink. This is typical college. Oh yeah, this I mean but but the stakes are a little higher than you not being able to get your papers submitted in time. Uh his entry level deal was not going to be enter uh you know agreed to in time. So he calls in a panic to one of the assistant coaches at Michigan. He said meet me at the rink. With five minutes to spare, Nazar signs his entry level contract, gets it to the Blackhawks. They get it into the National Hockey League and then he packs a duffel bag that night, drives to Chicago, takes part in the Sunday morning morning skate and then makes his debut that night and of course scores his first NHL goal. Great hair si and the rest is history. If if I remember correctly, I think the Blackhawks as a team did not have a morning skate that day. So he skated on his own I believe is what it was because there was there was this discussion I remember there was a debate on Sunday whether Nazar was going to play or not or whether he even I can’t remember an it was an optional I think it might have been an option where like the scratches and so the media was not there in the morning they might have had a game on Saturday or something where it was a backto-back I’m not sure but I remember it was a big deal when Frank got uh spotted walking into the arena you know with with his suit and with a couple other eyes and it’s like, oh, Frank’s in. Oh, he’s playing tonight for sure. Um, but I saw that story. I mean, that that’s that’s incredible. And he obviously would have played in the final two. I think they had like two more, but it was just to get in. It’s just it talks to about the frenetic situation. And we’ve talked about this, too. It’s almost unfair. Like, no other sport do you play in the NCAA tournament on a Thursday and then make your NBA debut on Sunday. It just doesn’t happen. Doesn’t happen. You don’t play in the Rose Bowl on Sat, you know, whatever January 1st and then the next weekend you’re in the National Football League playing. It just doesn’t happen. Hockeyy’s different. I mean, incredible. And I think of Oliver Moore and Sam Renzel last year when their season ended. They flew back to Minnesota and I think it was like later that night. They took like a flight at midnight or something to get to Chicago and the next morning signed their ELC’s and like participated in practice. So, it’s it’s so frantic. Yeah. And and so and you know, the joke at the end was, “Did you have a functioning printer when you signed your seven-year extension?” Didn’t have to worry about his roommate. Frank’s not having any roommates anymore with with the cash he’s making. Uh so that was kind of funny. Hey, couple quick things. Uh the power play situation last night, I it was certainly got off to a really rough start. As the the six power plays progressed, they got opportunities with each and every one that that came along. When Renzel is out there as the quarterback, rightfully so, I think the PK defers to the flanks and worries about where Baddard is. And uh I I think you’re going to need to see whoever is quarterbacking uh to get the PK to be to respect him put some shots on net or shoot for sticks uh for redirections. Right. I will say if we if we rewind where the Hawks were a year ago in this spot, they didn’t have a single power play quarterback on the team. It was Seth Jones and Alex Vlic I think was the second unit quarterback. Now, it’s been fun to watch Chicago in the preseason games, especially when Renzel and Lefchnoff are playing together because it’s Renzel quarterback in the first unit, Lefchov quarterback in the second. And those are two true power play quarterbacks. Having said that, it there is going to be a maturation process in them eventually nailing it as an NHL quarterback versus in college. But I will say watching yesterday’s game, Sanzel made some plays offensively, especially on the power play where I was like, “This kid’s going to be a special player.” And the way he just gallops on the ice when he carries the puck from the his own zone into the offensive zone, it really does back off defenders. Like some of the defenders are surprised that he can move that quickly. And so I think it is going to catch some players off guard. But the way I was impressed even though they went 0 for six, they generate a lot of chances as the game developed. The first one was pretty disastrous for the first unit specifically. Thought the second unit was was much better. But the way that Renzel and Bard play off each other, I think is going to be beautiful to watch as they start to get acclimated to each other even more and those chances start to come. So, um, what did the Blackhawks finish with on the power play? They still had like a top 10 power play percentage, right? They did. They uh they were seventh in the league, I think, at 29%. Yeah. But I think what I’m getting at is there were times last year where I’m like, it didn’t look great and they still found a way. This year, it feels like it’s going to look much cleaner. Maybe the percentage isn’t going to be like seventh in the league, but it feels like there are going to be more games this year where we leave where they’re like, they generated chances. Yeah. My my thing was percentage-wise, the power play was there, but there were nights they weren’t generating a lot of power plays. So, while the percentage is is a very respectable percentage, you’re not getting as many bites at the apple. Now, if you go out there and get six power plays like that and you’re not cashing in, that’s on you. Uh, but I I I think you can there’s a direct correlation between the hardworking team, uh, the team that has the puck and who draws penalties. And I I think we would all admit over the last few years the Hawks have not been in an advantageous spot in that category and therefore they pro that’s why they had two power plays a night or whatever the average turned out to be. Yeah, there were games last year where it would it’d be like a fiveame stretch and the Hawks had like seven power plays in those five games. So it’s like obviously your percentage isn’t going to change much cuz you’re not getting opportunities. Uh Kevin Kchinsky sent down um obviously talk about a quarterback when he was up here. He was doing that on the power play. Uh you just what you saw from Kevin this time around and u this is a case where now he’s going to go down play in all situations and continue to build that uh confidence level. And again, he’s so young like we we got to remember that that Duncan Keith spent two years in the minors before, you know, he was a full-time NHL, right? The the challenge with Kchinsky is he has the number seven overall pick attachment to him. So, everyone just might assume, well, he should be in the NHL right now. Like, what’s taking so long? And it’s like, no, they they drafted him when he was young and it was always going to be a longerish development for Korchinsky because there’s so much frame to fill out for him. Um, and you see him like adding weight each and every year. And for him, I think two sides to it. If you’re from a Chicago perspective, it’s encouraging that Alex Vic and Sam Ren Renzel have emerged as like a a legit top pairing and Lefchoff you’re hoping will be a consistent, you know, top four defenseman. So, it minimizes the pressure of Korchinsky to be that guy. M having said that if you’re Kchinsky you’re seeing guys like Renzel Lechnoff and Vic solidify themselves and spots and there’s almost like there might be more pressure on himself to be like all these guys are starting to jump me in the depth chart and they’re be becoming the player that maybe I thought I would be pegged into that role and it maybe adds a little bit more pressure to himself and I think if he just focuses less on that and more about all he has to do is just become maybe a dependable second pairing defenseman to compliment Vic and Renzel. That’s really all it has to be. But it’s hard because we we were talking about we talked about Lucas Reichel. I’ve always I’ I really believe Riel is going to be a really good player in this league. I just don’t think it’s going to be in Chicago because he has the first round expectations attached to him. And similar to Kchinsky, like you hope it never gets to that point. But I think if you eliminate the number seven overall pick and you just focus on the player himself, that should free him up to just play his game and focus on, you know, what his strengths are. But I’m I’m not surprised that he got sent to Rockford cuz I do believe it’s a big year for him to just go back, play in all situations, develop away from the spotlight, and also Lefchenov is going to be a full-time NHL player. So there’s not going to be that that Korchinsky, Levoff, they’re both competing for the same number one role in all situations. It’ll really be Kchinsky and Rockford. What you’ve seen from Lev Shinoff, we we talk about, you know, the ups and downs that he goes through in a game, you know, talking to him in the locker room. There’s obviously a language barrier. Do you think he is um do you think that’s factoring in in his development process here the the difficulty that maybe he’s having communicating? Yeah, I think that’s definitely an aspect of it and it’s also with Lechonov he’s played in so many leagues over the last several like the last two years he’s played NCAA Barus BarHL five leagues in in a twoear stretch less than a two-year stretch. So he’s learning all these different systems. And not only that is when you jump from Europe to North America, it’s a different style. And then you jump from Yeah. And then you jump from college to pros. Smaller rink, I should say. Yeah. Then you you jump from college to pros and then you jump from AHL to NHL. Like it just all it just changes. And so he’s probably trying to grasp all these different systems, all these different teammates. The line language barrier for sure. I think with Lefchenov he he’s a very um instinctual player. So when he’s out there thinking and you could say this I guess with a lot of players but Lefches specifically because he plays so I don’t want to say erratic like as if it’s a bad thing like he just play he just does what he does sometimes it can be challenging for him to play within the confines of a structure cuz he is anything but structured you know like he likes to just freewheel it out there and so it’s it’s going to be a challenge but I do think you know the language barrier can be a challenge more than we realize in hockey because hockey is just it’s different when you’re talking about lingos and systems and every everything is different and so um yeah I’m sure I’m sure that’s a challenge for him and we talk about it in every sport right like and like Caleb Williams you know yet another system and it’s and it’s learning new lingo new lingo and then imagine throwing in a a fullout language barrier bes while you’re trying to learn the new the new plays. Yeah. And the new systems that you know obviously uh Levino and the Hawks are going through right now. And credit by the way to to Wyatt Kaiser. I’ve been they’ve been paired together Kaiser and Levchinoff all of training camp and before and during sometimes every single drill Kaiser is talking to Lefchoff and like making sure that he understands it. And that is crucial because Kaiser is comfortable enough is in in his own skin and in his role with the team where he could easily you be like I’m worried about my own game. And so the fact that he’s been helping Lefchenoff in every single drill is massive for Lefchen’s development, but also for for Kaiser that he can be a guy that other young defenseman can lean on, even though he is one of those young defenseman as well. All right, so two more dress rehearsals for the Blackhawks, both at the United Center. Friday night, we expect to see pretty close to an NHL opening night roster. Yeah, Friday will definitely be the NHL heavy roster. Saturday, I imagine, is going to be one of those games where they call up a bunch of guys from Rockford and they’re playing in the second of a back-to-back. And Chicago travels to Florida a day early. Usually they’ll they’ll practice in Chicago then fly out the day before the game. Hawks are flying to Florida on Sunday practicing in Florida on Monday. So, I don’t think the Hawks a they don’t want to play any of the NHL guys in the second of a backto-back, but b they also have to travel on Sunday. So, they don’t want to make an off day, you know, also in addition to having them played two games in a row. Charlie will be traveling with the team. You’ll be doing some WGN radio broadcasts uh with John Weidman. Uh so, we will do our next podcast. We’ll have you in in South Beach giving us the very latest on the opening night roster. And it’s not going to be your typical banner raising. I mean, this team is won back-to-back Stanley Cups, but their two best players or biggest players, Sasha Barov and Matthew Kachchuck, are both out. Barov’s going to miss the He’s out at least nine months. And we don’t know when Kachchuck’s going to be back. We think probably January, like probably, right? Well, maybe even as early as December. He will be back before the Olympics. Yeah, that’s the goal. So, so there there’s going to be a little bit of a a muted celebration because a couple of your key figures as you’re going for the three repeat are big question marks for sure. That definitely and when you’re trying to three repeat, you need as much manpower as possible cuz they’re all going to run into walls at some point and it’s going to be like, “All right, maybe this is a night where Barkov carries us and or you know the third line of Marian and they carry us.” And so now from the opening puck drop, everyone’s going to be playing a a slot higher in the lineup, maybe even two if depending on where you are. It’s it’s uh it’s going to be a challenge. I will say this though with the Barov situation, I kind of misunderstood it at first. So the new CBA kicks in next year, but the one thing that they did start implementing immediately this year is the LTIR situation, the relief. And I thought the the Florida Panthers in this example, I thought they were going to have to know before the regular season ends or maybe even before the trade deadline. Is Barov going to be available to us or not in the playoffs? Because if he’s not, they get $10 million worth of his cap hit, right? If he is, then they have to create they have to keep the $10 million spot open or he’s ineligible for the playoffs. But that’s not the case. They essentially like Bararkov can return in the playoffs, but then they have to subtract $10 million worth of somewhere else. So like they be cap compliant in the Stanley Cup playoffs just like they are. So whatever the the cap amount is, the players that you have in the playoffs, they have to fit under the cap. Correct. So essentially, let’s just say Bararkov is ready to return. They get to the second round and Barkoff’s ready, but they they have to create space. like Florida might be in a position where they’re like, “Okay, uh we have to sit Seth Jones for this game to open up money, you know, or and and the other thing I wonder, does it have to be before the I don’t think you can go game by game like cap compliant. Don’t you think you’d have to be cap compliant at the beginning of the uh the series and that that would be the way it would stay throughout that series or do you think it’s on a nightly basis?” I think it would be game by game really cuz I think if Bararkov is ready to return by game four. I don’t think teams are going to be put in a situation that’s like, hey, you got to figure out before, you know, it’s not like a baseball series where it’s like you, you know, you submit your lineup before the series. And so that’s going to be interesting. And I also think the way it could impact how teams um cra or how teams kind of do their teams like they we might not see as many 1A 1B goalenders dress in the playoffs. Like I wonder if you’re a team like Sergey Babroski or like Florida where you dress Sergey Babski, but let’s say their backup is making $4 million, they might have to sign a third goalender and say, “You’re an entry-le and you’re our you’re our backup for the night cuz we can’t dress you because that’s $4 million. Yeah, we need the Barov money.” Exactly. And so that’s going to be fascinating. Uh what we didn’t get to, and I wonder how much this actually expedited the process, is the Carill Capri off uh richest contract in NHL history. I wonder how how much Capri off saw the non-cont injury that Bararkov suffered in a practice and was like called up his agent and said, “Can we get this move? Can we get Can we speed this up because that happened shortly after upon further review. I do like that contract. 17 million a year will work for me. Sounds fantastic.” Uh, sign me up. So, I know folks in Minnesota are excited and that’ll at least squash the rumor that he’s coming to Chicago. Yeah. But McDavid on the other hand, okay, he’s not leaving Edmonton unless he wants to. Not this year. Yeah, maybe in a couple years. Okay, but then he’s going to pick his landing spot and they’re going to be ready to go. Couple years, Hawks will be there. Okay, you heard it here first. I’m not saying I’m just saying. He’s just saying. On that note, that’s going to do it for the Blackhawks Breakaway podcast brought to you by Toyota for trailer. I’m Pat Bole. Thank you for watching and listening and we will catch you next time. [Music]

On this episode of the Blackhawks Breakaway Podcast, Pat Boyle and Charlie Roumeliotis dive into the final training camp battles. With three roster spots up for grabs, who will claim them? Could Lukas Reichel be moved before Opening Night? Will the last forward spot come down to Oliver Moore or Ryan Greene? And how many defensemen will the Blackhawks carry? Pat and Charlie also discuss Alex Vlasic’s injury scare, the possibility of a Frank Nazar breakout season, Florida captain Aleksander Barkov’s season-ending injury, and more.

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