Chicago Blackhawks Preseason Opener vs. Detroit Red Wings PREVIEW
Blackhawks preseason hockey officially begins tonight and Connor Badard will be in the lineup. I’ll go through everything to note before the pug drops at Little Caesar’s Arena. [Music] You’re Locked on Blackhawks, your daily podcast on the Chicago Blackhawks, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What’s going on Blackhawks fans? Welcome back to another episode of Lockdown Blackhawks, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. As always, I’m your host, Jack Bushman. Also, Blackhawks beat writer for Chicago Hockey Now. Can go and check me out on XJack Bushman 2, but make sure to follow my strictly Blackhawks account at talking hockey so you don’t miss any of the latest Blackhawks news and updates. And also, just a quick reminder to please go and subscribe to Lockdown Blackhawks on YouTube if you haven’t done so already. It’s 100% free, won’t cost you anything, and really does help me out in a massive way in growing my platform. But happy Tuesday, Blackhawks fans, or should I say, happy game day as the Hawks are set to kick off preseason action tonight. Their first of six preseason contests will be against the Red Wings up in Detroit. 6 PM Central time puck drop with the game being televised on CHSN. but definitely had to go through everything of note before the Blackhawks preseason gets underway here tonight up at Little Caesar’s Arena. Real quick before I do though, just want to quickly apologize for not having a show come out yesterday. Uh, as some of you can probably tell based on how I’m sounding here, I have not been feeling the best over these last few days. I had a weekend full of travel as I headed to Iowa for a wedding. Shout out to the McLaries, by the way, for a great time. But then I also had to come back in like five or six hours of sleep and uh go in go to a friend’s birthday party yesterday as well. There’s been some rain in the weather whenever the temperatures change. Usually ends up doing me dirty, but just wanted to briefly apologize for not having a show come out yesterday. And also for those of you who are bearing with me through a little bit of a sore throat here on today’s episode, but definitely want to talk through who we can expect to see in the lineup for the Blackhawks tonight up in Detroit. And it’s gonna be a pretty noteworthy group. Connor Badard is set to play along with Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Ryan Green, Sam Renzel, Ardam Lev, Shinov, Wyatt Kaiser. It’s shaping up to be a real fun night in Detroit. Just a heads up, it’s not going to be the longest episode here today because of my voice, but did want to mention the notables who are going to be in the lineup and how Blill is kind of going about his forward lines and defensive pairings at least when uh the Blackhawks hit the ice for their morning skate just about 10 or 15 minutes ago. But starting with the forward group, I mentioned Connor Baddard, Lucas, uh Connor Baddard, um Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, three standouts among the forward group that’s going to be in the lineup tonight. Well, up on the top line with Connor Baddard, I’ve spoken on the show how it’s mostly been Andre Burkovski and Ryan Donado getting the first look on the wings with Bedsy. Well, neither of them are going to be in the lineup tonight. And it’s going to be a little bit of a combination of NHLers with some prospects for not only these four forward lines, but in the back end on the defensive pairings as well. But with Baddard tonight on the top line, looks like it’s going to be Colton Doc and Lucas Reichel. And I think this is a super noteworthy opportunity for both of these players, right? Uh to me, Doc, I’ve been outspoken about how because of his size, his physicality, and the Blackhawks just not really having a whole lot of that in the rest of their forward group. I really do think that opens up a door for Doc to make the NHL roster just because his skill set is pretty unique for what the Blackhawks have in this NHL group. And he’s been getting some pretty good opportunities on the quote unquote third and fourth lines through the opening couple days of training camp. And this is a real real noteworthy opportunity for him getting a chance to play along with Connor Baddard to showcase that he belongs as part of this NHL roster. I’m sure Doc is going to get, you know, two or three maybe even four preseason games to prove his case over these next couple of weeks. But a real big start, uh, a good start here tonight would be really big for him and trending in the right direction to crack that NHL roster, which I ultimately do feel like he’s going to wind up accomplishing. And then on the other wing with Connor Baddard, I accidentally mentioned his name a moment ago, but it’s going to be Lucas Reichel. And of course, Riel feels like he’s kind of in limbo once again with the Blackhawks, right? Not seemingly going to get top six opportunities this season and hasn’t really worked all that well for him so far in his career in the bottom six. And Blashill even said to the media, this is kind of a makeorb breakak camp here for Lucas. So starts right here, right now for him to kind of change the narrative around him these last couple of years that he’s kind of a struggling tweener at this stage of his career. Real good opportunity for him tonight to play with some pace along with Connor Bedard on that top line while Colton Doc is more than likely going to be somewhat of a net netront presence for that trio and someone who could cycle and win pucks down low along the boards. The second line for the Blackhawks, Frank Nazar, no surprise he’s going to be in that second line center spot as he’s in the lineup here tonight playing the wings with Nazar, the actually only line uh that Blashill kept together when the Hawks went through an inner squad scrimmage yesterday for actually the first time during training camp. I’ll be touching more on that here during segment three of today’s episode. So, make sure to stick with me up until that point, Blackhawks fans. But, uh, Nazar has only been skating with Tavo Terravine and Tyler Bertusi through the first five days of training camp. I think that gives you a pretty good indication of what Blill wants his second line at least to be when the regular season kicks off. But like Baddard, uh, neither Burkowski or Donado in the lineup tonight. Neither Tavo Turvine or Tyler Bertusi are going to be playing up in Detroit either. Instead, it’s going to be Oliver Moore and Aiden Thompson on the wings along with Nazar. for more. Uh, obviously a couple of years younger than Colton Doc, but in a similar, you know, group of guys, young players who are trying to cement themselves as full-time NHLers. Feels like the Blackhawks by putting Oliver Moore in this chance. And also what we heard Blashell say to the media as well, saying, “Hey, if the younger players are out playing the veteran guys, they’re the ones who are going to be given the opportunity.” So Oliver Moore has a real good chance to uh make a statement here tonight and play with some good speed and make an impact all over the ice along with Frank Nazar, a guy who plays the game with a similar mentality. And then Aiden Thompson, even though he’s likely to begin things down in the AHL, another guy who plays with some pretty good pace. Uh and I think, you know, has had uh some decent moments to kick off training camp and through the Tom Kver’s prospect showcase a couple of weekends ago. thought he tried to do a little bit too much up in Minnesota that weekend, but still feel like his offensive abilities and again along with his pace and he’s another guy who uh played a pretty solid two-way game in his three years with Denver started his career there playing in a checking role. Another guy who fits kind of the mold of what Nazar and Oliver Moore want to do out there on the ice. So, I thought that forward line made a lot of sense down on the third line for the Blackhawks. Ryan Green is going to be in that third line center spot again in a similar fashion to Oliver Moore and Colton Doc. Blashill has given Green the opportunity to show us that he belongs with these guys. He’s going to be skating along with Joey Anderson who’s in a little bit of a interesting situation considering he could make the NHL roster. It’s probably not the most likely outcome, but just because he could be utilized as a healthy scratch where Blasio wouldn’t feel too bad about him not being in the lineup regularly as opposed to that’s not really the spot where you want a young prospect to be in. You want them getting game reps regularly. We’ll see what winds up happening with Joey Anderson over the next two weeks. But he’s going to be on the third line with Ryan Green along with Sam Lafery who’s back with the Blackhawks once again. And then down on the fourth line for the Blackhawks, 2024 first round pick Merrick Van is going to be in that left wing spot. Dominic Toninonado kind of in a similar position to Joey Anderson. He’s going to be in that 4C position. And then Jack Fridam, if you’ve listened to my Blackhawks uh prospect rankings since the 2024 NHL draft went down, then you know I think pretty highly about Jack Pridom. really interested to see how he’s going to fare in preseason action along with Merrick Vanaker down there on the fourth line. But that takes care of the Blackhawks projected forward group for their preeason opener here tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Again, a reminder, the game kicks off at 6:00 p.m. Central time with the game being televised on CHSN. Coming up in just a moment, Blackhawks fans, stick with me as I’ll dive through the projected defensive pairings as well as the starting goalender. But first, I do got to talk to you all real quick about the fine folks over at Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all of their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or even investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. 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Starting things off on the top defensive pairing, at least based on what we just saw at the morning skate. Looks like it’s going to be Ethan Delmastro and Sam Renzel, which is not necessarily a pairing that I expected to be together to open up training camp, but Blill has had those two. Del Mastro and Renzel skating together for I think every day of training camp thus far. I just kind of expected that it was going to be Alex Vlic and Sam Renzel as the team’s top defensive pairing to open up the season just based on the amount of success that Renzel found in that spot late in the year last year. and just looking already capable to handle that type of role. Doesn’t mean that, you know, it’s not going to happen at some point, but I just thought that that’s where he was going to be right out of the gate when training can’t begun. But instead, he’s been skating with Ethan Del Mastro, who I’ve said I feel like is ready to be a full-time NHLer, but still has to prove it here throughout training camp and the preseason. Real good opportunity for him to do that tonight on the top defensive pairing along with Sam Renzel. The second bearing for the Blackhawks looks like it’s going to be Wyatt Kaiser and Ardum Levchenov. Those two were a duo on the back end for the Blackhawks late last season as well when Levchenov appeared in 18 NHL games. Kaiser got called up from the Rockford Ice Hogs and really looked more confident than ever and better than he had in any of his previous NHL stints. He did that along with Ardum Lev on the same defensive pairing. I expected that to be an NHL pairing to open up the regular season. when I projected the pairings on the show not too long ago. So, no surprise whatsoever that they’ve been together for all of training camp since you know Kaiser finally agreed to a new deal with the Blackhawks. He’s been right in that spot along with Levinov and I think it’s a really good position for both of them. On the third pairing for the Blackhawks, looks like 2022 7th overall pick Kevin Gorchinsky is going to be in the lineup skating alongside Louis Krevier, which again I think this is a pairing that makes sense for the expectation for these two players heading into this season, which is that both of them are or I guess Crevier is probably going to be utilized as the NHL extra, but Kevin Gorchinsky is right on the cusp of pushing for an NHL roster spot. probably has to outplay one of, you know, Wyatt Kaiser or Ethan Delmastro, I think, pretty severely in order for him to make that NHL group because he’s still so young because he’s only spent one season down at the AHL level. Another season there by no means. Uh definitely is going is going to be something that would help his development. And I I don’t think it would be looked at as a bad thing for Kchinsky to start the year there once again just considering again how many older defensemen are now kind of on the scene and have already you know a guy like Ethan Delmastro a guy like Wyatt Kaiser they’ve been through those stages a little bit longer but I did think it was worth pointing out that I kind of expected Matt Grizzlick to get an opportunity in the Blackhawks lineup tonight since he signed a PTO blill said you know if some of the young guys don’t live up to their expectations Grizzlick could wind up getting a contract here in Chicago. I just figured he was probably going to play in this preseason opener. Doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case as Kevin Kchinsky and Louis Creier look like they’re going to round out the third pairing. Ashton Kumbi and Kevin Fitzgerald were skating during uh the morning skate here this morning as well as a defensive pairing. Maybe um I actually forget if in the preseason you can dress an extra couple of skaters or one extra skater or whatnot. looked like Fitzgerald was the one who they wanted to serve as the seventh defenseman originally, but Ashton Kumbi, you know, a member of the 2025 draft class. Think the Hawks, you know, maybe want to see him get some preseason action in before sending him back to the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds, but uh I’m guessing that’s probably not going to be happening here tonight considering Kchinsky and Crevier both ahead of uh him in the pecking order and deserve to get these opportunities. And then in goal for the Blackhawks, trying to look if it’s been confirmed as of right now, but I believe it’s going to be Arvd Solder Bloom who’s going to be in between the pipes likely uh going to come out at the halfway point and Drew Kso looks like he’s going to be the one to replace him. Uh Solder Bloom obviously with Leon Bruis under having undergone yet another surgery and being out longterm once again, he’s going to be Spencer Knight’s backup to open up the regular season. And then Drew Komeso going to be the number one down in the AHL with the Rockford Icehogs. So there’s how the Blackhawk lineup Blackhawks lineup is going to shake out when the action begins here tonight at Little Caesar’s Arena. Seriously could not be more excited that we got Blackhawks hockey, even if it is the preseason back in our lives. Why don’t you go in, drop down below in the comments section who you think is going to score the Blackhawks first goal of the preseason. may be all give someone like five or 10 bucks on Venmo or or do something cool if you correctly predict it down below in the comments section. But coming up in just a moment, Blackhawks fans, before I close out today’s episode, do still want to get into all the key takeaways from uh an important day of training camp down at Fifth Third Arena on Monday. But first, I got to talk to you all about another one of today’s sponsors, which is FanDuel. The NFL season is here, and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a campmiss offer. Because right now, new customers can bet just $5. 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Segment three, the Blackhawks actually scrimmaged for the first time during training camp on Monday and kind of in opposition to years past. I’m pretty sure under Richardson, the Blackhawks were scrimmaging pretty early in training camp. I don’t know if it was like day one, but I know they were getting into those kinds of activities during practice earlier than they did here this season. And the reasoning for that is Blash Hill mentioned he just first coming in as a new head coach having new systems, right? and uh new techniques and everything. He wanted to implement those systems and at least have his players go through them a couple of days so they can kind of get used to what they’re expected to do out there on the ice as well as just kicking in conditioning. Blasio mentioned, you know, that was going to be a good work ethic indicator for the team, right? Uh from the opening day of camp. And then also he just said that uh he wanted to get guys time to kind of gear up and just feel comfortable in their new spots after him like laying the groundwork before going into these scrimmages, which I do think ultimately makes sense. But it was nice to see a little bit of a change of pace down at Fifth Third Arena yesterday. Do want to point out real quick uh while the Blackhawks split into team red and team white. There are still 53 players currently on the training camp roster. So, uh, there’s a lot of guys out there and because of that, the five on five lines that were utilized in the scrimmage yesterday, Blash specifically said not to read too much into them. However, he did say that he specifically put these groups together to work on special teams play, which is something that he really hasn’t had his team go through uh, up until Monday at training camp. So he put these groups together specifically to have good, you know, fiveman power play units or fourman PK units together for them to get reps and get experience before, during, and after the scrimmage with one another. So definitely wanted to talk through some of these power play and penalty kill combinations that we saw for the first time yesterday. First for the Blackhawks, top power play unit for team red, Connor Baddard, Frank Nazar, Tavo Terrainan, Tyler Bertusi, and Sam Renzel were all on the same team. I think that’s a pretty good indicator that that’s what Blill wants his top power play to look like when the regular season opens up. Tyler Bertusi, no surprise, in the netfront role. We obviously know Conor Bard is going to be out there and Lashel even mentioned he thinks it’s good that Baddard has been capable at playing on both the right and the left dot so far uh on the man advantage in his young career. So interested to see exactly where he’s going to be starting. But he, Nazar, and Terrain. Terravi uh Nazar is the one who’s in the bumper role in the middle. Tavo probably on the right dot, Bedsy on the left dot, but both have the ability to rotate. And then Sam Renzel quarterbacking the top power play unit. Think that’s a really good spot for him right out of the gate. Definitely uh feels cap already seems capable of handling that type of position. So excited to see how he’s going to look getting that opportunity uh tonight for the Blackhawks. Even though Terravine and Bertusi aren’t going to be in the lineup, figure he’s going to be quarterbacking the top power play unit. For the Blackhawks second power play unit, it was actually team White’s top power play unit. Nick Felino was in the net front position. Ryan Green uh was on the left side. Oliver Moore was in the bumper role. Lucas Reichel was on the right hand side while Matt Grizzlick was getting the opportunity to quarterback the second power play unit. But then also team red’s second power play unit had Colton Dan in that front roll, Andre Burkovsky on the left side, Ryan Donado in the bumper, Ilia McKayv on the right hand side with Arm Levchenov quarterbacking that power play unit. And I feel like the Blackhawks true PP2 is going to wind up being a combination of both of those groups. Still got to figure out exactly what’s going to happen to Ryan Green, Oliver Moore, even Matt Grizzlick to an extent, right, where they’re going to be when the regular season begins. But I feel like some combination of both of those groups is likely going to be the second power play unit. Blackhawks also rolled out some uh penalty kill fourmans during the scrimmage yesterday as well. And uh Frank Nazar, Tavo Terrainan paired together on the Blackhawk second line. We’re on the top power play unit as well. Looks like Blasio wants to keep them together uh for a penalty kill unit as well. And then playing defensively for that group was Ethan Delmro and Sam Renzel. Team White’s top penalty kill unit was Ilia McKayv and Jason Dickinson. Two staples of the PK last season along with Alex Lassic and Conor Murphy. Those four are going to be a huge part of the Blackhawks and what they do short-handed. And then Nazar and Tavo Terravinan. You know, like I said, obviously with their speed and good two-way play, they can make certainly make an impact short-handed. Nazar had so many short-handed chances last year that he just couldn’t bury. But I do want to point out Sam Laughaferty and Nick Felino, they both also have penalty kill prowess and will be fighting for short-handed ice time this year. Uh Wyatt Kaiser and Ardum Levinov were serving as the defensive pairing for that penalty kill unit. I feel like Vic and Murphy obviously are going to be a huge part of the PK. Ethan Delmastro should he make the NHL roster. I think that’s a really good spot for him. I thought it was interesting to see Sam Renzel apparently uh ahead of Ardum Levchenov in terms of penalty kill spots right now. I feel like you know Renzel obviously known more for his offensive abilities. I just would have expected Arty maybe to get that spot first but at the same point in time he is the younger and more inexperienced of those two players. But just altogether the Blackhawks I think have the capability to be a really good short-handed bunch this year. And Blash mentioned he’s going to be running the same penalty killing system that he utilized with the Tampa Bay Lightning last year, but made sure to note that it’s going to take a little bit for everything to click and set in with this new group. And it actually took the Tampa Bay Lightning until about November 1st, Blill said, specifically to really understand what they were doing and to uh fully trust the system while short-handed. And from that point on, after November 1st, the Lightning were the best penalty kill in the entire NHL. They finished sixth uh on the season uh in terms of penalty kill percentage. The Blackhawks, they were 14th on the penalty kill last year. They were, you know, pretty decent. And I do think, you know, Ilia McKay’s wheels, Frank Nazar’s wheels, once he got onto the scene, that definitely helped the Blackhawks go to another level and get more short-handed opportunities. But Blash specifically said with this group, they’re going to be more aggressive uh inounding down the puck in the neutral zone and taking time and space away from opposing players than I think the penalty kill for the Blackhawks has been in seasons past. And it makes a lot of sense again with this roster makeup and all the speed that they have for guys to go and shut down that time and space in a hurry. Nazar, Iliam McKayv, even Oliver Moore if he makes the NHL roster, right? And then defensively, you got good skaters all over the place that are more able, I think, to make those type of plays and have success with that type of spa style. And we’ve seen for Tampa Bay, Anthony Cerelli, uh Brandon Hegel, Blackhawks legend, of course, absolutely wreak havoc on opposing teams while short-handed. And Tampa Bay was third in the NHL with 11 short-handed goals last season. I think that’s a good sign of what could potentially come for this Blackhawks group this year. Like I said, Frank Nazar generated so many short-handed opportunities for himself. I’m pretty excited to see what this Blackhawks penalty kill is going to look like under Jeff Blas, but that takes care of all the takeaways from Monday’s scrimmage and special teams work at training camp, as well as everything to note before the Blackhawks hit the ice for their first preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings. That’s going to wrap up today’s episode of Lockdown Blackhawks. Everyone, as always, I’m your host, Jack Bushman. Go and follow me on XJack Bushman 2, but make sure to subscribe to my uh follow my strictly Blackhawks account at Talkenhockey so you don’t miss any of the latest Blackhawks news and updates. Until tomorrow’s episode everyone, go Hawks. Drop your Blackhawks first preseason goal scorer down below in the comment section. Maybe I’ll do something cool with it. But until tomorrow’s episode, wrong button. Real embarrassing. I’m sick. I’m blaming it on that. Enjoy the rest of your days, Blackhawks fans. I’ll see you next time on the Lockdown Blackhawks podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
Tuesday’s episode begins with a preview of the Chicago Blackhawks’ preseason opener against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Host Jack Bushman breaks down all the notables in the Blackhawks’ lineup, the projected forward lines and defensive pairings, and the key takeaways from Monday’s scrimmage at Fifth Third Arena. All that and more on Locked On Blackhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.
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9 comments
QUESTION OF THE DAY — Which Blackhawks Player Are YOU Most Excited To See Tonight? Who Scores The Blackhawks 1st Preseason Goal????
Sam Lafferty
Reichel really needs to make something happen tonight
Kumby looked like he was skating in mud at Tom Kurvers.
Oliver Moore
Connor Bedard
FUCK THE HAWKS AND FUCK YOUR PODCAST
No Lardis?
Wings rookies dominated hawks. Not a promising start. Hockeytown!