PREVIEW: Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues | Wyatt Kaiser’s Standout Defense!

PREVIEW: Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues | Wyatt Kaiser’s Standout Defense!

Blackhawks are back in action for some unnecessary late night hockey against the Blues. Can they make it two in a row? You’re Locked on Blackhawks, your daily podcast on the Chicago Blackhawks, part of the Locked On podcast 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. I’m your host, Jack Bushman. Quick reminder to please go and show some support to Lockdown Blackhawks on Instagram and follow that account if you haven’t done so already. I greatly appreciate it. And also a quick heads up that today’s episode is sponsored by FanDuel. Go and download the FanDuel app now or check out FanDuel.com to get $300 worth of bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. All right, happy game day Blackhawks fans. The Hawks will look to keep the momentum rolling after getting their first win of the 2526 season in their last time out against the Utah Mammoth and they’ll try to make it two in a row against yet another Central Division foe in the St. Louis Blues with the game coming tonight at the United Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:52 p.m. Central time. And I know it says 8:30 on the schedule, but this is the back end of a back-toback on TNT in when those happen. Usually the second games don’t often start on time. So despite both of these teams being located in the Midwest, despite neither of these teams having a western time zone, we got a puck drop at almost nine o’clock tonight, which m makes absolutely no sense, but is also kind of on brand for the NHL. This is the same league that scheduled uh 16 games on Saturday. I don’t think there were any last Friday and then one on Sunday. They have absolutely no idea what they’re doing. And I remember talking about this game specifically when the Blackhawks first dropped their schedule over the summer. Was not looking forward to the late night puck drop then and uh not really feeling all that jazzed about it here this evening. I’m going to be up until probably like 3:00 a.m. writing my postgame and then going to have an early episode drop on Thursday morning for the recap of this game as well. I Anyways, getting into everything to know before the puck drops at 8:52 p.m. Central time in St. Louis. I I don’t know who that’s good for in literally the middle of the week when it’s a school day. People have to work the next day. Makes no sense whatsoever. But the Blackhawks did practice at Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday morning before jumping on the bird and heading on out to St. Louis. And here were the forward lines, defensive pairings, and also some updates that we got injury-wise from yesterday’s practice. First off, the top line, no surprise, no changes there. Colton Doc, Connor Baddard, and Andre Burikovski. Baddard failed to record a shot on goal in Monday night’s contest against the Mammoth. Of course, that led to the Blackhawks first win of the season, while Frank Nazar also had his season opening three-game point streak snapped. But love to see Andre Burikovsky, who yeah, was pretty quiet for a majority of the night. The top line didn’t really have a lot of sustained zone time in the offensive zone, but still finds a way to make an impact with the game-winning goal on the power play. That now gives him two goals and an assist over his last three contests. and as I talked about yesterday, has definitely started to come alive after a little bit of a sluggish start to his tenure during the preseason and in the season opening game against the Florida Panthers. And then I also wanted to make sure to give a shout out to Colton Doc. I actually I know there were a couple of NHL games that went on last night. I’m going to look on my phone right now, but uh Colton Doc was leading the NHL in hits as of yesterday. Let me still the case. Well, he’s tied with former Blackhawks uh defenseman and Blackhawks legend Nikita Zidorov for the most hits in the NHL with 23. Colton Doc is the new wrecking machine of the Blackhawks. And he’s making his physicality and his presence felt every single night. And that’s what the Blackhawks need out of him. And what I talked about really throughout the preseason, the unique power forward build and the physicality that he provides. there just aren’t a lot of forwards, if any, on the Blackhawks roster, uh, that provide, you know, that same type of makeup. So, I’ve been really happy with Colton Doc’s physicality consistently being on display while also getting bumped up to that top line. Hopefully, they can fare a little bit better here at even strength tonight. No changes going to be coming to the Blackhawks second line. and Tavo Terrainan, Frank Nazar, and Tyler Bertusi. Even though they had their worst game as a trio so far uh on Monday against the Mammoth, no need to go and fix what isn’t broken here. Uh Nazar, I mentioned, had his season opening three-game point streak come to an end, but I talked on yesterday’s show as well that I like to see him, you know, draw a penalty, helping the Blackhawks win in the final moments of the third period in that game against Utah. Hopefully, he can find his way back on the stat sheet here tonight. Tavo Terrainan did wind up on the stat sheet in that game against the Mammoth as he tallied an assist on Ilia McKay’s empty netter which was his second of the game. That now gives Tavo three assists over his last two contests and he’s now tied with Frank Nazar for the team lead in points with five which is also tied for 12th in the entire NHL. Third line, Ryan Donado, Jason Dickinson, Ilia McKayv, they were the difference in that first win of the season for the Blackhawks. fully expect them to remain together here tonight. And also for McKayv, he’s got two goals. He’s found the back of the net in each of his last two games against the St. Louis Blues. So maybe he personally can keep the momentum rolling here tonight in St. Louis. And then the fourth line as it was in practice yesterday. Nick Felino, Ryan Green bumped down to the 4C spot with Jason Dickinson making his return to the lineup. And boy was he good in his return. And then Lucas Reichel was on the fourthline right-wing spot, but he was also rotating in with Landon Slagard, who is still on injured reserve with a lower body injury, but it was great to see him obviously back at practice. He’s not going to play tonight against the Blues, but the hope is that he’ll be good to go on Friday when the Hawks return back to the United Center against the Vancouver Conucks. Uh but as far as the forward group tonight here against the Blues, positive update obviously on Slagger, but uh with Sam Laferdy rotating in on the second line right wing spot during practice yesterday as well as you know Slagger rotating in on the fourth line. Not that that’s going to impact the game here tonight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks just rolled out the same 11 forward, seven defenseman lineup as they did on Monday, just because it obviously led to their first win of the season. Blill mentioned after the game that’s something they’re going to be doing pretty frequently this season considering the number of young defenseman that they have uh in almost in a similar fashion to you know the Terravine and Nazar Bertusi trio like I said a couple of minutes ago if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. So yeah I’m expecting both Sam Laferdy and Lucas Reichel to be out of the lineup once again. It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens though uh when Landon Slagert is good to go on Friday night. um guessing, you know, the Blackhawks want to give him some pretty consistent reps right from the jump when he is able to return. Looks like it’s going to be happening now on the fourth line with Felino and Ryan Green, at least based on the lines that they used at practice yesterday. Uh Slagger obviously opened up training camp with Jason Dickinson and Ilia Mavev on the third line left wing spot. However, just considering the success they found in their first game as a trio against the Mammoth, I don’t think Blill is going to want to change that up. And it does kind of make more sense for Slagger to be down there uh on the fourth line, I think, personally. And obviously is more like a Sam Lafer in a sense that he fits a lot better on that fourth line than Lucas Reichel does. So, not only does the uh consistent 11 forward, seven defenseman lineup mentality not do Lucas Reichel any favors, but neither does uh Landon Slagger getting injured because that’s just going to put him even further down in the pecking order. And that would likely leave Laferdy and uh Riel as the 13th and 14th forwards on the NHL roster. Blackhawks still have an open spot on their NHL roster because they now only carry seven defenseman after sending Ethan Del Mastro down to Rockford last Friday. As far as the defenseman for the Blackhawks tonight, like I said, it’s I I expect it to be seven of them in the lineup here again. Alex Blaskic and Sam Renzel as the top defensive pairing, Matt Grizzlick and Conor Murphy. Grizzlick, by the way, I do want to give him some credit. Uh, outside of getting burned back door by Dylan Gunther in the second period. I thought Grizzlick had a pretty sound game against the Mammoth and thought that was something I needed to point out considering the amount of flack I’ve given him over these last couple of weeks. Uh, he’s probably going to be skating along with Conor Murphy on the second pairing once again. They’ve kind of been bumped up one spot. And then Wyatt Kaiser and Louis Creier were utilized as the third pairing in practice yesterday. That was the third pairing that uh you know opened the game together against the Mammoth while Ardum Levchenov served as the seventh defenseman rotating in in some different spots. I’m expecting that to happen again here tonight. Blackhawks fans, we’ll uh see what happens when the Hawks hit the ice for the morning skate. I don’t know if they’re going to go on a little bit later than usual because the game is starting around 900 p. p.m. CT, but I’ll make sure to post on X as I always do the Blackhawks uh forward lines and defensive pairings at the Morning Skate. But I’m guessing it’s going to be 11 forwards and seven defenseman for the second consecutive game and the third time in their last five. As far as who’s going to get the start in a net for the Blackhawks tonight, I’d keep rolling out Spencer Knight, especially because not not only because Knight has been excellent and is three for three so far on the season and high quality starts. But Arvin Solder Bloom’s numbers against the St. Louis Blues are not good whatsoever, especially at the Enterprise Center. Solder Bloom is 04-1 in his career against the Blues with a 4.35 goals against average and 865 save percentage. And he’s also given up four goals or more with two of those being uh he allowed five in one game, another he allowed six in three of the last four games that he’s played at Enterprise Center. And I know that would give Spencer Knight his fourth start in the opening five games. But this is what it’s going to look like for Knight now as the true number one goalender here for the Blackhawks. kind of got to get used to this style of reps and uh this is a game where the Blackhawks I’m sure would really like to keep going what they uh keep keeping they’d like to keep the ball rolling in the proper direction and it would be great to pick up another uh Central Division win with this one coming on the road and I think Spencer Knight just undoubtedly gives them their best chance to do that and I do believe I could be wrong this was something I actually meant to look up prior to the show but I’m sure I can find it here Real quick, I think Arvid Solderbloom’s been decent against the Vancouver Conucks in his career, and that’s who the Blackhawks would then be playing on Friday on home ice. Let me look up Solderbloom’s career numbers versus the Canucks here real quick. Gotta love having the uh power of the internet right on your phone. E, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe maybe I don’t remember that correctly. Regardless, I still think Spencer Knight ends up getting the start here tonight for the Blackhawks. It’s not like it’s a backtoback. He did have a day off yesterday. It was well, they did practice, but you get what I’m saying there, Blackhawks fans. I’m thinking it’s going to be Spencer Knight for the fourth time in five games to open up the regular season. As far as what to know about the Blues, they’re through their opening three games in 2526. They dropped uh their season opener and home opener against the Minnesota Wild five to nothing, but have responded with two wins since, defeating the Calgary Flames four-2 and the Vancouver Conucks 5-2 on the road before heading back home for this matchup. Jimmy Snuggarude had a twogoal effort last time out against the Vancouver Conucks to lead the way offensively. He’s tied for the team lead in points with three. And as far as the forward lines and defensive pairings that the Blues rolled with in that game, like I said, I’m recording this before the morning skate. So, not exactly sure what either the Blackhawks or the Blues lineup is going to look like, but Jake Neighbors, Robert Thomas, and Pavle Buchavic served as the top line. Dylan Holloway, Braden Shen, and Jordan Kyu were the second line. Matthew Joseph, Blackhawks legend Pas Sudter and Jimmy Snuggarude were the third line. and then Alexander Texier, Nick Bugstad, and Nathan Walker rounding things out on the fourth line. Pretty sound forward group there for the St. Louis Blues. On the back end, Cam Fowler, who signed an extension, and the the announcement came uh during the first intermission of a Blackhawks and Blues preseason game back in September. He’s on the top pairing with Colton Pereo. Tucker and Faulk are the second pairing for the Blues. And then Philip Broberg, who the Blues offer sheetated two summers ago along with Dylan Holloway, rounds things out on the third pairing along with scumbag Logan Mayu. Uh hasn’t been a great start for Jordan Bennington here this season. He’s got uh a goals against average at 3.50. Save percentage I believe is 9 uh excuse me 860. Uh and Joel Hawer did look good and get the win in his opening game of the season here. I’m still expecting it to be Jordan Bennington tonight. He’s fared well against the Blackhawks for most of his career. But again, we’ll get uh an official announcement on both teams starting goalenders when they hit the ice for the morning skate in just a couple of hours. But there is everything to know before the puck drops unnecessarily at 8:52 p.m. Central time. You know, I like when the Blackhawks are on national television as much as it’s um kind of done them no favors these last couple of years, right? regularly going up against top teams in the NHL in those nationally televised games which end up leading to losses. Hopefully they can, you know, have a close contested matchup or I mean maybe blow out the St. Louis Blues on uh national television here tonight. But there is everything to know before the puck drops in St. Louis. Coming up in just a moment, I’ll get into some impressive defensive stats for young defenseman Wyatt Kaiser. But first, I do got to talk to you all about FanDuel. The NFL season is in full swing and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a campmiss offer because right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app. And what I personally love about FanDuel is that it’s super quick, it’s easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to your Sundays with player props, same game parlays, and now more ways than ever to get in on the action. Are you ready to play? All you got to do is go and download the FanDuel app now, or visit fanuel.com today in order to get started. Again, that’s fanuel.com to place your first $5 bet and get $300 worth of bonus bets when it wins. Real quick, just wanted to say thank you to everyone for making Lockdown Blackhawks your very first listen here to start off your day. And reminder, if you’re watching this on YouTube, please go and smash that like button, subscribe to the channel, and if you’re tuning in through an audio platform, would love for you to rate and review the show, preferably with a fivestar rating. Those are always great. But thank you all very much out there for the support. Segment two here on today’s episode. Well, I guess I should say on yesterday’s show, uh, when recapping the Blackhawks 3 to1 win over the Utah Mammoth, I mentioned that Wyatt Kaiser led all Blackhawks skaters with over 21 minutes of ice time. And I also said that I thought Kaiser has been the best defensive defenseman for the Blackhawks in their opening four games. And the numbers sure seem to back that up because according to hockey stats on X, which is the same card that uh the same account, excuse me, that usually posts the game score impact chart for every NHL game following the conclusion of the contest. Well, they posted on X yesterday that Kaiser is second among defenseman with a 1.4 four defensive rating so far this year behind only Brandt ah word salad Brandt Clark of the Los Angeles Kings which when I saw that initially my mind raced to going back to like the 2022 2023 season when there were some rumors that the Kings were considering trading black car and I remember talking to Eddie from Locked on Kings in a crossover episode and being like why would the Kings want to go and trade this kid? I know they didn’t necessarily have an NHL spot for him at that time. And being such a competitive team that’s, you know, making a run for the playoffs every single season in the Pacific Division kind of makes things tough in terms of how to handle your prospects. You want them to come up and, you know, really help the NHL club instead of kind of just allowing them to go through the es and flows that’s going to happen for a young defenseman early on in their career. Uh well, sure looks like they uh made a savvy decision not to trade Brandt Clark. He’s off to an excellent start to the 2526 season. But right behind him is Wyatt Kaiser, who’s also ahead of guys like Drew Dowy, Ivan Prover, Kale Mar, Jake Sanderson, you know, some of the guys who have uh been considered top NHL defenseman in this league for a long, long time. And then in addition to that, according to Natural Statrick, which is a website that I use literally every single day and for every single Blackhawks game, among all NHL defenseman that have played at least 65 minutes at even strength so far this season, Kaiser is fifth in expected goals for with Gustav Forsling being first, Devonte’s being second, Drew Dowy third, and Adam Fox fourth. I mean, Norris Trophy candidates, best defenseman in the NHL. Wak Kaiser is in some elite company. And I get it. It’s a small sample size. It’s only four games, but it’s undeniably impressive and also just fits with what I have been saying about Kaiser, how steady he’s been on the defensive side of things. And I I think even more impressive is that it’s come without like a well, it was with 19-year-old Ardum Levchinoff for the opening two games, but it’s kind of been a rotation of defenseman for these last two contests as well, right? playing with Louis Crevier from time to time. The Blackhawks are playing seven defenseman, so that kind of switches up the pairings every now and then, but Kaiser has been super super steady. And it’s really great to see him continue to make these strides on the defensive side of things, which has kind of been his weakness early on in his NHL career, right? you know, the speed that he plays with, loves to jump in and get involved in the rush, and knows how to cycle well in the offensive zone, and really can skate the blue line. I I don’t know if there’s anyone on the Blackhawks that does it better than Kaiser in terms of walking that blue line. Uh, but the defensive strides that he’s made, super notable, especially when that kind of rounds out the rest of his game. if he can just become a consistent defender. I mean, the sky is s the the upside is super high for a player like Wyatt Kaiser who, you know, just played in his 100th NHL game a couple of days ago, right? He doesn’t have like a load of experience under his belt, but continuing to get stronger and kind of build as this Blackhawks team does as well, and that’s what you want to see out of a kid like Kaiser as well. Uh, in behind Kaiser, by the way, in terms of expected goals for at even strength this year, Charlie Makavoy, Vlatislav, Gavricov, Nico Mikola, Nikita Zidorov, that’s the rest of the top 10. So, some really good company for Wyatt Kaiser. And he’s also second in expected goals allowed. Absolute studly start to the season for number 44. Uh, definitely wanted to bring that here, bring that up here on the show considering how I’ve talked about Kaiser through these opening four games. All right, coming up in just a moment, Blackhawks fans, before I wrap things up, do want to get into a quick update as well on Kevin Kchinsky and Nolan Allen. But first, I do got to talk to you all about monarch money. Most people can’t name all of their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. But that’s why there is Monarch Money, an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, super easy to use interface, both available on your phone and your laptop. And Monarch does all of the heavy lifting for you so that you can link all your accounts in minutes, see clear data visuals, and finally feel in control of your money without ever having to touch a spreadsheet. So don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks any longer. Go and use our promo code lockdown NHL in allcaps at monarchmoney.com and you’ll also get half off on your first year. Again, that’s monarchmoney.com with the code lockdown NHL in all caps to get 50% off on your first year. Segment three. After getting into some positive updates on a handful of first round picks during yesterday’s show, the same cannot be said sadly about former first round pick defenseman Nolan Allen and Kevin Korchinsky as both youngsters were unfortunately placed in concussion protocol by the Rockford Iceogs on Tuesday morning. I saw a clip of the hit that Korchinsky took into the boards. Did not look pretty and could not have felt good. and then kind of seemed a little bit stumbly on his next shift after that. Fumbled the puck in the defensive zone that led to a turnover. That was his final shift of the game. Was not able to return and is now in concussion protocol. Didn’t exactly see what happened to Nolan Allen. I wasn’t able to tune in to the Icehog’s game on Sunday, but I definitely saw the highlights. I mean, Oliver Moore three-point game with his first two professional goals. Nick Lordis picked up his first professional point as well in the six-2 win over the Iowa Wild. I saw the highlights, uh, but I I didn’t see in particular what happened to Nolan Allen if he took a big hit along the glass just like Kevin Kchinsky did or what happened. But unfortunately, both youngsters now in concussion protocol, I’m hoping it’s not going to be a long or serious stint for either of them out of the lineup. But definitely considering their age, the upside that they possess, and the capability of being NHL defenseman. Uh, and also, I mean, just with any athlete in general, you don’t want to be rushing them back from a concussion or anything. But I’m expecting the organization to be really patient with both of these players. Not going to rush them uh in any way whatsoever to get them back in the lineup. But definitely a little bit of a tough update here for Kchinsky and Nolan Allen. Hope both of those boys are able to get healthy soon and uh can feel better here sooner rather than later. But it definitely puts the Ice Hogs in a little bit of a pickle on the defensive side of things because both Corkch and Allen playing serious roles in all situations over 20 minutes per game for the Ice Hogs. That leaves Rockford with only Ethan Delro, Kevin Fitzgerald, Ta Harding, Dmitri Kuzzman, Ryan Mast, and Andrew Pat on their blue line. Not exactly as enticing as it is when Kchinsky and Allen are in the lineup. Wishing the best for both of those two guys. And like I said, hopefully they’ll be uh back in the lineup in no time. But that’s going to take care of today’s episode of Lockdown Blackhawks, everyone. As always, thank you all again for joining me on the show. Make sure to subscribe to Lockdown Blackhawks on YouTube. Follow Lockdown Blackhawks on Instagram as well. That’s the account that I’m really trying to grow right now. posting a lot of cool Blackhawks shorts and reels and stories and everything. So, make sure to go and follow Lockdown Blackhawks on Instagram. I’m your host, Jack Bushman. Can check me out at Jack Bushman, too. My Strictly Blackhawks account can be found at Talkinhockey to get all of the latest Blackhawks news and updates. Till tomorrow’s episode, everyone, go Hawks. We’ll see if they can make it two in a row. Everyone, enjoy your late night hockey watch. To everyone who stays up until the end of the Blackhawks Blues game, you’re a real trooper. I’ll see you next time on the Lockdown Blackhawks podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Wednesday’s episode begins with a preview of a late-night matchup with the division rival St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Host Jack Bushman discusses whether Jeff Blashill will go with an 11F/7D lineup for the second consecutive game, and Wyatt Kaiser’s impressive defensive statistics early in the 2025-26 season. The episode concludes with an injury update on Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan. All that and more on Locked On Blackhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

Preview vs. Blues (0:50)

Kaiser’s Defensive Stats (15:15)

KK, Allan Update (21:25)

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