Could Nick Lardis Be the NEXT Chicago Blackhawks Call-Up? | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast
Will Nick Lardis be the next Blackhawks prospect called up to the NHL? We’ll discuss that and much more on today’s mailbag show on CHGO Blackhawks. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Welcome into the CHGO Blackhawks podcast presented by Bet 365. Download the Bet365 app. Use our code cho365 when you sign up, whatever the moment. It’s never ordinary at Bet 365. We are not still here from last night. We are back. I’m Jay. That’s Mario. Sarah’s here running the show just like we were 13 hours ago after Hawks and Kraken. We’ve got your mailbag questions to get to. But we’ve got some uh exciting news to start the show. Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis has been named the AHL’s rookie of the month. There’s only been one month so far, so that’s pretty good. He’s one for one in that award. That’s right. Eight games, four goals, eight assists, 12 points. Congrats to Nick Lordis, the AHL Rookie of the Month. Good. And any concerns we had about the offense carrying over from Brford to Rockford? It’s working out so far. It’s working out. He’s doing well. Yep. That’s what you want to see with these these young players. Uh we Lis and Oliver Moore, they’ve transitioned to professional hockey pretty well. Um so that’s good. So keep that rolling. We’ll see how long Nicholardis will stay in Rockford. And we’ll see if Oliver Moore ever goes back. Yeah. I mean, if it’s anything based on last night, if Oliver Moore keeps playing like that, he’s not going back ever because he was one of the most effective Hawks on the ice despite being a minus two. Um he was making things happen, using his speed, couple nice scoring chances. I think he had uh four shot attempts, maybe it was four shots on goal. Whatever it was, there was a four in there. I think he had was it three shots on goal? Yeah, he was he was dynamite last night. And um you know, when this season began, it felt to me kind of like a long shot that Nick Artist would be even in consideration for a callup um until maybe after the deadline or something like that if he if he was thriving, if he was doing well. But now it kind of seems like it could happen sooner than later. And you see a team here that is clearly attempting to win games and compete and you know and if they feel like Nicolardis is going to give them a chance to do that, I don’t think they’ll hesitate to call him up. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s it’s a changing of the standards and and expectations. Uh Mark Lazar Lazarus wrote about it uh in the Athletic and we kind kind of talked about it last night in the in the pregame regarding Oliver Moore and you know it’s it’s the standard of who’s going to help you push things forward, who’s going to help you succeed. And if the stay the course, play the long game mentality was still in effect for the Blackhawks, which in some facets I think it still probably is until it’s going until we, you know, see it tested. Um, but that was I mean that was tested with the Jason Dickinson injury and it could have easily been well Dickinson’s hurt, Slagard’s here, Lafert’s here, one of those guys goes in. But they they felt their best chance to move forward without Jason Dickinson and continue to try to be competitive and win games was to play Oliver Moore over both of those guys. Yeah. And to the tune of sending Landon Slagger down. And I mean, I don’t know what it’ll take for Sam Laferty to see the ice more than once every 10 games, but honestly, does it matter? I don’t think it does. I I think you have guys that are here and guys that are coming up that are going to take that spot. So, um they’re they’re trying to be competitive. They’re trying to win. They’re not trying to just ride things out and, you know, feel like that they have to let the young guys play, you know, 50 60 70% of the season in Rockford for them to be ready. If they feel like they’re ready for the next challenge, they’re going to throw them that next challenge and see how they and see how they handle it because they have that feeling that these players are on the cusp of already on the cusp of being ready to contribute to them at the NHL level. Now, if they prove that they can handle it at, you know, in professional hockey or they can in Rockford thrive, then they’re going to allow them to go up to the NHL level and see if they can carry that with them. Uh Ben Pope this morning for the Sun Times had an interview with Kyle Davidson and we’re not obviously going to give the whole thing away. It was Ben’s work so go make sure you go check it out but he had a quote about Nick Lardis I thought was interesting. Uh Davidson said quote he’s in a good spot right now just playing a ton of minutes and getting a ton of opportunity. You can’t really say there’s too much he needs to fix right now. He just needs to keep playing. So, it doesn’t sound like, you know, we need to see improvements in X, Y, and Z before Nicolardis gets considered uh to be an NHL player. So, is it imminent? I don’t think so. Um, but again, one injury changes everything. Yeah. And we didn’t think Oliver Moore was, you know, one was going to be the first guy called up. I think a lot of the the thought with the idea of this is still the long game was if they’re going to call somebody up, it would be Joey Anderson or Dominic Toninado or whatever. Cuz it’s just like, okay, you bring up the guy that you’re you’re going to say, “Oh, you’re going to play 8 n 10 minutes. You’ll be fine. Whatever. Like, doesn’t really matter. We want those young guys to play those top six minutes.” Yeah. in Rockford. But on the contrary, it was Oliver Morris coming in and g being given a role and being given 16 minutes of ice time last night without any special teams work. Um and and he ran with it. He ran with that opportunity. So now it’s going to be um interesting to see how he carries it. Like we said last night, it seems like he’s, you know, with Jason Dickinson out week to week. uh by Jeff Blash’s words, um he’s probably going to be there for the rest of the road trip at least. And if he keeps playing the way that he did and builds off of that, he’s not going back. Why? No, there’s no point. Just just for the sake of it, no, I’m good. Yeah. Um before we get to the mailbag, we want to tell you about a new special we’ve got going on for you. The Blackhawks fan $36 die hard offer. you get access to everything that includes the free shirt, all of our great written content, members to our uh access to our membersonly die hard uh discord page um which gets you all the mailbag questions no longer priority because it’s basically the only place we get mailbag questions from anymore. So scan that QR code on your screen or follow this link allgo.com/hawks-offer-show or use the code hawks when you sign up to take advantage of this offer. I have it pinned in the comments. All right, perfect. Easy. Just click easy to find. Scan that code right now. Uh you can always also just go to lcchgo.com, click over to that die hard tab, and you’ll see how to join there. So 36 bucks for the year with our code Hawks. Take advantage of that. And as part of this, we’re going to start doing halfhour uh once a week Q&As’s um on our Discord page. So, um, probably when we’re driving home after a game or after a show, we’ll jump on there and take some questions from you guys. So, we’ll send out, uh, we’ll give you probably a day’s notice or so, so you can plan for it, but we’ll start doing that, uh, this week. So, look forward to that. Should be a good time. Always a good time. Always. All right, let’s get to our first mailbag question before we got to hit the break zone for the first time. And this is from Arakusu. Hope I said that right. says, “Now that Moore has been called up, how long do you think it will take until Lardis gets the call up? And when he does get called up, should BL go back to playing 12 and six?” Uh, I think if Lardis is here, I would assume that will be the plan then. Yeah, because you as people are saying like if if Lordis comes up, who comes out of the lineup? And I don’t know, it’s it’s an interesting dynamic because the 12 and six is the traditional. It’s, you know, you have the extra forward, you have the extra defenseman. Um, but Jeff Blashel has has been pretty uh heavily favored towards the 11 forward, seven defenseman route because of the way that the defenseman have been playing. um and the roles that they play and and trying to kind of ease in some of these young guys like Renzel and Levchov and um you know not overworking too many of them and how the special teams aspect of things works out where you can have power play time for Renzel and Levinov and penalty kill time for Murphy and Creier for the right shot guys. Yeah, I don’t know if there’s a defenseman in the group of seven that I would say like deserves to sit at this point to play the 12th forward who would be Lardis, I would say. And then you don’t have to take out like Colton Doc or something like that. But I don’t know if I don’t know. It’s it I’m I’m reason I’m sitting here and I’m not an NHL coach is it’s it’s a tough decision to say like any of the defenseman need to sit. I guess I mean you could say do you put down Krevier? I mean I I think he’s been decent enough. He’s been fine. You’re not I don’t think you’re sitting Conor Murphy. You’re not sitting Wyatt Kaiser. You’re not sitting Vic. Conor Murphy’s playing eight minutes a night. Well, I mean yeah that was that was interesting last night. 500. He hardly played the other night, too. Like, uh, against Edmonton, and it’s, you know, I know he just played his 500th game as a Hawk. Um, and that’s great, but like if it’s time to move this thing forward, it’s time to move this thing forward, and he’s not going to be part of things next year anyway. So, I don’t know, maybe you just cherrypick and say, “Oh, you know, to to save face like we’re going to arrest some of these veterans, play six tonight, and get Murphy back in for whoever.” I don’t know. I’m not I’m not advocating benching Conor Murphy by any means, but I’m saying it shouldn’t just be a non-starter. Yeah, it shouldn’t be absolutely an absolutely no. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s not that you he’s got to be a 20-minute guy, but I think you’re still I think you’re still okay with the with what he’s been contributing. Um, but I mean, you you’re right, though. the last two three four five games. Uh his time on ice 12 1/2 minutes 1453 11:45 12 1/2 again and then 8 and 1/2 last night. Um so I mean it’s definitely they’re not just playing him because he’s a veteran and he has to. Um but I I think there’s I don’t know. I I I I I I think we could be seeing or we could be potentially seeing an acceleration of some of these thoughts of like, okay, when does Murphy get moved? Is he a deadline guy? What happens with Dickinson? Well, he’s hurt right now. What happens with, you know, McKay? What’s the, you know, the decision on Felino, even though I think he’s probably riding out the season as captain? Um, but I don’t know. I I don’t I don’t know if you’re moving on from Murphy in November. No, I wouldn’t think so. I you know, I just I don’t know. I I’m also not like I know Creier’s had a good start, but I’m pretty comfortable with him sitting out a handful of games if you want to play 12. Like if Lardis is here, tell me. So here are the lines from last night forward line. You have Baddard with Green and Berkovski, Nazar with Terravine and Btusi, Donado Morave, Doc and Fulino, right? There’s your 11. So do this now. Let’s put Bertusi with Baddard and Bericoski. Then you put Lardis with Nazar and Terrainan. You keep more Donado McKay. And then you’ve got Doc Green and Felino. Mhm. That feels like everyone is sort of slotted correctly, right? You don’t have anyone because I think Ryan Green has been solid on the top line, but I don’t think anyone foresees him as a top six forward. Well, they already shifted him off of it last last. Exactly. So, I think if you were to move him to the fourth line and say that’s that’s your checking line of Doc Fino and Green and they’ve got a little bit of offensive upside a little bit. I I think that makes a lot of sense and I’m you know I don’t know. I I don’t I don’t hate the 11 and seven by any means and I’m not changing it until Lordis is here. But once Lordis is here, I don’t know if I want any of those guys we’ve talked about out, right? I guess Colton Doc would be the easiest one to sit. Yeah. But I think he’s been effective and he brings something they don’t have. Exactly. And it’s it it changes the dynamic of that group if you take out Colton Doc and add in Nick Lardis. And yeah, you could say Nick Lardis gives him more offensive punch, but he doesn’t give them actual punch, which Colton Doc like that’s what he’s that’s what he’s bringing to the to the table in that role. So I I don’t know. It’s we’re we’re getting to a point where some tough roster decisions are are are on the horizon. And I I mean I’m again I’m all for letting the young guys start to come in and take more control of the team, take more responsibility, shoulder more of the weight. I just don’t know if you’re doing it all like lead the charge early early November. Like I think there’s still something to let some of this grow. Just because Oliver Moore is here and had one game doesn’t mean Nick Lardis has to be up here, you know, tomorrow and in the lineup and everything like that, but I think it’s a lot closer than we maybe expected in September. Yeah, there’s absolutely no need to do it right now. You’ve got plenty of time. Let him develop. It’s it’s like a Kyle David said, he just needs to keep playing. So, he will. And don’t worry, something will happen where he will get an opportunity to come up here sooner than later. So, all right, we’re going to hit the break zone for the first time. We have not asked you to subscribe or hit that like button yet. So, we’re going to do it right now. Subscribe. Hit that like button for us. And if you’re listening on the podcast, we’d love and appreciate you, too. Make sure you are following on your favorite podcast app. And make sure those uh notifications are on so when a new episode drops, you find out right away. Back in two minutes right here on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast powered by Bet 365. Whatever the sport, the app to bet is Circus Sports Illinois. Circus Sports, it’s sports betting the way it should be. Circus Sports Illinois has high betting limits. Low holds and exceptional customer service. Bet on all your favorite teams in every game this season. Football underway. 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And they also offer individual team plans that are $19.99 a month that give you access to the games of the team you select like the Blackhawks or the Bulls or the White Socks. You can sign up to watch CHSN at chsn.com or you can watch via the chsn app which can be downloaded on Apple and Android devices, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Samsung TV. CHSN is also available on Xfinity, Direct TV, DirecTV Stream, and Fubo. Visit chsn.com for more details on how to watch your favorite teams or those three. All right, we are back on CHDO Blackhawks. Hit that like button for us and let’s get back to the mailbag. What do we got next, Sarah? This one from James. Uh, it says, “Not a question.” You right there, buddy? Yeah. All right. Down the wrong tube. Says, “Not a question, but a shout out to Mario and Jay and Greg for the courage and vulnerability to talk about men’s mental health and her own journeys here, setting amazing examples. Thank you. Uh, put that in a mailbag so you can once again promote your Movember challenge.” Thanks, James. Uh yeah. Uh if some of you have watched and noticed, my face looks different different than usual. Um I am sporting a what I mean, what’s the percentage of mustache to beard here? 90 to 10. Yeah, I would say that’s about right. 90% of a mustache to beard ratio. But uh doing it for Movember uh which is to uh raise awareness and funds for uh men’s health initiatives like mental health uh suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer uh research and funding. So uh you can go to movevember.com uh search my name and uh if you feel so inclined uh you can donate uh to my page there to help fundra for all of those initiatives. Uh or you could, you know, if you wanted to do your own uh fundraising efforts and mustache if you are so inclined. Um because I I I think, you know, cancer is something that reaches everybody. Um and mental health is also something that uh reaches everybody in some way, shape or form. And I feel like, you know, men of, you know, this generation I I feel like are kind of starting to curve the other way with discussions and and openness about that. But I think there’s still a lot that can be said and can be done to kind of make sure that it’s, you know, it’s known. And there’s more uh examples of just like it’s totally normal to, you know, if you’re a guy, say like, “Hey, not having a great day or having a rough stretch, needing support, uh, and being able to reach out and um feel like you’re getting that support.” So, uh, yeah, that’s that’s not just a month-long thing like it’s just a reoccurring everyday kind of thing for some people, but this November, obviously, every November is an opportunity to bring awareness and funds for all of that. So, I am participating in that this month. And I think we uh the three of us really do talk about our mental health and our therapy and all those things. Um I’ll speak for myself and just to kind of normalize it, make people realize that that therapy is not just for people who are going through episodes or whatever it might be, which the old, you know, the old stereotype is, oh, you have a therapist, so like what’s wrong with you? There’s nothing wrong with me. You know, I’ve been going to therapy every week since uh 2017. Uh I went in response to the passing of my sister. Um but since then, I have grown into a better person, a better father, a better husband, a better friend, everything. And a better me because now the things that used to keep me up at night and and weigh on me um in comparison to a lot of people aren’t a big deal. There’s a lot millions and millions of people have it worse than me. I recognize my privilege and how blessed I’ve been growing up, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t need to take care of myself and keep myself uh in good mental shape for uh the people around me. So, I made that commitment and it is the best day of the week. I love Wednesdays at 10:00. It is my favorite day of the week. I look forward to it all the time and uh couldn’t recommend therapy enough uh to anyone who I don’t even need to say anyone who anyone period. Yeah, absolutely. there there’s no you don’t need to you don’t need to check a box to use uh therapy. It’s it’s very very good for you. And of course, aside from mental health, physical health, get your prostate exams, go see your doctors, go to the dentist once a year, these are things that when I was younger, I wasn’t so uh keen on doing, but you’ll feel better when you do it because uh whether you go to the doctor or not, that thing is still going to be wrong with you. So, you might as well get it taken care of and uh handled early instead of uh having a crisis uh because you put things off. So, take care of yourselves and in turn you’re taking care of the other people in your life by taking care of yourself. Absolutely. So, there you go. All right. Enough of this nonsense wussy stuff. Yeah. Give me an RC. Yeah. Come on. Let me punch somebody. All right. Heisenberg the 14th says, “Over Kyle Davidson’s four drafts as GM of the Blackhawks. Three have concluded with him making three first round selections, including twice in 2023. Looking ahead to the 2026 draft, the Hawks already hold two first round picks. They own their own and Florida’s. Do you think there’s a greater likelihood that Davidson packages those picks to move up or trades later selections to move back into the first round for a third time? So, of those two options, is it more likely he moves up or trades later picks to move back into the first? Well, I think the second scenario is more likely. I think it Yeah, I they have uh those two first round picks and three second round picks in this year’s draft. So, you got five picks in the first two rounds. Um, I think it’ll depend on where their own first round pick lands because let’s let’s say hypothetically they’re not in the lottery with one of the best three odds, right? Right. That seems more like there’s a higher percentage that that might be the case now than it was a month ago. Um, so if let’s say if you’re if you’re picking 10th, 11th, 12th, something like that, I you might say like Kyle Davidson might think like, okay, can we get into the top 10 by trying to do some sort of package to use that maybe that pick is number 12. Can we get to seven or eight or something like that and see what he can do to to improve that pick? But I think if I still think even if that scenario is the case where their their own pick is like, you know, a double- digit number in the first round. I still think he’s of the mindset that more first round darts at the board the better because you might be a because you might package your two first round picks to move up into the top eight or top five or whatever and you get your one first round guy and if he doesn’t pan out then you’re like well we mortgaged for this one guy and it and didn’t end up working. Now the again top five picks usually pan out. Yeah, you get something out of and Cal Davidson’s picks have been pretty good for the most part. Um, but I still think like the the higher likelihood is that he’s going to try and do something to get another first round pick because even though things are going really well, even though you have arguably one of the top three prospect pools and you have a lot of young guys already contributing, you still want to make sure you have more to work with. Yeah. and more to kind of recycle as as players, you know, go through the the the NHL. I I really like Kyle Davidson’s aggressive drafting. I think that he is uh when he identifies something he wants, he does his best to go get it. There have been a few times where he’s tried and missed, like when he tried to get Demidov and Levchov, didn’t work out. It takes two to tango, which is a phrase I made up last year, as you might remember. Um, but I’m wondering now, and I think we’ll get a more clear picture as a draft approaches and maybe even the trade deadline approaches. With the cap going up and fewer free agents becoming available, are draft picks going to be viewed as like more valuable to teams now because a couple reasons. A, you have fewer opportunities to dra to acquire elite players aside from drafting them, right? And so I feel like high draft picks, first round draft picks are going to have an even bigger premium than they’ve had before. Mhm. Um at the same time though, they also now because of that probably hold more value in trade. So if you’re looking to acquire a player or you’re trying to move up, I think the appeal of well that’s two first round picks for one and are only moving up three or four spots that’s probably worth it for us to do. It’s I I don’t know the answer, but I think we’re going to get a pretty clear picture because this is this is considered a pretty pretty deep deep draft. It’s not Gavin McKenna and everybody else. This is what I you’d say probably five or six heavy at the top. Yeah, I would I would say that McKenna is obviously the top tier guy, but yeah, I’d say behind him there’s at least four or five, six players that I think five or six um that I think are are right in that next tier of where you’re like, yeah, those are still guys that are like high-end probably cornerstone players. Um, so there’s there’s value in, you know, if you’re if you’re not winning the lottery, still being in that top five, if you’re a team trying to to get that game changer, like there’s still value in doing that. So, our buddy Wendy City Hockey says at this point in the rebuild, we don’t need more first round picks. I feel try to package it and move up. There is the concern of like available roster spots, right? Like, so I mean, of course, you can always draft and develop and then trade those guys. um to make if you really can’t fit them all. If they all pan out and they’re all wonderful and you can only dress 12 forwards and six defenseman at a time, you just have too many great young players, it’s a nice problem to have. But I wouldn’t mind them trying to take quantity, two, three picks to move up to get someone they feel is going to be a game-changing, you know, top six long-term Yeah. partner for Conor Bard or another high-end offensive weapon because you feel like you have a pretty high-end offensive weapon with Frank Nazar. It remains to be seen whether he’s going to be like a point per game guy for his whole career. I still think probably not, but Bard’s on his way. He’s on 101 point pace right now. But if you could find another guy somewhere in the point per game to 100 point range, then you’re really starting to talk about, okay, this is a team that can win and compete for a really long time. Um, I don’t know who that is aside from Gavin McKenna at this point. We’ll do plenty of draft research as the draft approaches, but I don’t mind the idea of packaging several if you really identify this is a guy who is going to for sure in our minds help us and put us over the hump. Um I’m all for that. I’m I’m all for packaging and moving up, especially if it’s going to be in like the top 10 or something like that. So yeah, I I I think I think the changing landscape of how teams are going to be built, how teams get talent with, you know, the the salary cap changing and free agents and trade markets and how they’re all evolving. I I think we’re seeing drafting becoming even more important. Yeah. And Kyle Davidson, I think, has been on that track since he’s been GM of having to reload the Blackhawks prospect system and and he’s done a fine job of being able to do that. There was a really interesting article done by Shaina Goldman of The Athletic uh last week and the long and short of it is of the top 150 uh players in the NHL that the Athletic did their their tiers listing going into this season, uh it says here 91 of them were acquired by the team that has them via the draft. Okay? like that is the the the top 10 in tier one uh were all selected by the all are playing for the team that drafted them uh and eight of those 10 were first round picks. So like as as we move on into the new salary cap world of the black of the of the NHL and not every team is just going to go out and just buy every free agent that they want. big money guys might not hit free agency, all all that. Like, you have to be able to draft well and develop well and scout well. And I think the Blackhawks have have done that early on so far in Kyle Davidson’s tenure. And I don’t think there’s any reason to think that that’ll really change. So, if he needs to feel like we’re still getting more darts at the board, I still think he’ll this route he will go let’s do three first round picks rather than one really good one. And another metric here, where were thoseund and top top 150 players uh on that list? Where were they drafted? Uh quick math here. 61 of the 150 were either in the top five or first round. Okay. Or I’m sorry, were all first round picks. 61 of the 150 were first round picks. So again, more darts at the board in that first round gives you the better likelihood that you’re going to come away with a player that will eventually be one of the top in the NHL. That’s if you I mean even if you go to like Hockey DB and look back at you know drafts round by round you you can just even without reading the numbers you can see the first round and it will have like NHL results next to them. Yeah. First round is most of those guys have had some NHL success, varying levels of success, but success. Second round much thinner. Third round much thinner. Like it just Yeah. Unlike any other sport, picking in the first round in the NHL makes a huge, huge difference. So, all right, we are late for the break zone. Sorry everybody. We know you’ve been looking forward to that. Uh, hit that like button for us. We’ll be back in two minutes. A couple good points made in the chat here that we’ll get to on the other side of the break. Whatever the moment, it’s never ordinary at Bet 365. And with the Bet 365 NHL early payout offer, you’re a winner if your team gains a threegoal lead. You’ll get an instant payout on straight bets and parlay selections marked as winners. So download the app and use our code cho 365 when you sign up. Deposit 10 bucks, place a bet for five, and you’ll get $200 in bonus bets if your bet wins or loses. And you could use those bonus bets on spreads, totals, player props, futures, and more, whatever the moment. It’s never ordinary at bet 365. So again, use our code ch0365. Deposit 10 bucks, place a bet for five to get $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. You must be 21 plus. And if you or somebody you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1800 gambler. And a reminder, this offer is inapp only. 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Download the app, create an account, use the code cho, and when you do, you’re going to get $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Tap ticket go download the Game Time app today. And now it’s time for Taking the Temp presented by your trusted local experts at Four Seasons Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electric. Visit fourseasons heatingcooling.com for all their special offers and money-saving coupons. That’s four seasonasons heatingcooling.com. A couple comments in the chat regarding uh draft strategy and pick strategy. One from Brian Magnus says, “Trade prospects and picks for legitimate top six goal scorers. Easier said than done, obviously.” I mean, yeah, that’s that’s kind of what I was talking about was our teams going to be willing to trade top six scorers now because no one’s really going to run into any cap issues for a while here with the cap going up. So, that would be great. Yeah. It just remains to be seen who’s going to be available. Yeah. No, and and I I think and I think there’s a question about that uh prospect of doing that um that we can get to uh in a few minutes here. But I I think you also got to think what’s the motivation for some of those teams if they feel like well in in a different world we couldn’t pay this guy so we got to try and get something for him. Now they can, right? And who’s really going to be available? Like so the Penguins are selling, are they? But well, maybe not. They’re having a good game. We thought they would. I I do think the the uh correction is coming for them. But Sydney Crosby, I don’t think the Hawks are in a position to trade for Sydney Crosby right now. Right. I don’t know. So that’s kind of where you have to look at too is what who are the teams trying to move on and start from scratch and there’s not many. Uh Simon on the other side of Brian’s argument says Davidson needs to be spending picks now and acquiring picks that are high in like five or six years to start building a new pipeline for the future. Well, see that that’s that’s why like the draft cabinet is still so full for the Hawks is that’s the idea is he wants to keep building. So 2026 draft two first, three seconds, a third, a fourth, and a seventh. 2027 a first two seconds 3rd fourth 6th 7th 28 1st 2 second 3rd fourth fifth 6th 7th so they’ve got a lot and I’m sure it’ll be more acquired as they go but I think that’s what Kyle Davidson’s looking at is and we talk about this all the time is the Dallas Stars have sort of provided a model for survival in the cap world of we are going to keep our players we’re going to acquire good players But we’re going to keep reloading, too. We’re going to keep having good young players come through the system here and trading your draft picks to try to, you know, ah, we’re going to try to get better at the deadline. We’re going to give up a first round pick for a guy who’s probably not worth a first round pick. Just my mind’s eye, I don’t remember Dallas doing that very often, like doing I mean, Miko Ratnon obviously is a different that’s a different thing. That was a different trade though. Different type of trade. Yeah, that’s a totally different thing. Yeah. Um, but in terms of like a quick fix to the deadline, maybe I’m wrong. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t feel like Dallas is the kind of team that g has given up a lot of really solid assets that they have or or that they didn’t do that and then also like keep the player beyond beyond that like you know like a short-term move or anything like that. No, I I I think that they they look they are the team right now that I think you look at and say, “How do you keep a contention window open beyond a three or fouryear span?” Because we’ll see teams kind of go for it and then crash out. But Dallas has been one of the top contenders for a number of years already and they still have good young players coming through the organization. And you you’re you’re talking about like a guy like, you know, Tyler Sean is still there and contributing. Mro Heiskin is one of the best defenseman in the NHL. Jake Odinger is one of the best goalenders in the NHL. You have Wyatt Johnson come in. Like it just kind of feels like, you know, Jason Robertson is has has come through. Now he’s a veteran guy, no longer just like a young upandcomer. Like he’s established himself and they still have like some really good players coming through. Maverick Bork’s another one that you got to you got to think about moving forward with them and the Stars. So like they’re still contending and they still have a good prospect system. Like that’s that’s the way you got to you got to go about it. And I think with the Blackhawks like they want to try and emulate that and now they’re getting they’re getting that first wave of those young guys coming through. But I mean this year’s draft you’re thinking about like okay you had three first round picks. One of them might be in the NHL by the end of this season with with Anton Fondell, but Mason West is still playing football in Minnesota currently. And Vaklav Nestrasil is is playing really well, but in his first year of college. So those two guys are probably two probably two years away for Nestrasil from thinking about like making that jump. And Mason West has is not even in college yet. like he’s probably three years of of hockey away from being in that conversation. Um, so I I think as we kind of like think about like these phases of these young guys coming through, it’s still going to be some time. We’re not saying, you know, Nestrasil is here next year and, you know, all these guys are finished products right now. No, like it it takes some time. Even Roman Canerov was in that 23 draft class and he still hasn’t even played in North America yet. He’s playing really well over in Russia, but it’s going to take some time. Merrick Vanaker is another guy that’s like it’s going to take some time as they as they come through, but he’s off to a hot start this season. Like they’ll they’re going to be coming through in waves as as the draft classes kind of evolve under Davidson’s uh tenure. I’m looking back at Jim Nil, the Stars GM trade history. uh going back to 2023, he traded Anton Hudobin in a second round pick, which I believe was Martin Mizak if I’m not mistaken for Max Doi and Dylan Wells. So that’s a that’s a trade deadline move. Well, and they did they not keep? I thought DOI played in the next year after that with Dallas went to Toronto. Okay. Yeah, you might be right. Um you’re probably right. You are right. So then you had they acquire Chris Tanv for a fourth. So that’s not, you know, that’s not really giving up your future. It’s a fourth round pick, right? Last year they traded a first and a third for Granlin and Cece at the deadline, but that is that’s a go for it move. That’s a we’re trying to win the Stanley Cup right now kind of a trade, but that’s really the only one. And of course, Rantin, who signed long term, right? Um, in recent history, that Granland CC trade is really the only one that was like, we’re gonna give up a first round pick for a rental. Okay. Um, and when you get to the point where the Dallas Stars are, when you’ve already acquired Miko Rant and you’re already having a great year and you feel like you can win the cup, that’s the time to do that. Not like if you were a team like just throwing it out there like Detroit, right? like is Detroit a team that should be given up a first round pick this year to make a cup run? Probably not, cuz they’re probably not cup contenders. So, it’s all in context. But I think point being, I think Dallas has laid a good foundation on how to compete and reload as years go on. All right, next mailbag question comes from Matt. This is about the Dallas Stars. And there we go. Matt says, “Listening to the guys talk about salary dumps, and acquisitions, I immediately thought about Dallas. Yes, the cap is rising, but with Harley signed at 10 and a half, Bourke and Robertson to resign to resign as well. Can they fit that in? I know they have Ben and the 1.4 million from Sudter coming off, but would you take on a year of Tyler Sean? If not, and they’re struggling, do you think we could trade some prospects and picks for Robertson? Um, I am not opposed to taking on a year of Tyler Sean. It would I mean, I’d have to see what it takes. Um, I’m not willing to give up a lot for him because you’re taking on 9.85. And look, we talked about this uh this week where they have to re they need to spend 20 million to hit the cap floor. Mhm. And 9.85 for one year for what will then be 34y old Tyler Sean. That makes them a better team. I mean, you think about like the Robert Lang acquisition right before the Hawks started competing. Mhm. Right. Like that that went a long way. And Tyler Sean’s a different guy than he was in his early 20s. Much different. So I wouldn’t hate if it’s if it’s simply cap relief and maybe you’re taking on an asset to take it on to help the Dallas Stars out so they can resign Jason Robertson. Yeah. I’m down with that. I also think do the Hawks have what it would take to trade for Jason Robertson? Yes. I definitely think so. Yes. 100%. Yeah, I I think they would have the ability to make that trade. Um I just think you’re talking about a team that’s trying to contend uh keep that contention window open as we were just talking about. You’re also in division. What’s Dallas’s motivation to give the Blackhawks Jason Robertson? Very low. Yeah. So, I I I think they’d probably be more motivated to give the Blackhawks Tyler Sean to keep Jason Robertson than to give them Jason Robertson. Um Sean to me, like he’s not off to a Sean like start to this season, five points through the first 12 games. Yeah. But he was he was hot last year and then gets injured. He’s always hot. Make no mistake, he’s a good-look guy. Sorry. Um is that allowed? And then so I think getting to the cap floor is going to be uh takes some creativity with from Kyle Davidson. Uh taking on almost $10 million in Tyler Sean that helps. Yeah. But also if he’s if he is a shell of himself, where does he play on this team and what does he do? I mean that’s a question and I’m not I’m not even considering that until this off season, right? Um, so then you’d have to see how this year works out for him. Um, people pointing out he does have a full no no movement clause, but like that’s ever stopped a trade. It’s almost never stops a trade. Almost never. Very very few instances where players that have that exercise. Also, Tyler Sean’s a guy look I I don’t think Tyler Sean’s ready to retire, right? So, he’s probably looking for a new deal. And if he looks at the opportunity to join the Hawks for a year, he’s saying, “All right, I’m probably playing with Conor Bernard or Frank Nazar. I’m going to be getting power play one or two time.” He’s going to get opportunities in Chicago where he won’t get in Dallas and can crank those numbers up a little bit. So, that could be appealing to him. Maybe. I don’t know. Oh, I I I just maybe I’m I’m chugging Kool-Aid here on the Blackhawks, but I’m I I I think I’m I’m looking at Tyler Sean and I’m looking at what the Hawks are doing and I’m looking at the players that they have and the guys that Kyle Davidson probably wants to give spots to and I just feel like yeah, you could take on the money and maybe you get some sort of sweetener from Dallas, but I just I don’t know if Dallas is interested in helping a a in divisional team. And I just don’t know if if Tyler Sean is 70% of what he was. Um if that’s like worth keeping a guy like Nick Lardis back or or keeping a spot from I don’t know Cancerov or Sure. But you’re you’re also you’re losing Dickson, you’re losing Lafery. Like there’s going to be some spots open for vets. Um, yeah. And I look, I want all those guys to play too. Fondelle, Canerov, Lardis, sure. Um, but beyond them, and that’s good, don’t get me wrong. Who is forward-wise like this guy’s ready? Spely maybe, but he’s not going to be a guy that’s going to challenge Tyler Sean for a role. No, they play they would play different. Sasha Ba. Yeah. Well, if I think the the young I don’t think you can go all like 24 and under as your forward group. It’s it’s impossible to do that. Not with that attitude. No, I No, I I I agree. Like there’s it’s it’s it’s a it’s a tough like double-edged sword because it’s just like you want to go super young, but also you can’t financially go super young, right? And it’s one year of Tywan. And if and if it doesn’t work, if he gets Sam Laughafer. Oh yeah. Or you Taylor Hall. I’m sure he’s not happy. But say, “Look, man, we’re going to trade for you until the deadline. We got some kids that we think are ready. If they’re ready, we’re going to get you somewhere else.” I mean, I don’t think he waves his no move clause to go to a situation. That’s that’s the selling point rather than I might just be a I might just be an anchor on Dallas. I’d rather be an anchor on Dallas than an anchor on Chicago at this point in time on his current contract. Yeah, Lafery, uh, Dickinson, Felino will be gone up front. Um, likely MKV, I think he’s going to be back maybe. Um, but I mean, there are spots for vets, but yeah, I don’t know. I I’m all for going young, but I I do think there is a desire here to be like a little more uh competitive and not just be super young all the time. City Hockey says if the Blackhawks do trade for Tyler Sean, they would have had the top two picks from the 2010 draft at one point in time, Taylor Hall and Tyler Sean. There you go. Perfect for that 2010’s cup run that they could have gone on. Yeah, there you go. All right, let’s get to the next one here. Uh, Warm Baddards says, “Maybe analytics tell a different story, but off the eye test, it seems like the Hawks get goalied quite often. Over the last few years, it seems like a lot of goalies have just stood on their heads and the Hawks can’t get any puck luck, but these goalies will face other teams, whether good or bad, or give up a few goals on a nightly basis until the Hawks play them.” Is there an analytical reason as to why that might be? I think if you’re looking in years past, just because you’re playing on top lines doesn’t mean you’re a topline player. And usually what defines a topline player is the ability to finish, the ability to put the puck in the back of the net. And I think they’ve lacked a lot of that uh over the last few years. Oh yeah. Um this year feels different. If we’re talking about this year, you had some interesting stats about um the power play uh shot attempts and all those sort of things. I noticed in our Discord, too, our our pal Dead Hawk had done some research uh regarding like where the Hawks are shooting from and they’re towards the bottom of the league and shooting from high danger areas. So, obviously high danger areas being in front of the net. Um now, you look at the heat maps at the end of the games and they look like they should look. There is a lot of traffic in front, but they also have a lot of perimeter shots because look, Baddard is a guy who likes to shoot from distance because he likes to find that lane and use that shot of his, which we like. They’re pretty point shot heavy. We saw last night, for example, a lot of times where the Hawks had kind of speed entering the zone and they would peed off and dump it back to the point. Um, so I think that’s part of the thing. So I think getting some in close chances will help convert. Um, I also think it’s a really small sample size this year. We’re only 13 games into the season. Yeah. Uh, they started the season with a really high PDO. They’re still up there, but the last couple games they’ve been like 94. Mhm. Uh, I think the Edmonton game there right over 100. Who’ they play before? Edmonton. Uh, Winnipeg. Winnipeg. That was another really low PDL game for them. Yeah. Yeah. So, Seattle and Winnipeg really really low where they probably should have had better results than they actually are. They’re they’re they’re still fourth in the league as far as PDIO goes. Uh 1.022 uh at all strengths at five on five. I believe they’re still second in PDIO. Let me check the old hockey natural statue. And Chuck Fee sort of adding to this says the Hawks have the 11th best shooting percentage so far this year. third third in PDIO uh at five on five, fourth in shooting percentage at five on five. Um all strength shooting percentage is also around the top five as well. One, two, three, four, five. Oh no, they’ve fallen down. One, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11th. 11th in shooting percentage at at all strength. So still again, you’re talking about top third in the league. um they’re they’re burying the chances that they are creating even though they are getting outchanced on average through the first 13 games of the season. Um I think about a 47% shot attempts for percentage. So not terrible, better than they have been in previous years, at least through the first 13 games. But um yeah, I I think the the the power play numbers that that I that you’re referencing, they are 19th in the NHL in power play opportunities this season, 21st in power play percentage, but they are uh second to last in uh shot attempts on the power play and tied for last in shots on goal on the power play. They have they have had 40 power plays this season. They have 40 power play shots on goal. That’s not good enough. That that can’t happen. So that’s when you get the opportunities, you got to you got to get more than one shot on average per power play on goal. Like last night’s game was a perfect illustration of that where it wasn’t one of those games where they had trouble entering the zone or even getting set up. They were set up all the time and they just passed into oblivion and then when they would finally get when they would try to shoot they would shoot it wide or try for the slap pass or whatever wide or Seattle did a good job of blocking shots last night. But the really good teams find ways to get those shots through or they take the Carolina Hurricanes mentality of see shot take shot it like crazy. Yes. Yeah. Um all right. I know we got time for one more. I know we got a super chat. We got to get to though too. Want to do that first? Sarah super chat. This from 2121 says Nick phone lardis. See it’s better in print than being read on a podcast. So we’ll put on the screen. Thank you 2121. Uh like new phone who this new phone who this uh Nick phone lardis. Gotcha. Thanks for the two bucks. Yeah. Appreciate it. Uh Aziz says mailbag question. When do the Blackhawks make the playoffs? This year. Woo. Oh, look at him get hot. I told you I was chugging the Kool-Aid next year. Yeah, when Tyer Sean’s here. Who Who will uh Alex Vlic pass the cup to first or Bard pass the cup to first? Oh man, who’s the captain going to be? He’s the captain of the next Blackhawk stand. I wrote about it for Blackhawks beat. If you’re a diehard, you could check that out. I chose Alex Vic as the next captain. So, he would hand it to uh the next oldest guy, Conor Murphy, maybe if he resigns. Not gonna happen. Uh I don’t know if we’re already We were already benching Connor Murphy earlier in this show, so we’ll have to see. Yeah. Do we have any leftover mail bags? Ah, yes, we got one more left over from the Discord. Uh Young Dangle God says, “An early draft comp for Oliver Moore in his draft year was Dylan Larkin. While we can all agree two players are never exactly the same, I see a lot of similarities. Do you see Moore’s ceiling being anywhere close to Dylan Lens? That’s interesting. Uh I I think Dylan Lurin um I think his profile is elevated a bit from being well he’s the best player in Detroit and has been for a number for a long stretch of time. So he was kind of elevated. He’s a he’s a really good player. Yeah. But I don’t know if he’s necessarily like this top echelon type player. Um, but having a huge year this year if uh if Oliver Moore can replicate that play style, uh, that’s a huge win. That’s a that’s a huge win because I think that is an absolute ceiling for Oliver Moore. Yeah, I think that’s I I think if you if you get Dylan Lurin out of Oliver Moore, um that’s that’s an A+ pick. Yeah, build a Kyle Davidson statue if that’s the case. Um it’s something to shoot for and I could see where the similarities were drawn. Uh I always think of Dylan Larkin as like a Jonathan Taves light, like good, like really good defensively, decent scorer, not great scorer. Speed was always his big thing. Yeah, with with Lurin like has been like that’s been his biggest biggest attribute. And I think with I think with Moore that’s this that’s the thing, but I don’t know if Lurin ever had the like can he create uh plays at the NHL level. Can he finish it? I think that was more or less like it’ll be it’ll it’ll get it’ll get there. um with Moore, he kind of had those those early on questions through college and um the transition to pro, but so far this year, he’s kind of answering those questions. Still very early to figure out what he is at the professional and NHL level, but I mean, yeah, I if if Oliver Moore becomes Dylan Larkin, that’s that’s amazing. Career high for Larkin was 2022 23, 79 points in 80 games, 32 goals, 47 assists. This year he’s got 18 points in 13 games, eight goals and 10 assists already. He is having a great year. Now he is shooting 21.6% sustainable. That will not continue. His career average is 11.2. Um but having a really good year on the best Detroit team he’s ever played on. There’s no doubt about that. Um so you know I think Dylan Larkin is kind of hard to judge because he’s been on teams that have been pretty much butt for a long time. Yeah. Like like opportunity is a big thing. Yeah. Oliver Moore is not likely playing 22 minutes a night as 20, you know, 21 21 and a2 20 and a half 20 20 20 and a half. Like those are those are that’s 1C numbers. That’s that’s yeah that’s top that’s top center minutes. I don’t know if Oliver Moore is going to be getting those opportunities. Um, but I I think if he can if he if he is a as Dylan as Dylan Lurin was Jonathan Ta’s light, if Oliver Moore is Dylan Lurin light, great. Sure. That’s fine. Like I’m I’m I will live with that because with Dylan Larkin, he had to be the best player on some bad Red Wings teams. As you were saying, Alvin Moore doesn’t have to do that, right? He’s got right now, I mean, where do you rank him in terms of Hawks forwards? Badar Nazar like overall terrain like fifth sixth that you know he’s no when he maxes out it’ll be higher than that but I think so at this moment he does not have that pressure on him at all which is good. No. Um all right before we go one final reminder about our uh deal going on right now for Hawks fans. Become a CHGO die hard for $36 for the entire year. Scan a QR code that’s on your screen right now or use our code hawks. When you sign up, go to allgo.com for more information. Yeah, that 36 bucks includes the free t-shirt uh right off the hop. 20% off all of our merch, takeovers, events, watch parties, everything. And uh 20% off all merch beyond your first free shirt. Uh you also get access to our great written content and our dieards only discord, which is where all the mailbag questions came from today. So, we highly encourage you to check out that offer. Again, allgo.com. Use our code hawks to take advantage of the $36 die hard offer uh going on right now. Do it quick. Great offer. It’s really saves on saves on events, which we still have tickets available for our final of three takeovers this year, which will be happening April 15th. It is the regular season finale at home Blackhawks and Sharks. Uh tickets still available for that. If you did want to go see Dylan in person, uh that was on December 13th. That’s our first of three takeovers. That’s sold out. January 19th, Jonathan Tasa’s return to the UC also sold out. So your last chance to hang out with us at the UC is April 15th. Do that. All right, we’re back tomorrow 8:30 pregame. All right, Hawks and Conucks. Another late night start. Lucas Reichel revenge game. Tyler Batuzi revenge game. It’s going to score that goal against Vancouver. I’m just going to count this time. Ah, Lucas Reichel looking for his first point as a Canuck after six games. Maybe it’ll come tomorrow against the Hawks. Talk to you then. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
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Nick Lardis is turning heads in the AHL — but could he be the next Chicago Blackhawks call-up? The CHGO Blackhawks crew breaks down Lardis’ impressive start, what his development means for Jeff Blashill’s roster, and how he compares to fellow prospects like Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar. Plus, we discuss Connor Bedard’s continued growth and what’s next for the Blackhawks’ young core. Join Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabassi for all things Blackhawks on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast!
00:00 Start
02:00 Nick Lardis
08:25 Mailbag Tuesday & Nick Lardis
22:00 Kyle Davidson & trades
34:00 Trade prospects?
41:50 Tyler Seguin
48:30 Puck on net
53:30 Playoffs?
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1 comment
Mario needs to shave the beard, keep the stasche. He look like every Italian stereotype on every pizza box on Earth.