It’s time to start the work week with a fresh batch of Morning Chirps. Prospects remain the hot topic with the Chicago Blackhawks, while two Hall of Fame veterans contemplate their futures beyond this season. Additionally, if the Blackhawks have an extra goalie to trade, a leading partner is emerging.

Blackhawks Chirps

In case you missed it yesterday, we continued our Blackhawks Prospects Rankings & Reviews with players 25-21, some of whom have already made their NHL debuts.

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times featured 2025 first-round pick Mason West, whose play at quarterback helps him on the ice.

I’ll be doing another Blackhawks Q&A this week, so throw any questions you might have in the comments, or find me on X and BlueSky.

On this date in 1998, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim named Craig Hartsburg their third head coach in franchise history, replacing Pierre Page. He had spent the previous three seasons as the head coach of the Blackhawks, compiling a record of 104-102-40. After making the Stanley Cup playoffs in his first season, Hartsburg was fired 33 games into the 2000-01 season.

Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, July 21: Lou Trudel, Dutch Reibel, Phil Russell, and Lyle Odelein.

NHL Chirps

According to Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins, the Edmonton Oilers had interest in goaltender Arturs Silovs. However, the Vancouver Canucks had no interest in moving him within the Pacific Division, so they traded him to the Penguins. This shows that Stan Bowman will continue to look for a goaltender before the start of the season. The Blackhawks might have three healthy NHL netminders in training camp—just something to keep tabs on.

During an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio earlier this week, Los Angeles Kings general manager Ken Holland said that captain Anze Kopitar’s camp has indicated that he isn’t looking to sign a new deal at this time and intends to take a year-by-year approach moving forward. The 37-year-old center is entering the final year of his contract. The two-time Selke Trophy winner has spent his entire career with the Kings, scoring 440 goals and 1,278 points in 1,454 games.

Speaking of future Hall of Famers entering the last year of their contract, Alex Ovechkin confirmed to Russian reporters over the weekend that he hasn’t had any contract extension talks with the Washington Capitals.

Defenseman Ty Smith signed a one-year KHL contract with Dinamo Minsk. The 25-year-old blueliner was the 17th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He made the 2021 All-Rookie team but could not cement his spot in the NHL. The Devils traded Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins for John Marino in 2022. He was then sent to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024 as part of the Jake Guentzel trade. He heads to Russia with nine goals and 49 points in 131 NHL games.

NHL Birthday Roll Call, July 21: Johnny Peirson, Bill Flett, Kirill Marchenko, and Ty Dellandrea.