The Blackhawks are back in action on Thursday to wrap up their two-game road trip to begin the 2025-26 season. They’ll look to bounce back against the Boston Bruins after falling 3-2 to the Florida Panthers on opening night.
Also in Blackhawks news, Alex Vlasic is expected to make his season debut after missing Tuesday’s game. The young Blackhawks’ blue line struggled without Vlasic in the lineup against the Panthers. More in the links on the defensive stats/analytics from the opener.
Around the league, Jack Eichel is the latest NHL superstar to sign a long-term deal, while the Edmonton Oilers made another transaction late on Wednesday night.
All that & more in the Daily!
Chicago Blackhawks Recap, News & Tidbits
Chicago Hockey Now: Four of the six defensemen in the lineup for Chicago were 24 years old or younger, including 21-year-old Sam Rinzel, who led the team with over 25 minutes played vs. the Panthers. It wasn’t the best night for the Blackhawks’ young blue line, but there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road for the inexperienced group from time to time. Especially against the champs.
More CHN: ICYMI, the Blackhawks put up a valiant effort against the two-time defending champs, and Spencer Knight was stellar in his homecoming in Sunrise. But the Panthers still managed to come away with a 3-2 win in the season opener. Here are all the key stats and takeaways from the Blackhawks’ first game.
There’s been a lot of talk about Connor Bedard looking faster than ever as he enters his third NHL season. Well, we finally got to see some of the skating statistics after the first game of the year, and the numbers back up that statement. Bedard’s top speed on Tuesday was 22.36 miles per hour, which is nearly a full mile per hour faster than he recorded all of last season. Bedard also recorded two bursts of over 22 mph, which is the same amount he recorded in his first two years in the league.
NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now
The Athletic: Which teams have the best forward group entering the 2025-26 season? Two members of The Athletic’s staff ranked all 32 NHL clubs on Wednesday.
NHLdotcom: The Oilers began the day by signing veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm to a three-year contract, and they ended it with another roster addition. Edmonton inked free-agent center Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $1.5 million deal.
Vegas Hockey Now: JACKPOT! After Kirill Kaprizov, Connor McDavid, and Kyle Connor received massive extensions recently, Jack Eichel finally joined the party. The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they signed Eichel to an eight-year, $108 million contract ($13.5 million AAV) that runs through the 2033-24 season.
More Vegas Hockey Now: Speaking of Eichel, he tallied four points (1G, 3A) in the Knights’ 6-5 shootout loss in their season opener on Wednesday. Mitch Marner also tallied two points in his debut with Vegas. Hannah Kirkell from VHN provided the key takeaways from the defeat to the Los Angeles Kings.
San Jose Hockey Now: What does Macklin Celebrini think a good leader is? The San Jose Sharks revealed their leadership group for the 2025-26 season, and Celebrini is one of four players named as an alternate captain. Sheng Peng from SJHN wrote up what the 2024 No. 1 overall pick had to say about the honor.
Montreal Hockey Now: The Canadiens fell to the Maple Leafs 5-2 in their traditional season-opening matchup on Wednesday. 22-year-old rookie Oliver Kapanen at least gave the Habs fans something to cheer about early, as he tallied his first NHL goal less than six minutes into the game.
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