Chicago Blackhawks finalize roster before Tuesday’s season opener: Connor Bedard makes the cut, Taylor Hall adds to his lineup
Good Tuesday #GoodTuesday
Over the weekend, Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall made an addition to his lineup.
He and his wife, Rachel, welcomed a baby boy on Sunday.
“Pretty long process,” Hall said after practice Monday at Fifth Third Arena. “We’re there for 30 hours, but it’s all worth it, obviously.”
“I’m glad everything worked out and most of all that my wife and my baby are healthy,” he said. “Now I’m ready to start another new journey with the group here.”
Hall will miss his newly expanded family for nearly two weeks as the Hawks open the season with a five-game road trip, starting with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday followed by the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.
“I feel about the same, maybe just a bit tired,” he said about becoming a father. “But a hotel room’s sleep will do me good tonight, and I’m ready to see what everyone says: You get a boost when you’re a first-time dad, and I’m interested to see what that feels like.”
The Hawks hit the road often in the first half of the season, but Hall’s looking at the bright side.
“I’m home that much more in February, when he’s 3 or 4 months old and he’s much more aware of his surroundings. We’re only gone, Iike, one time,” he said.
Hall has a lot going on with a new son, a new team and new linemates in Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato. It has made parting ways with his old team, the Bruins, more palatable.
“I had a lot of time to prepare for it mentally this offseason,” said Hall, who was acquired in a June trade. “It’s been an easy group to come into.”
Other veterans on the Hawks “know what it’s like to switch teams, to move around a lot, and that’s made it really easy on me and my wife. And having the baby yesterday, it’s worked out all really well. If we could have planned it any better I don’t know how we would have done that.
“It’s been a good transition now, I’m looking forward to playing hockey and starting a fun new journey with this team.”
The Hawks finalized their roster as they closed out training camp. They’ll carry 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.
Here’s how the forward lines and power-play units shake out.
Projected lineup
F1: Taylor Hall, Connor Bedard, Ryan Donato
F2: Tyler Johnson, Lukas Reichel, Taylor Raddysh
F3: Boris Katchouk, Cole Guttman, Andreas Athanasiou
F4: Corey Perry, Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno
Reserve: MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson
D1: Alex Vlasic, Seth Jones
D2: Kevin Korchinski, Connor Murphy
D3: Jarred Tinordi, Wyatt Kaiser
Reserve: Nikita Zaitsev
Goaltenders: Petr Mrazek, Arvid Soderblom
Projected power play
PP1
Point: Seth Jones
Left: Taylor Hall
Right: Connor Bedard
Bumper: Ryan Donato
Net: Corey Perry
PP2
Point: Kevin Korchinski
Left: Taylor Raddysh
Right: Lukas Reichel
Bumper: Tyler Johnson
Net: Nick Foligno
Notes
It’s sinking in for Bedard that his NHL debut will become a reality Tuesday. “Yesterday (Sunday) I woke up and yesterday was a long day waiting for everything here,” he said. “I’m so excited. It’s hard to think about and realize it’s true, but it’s really exciting.”
Philipp Kurashev, a top-six forward, will miss the start of the season with a left wrist injury. Coach Luke Richardson didn’t rule out Kurashev joining the trip at some point: “He’s got another doctor’s appointment this week so we’ll have to wait and see on that. But he took a step today.”
Defensemen Jones and Korchinski will play prominent roles on their power play units. Richardson said, “We want to promote shots and maybe even the middle bumper guy sliding to the net and have two guys at the net and getting pucks down there and outmanning the one defenseman (penalty kill units) still have down at the net. … The other team has to play a skinnier style and honor that in the middle and it’ll give our big shooters on the outside more room to get inside the dots.“
Entwistle walked the tightrope all preseason but made the cut after finishing strong in camp. Richardson said, “Probably needs to get a little stronger. … He’s a guy that’s intangible where you can play him at center, on left wing, right wing, in front of the net on the power play … or on the penalty kill. So he’s got some versatility and that helps, too.”
Defenseman Isaak Phillips was sent down to Rockford. “Tough when you’re the last choice to go down off our list,” Richardson said. “I told him he made such great big strides. I thought he played more assertively. … But I think he can even take a step more and be the man out there. That’s my ice. Command it and show that where people even stop dumping it in your corner.”