Morning Chirps: Awful news for Barkov & Panthers, injuries piling up across the league

It’s gameday here at Blackhawk Up! The Chicago Blackhawks will play the St. Louis Blues later tonight. We’ll have a preview post this afternoon, featuring rosters and highlighting three key things to watch. After the game, I’ll give you some of my thoughts and musings on what went down. Enjoy your Saturday!

Blackhawks Chirps

• Blackhawks fans are excited about the future with a bevy of talented young prospects coming up through the system. The hopes are to be a playoff team and a championship contender within the next couple of years. Jeff Maroon looked at some of the other up-and-coming teams the Blackhawks might have to deal with when their window opens.

• Meanwhile, Jim Lynch feels that Arvid Soderblom has an excellent opportunity to prove his worth this season. He certainly looked good in Tuesday’s preseason loss to the Detroit Red Wings by making 40 saves.

• Speaking of goaltenders, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times caught up with Drew Commesso, who feels he’s NHL-ready. This piece includes an excellent quote from head coach Jeff Blashill’s press conference yesterday. Be sure to check it out.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call: Sept. 27: Al MacNeil, Wally Boyer, and Michel Archambault.

NHL Chirps

• I’ve been saying all summer that the only thing that will prevent the Florida Panthers from winning a third straight Stanley Cup is injuries. Matthew Tkachuk will be out until December, and now they have received some awful news regarding captain Aleksander Barkov. The team announced that he underwent surgery to repair injuries to his ACL and MCL. His timeline for recovery is 7-9 months, which means the earliest he could return is the second round of the postseason.

• Don’t forget, the Blackhawks have the Panthers' first-round pick this year from the Seth Jones trade. Now, I’m saying this will become a lottery pick, but it certainly looks like it could come a lot earlier than initially expected. Start the Sidney Crosby to Florida rumors now.

• Utah Mammoth goaltender Connor Ingram cleared waivers. This could actually make facilitating a trade easier because now the team acquiring knows they can send him to the American Hockey League, if need be.

• Vancouver Canucks winger Nils Hoglander is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, which is believed to be a sprained ankle. The 25-year-old had eight goals and 25 points last season.

• Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Reinbacher will miss a month with a broken hand. The fifth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft has suffered a significant injury in back-to-back preseasons. A knee injury kept him out of action until February last year.

• Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Joel Blomqvist will be out for at least four weeks with a lower-body injury. The Penguins will already be without forwards Kevin Hayes and Rutger McGroarty for the start of the regular season.  

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Sept. 27: Tommy Smith, Dennis Kearns, Frank Bathe, Paul Mulvey, Merlin Malinowski, Miroslav Frycer, Daymond Langow, Jeff Cowan, Aarom Rome, Jay Bouwmeester, and Ryan Murray.