Morning Chirps: Frondell, Kantserov off to hot starts, Ovechkin gives Capitals a scare

The first day of Chicago Blackhawks training camp was a newsworthy day, to go along with an intense session on the ice. Plus, two European prospects are finding the scoresheet. Meanwhile, in the Pacific Division, a future Hall of Famer is calling it a career, while a promising young forward skips the first day of camp.

Blackhawks Chirps

• John Bloomer included two former first-round picks in his three Blackhawks who have the most to prove at training camp. Which one will have the best showing?

• As training camp got underway, general manager Kyle Davidson shared some more bad medical news about goaltender Laurent Brossoit.

• This training camp is different than any other Davidson has overseen. He has a lot of his recent draft picks in Chicago, who are looking to make the jump to the NHL. This is causing him to evaluate the talent differently than he did in years past.

• We’ve seen plenty of footage of Connor Bedard’s offseason training, and we finally got to see him do his thing at the Fifth Third Arena. Thanks to Scott Powers’ camera, we have this highlight to be excited about.

While we are excited about the group of prospects at training camp, there are two more in Europe who are off to a good start. Anton Frondell picked up his first career Swedish Hockey League assist on Thursday.

• Meanwhile, in Russia, Roman Kantserov has two goals and five points in his first six games of the season.

• The newest episode of the Second Balcony is out, as Frank Nova and I break down the start of training camp and discuss how good the defensive group looks going forward.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Sept. 19: Andre Boudrias and Luke Johnson.

NHL Chirps

• The biggest news to come out of the first day of NHL training camps was Anze Kopitar’s big announcement. The Los Angeles Kings’ captain confirmed that this will be his final NHL season. The two-time Stanley Cup winner will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and yet remains criminally underrated. For my money, he was the best two-way center of this generation.  

• Staying in California, Mason McTavish was nowhere to be seen for the first day of Anaheim Ducks camp. The young forward is still without a contract and is skating with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s. According to Pierre Lebrun, there were talks as recent as Monday, but he feels like this has the makings of a lengthy holdout.

• The Washington Capitals got a scare yesterday as captain Alex Ovechkin left the team’s first skate of the season. Head coach Spencer Carbury said the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer is dealing with a mild lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Sept 19: Ed Westfall, Gilbert Dionne, Dan Bylsma, Rick DiPietro, Joni Pitkane, Nick Spaling, Maxim Tsyplakov, Nolan Patrick, Simon Benoit, and Jack Quinn.