Morning Chirps: Frondell still sits, Golden Knights still being villains

Monday was a busy day for the Chicago Blackhawks. They are reportedly losing a key veteran forward, a young forward is impressing on the international stage, while another is still waiting to play in a game. Let’s get Chirping!

Blackhawks Chirps

• We learned yesterday that Illy Mikheyev’s negotiation rights are available, as it appears that he is not re-signing with the Blackhawks. It’s easy to understand why Mikheyev is looking for greener pastures. He’ll be 32 shortly after the start of the season, and with a mediocre free agent market, this is his last chance to sign a nice contract. The Blackhawks shouldn’t invest more than two years in Mikheyev. Some may wonder why Kyle Davidson didn’t trade him at the deadline. Two reasons: he was hoping to re-sign him, and he was out of retention slots, and most of the teams that would have been calling on Mikheyev would not have been available to squeeze him under the cap.

• I explored the possibility of the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues becoming trade partners this offseason.

• Nestor Quixtan feels that the Blackhawks can make a killing by trading the fourth overall pick.

• Team USA’s gold medal defense is off to a rocky start at the IIHF World Championship. They are now 1-2 in preliminary place after a 6-2 loss to Finland on Monday. Oliver Moore had a beautiful primary assist to set up Matt Coronato’s goal, which tied the game at 1-1 early. Wyatt Kaiser was a minus-3 in the opening game of the tournament, which got him taken out for the second game. He was back in the lineup versus Finland, but was on the ice for another three goals against. Team USA will be back in action on Wednesday against Germany.

• Sweden is now 1-2 after a 4-3 loss to Chechia. Maybe they should be playing Anton Frondell, who has yet to make his tournament debut. He wasn’t impressive in the pre-tournament games, but this lineup is not working, so why not play him?

• In other tournament action, Canada beat Denmark 5-1 as Sidney Crosby assisted on four of the five goals. Switzerland exploded for five goals in the second period on their way to a 6-1 victory over Germany.

• On this date in 1995, the Blackhawks eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 5-2 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Joe Murphy scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the final frame. Denis Savard had a goal and two assists to lead the way with three points.

• In 2009, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. Jonathan Toews scored both Blackhawks’ goals in regulation before Mikael Samuelsson won the game in extra time.

• In 2015, the Blackhawks played the longest game in franchise history, beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in triple overtime of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossa scored power-play goals in the first period. The Blackhawks didn’t score again until Marcus Kruger found the back of the net at 16:12 of the third overtime to send the series to Chicago tied 1-1.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 19: Wayne Van Dorp, Mark Janssens, Denis Arkhipov, Michael Leighton, and Jack Skille.

NHL Chirps

• The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens gave us another entertaining game to close out their second-round series. The overtime affair was only the second one-goal game of the seven games played. The Canadiens opened the scoring, which has been a good thing in this series. They took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to goals from Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc. Jordan Greenway was credited with a goal late in the second period when Mattias Samuelsson’s shot grazed his leg on its way to the back of the net. Rasmus Dahlin tied the game early in the third period by sneaking below the left faceoff dot and beating Jakub Dobes. In overtime, Alex Newhook was the hero again as his seemingly harmless shot beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the glove side. The series-clinching goal was his seventh of the postseason and sixth of the series. His only other goal was the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. The Canadiens are the youngest team to advance to a conference final since the 1993 Montreal team. Their series with the Carolina Hurricanes will open on Thursday.

• The Vegas Golden Knights have no problem being the villain, especially this season. But what they are doing to Bruce Cassidy might be an all-time low. Firing him with eight games left in the regular season is one thing, but not granting any team permission to talk to him is just bush league. According to Pierre Lebrun, the Golden Knights have not granted any team permission to speak with their former coach. Andy Strickland takes it even further, reporting that they have blocked the Los Angeles Kings from interviewing him, as they have already done to the Edmonton Oilers.

• Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin revealed that goaltender Filip Gustavsson will undergo hip surgery during the offseason. There is no timeline for recovery yet, so it’s uncertain if he’ll be ready for training camp in September.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, May 19: Murray Murdoch, Alex Shibicky, Bob Hess, Carey Wilson, Marc Bureau, Andreas Johansson, Jason Botterill, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Connor Hellebuyck, Michael Carcone, and Oliver Kylington.

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