Morning Chirps: Hughes extension update, Marchand has surgery

We had a busy Saturday here at Blackhawk Up as we ramp up our Chicago Blackhawks coverage heading into a new season. Get caught up on all the content before tackling that Sunday crossword puzzle!

Blackhawks Chirps

• Spencer Lazary pondered the future of goaltender Arvid Soderblom, who might end up on the trade block.

• Gail Kauchak looked at the career milestone new Blackhawks defenseman Ian Cole will hit this season.

• Brooke LoFurno thinks that Roman Kantserov can take the Blackhawks’ offense to new heights.

• Nester Quixtan wrote that the Blackhawks may have gotten a massive gift for next year from the Florida Panthers.

• Finally, I continue our Blackhawks Number History series by looking at numbers 16 to 20.

• On this date in 1996, the Blackhawks traded superstar Jeremy Roenick to the Phoenix Coyotes for Alexei Zhamnov, Craig Mills, and a first-round draft pick. Zhamnov had a productive run for the Blackhawks, scoring 140 and 424 points in 528 games over eight seasons. However, he was never going to win over the fanbase that loved Roenick and was mad at Bill Wirtz for trading him.

• In 2020, the Blackhawks extended their playoff run inside the Edmonton bubble by beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1. Drake Caggiula and Matthew Highmore opened the scoring with first-period tallies. Vegas drew to within one before Alex DeBrincat iced the game with a late empty-net goal. Corey Crawford was incredible with 48 saves in his final win for the Blackhawks.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Aug. 16: Eddie Olczyk.

NHL Chirps

• Quinn Hughes has yet to sign a contract extension with the Minnesota Wild despite the belief that both sides want to get one done. Many have speculated that he’ll sign a three-year deal, making him an unrestricted free agent at the same time as his brother Jack. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that multiple sources have told him that Hughes still intends to extend in Minnesota. However, the rapidly changing market for high-end players has complicated the process.

• The Florida Panthers had their Stanley Cup reign derailed by a slew of injuries last season that kept the two-time and defending champs from making the postseason. This season isn’t getting off to the greatest start either. Brad Marchand was supposed to play in Zdeno Chara’s farewell game next week, but he announced that he is now unavailable. He revealed that he wanted to avoid surgery after suffering a hip and sports hernia injury last March. However, rest alone was not doing the trick, so he recently went under the knife. Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards suggested that Marchand could be out for up to two months, which would cause him to miss the start of the season.

• Speaking of injured players, the status of Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko remains in the air. He had hip surgery during the season to repair an injury that limited him to just 43 games over the past two years. He has been skating and doing some work on the ice, but Elliotte Friedman recently reported no firm timeline for his return. His availability for the start of training camp is still in doubt.  

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Aug. 16: Nick Harbaruk, Randy Rota, Steve Payne, Cory Sarich, Garnet Exelby, Carey Price, Travis Hamonic, Adam Pelech, Kaapo Kahkonen, and Gabriel Vilardi.

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