Morning Chirps: Kantserov nears KHL record, USA vs Canada gets huge ratings

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back on the practice rink today before hopping on a plane to restart their season. We should get a better idea of the lineup we’ll see against the Nashville Predators tomorrow. Teuvo Teravainen should be back with his teammates, and we’ll have a better idea of how the defensemen will pair up.

Blackhawks Chirps

• While the Blackhawks enjoyed their off day, Connor Bedard, Colton Dach, Ryan Greene, and Oliver Moore hung out at the Chicago Bulls game last night.

• It’s been a while since we’ve included a Roman Kantserov highlight in a Chirp. He scored his KHL-leading 32nd goal on Tuesday. He is still the only player in Russia’s top league to have reached the 30-goal plateau. Former Minnesota Wild prospect Sam Anas is second in goals with 28. Kantserov is only the 22nd player in league history to score 32 goals in a season. He’s one goal behind Kirill Kaprizov’s record for most goals by a player under 23. In case you’re wondering, the KHL record of 49 goals was set last season by former NHLer Josh Leivo.

• On this date in 1987, Doug Wilson recorded his 401st career assist during a 3-3 draw with the Montreal Canadiens. The helper moved him ahead of Pierre Pilote for the most assists in franchise history. It was a big night for Hall of Fame blueliners, as Larry Robinson’s assist made him only the fourth defenseman in NHL history to score 800 points.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 25: Paul Goodman, Clare Martin, Joakim Nordstrom, and Alexandre Fortin.

NHL Chirps

• Sunday’s gold medal game between Team USA and Canada got an awful lot of hockey fans to wake up early. The game averaged 18.6 million viewers, while peaking with 26 million. It was the most-watched sporting event in United States history that started before 9 am ET.

• The Winnipeg Jets are likely going from the Presidents’ Trophy to missing the playoffs in one year. Unless something drastic happens over the next few days, they will trade away some pieces as they look to regroup for next season. Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will not be one of those pieces. He recently told Murat Ates of The Athletic that he has no plans of waving his no movement clause if he’s asked.

• A big reason for the Jets’ decline has been bad injury luck throughout the season. Their top defenseman, Josh Morrissey, was injured in Canada’s opening game at the Olympics. Head coach Scott Arniel told reporters yesterday that Morrissey will miss the team’s upcoming road trip, but could return for the game against the Blackhawks next Tuesday.

• The Dallas Stars suffered a pair of key injuries at the Olympics. Star winger Mikko Rantanen was injured in Finland’s semifinal against Canada and was placed on injured reserve. Radek Faksa joined him on IR after he suffered an upper-body injury while playing for Czechia. His placement is retroactive to Feb. 17, so he could return as early as Saturday.

• With the roster freeze over, the Colorado Avalanche traded defenseman Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for veteran blueliner Brett Kulak. A trade like this makes you wonder what the Blackhawks could get for Connor Murphy.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning will get some welcome additions to the lineup tonight. Assistant coach Rob Zettler told reporters that Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Charles-Edouard D’Astous, and Emil Martinsen Lilleberg are all expected to return against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 25: King Clancy, Gary Doal, Anders Hedberg, Troy Mallette, Bryon Dafoe, Anton Volchenkov, Jeff Schultz, Justin Abdelkader, Jamie McBain, Logan Thompson, Brock Boeser, Joona Koppanen, Joel Farabee, and Samuel Poulin.