Morning Chirps: Pridham closes in on OHL scoring lead, Panarin takes a seat

The Chicago Blackhawks enjoyed yesterday off with their moms, but are back to work tonight. The Pittsburgh Penguins are next on the schedule. We’ll preview the game after today’s morning skate and recap all the action later tonight.

Blackhawks Chirps

• I was on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast yesterday, where Jay Zawaski and I talked about what the Blackhawks can do to fix the struggling power play, Patrick Kane’s latest milestone, and the greatest U.S.-born players of all time.

• Wednesday means Jeff Maroon gives you his weekly NHL Power Rankings. Check out where the Blackhawks land this week.

• Jack Pridham had a primary assist in the Kitchener Rangers' 3-2 overtime loss to the Owen Sound Attack. He led both teams with five shots on goal. The 2024 third-round pick has 31 goals and 61 points in 45 games. He trails Marek Vanacker by three goals for the Ontario Hockey League lead. He is tied for second in overall scoring, trailing New York Rangers prospect Nathan Aspinall of the Flint Firebirds by one point.

• On this date in 1995, Jeremy Roenick scored two goals and recorded an assist in the Blackhawks’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The three-point effort gave him 500 in his career in only 430 NHL games.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 29: Lou Holmes, Glen Cochrane, Dominik Hasek, and Steve Passmore.

NHL Chirps

• The St. Louis Blues lost an important pair of forwards during their loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday when Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours left with upper-body and lower-body injuries, respectively. The team announced that both players are considered day-to-day, but head coach Jim Montgomery was unsure whether either would be available tonight against the Florida Panthers.

• The New York Islanders have been busy of late, acquiring Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat on consecutive days this week. General manager Mathieu Darche hinted on Wednesday that he is willing to trade one of his two first-round picks to make another big swing before the trade deadline.

• The New York Rangers are sitting out star forward Artemi Panarin until the Olympic break. He will be the top trade target at the deadline, and the team does not want to risk an injury. TSN’s Chris Johnston is reporting that Panarin wants a contract extension before signing off on any trade.

• Seattle Kraken fans thought Jared McCann scored a hat trick on Tuesday night, but the goal was erased by a penalty. However, quite a few fans had already thrown their hats onto the ice. The Kraken are giving a free replacement hat to the first 1,000 fans to claim they were “hat tricked.”

• Speaking of hat tricks, Travis Konecny scored in the Philadelphia Flyers' 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. It was the 29th hat trick scored since Jan. 1, tying December 1985 for the most in one calendar month. There are three days left to see if that record will be broken.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 29: Joe Primeau, Pat Quinn, Wayne Stephenson, Billy Harris, Doug Risebrough, Bob Murdoch, Mike Foligno, Sean Burke, Scott Parker, Tim Gleason, Thomas Griess, Kevin Shattenkirk, Juho Lammikko, Jack Roslovic, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Kaedan Korczak.