Morning Chirps: Frondell vs Vanacker, recent Blackhawks draft pick heads back to Europe

The Chicago Blackhawks are back on the ice tonight when they take on the Montreal Canadiens. They will try to rebound from Tuesday’s brutal loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. You know the game day drill: start the day with Morning Chirps, come back for a game preview, end the night with my postgame thoughts.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Jeremiah Lee writes that the early-season success may have been smoke and mirrors, and this Blackhawks team needs to figure out. He also questioned whether or not Frank Nazar is the long-term answer for the second-line center. My take: He’s a young player going through a rough patch. We saw Connor Bedard have these stretches in his first two seasons. While it’s discouraging watching him struggle to score for this long, calling him a bust is just silly at this point.

• As you can imagine, the Blackhawks have dropped even further down Jeff Maroon’s NHL Power Rankings.

• As Todd Matthews wrote, the Blackhawks’ scoring woes began long before losing Bedard to injury and are being magnified without their young star.

• The Rockford IceHogs announced that forward Marcel Marcel has been released from his AHL contract so he can pursue opportunities in Europe. The 2023 fifth-round pick had six goals and 19 points in 80 career games for the IceHogs.

• Canada and Sweden played a pre-tournament game in Kitchener, ON, ahead of the IIHF World Junior Championships, with each team dressing a recent Blackhawks’ first-round pick. Anton Frondell had the primary assist on Sweden’s only goal. Marek Vanacker dressed for Canada, but did not factor in any of the scoring. Nashville Predators prospect Brady Martin scored both goals in the 2-1 win. Gavin McKenna had a pair of primary assists.

• On this date in 1980, the Blackhawks acquired Al Secord from the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenseman Mike O’Connell. Second spent the next eight seasons in Chicago, scoring 213 goals and 373 points, including three seasons with at least 40 goals. His best season came in 1982-83 when he lit the lamp 54 times.

• Three years later, the Blackhawks retired Bobby Hull’s No. 9 before a 5-1 loss to the Bruins. He is still the franchise's all-time leading goal scorer with 604, and second with 1,153 points.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 18: Dan Cleary and Alex DeBrincat.

NHL Chirps

• Frank Seravalli is reporting that Fenway Sports Group has agreed to sell the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Chicago-based Hoffmann Group. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun estimates that the sale will be between $1.7 and $1.8 billion.

• The NHL announced that singer-songwriter Role Model will be the entertainment headliner for the 2026 Winter Classic. He will perform during the first intermission of the annual outdoor game. This year’s Winter Classic will be between the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers at loanDepot park in Miami on Jan. 2.

• According to a report from Mayor's Manor, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks will both wear their colored jerseys for their Jan. 16 game. The Kings will wear their black jerseys, while the Ducks will don their all-orange uniforms.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 18: Jean Pronovost, Bob Brooke, Bob Corkum, Brian Boyle, Victor Hedman, Charlie Lindgren, and Jake Oettinger.