Hey, the Blackhawks made a trade on Wednesday night. And his agent — the same agent who reps both Ivan Demidov and Artyom Levshunov — tweeted that he’s ready to work. The Hawks landed Ilya Mikheyev, the rights to UFA (and old friend) Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick for… a fourth-rounder in 2027. Love to see it.
Mikheyev has shown the ability to be a player who can produce 20 goals/50 points in the league, but an ACL injury slowed him down the past couple years. If he’s back to 100 percent and driven to prove folks wrong with two years remaining on his contract, this could be a fantastic addition for the Blackhawks. He’s also a player who has shown a commitment to the defensive end of the ice, which fits what the Hawks’ coaching staff is preaching. With Vancouver eating 15 percent of his cap hit for the final two years of his deal and the Blackhawks moving up two rounds in the 2027 draft in the process, this feels like an easy win for Chicago.
The Blackhawks only acquired the rights to sign Lafferty, who will be a UFA on Monday, but one would think they would work out a deal with him. He was terrific in his first run in Chicago, and we’ve tried to compare other players to him in filling the bottom-six role he played so effectively. My first thought when I saw his rights were coming back was that this might cost Joey Anderson a job — or at least an NHL roster spot. I’m still a big Anderson fan and hope the Hawks can find a way to start next season with both of them on the roster — and maybe even the same line (with Landon Slaggert?).
Blackhawks fans could get some more good news tonight when the NHL Awards show airs on ESPN (6 PM CT). The league will announced the winners of the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Norris Trophy and Calder Memorial Trophy. We care because Connor Bedard is going to win the Calder as the league’s rookie of the year.
And now this moment of obviousness:
Today could be a big, busy day for trading around the NHL as teams look to create cap space before free agency opens on Monday while others try to land the coveted veteran to change their future. There have been rumors that half of the top 12 overall picks could be in play between now and the middle of the first round on Friday night. We’ll see if New Jersey can make a big move to get out of their first pick.
Before more trades change everything, I dropped my final mock draft before the 2024 first round begins. What do you think the Blackhawks will do?
Some relatively big (but not surprising news) out of Dallas on Thursday morning. The Stars are buying out the final year of Ryan Suter’s contract. This buyout won’t handicap the Stars to the degree it’s still crushing the Minnesota Wild, but we’ll now wait and see if Suter finds a new home or if this is it for a really good defenseman.
The NHL announced four rule changes for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday. Here are the explanations they provided:
Rule 38.2 (Situations Subject to Coach’s Challenge) — A coach’s challenge now will be permitted to take down a penalty for puck out of play. This only will apply to delay of game penalties when the puck is determined to have deflected off a player, stick, glass or boards, and not on a judgment call on how the puck left the defensive zone (e.g., batted pucks or if the puck was shot out from the defensive zone). In the event of a failed challenge, another two-minute minor penalty will be assessed (in addition to the existing delay of game penalty).
Rule 63.8 (Line Change Following Dislodged Net) — There will be an adjustment to Rule 63.8 so that the defensive team cannot make a line change in the event its goaltender accidentally dislodges the net (old language applied just to skater).
Rule 76.4 (Face-Off Procedure – Centers) — Following an icing, the offensive center also now will receive one warning (same as the defensive player) for a face-off violation.
Rule 75.3 (Unsportsmanlike Conduct – Player Sitting on Boards) — The referee now will provide the offending team (coach and players) with one warning regarding players sitting on the boards (and will so advise the other team). After one warning in a game, the team precipitating the warning will be issued a bench minor penalty for future violations.
The Ducks announced their new look with a bang on Wednesday. Orange indeed! I do love the throwback to the OG Mighty Ducks logo.
Some good reporting here from David Pagnotta on the evolving situation in Arizona. Adios and good riddance to Alex Meruelo, but does that close the door for hockey in the desert? Well, not completely… but the five-year window closes with Meruelo walking away from his ownership stake. We’ll see if anyone else steps up and wants to spend the money to try again.
Finally, the Bulls made their first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft last night and everything points to them getting incredibly lucky. Not many people thought the local kid, Matas Buzelis, would slip all the way to 11 and stay “home” in Chicago. As a proud Hinsdale Central graduate, I can’t tell you how thrilling it is that the Chicago Bears and now Bulls have drafted a former Red Devil this year. LOVE IT! Go Big Red! Eli has tons of awesome Buzelis content all over the site last night and this morning (and other great Bulls/NBA stuff as well). The NBA draft continues with the second round tonight.
NEWSLETTER
