The Chicago Blackhawks won’t practice on Wednesday but still made a handful of roster moves following Tuesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
At the top of the list is the recall of 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel, along with fellow forward Brett Seney.
We have recalled Lukas Reichel and Brett Seney from the @goicehogs ‼️ pic.twitter.com/oVet0CrpGH
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2023
Reichel played in one other NHL game this season, an emergency call-up to face the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 6 when injuries created an opening in the Chicago lineup. He skated 13:58 in that game without registering a point or shot on goal. Down in Rockford, though, Reichel continued his torrid pace and is up to 36 points (14 G, 22 A) in 32 games.
Lukas Reichel did this last night for the #IceHogs
He’ll likely be in the lineup for the #Blackhawks on Friday night pic.twitter.com/JYMjftg4gz— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) January 4, 2023
Seney leads Rockford with 38 points (14 G, 24 A) in 32 games and could be making his Blackhawks debut on Friday. A free-agent signing this summer, Seney has played in 55 NHL games with 8 goals and 13 assists. His last NHL game was with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 8, 2022 — one of two NHL games he played that season.
Those promotions coincided with a pair of Blackhawks forwards heading to injured reserve:
In addition, the Blackhawks have placed forwards MacKenzie Entwistle (right wrist) and Jujhar Khaira (lower back) both on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 27.
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2023
With designation dated back to last Tuesday, both Entwistle and Khaira could return at any point. However, having them placed on injured reserve suggests that neither will be available for Friday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.
It’ll also be interesting to see where Reichel slots into the lineup after Patrick Kane exited Tuesday night’s game during the second intermission with an apparent lower-body injury that’s been nagging him since taking the hit below while facing the San Jose Sharks on Sunday:
For what it’s worth, this is the hit Patrick Kane took last game. It could be related to his injury tonight, but it’s being labeled only as “lower-body” for now. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/veiH4WPn7m
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 4, 2023
Answers to those lineup questions will likely come when the Blackhawks return to practice on Thursday.