The Blackhawks held their final preseason practice on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s season opener in Utah but the first piece of news we’ll get to this afternoon involves a quick off-ice update:
Phillips was one of several players around the league who hit the waiver wire on Sunday afternoon, which is often the case as teams work to cut their rosters down to what it’ll resemble for the regular season. There was some concern out there that another team would take a flyer on the Blackhawks D prospect but coach Luke Richardson said the move was necessary based on the status of a few other D-men in the organization:
As for the on-ice happenings, Monday’s practice provided a look at who’ll probably be skating against the UHC (that’s Utah Hockey Club, by the way) and wouldn’t ya know it: we’re already on Lukas Reichel Healthy Scratch Watch!
Long season, of course, but locating optimism about the 2020 first-rounder’s developmental arc this season is a lesson in futility right now. Richardson discussed what went into the decision on Reichel and what it’ll take to get him into the lineup in the future:
The top line of Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev also raised some eyebrows, given that the latter of that trio has not been known as a first-line talent in his career. But Richardson said Mikheyev’s spot on the top line was based on attributes observed during Mikheyev’s preseason looks:
Elsewhere in news regarding Chicago’s first-round picks, defenseman Nolan Allan is expected to make his NHL debut in about 24 hours, which was likely not high on the list of anticipated events heading into this year’s training camp:
The Blackhawks first game of the 2024-25 regular season arrives in one more night. See you back here Tuesday night for the season-long group therapy session that our game threads will likely be once again!