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Brent Seabrook Blackhawks travel return to play salary cap LTIR
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Brent Seabrook won’t travel with Blackhawks; future and salary cap impact unclear

By James O'BrienJul 24, 2020, 2:44 PM EDT

Brent Seabrook won’t travel with the Chicago Blackhawks during the next stage of the NHL’s Return to Play. It also seems unclear if Seabrook will suit up with the Blackhawks again.

Brent Seabrook won’t travel to Edmonton hub; Blackhawks won’t suffer much of a loss

Coming off of significant surgeries, Seabrook explained that he isn’t ready to return to play for the Blackhawks as the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers approach.

“I just don’t feel comfortable yet, just not as comfortable as I want to be,” Seabrook said, according to Scott Powers of the The Athletic.

As uncomfortable as this is to say, the Blackhawks aren’t losing much by missing Seabrook. The 35-year-old defenseman simply is far removed from his most productive days. Consider how lowly Seabrook ranks on this GAR Chart from Evolving Hockey, even relative to Blackhawks teammates who generally don’t score very well:

Brent Seabrook Chicago Blackhawks GAR Evolving Hockey
Brent Seabrook and Blackhawks GAR chart via Evolving Hockey

Of course, many realized that Seabrook began a pretty steep decline quite a while ago. You can see that in his historical isolated impact charts at Hockey Viz.

Brent Seabrook Chicago Blackhawks historical impact Hockey Viz
Brent Seabrook historical impact with Blackhawks via Hockey Viz

Seabrook began his career as a positive influence both on offense and defense. As the years went along, Seabrook’s defense slipped, but he was still able to contribute offensively for the Blackhawks. Then his play dropped off the map in both areas.

Seabrook admits he’s not sure about future

Then again, Seabrook might argue that he could at least make a bigger impact now that he’s healthier. If nothing else, it’s great to hear the veteran defenseman rave about an improved quality of life post-surgeries.

“Now I feel incredible,” Seabrook said, via NHL.com’s Tracey Myers. “Helping my kids tie their shoes has been nice. Tying my own shoes has been nice, getting out of bed, things like that.”

Despite that improved bill of health, these times leave Seabrook wondering about his Blackhawks future.

A trade or LTIR trip to buy salary cap breathing room?

For years, salary cap-interested people have wondered if the Blackhawks might wiggle out of Seabrook’s contract.

Even now, it’s staggering to look at it. Seabrook carries a jarring $6.875 million cap hit through 2023-24. Yikes. Over the years, it’s also been tough to tell if the Blackhawks had the option to trade Seabrook and his problem contract. After all, Seabrook negotiated for a no-movement clause. Could there have been trades shot down behind the scenes? Maybe ones barely discussed because of that NMC? For the most part, we can only speculate.

Yet, after hearing Seabrook wonder about his own future, it sounds like he’d be more likely to waive that clause. (Note: it turns into a modified no-trade clause starting in 2022-23, for whatever that’s worth.)

The tricky part is finding a trade partner. For one thing, would Seabrook be willing to go on LTIR? He stated that he believes he can still be an “impact player,” yet such a trip to LTIR wouldn’t be without credibility. Seabrook’s accrued plenty of bumps and bruises stemming from long Blackhawks playoff runs.

Sadly, Seabrook would likely be more compelling trade fodder if his $6.875M merely went to LTIR. His salary doesn’t dive as dramatically as some of the “loophole” contracts that prompted recapture penalties, but his cap hit will be larger than his actual salary going forward.

A rebuilding team might be willing to eat that salary cap headache, especially if the Blackhawks dangled Seabrook after paying off one of his larger signing bonuses.

With what’s still a pretty snug salary cap situation, the Blackhawks might be willing to bribe a rebuilding team to take Seabrook’s contract off of their hands. Looking forward, maybe it would be worth it to convince the Seattle Kraken to do so during the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

Either way, it’s fair to wonder about Seabrook’s future with the Blackhawks. But we at least know he won’t suit up against the Oilers during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers during the NHL Return to Play.

More on Blackhawks, NHL Return to Play

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

NHL Training Camp News and Notes: Carter Hart hurt; Bruins, Blackhawks updates

By James O'BrienJul 21, 2020, 4:53 PM EDT
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Let’s rummage through news and notes from around the NHL during day nine of formal training camps.

Flyers’ Carter Hart leaves practice on a goalie-heavy day of news from NHL training camps

Tuesday presented a fairly goalie-heavy slate of news and notes from around NHL training camps.

[NBC and NBCSN TV schedule for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers]

Carter Hart hurt, Flyers teammates indicate it might not be serious

If you’ve followed coverage of NHL training camp news at PHT, you realize that teams aren’t being forthcoming with injury updates. Chalk that up to the culture of the league, and even NHL mandates, but it leads to “COVID-19, injury, or restroom run?” debates. None of this is fun.

So we can only speculate about Hart. According to NBC Sports Philly’s Jordan Hall, Hart left quietly during the first period of a Flyers scrimmage. Hall notes that it was unlikely to be an equipment issue, being that Hart did not return.

For fans hoping for optimism, Kevin Hayes‘ comments bring a mixed bag. He seems upbeat about it … but Hayes also didn’t notice that Hart left. Maybe he’s not totally clued-in, yet any insight is welcome as NHL teams prefer the “keep everyone in the fog” approach.

“I think it’s nothing too serious,” Hayes said, via Hall. “Obviously it’s important to get into shape and get game-ready, but if you have something that’s minor that you don’t want to push, it’s not a big deal to get off the ice like that. We’d rather have him be 100 percent than pushing hard at like 85, 90 percent. Probably a smart decision by him. I don’t think it’s anything major.”

Flyers such as Sean Couturier said all the right things about Brian Elliott being capable if Hart is unavailable, but if we’re being honest, it’s tough to be too confident in Elliott at this point in his career.

(Then again, goalies are unpredictable, and the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers may end up even more difficult to forecast.)

Latest round of Bruins updates, including troubling Tuukka news

Being that the Bruins boast plenty of veterans, it’s not that surprising that they’ve been a team to watch for training camp news. Even so, it might be getting a little exhausting for fans, players, and staff alike to try to parse details as David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and others miss training camp activities.

Apparently there was even a Brad Marchand scare on Tuesday.

Marchand and others seem to shake off worries about Pastrnak missing opportunities to shake off rust. Similarly, Tuukka Rask didn’t seem too concerned despite admitting that he suffered a fractured finger while training.

Hmm, none of this seems ideal. At least the Bruins are merely fighting for seeding during the Round Robin portion of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, eh? Also … at least Jaroslav Halak puts up starter-quality numbers too, right?

(Insert cringe emojis where applicable.)

Blackhawks optimistic about Crawford, Toews still missing time

After trading away Robin Lehner, the defense-optional Blackhawks’ ability to upset the Oilers may hinge on whether Corey Crawford can play. That remains unknown, as Crawford hasn’t been involved in Phase 3 yet. When speaking to the media, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman seemed hopeful about Crawford being available.

“We are hopeful on that,” Bowman said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “We’ll be able to give you a better idea toward the weekend. Something we’re still shooting for, but I don’t have any definitive comment. Still hoping that’s the case.”

Jonathan Toews recently joined Crawford in the mystery training camp absence zone. After Toews left team activities early on Monday, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton insisted that the team is merely trying to keep Toews fresh. Toews missed Tuesday’s training camp action too, though, and this time Colliton defaulted to “unfit to play.”

Hmm.

Other NHL training camp news and notes from day nine

  • Here’s one for the “Thank Goodness” files: Jay Bouwmeester is in Canada, but won’t join the Blues. Considering what Bouwmeester went through, and what he’s accomplished during his lengthy NHL career, it’s probably wisest to hang them up altogether. For now, we’ll settle for cooler heads prevailing in at least this case.
  • Zach Hyman returned to action for the Maple Leafs, who deployed him with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Toronto is rolling with a lot of interesting looks during this stretch of NHL training camps. Selfishly, I’d love to see mad scientist combinations like Matthews, Marner, and John Tavares more often.
  • Speaking of mad science, the Stars continue to flirt with the good (Tyler Seguin with Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz) and the bad (Corey Perry on the second line, while Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov languish on the fourth). Maybe it will be more situational, and thus more logical, than those designations look on paper? Either way, I wouldn’t be thrilled if I was Jamie Benn possibly being saddled with a dramatically declining Corey Perry.
  • Agent Dan Milstein notes that Ilya Sorokin (Islanders) and Alexander Romanov (Canadiens) are both Toronto-bound. Nice news, even if they can’t help their teams until 2020-21 at the earliest.

More on NHL return to play, CBA extension, COVID-19:

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

NHL on NBCSN: Blackhawks begin homestand vs. Red Wings

Blackhawks Red Wings preview
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By James O'BrienJan 5, 2020, 9:00 AM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

If the Blackhawks and Red Wings continue on their current paths, their playoff droughts will continue.

The Red Wings (10-29-3) merely hope to avoid making dubious history. The Blackhawks, though? With 42 points in as many games played, the 18-18-6 Blackhawks aim to keep slim hopes alive.

Blackhawks begin homestand vs. Red Wings coming off a solid trip

Chicago entered 2020 winning five of their last seven games. Even considering a 7-5 loss to the Canucks that involved a squandered lead, the Blackhawks felt good taking two wins from a three-game road trip. That stretch looks better when you consider the obstacles Chicago faced.

“There’s a lot of positives to take,” Defenseman Connor Murphy said, via the Blackhawks’ website. “I think just the way guys came together and played in three different time zones, a lot of travel and seemed to string periods together and show that we can be a team to put a big winning streak together. I think we really wanted to do that tonight, but we know in order to be that team that we think we can be, we have to string it together at some point and we have a good opportunity going home to do that.”

The Blackhawks face an opportunity to grind their way up the standings a bit with a four-game homestand. With that in mind, they can’t take dour Detroit lightly.

Blackhawks have plenty of room for improvement

Broadly speaking, Chicago maintains recent patterns. The Blackhawks can generate offense, but give up even more going the other way. They might need to outscore their problems to even greater degree with Robin Lehner banged up, as Lehner bailed Chicago out on plenty of nights.

As Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said, “the focus will continue to be on defending.”

Improving on defense is an understandable goal, but gains may only be marginal. The Blackhawks might actually want to focus on their power play. Despite boasting Patrick Kane (on another 100+ point pace) and Alex DeBrincat, the Blackhawks have only converted on 15.7 percent of their power-play opportunities, a bottom-10 rate.

Maybe the Blackhawks can wake up their man advantage against a struggling team like the Red Wings?

One way or another, Chicago needs to take games like these if they want to keep the door open for a playoff push.

Chris Cuthbert will handle play-by-play duties alongside Pierre McGuire at United Center in Chicago, Ill.

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Blackhawks self destruct, blow 3-goal third period lead to Blues

Blackhawks Blues third period rally
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By Adam GretzDec 14, 2019, 11:14 PM EST
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Just when it looked like the Chicago Blackhawks had hit rock bottom they found a way to keep digging.

Their disastrous three-game road trip came to a brutal end on Saturday night in St. Louis when they allowed a three-goal lead with 16 minutes to play turn into a 4-3 regulation loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues.

The meltdown began when St. Louis’ Tyler Bozak scored just 30 seconds after Patrick Kane had given the Blackhawk a 3-0 lead, capitalizing on a terrible turnover by Alex Nylander.

The Blues completed the comeback with three goals in the final six minutes of regulation, including a pair of goals just 12 seconds apart to tie the game.

Just three minutes after that sequence Justin Faulk scored his second goal of the season for the game-winner.

1. The Blackhaws’ problems remain the same

It’s the defensive zone play. It has been the defensive zone play. It continues to be the defensive zone play.

At times the Blackhawks look like a team that has never had to play in the defensive zone before. Turnovers, missed assignments, blown assignments, and just about every possible defensive calamity that can happen to a team in the defensive zone happens to this team on a near nightly basis. All of that was on display in the final 16 minutes on Saturday and it once again left their goalie — in this case Corey Crawford — all by himself on an island.

2. Where they stand now

In last place in the Central Division and next-to-last place in the entire Western Conference, just one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. Needless to say, that is a brutal position for a team with one of the league’s largest payrolls to be in.

They are 3-8-2 in their past 13 games (only one of those wins in regulation), are nine points out of the second Wild Card spot and 12 points back of the top-three teams in the Central Division.

They were outscored by a 14-6 margin on their three-game trip that took them through Arizona, Vegas, and St. Louis.

At this point the season is not only getting away from them, it appears to be completely gone.

3. What happens next?

This is the type of stretch, and this is the type of game, that leads to change.

Or at least starts the ball rolling toward change.

Head coach Jeremy Colliton has been on the job for just one year, and firing him that quickly after he replaced a future Hall of Fame, three-time Stanley Cup winning coach would make it seem like the Blackhawks don’t really have much of a plan and don’t really know what they’re doing.

But do you know what? Maybe they don’t know what they’re doing, and maybe they don’t have a plan. General manager Stan Bowman gambled big on his core and that its strong second half a year ago was a sign of what the team was still capable of. That it maybe just needed a few tweaks to compete again. With every passing game this season, and with every defensive meltdown that seems worse than the previous one, it is becoming increasingly clear this team just isn’t very good and the right changes were not made.

In the end something is very wrong with this team and there does not seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

 

PHT Morning Skate: Gudas returns to Philly; living in McDavid’s shadow

By Joey AlfieriNov 13, 2019, 8:15 AM EST
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Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• Radko Gudas wants to make a grand return to Philadelphia with his new team. (Russian Machine Never Breaks)

• Sean Couturier‘s line has been really strong for the Flyers, but how do they compare to Boston’s top line? (Broad Street Hockey)

• Devils veteran Andy Greene‘s season has been surprising so far. (All About the Jersey)

• Who is Sebastian Aho? (Cardiac Cane)

• It’s time for the Canadiens to sign Victor Mete to a long-term contract extension. (Habs Eyes on the Prize)

• Jason Spezza has a soft spot for Don Cherry, but he understands Sportsnet’s decision to part ways with him. (Toronto Star)

• The next five games are really important for the Florida Panthers. (The Rat Trick)

• Jared McCann has been a nice find for the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Pensburgh)

• Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton explains why his team made a certain schematic change. (NBC Sports Chicago)

• The Golden Knights are reportedly searching for a mobile defenseman. (Sinbin.Vegas)

• It’s taken some time, but Kevin Fiala is finally starting to fit in with the Wild. (Hockey Wilderness)

• What’s it like to live in Connor McDavid‘s shadow? Leon Draisaitl tells ESPN.com.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.