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New York Times
4 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Perils of tanking, costs of fandom and intrigue of Nick Lardis: Lazerus NHL mailbag
Before we get to the silliness, futility and futile silliness of a summer hockey mailbag, I just wanted to say a quick thanks for the overwhelming and unexpected response to my column about my dad a few weeks ago. It was just something I wrote in a daze on the plane that night; I tend to think with my fingers and was just trying to put the mental chaos I was feeling into something coherent for my own sake. And I've never been so uneasy about an edit as I was when I had my mom read it first. But all your comments, tweets, texts and personal stories were genuinely heartening and comforting. My mom, my brother and I read them all, and we all thank you. Advertisement Now, on to the promised nonsense. I'll let the results of our Chicago Blackhawks fan survey next week address all the conspiracy theories and rending of garments about Danny Wirtz and the rest of the team brass. And none of you asked anything nearly as interesting and involved as 'Reimagine the Blackhawks as Harry Potter characters,' so I'm going to try to be succinct (not my forte!) so I can get to as many as possible. Part 2 will run soon. Questions have been edited for clarity and length. Let's dive in. Maybe I'm too late, but I just heard you on 'The Athletic Hockey Show' saying, 'These kinds of rebuilds never work' about the Blackhawks. But I think you're the same guy who's said, 'No one's ever done it like this before.' Who, as a Chicago radio institution put it, are you crappin'? — Ted M. I say a lot of stupid things, so I'm going to need some accurate citations here. But both of those statements are true. At least, in the modern era. I'd argue that no team in the salary-cap era has won the Stanley Cup by actively tanking. The closest one would be the 2010 Blackhawks, but organizational incompetence isn't quite the same thing as intentionally losing. Sure, you need a couple of big names at the top of the lineup, and the draft is an excellent way to get there. But no team successfully builds exclusively through the draft. Not those Blackhawks. Not these Florida Panthers. Not anyone. At some point, you have to start trying. And it's true, the Blackhawks have tanked harder than any team has tanked since maybe the 1983-84 Pittsburgh Penguins. And with Chicago GM Kyle Davidson making an absurd 11 first-round picks in the last four drafts, and possibly Gavin McKenna waiting next summer, maybe I'll look foolish in the long run. Wouldn't be the first time. But given how disastrous other full guts have gone (hello, Buffalo and Detroit!), all I can hear in my head is Tobias Fünke saying, 'But it might work for us,' or Chief Wiggum saying, 'No, no, dig UP, stupid.' Advertisement Will Laurent Brossoit ever play a game for the Blackhawks? — Gregory E. You know, I actually saw Laurent Brossoit — or, at least, someone who WGN's Charlie Roumeliotis told me was Laurent Brossoit — walking out of the locker room after a game late last season, but I'm still not entirely convinced he's a real person and not simply a deepfake we all saw online last summer. If he does exist, I imagine he's in the same dungeon underneath the United Center in which Stan Bowman stashed Nikolai Khabibulin after Antti Raanta's emergence in 2014. Seriously, though, put it this way: If Brossoit — a very good goalie, historically — is physically able to play this season, it should be for the Edmonton Oilers, not the Chicago Blackhawks. Lord Stanley knows they need him. Will you please stop being a smug elite journalist who is above reproach and who has never done anything wrong? And please get off your high horse and report sports rather than your political and progressive views. When you report sports, you are actually a very good reporter. Nobody but your political believers cares about your personal opinions; just do the sports. — Jed I. Three things: First, very kind of you to call me elite. Thank you. Second, I'm literally an opinion columnist. It's my primary role at The Athletic. So, no? Third, I only included this question because my 13-year-old daughter was Googling me (as, I suppose, you do as a kid these days) recently and found a robust Reddit thread entitled, 'Does anyone like Mark Lazerus? [serious question]' and she read every word and showed all her friends and thought it was the funniest thing ever. And she was correct. [serious answer] At what point should fans be much more upset about the costs involved with attending and supporting a team that seems to think of them as piggy banks? I have had full-season seats since 1994. The costs around this incarnation of the team are ridiculous. From parking to concessions and even merch, I feel like the club is raising costs whenever and however they like, with absolutely no consideration for the people who go to 30-plus games a year. I am not angry about the team trying to make a buck, but this is getting ridiculous. They have one of the lowest salary outputs in the league, the squad will most likely have yet another bottom-five finish, and if/when they get to be decent again, all I know is my seats will go up another 10-30 percent. When does it stop? Is the problem me? — Andrew C. Couldn't have said it any better myself. It'll never stop. And every single one of you (well, at least those without a trust fund) should have reached that point years ago. Nearly every team in every league has made it all but impossible for an average family of four to reasonably attend a game. And for billionaires to keep asking for the same amount of money (or more!) from working-class fans when they're actively trying to put a failing team on the ice or on the field or on the court, as the Blackhawks and so many other teams have done in this era of long-term tear-down rebuilds, is genuinely unconscionable. It's wealth inequity and late-stage capitalism at its worst. Eat the rich, man. (Sorry not sorry, Jed I.) Advertisement How detrimental is it to Connor Bedard's development not to find at least one high-performing winger to help open up Bedard's game? I understand wanting to make room for young players, but having a third year of plugging in secondary options on the top line seems risky. — JR. I've been beating this drum for a while now. But to be fair to Davidson, he did try to get Jake Guentzel last summer and had to settle for Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, both of whom seem to have been poached for the second line by Frank Nazar. The fact is, Bedard does need someone who can keep up with him — physically and mentally — for him to reach his almost limitless potential. But the fact also is, no stud winger in his prime is looking to sign with the Blackhawks until they show they're serious about trying to win. Call it a Catch-98. Part of the perils of tanking. Favorite 'KPop Demon Hunter' song? Are you Team Huntr/X or Team Saja Boys? — Conor H. Please. I'm here for the bops, not the abs. And how does that Saja Boy with the gray hair even see? Truthfully, the songs all blur together for me as my 9-year-old plays the movie on an endless loop, the way I did 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' when I was her age. But someone explain to me how you make a movie that focuses so seriously on a trifurcated three-person songwriting process — the lyrics, the harmonies, the beat — and then have it culminate in a completely spontaneous yet perfectly structured final song, like the kind you see in a Broadway musical? It's just bad screenwriting. It's 'Up' all over again. (Do NOT get me started on 'Up.' You think I'm an insufferable pedant with the 'dynasty' talk …) Who is your 'long-shot' prospect who gets some NHL time this year? — Anthony D. Samuel Savoie. The Blackhawks have a ton of talent in the system. They don't have a ton of sandpaper. Savoie's nasty side could be enough for him to leapfrog a bunch of guys. What did players who had the type of OHL season Nick Lardis had last season do the following year? Did they open in the NHL? How many points did they follow their monster year with? — Joshua T. It's difficult to find a historical trend for Lardis because so few players in the modern era have done what he did last season. Since the turn of the century, only John Tavares (72) has scored more goals in an OHL season than Lardis' 71 last season (thanks to Elite Prospects for the data). Of course, Tavares was 16 when he did that and Lardis was 19, so temper your expectations a bit. But next on the list in the 21st century? Alex DeBrincat, with 65 goals. He was 19, too. DeBrincat jumped right into the NHL the next season, a year earlier than expected, after a very impressive rookie tournament in Traverse City and a strong preseason. Could Lardis do the same? Sure. Is it likely? No, but I do expect we'll see him at some point in the 2025-26 season. For more Chicago comparisons, Patrick Kane had 62 goals and 83 assists in his one OHL season, and walked right into the NHL as the No. 1 overall pick. Dave Bolland had 57 goals and 73 assists as a 19-year-old in the OHL and played one game in the NHL the following season. The only real conclusion I can draw from these numbers is that OHL goaltending stinks. Which Blackhawk, who played with the team before 2000, would you want on this current Blackhawks team in their prime? — JP G. This is where I get myself in trouble. I genuinely think every single player in the NHL right now is significantly better than the very best player on the planet in, say, the 1950s and 1960s. I don't think it's particularly close, either. MacKenzie Entwistle would skate circles around Rocket Richard. The game is virtually unrecognizable, and the year-round, life-long training has transformed these guys into near metahumans. So while the standard answer would be Stan Mikita, who, relative to his peers, is one of the greatest of all time (or Bobby Orr, if you want to be cheeky), I'd want someone from the 1990s. I'd pick 1991-94 Jeremy Roenick. Advertisement Montreal surprised everyone last season, and the Blue Jackets very nearly made the playoffs, too. What needs to go right for the Hawks to be in the mix rather than another year in the basement? — Andrew L. I won't be shocked if the Blackhawks are markedly better this season. I also won't be shocked if they're truly abysmal. But to really be in the playoff mix? It would have to involve Spencer Knight being a Vezina Trophy finalist. I don't see any other way. (Top photo of Nick Lardis: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Chicago Blackhawks Top 25 Prospects Entering 2025-26
The Chicago Blackhawks have one of the best farm systems in the National Hockey League. That comes as a result of being in the basement of the league for a handful of years in a row and making lots of trades to acquire more high-end draft picks.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Blackhawks Young Defender Gets Big Shout-Out
With the Chicago Blackhawks rebuilding, they have plenty of promising young players. One of them is defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, as the 22-year-old blueliner has the potential to become a nice piece for them as he continues to adjust to the NHL level. Due to this, during a recent episode of Daily Faceoff Rundown, Kaiser landed some serious praise from both Sports 1440's Jason Gregor and The Athletic's Michael Russo. "Kaiser is a hell of a player," Gregor said. "In the next few years, people are going to look and say, 'damn, who's this guy?' I look at Chicago, and they have a lot of youth on their back end, and I still think this is a season of transition for them, but watch their back end. I think in a few years, there are going to be three or four guys in Chicago that people are pretty high on, and don't sleep on Kaiser." Russo then agreed with Gregor's take and then also had some praise for the Blackhawks' 2020 third-round pick. "I like Kaiser a lot, especially as a guy," Russo said. "Wyatt is a quality, good skating defenseman that I think has the ability to, again, with coaching, be really, really good." The Blackhawks will certainly be hoping that Kaiser can become a key part of their defense as they look to take that next step. There is no question that they are in need of some serious help on their blueline, and it would be massive if Kaiser could develop into a legitimate top-four defenseman. Kaiser showed promise this past season with the Blackhawks, posting four goals, eight points, 54 hits, 93 blocks, and an even plus/minus rating in 57 games. Overall, he showed that he is ready for the NHL, and it will be fascinating to see if he hits a new level soon, as both Gregor and Russo believe he can. Blackhawks Young Goalie Continues To Get Praise The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping that goaltender Spencer Knight will become something special for them. The 2019 first-round pick undoubtedly has plenty of potential and has shown promise early on, but there is a real expectation that he has not hit his ceiling yet. Photo Credit: © Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
NHL Trade Talk: Connor McDavid's Oilers shift focus to Blackhawks after failed goalie trade with Canucks
Desperation is building in Edmonton, and for good reason. With in his prime and the Oilers still falling just short of Stanley Cup glory, patience is thinning fast. After the Vancouver Canucks refused to trade promising goaltender Arturs Silovs within the division, the Oilers are reportedly shifting their gaze eastward—toward Connor Bedard's Chicago Blackhawks, who may soon find themselves with one netminder too many. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Oilers chase solutions amid goaltending concerns It's no secret that goaltending has been Edmonton's Achilles' heel. While Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have done enough to guide the Oilers deep into the playoffs, their inconsistency has become too loud to ignore. Edmonton hasn't lifted the Stanley Cup since 1990, and every passing year without silverware only adds to the urgency. Now, with the Silovs door slammed shut by Vancouver—reportedly refusing to trade him 'at any price,' per Kurt Leavins of Edmonton Journal—the Oilers have resumed their search with a different target in mind. Initially, Michael DiPietro of the Boston Bruins seemed like a potential backup option. However, recent rumblings suggest that Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman might be open to discussions before the season kicks off. Oilers Rumours, New Coaching Staff, and the 2025-26 NHL schedule '[Oilers GM] Stan Bowman will continue to look for a goaltender before the start of the season. The Blackhawks might have three healthy NHL netminders in training camp—just something to keep tabs on,' Chicago Hockey Now reported. Chicago's crowded crease could unlock opportunity The Blackhawks might soon face a logjam in net, especially if Arvid Soderblom remains on the roster. While he's currently filed for salary arbitration as a restricted free agent, it's widely expected that the Blackhawks, who have over $21 million in cap space, will ink him to a one-year deal. If that happens, Chicago could enter camp with Soderblom, Drew Commesso, and Spencer Knight all competing for two spots. Of the trio, only Knight appears untouchable, having been acquired in a high-profile move. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now That leaves Soderblom and Commesso as potential candidates should Edmonton wish to bolster its depth chart. After missing out on Silovs due to inter-divisional politics, the Oilers might now find a more cooperative trade partner in Chicago. Whether or not Edmonton can pull off a deal, one thing is clear: the clock is ticking. For a franchise this close to glory, failing to upgrade the crease might not just stall momentum—it could shatter the entire structure built around McDavid's prime. FAQs 1. Why are the Edmonton Oilers targeting the Chicago Blackhawks for a goaltender? The Oilers are exploring Chicago's goaltending surplus after Vancouver refused to trade Arturs Silovs within the division. 2. Which Blackhawks goalies could be available for trade? Arvid Soderblom and Drew Commesso are the most likely trade options, as Spencer Knight is expected to be untouchable. 3. What's delaying the Oilers' goaltending decision? Edmonton is still assessing trade possibilities after missing out on Silovs, with the timing of any deal still uncertain. Also Read:
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Jeff Blashill's Blackhawks reportedly settling legal dispute tied to Connor Bedard's top-line teammate
Arvid Soderblom contract talks intensify (Imagn Images) As the Chicago Blackhawks prepare for the 2025–26 NHL season, a sense of cautious optimism surrounds the franchise. Under the leadership of Jeff Blashill, the team is determined to sidestep the controversies of recent years and focus on forging a new identity. But just as the winds of change seem ready to blow through the United Center, a contract standoff with goaltender Arvid Soderblom has added an unexpected wrinkle. Blackhawks ready to move forward as legal drama around Connor Bedard 's teammate reportedly coming to an end Unlike previous summers filled with blockbuster trades or headline-making free-agent signings, the Blackhawks chose a more reserved approach this offseason. Rather than chasing stars, the franchise doubled down on its young core—headlined by rising phenom Connor Bedard, and kept the roster mostly intact. It's a gamble that signals faith in development over short-term splash, but it also leaves the team with minimal margin for error. Still, one pressing matter remains unresolved. After restricted free agent Arvid Soderblom filed for salary arbitration, Chicago was thrust into a tricky spot. The 25-year-old Swedish netminder, seen as a crucial backup option—or even a potential starter down the line—could either negotiate a deal or face a ruling from an NHL arbitrator. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Letting him walk into unrestricted free agency? Unlikely. 'The Blackhawks have over $21 million in cap space, so it is likely they will settle with Soderblom on a one-year deal,' Michael Augello reported via The Hockey News. That room gives Chicago a clear upper hand in keeping him without significant financial strain. Yet, in a league where planning for the unexpected is essential, the front office isn't leaving anything to chance. Blackhawks is building goaltending depth with an eye on the future While Soderblom's situation unfolds, the Blackhawks have already started insulating themselves. The recent signing of Stanislav Berezhnoy to a two-year entry-level contract offers a fallback, signaling that the team has no intention of being caught off guard. Add in the presence of Spencer Knight—brought in at last season's deadline and primed to be the franchise's starting goalie—and the depth chart starts to take shape. Behind Knight is 23-year-old Drew Commesso, whose limited NHL experience is offset by raw potential and hunger to earn his spot. Together, this trio represents the Hawks' commitment to a competitive future, even if growing pains remain. With leadership recalibrated and youth as their backbone, the Blackhawks hope to usher in a new era—one where off-ice drama no longer overshadows on-ice potential. FAQs: 1. What is Connor Bedard's salary? In 2025-26, Bedard will earn a base salary of $855,000 and a signing bonus of $95,000, while carrying a cap hit of $950,000. 2. Who is Jeff Blashill? Jeff Blashill has been appointed as the new head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. He previously served as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2022 to 2025, following his tenure as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings from 2015 to 2022. 3. What is Arvid Soderblom's contract details? Arvid Soderblom signed a 2 year, $1,925,000 contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on May 10, 2023, with an average annual salary of $962500. Also Read: Connor McDavid's next team already decided? Report suggests one Stanley Cup contender has the edge Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
