Latest news with #KyleDavidson
New York Times
21-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blackhawks fan survey: Are you as confident in the rebuild as Kyle Davidson is?
General manager Kyle Davidson has put a lot of stock in the last couple of weeks of the 2024-25 Blackhawks season, hoping the speed, excitement and competitiveness his suddenly young team showed would carry over into next season and beyond. With Sam Rinzel playing top minutes on the blue line, Frank Nazar scoring at a top-six rate and Connor Bedard closing with three goals and four assists in his last four games, there was a lot to like. The players pointed to a dramatic shootout win over a highly motivated Montreal Canadiens team at the Bell Centre in the 81st game of the season as a turning point — perhaps even a launching point — in the rebuild. Advertisement Davidson is now all in on a youth movement, essentially sitting out of free agency despite a wealth of salary-cap space. No. 3 pick Anton Frondell appears to be headed back to Sweden for the season, and André Burakovsky is the only significant NHL addition the Blackhawks have made. So the Blackhawks should be more intriguing this season. But will they be better? Worse? More watchable? Less? Is the rebuild progressing or stagnating? We know what Davidson thinks. Let's see what you think. Fill out our annual Blackhawks fan survey below, and we'll share the results next week. Use two fingers to scroll on mobile or click this link to fill it out directly. Loading…
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NHL Summer Splash Rankings: No. 31, Chicago Blackhawks
The Hockey News' NHL summer splash rankings continue with the Chicago Blackhawks. The series focuses on which NHL teams improved the most or got worse so far this off-season in terms of acquisitions, departures, hirings and firings. As always, there are exceptions to the rules – in some cases, there are teams that aren't flat-out worse than they were last season but made significantly fewer moves than they either should've made or were expected to make. We kicked off the series with the Buffalo Sabres in last place. Their defense corps may have improved slightly, but their forward group worsened, and they did significantly less than expected to take a step forward. The Blackhawks also did less than expected. Additions Andre Burakovsky (LW), Sam Lafferty (C), Dominic Toninato (C), Jeff Blashill (coach) The Breakdown: Imagine you're Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson. You're in the midst of a full rebuild, and you start seeing solid development in a talented core of youngsters. To that end, superstar Connor Bedard is leading the way, and he needs some talented wingers to play with. The Blackhawks' big get this free agency was Burakovsky, who put up 37 points in 79 games this past season. We beg your pardon, but is this really the best the Blackhawks can do this summer? He's a good addition in itself, but he hasn't produced enough in recent years to give hope that he'll be the solution on Bedard's wing. The Hawks still have $21.4 million in salary cap space and apparently no high-end players to spend it on. That's what has to irritate Blackhawks fans more than anything. They were busier in past off-seasons, when they acquired Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, the since-traded Taylor Hall and others, but they haven't found that right line combination for Bedard. They still have tons of room to be active this summer, so the optics are not ideal. It's possible that the Hawks could eventually put newly drafted first-rounder Anton Frondell on a line with Bedard at some point during their careers, but a report by Expressen suggests Frondell is headed to the Swedish League for 2025-26. Coming in to handle all that is Blashill, the former Detroit Red Wings coach who spent the past three years as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He replaces Anders Sorensen, who remains as an assistant coach. Sorensen didn't do all that bad of a job as the interim coach, despite posting a 17-30-9 record in 56 games. At 51 years old, Blashill can still connect with his players and play to their strengths. But like his predecessors in Chicago, Blashill will have a challenging time trying to coax upper-level play out of a lineup that doesn't have the horses to get them playing meaningful hockey down the stretch next year. Departures Patrick Maroon (LW), Philipp Kurashev (C), Joseph Veleno (C), TJ Brodie (D), Alec Martinez (D) The Breakdown: The Blackhawks lost a great deal of veteran professionalism in the departures of defensemen Brodie and Martinez and winger Pat Maroon. Also gone are depth players Kurashev and Veleno. Kurashev actually played decently well with Bedard in the latter's rookie season, with 54 points, but he only had 14 points this past season. Chicago didn't give him a qualifying offer, and he signed with fellow rebuilding club, the San Jose Sharks. Martinez, Maroon and Brodie were all true pros right up until the end, but none of the departures left a massive hole that can't be filled. Eventually, the Hawks' young players should be taking up most of these jobs, and five open jobs on the NHL roster should be sufficient motivation for those youngsters to take the next competitive step. That's Plan A, but if it doesn't work, Plan B could stand for Big trouble. The Bottom Line The Hawks have exciting young players, including Bedard and prospects Artyom Levshunov, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore and newly drafted center Anton Frondell. The problem in Chicago isn't the future. It's the present. Despite having Bedard leading the charge, the rest of the Blackhawks' current lineup includes either mid-tier veterans, outright journeymen or youngsters still finding their way. Re-signing Donato at a $4-million cap hit is a nice piece of business for Davidson, and the player will have high expectations to take himself and Bedard to another level. But look at their roster as a whole, and you'll see they didn't improve much at all. Let's be clear – Davidson did the right thing by tanking. However, the moves he has made to be competitive while they rebuild haven't been sufficient, especially in the ultra-competitive Central Division. Just because some of their past veteran additions underperformed doesn't mean this summer's conservative approach was needed, even if they're not the most attractive free-agent destination right now. They have picks and cap space to make more upgrades via the trade market, and they have two salary retention slots in case an addition doesn't work out. Is there a potential for a Cinderella miracle in Chicago? Anything is possible, we suppose. But when their biggest acquisition of the off-season is Burakovsky – who hasn't scored more than 13 goals in any of the past three seasons – they won't likely improve in the standings. Their only saving grace at this point is getting the chance to draft Gavin McKenna next year. Summer Splash Rankings 31. Chicago Blackhawks 32. Buffalo Sabres Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blackhawks sign 2025 draft pick Anton Frondell to entry-level contract: Where will he play?
The first step for the Chicago Blackhawks was signing Anton Frondell, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, to an entry-level contract. That was accomplished on Tuesday with Frondell agreeing to a three-year deal. The next step is for the Blackhawks and the 18-year-old Frondell to figure out where he'll play this season. Will it be the NHL? Will he return to Sweden to play for Djurgården in the SHL? a Swede signing‼️✍️ 📰 ➡︎ — Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 15, 2025 Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson was hopeful after drafting Frondell that he'd at least join the team in training camp. 'I believe he'll be able to come to training camp, yeah,' Davidson said on June 27. 'There's probably contract situations and all that has to be figured out before that, but we'll see. I don't think we have any expectation one way or another right now. The plan as we stand here today is that he's playing in Djurgården in the SHL next year, but we've got a lot of time to figure out if that's the best path. I think it's a great path if that's the one that occurs. We'll just kind of figure that out.' Advertisement Frondell's situation is more complicated than the Blackhawks probably even thought when drafting him. After helping Djurgården to be promoted last season to the SHL, there is some pressure for Frondell to return and give Djurgården one more season before making the jump to North America. It may be what Frondell wants too. He mentioned recently how much playing for Djurgården means to him. 'I grew up a Djurgården fan, so I've been in the crowd singing and trying to help the team win,' Frondell told The Athletic at the NHL scouting combine. 'And now being in the team, being a part of the group who's doing it, was really cool. And I don't think I know how big this is. Some people are saying like, this is historic, this is history, this would be a historic team for the club. And maybe that's not what I thought during the play, I was just thinking, 'I love to play hockey and we're going to win this,' not how big it would be. We played AIK in the finals, biggest rival game in the whole Sweden, I don't know, maybe the whole Europe. It's like, AIK and Djurgården hate each other. And being able to show them that we are the king in Stockholm and that they are our little brother was just a cool experience.' There is an argument to be made that Djurgården could be an ideal development place for Frondell this season. It's a team and a coach who know him. He played up in the lineup last season and would be expected to have a larger role this season. Marcus Krüger, a former Blackhawks player, is the captain at Djurgården and has become someone Frondell looks up to. Djurgården's promotion to Sweden's top division would also allow Frondell to play against better players. Frondell's entry-level contract does slide a season if he plays in fewer than 10 NHL games this coming season. Djurgården coach Robert Kimby shared in May the areas he thought Frondell could still improve in. Advertisement 'I think that he has everything within himself,' Kimby told The Athletic. 'One of the things for me is to learn to release it night after night. Even if he's young, he's so strong. Sometimes even playing against men, you could almost feel like he didn't bring every muscle or every piece of power that he had. Because even in our league, he got penalties because he ran over guys sometimes. So that's one of the things, just for him to get comfortable understanding that, well, this is how good I am, just to dominate. And I'm not saying it's a mental thing because it's not, because he's really strong, but to be comfortable just owning every game.' On the other hand, it's possible Frondell has what it takes to play in the NHL this coming season. The Blackhawks envision him being a future linemate to Connor Bedard. Whether that's realistic now is difficult to gauge. The Blackhawks would love to see how Frondell performs at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in September and then at their NHL training camp and in some preseason games. If the Blackhawks could be hands-on with Frondell immediately, just as they were with recent top picks Bedard and Artyom Levshunov, that's also ideal. Frondell would be eligible to play in the AHL, but he'd just as likely be loaned to Djurgården. The one potential challenge to bringing Frondell over to the Blackhawks training camp is that Djurgården's season will already be underway. Djurgården's training camp begins on July 28 and the first game is on Sept. 13. It'd be up to Frondell and both teams to agree how that would work and what would be best for Frondell's development. Based on history, there are examples of top-five NHL draft picks playing in both leagues the year after being drafted. Leo Carlsson went immediately to the play for the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL in 2023. Lucas Raymond returned to Frölunda for another season in the SHL before playing for the Detroit Red Wings the following season. Prior to Frondell, there were four players drafted in the top five in the last decade, and two stayed in the SHL for another season and two went to the NHL. Which way will Frondell? The answer should come soon.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan environmental groups argue Line 5 tunnel project lacks key climate considerations
Protesters gathered near the shore on Mackinac Island in opposition to the Line 5 tunnel project during the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, May 29, 2025. | Kyle Davidson This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Groups submitting comments on the latest stage of the Line 5 oil pipeline project in Michigan argue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has failed to complete adequate analyses of climate change impacts and greenhouse gas emissions. On May 30, the Corps' Detroit district released its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Enbridge Energy Line 5 Tunnel Project, in which energy company Enbridge would construct a 3.6-mile tunnel under the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac that would house a replacement segment of Line 5, through which Enbridge transports 540,000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids. However, experts from the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) and the Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN), which submitted joint comments on the project on June 30, argue that the draft EIS is inadequate, failing to take climate change into consideration and overlooking potential harms of the project. 'The biggest thing is that the Corps decided to entirely exclude any considerations of greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts that are associated with the tunnel project, and their reasoning for doing this was that it's consistent with the executive order that President Trump issued earlier this year,' said Ellis Walton, an associate attorney at ELPC. ELPC argued that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires a deeper review than the Corps completed. 'NEPA the statute, as well as NEPA precedent … has established that federal agencies should be looking at foreseeable effects of major federal actions, and it's pretty foreseeable that a tunnel project that extends the lifeline of [an oil] pipeline would have foreseeable climate impacts and foreseeably contribute to greenhouse gases and climate change,' Walton said. 'It's so important for the Corps to analyze these climate impacts and understand how we may be harming environmental quality now as well as in the future.' The country is in a moment of rapid upending of environmental rules that experts warn will harm Americans' health and limit public participation in government decisions. Some of the changes affect NEPA, passed in 1970 and often called the 'Magna Carta' of U.S. environmental law. Changes to NEPA rules were issued in late June by agencies including the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Interior, Defense and Transportation 'to simplify this overly burdensome process and ensure efficient and timely environmental reviews,' the White House said in a statement at the time. That comes on the heels of a May 29 U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives the federal government more power to decide what to focus on in a NEPA review—and what to leave out. 'Courts should afford substantial deference and should not micromanage those agency choices so long as they fall within a broad zone of reasonableness,' Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote. Keele and Walton said their groups are still reviewing the changes, but both expressed confidence that earlier precedents on NEPA will provide stable grounds for arguing against the project. Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said the company supports and welcomes the public comment process now underway. 'Public and stakeholder input is essential to the integrity of this process, and we look forward to hearing feedback, answering questions, and continuing to engage transparently with all interested parties,' Duffy said in a statement. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said that the project is part of the Trump administration's promise to unleash American energy to promote the economy and security while protecting natural resources. 'Line 5 is great for families in Michigan and Wisconsin, who benefit from quality jobs within the energy industry and lower costs from expanded pipelines,' Kelly said in a statement. In comments to Inside Climate News, the Corps reiterated that it removed the topics of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change from the draft EIS in accordance with the executive orders. The Corps has said since 2023 that it would not evaluate climate impacts from the extraction and use of the pipeline's products in its EIS of the Line 5 project. Although it initially said it would evaluate emissions from tunnel construction and operation, no such evaluation appears in the current draft EIS. In that draft, the agency says greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and environmental justice are 'Not Applicable' for the draft EIS because of Trump's Jan. 20 'Unleashing American Energy' executive order and his move to rescind executive orders signed by Democratic presidents. In the Corps' executive summary of the draft EIS, the terms 'climate change' and 'greenhouse gas emissions' do not appear at all (although the term 'emissions' is included, in each case related to local air quality). Denise Keele, executive director of MiCAN, said her group argues that the energy crisis cited in Trump's executive order is not a true emergency. 'The last time we checked, our fossil fuel industry was making record profits, and I don't think there's an emergency in getting fossil fuels out of the ground,' Keele said, adding that the 'real emergency' is the potential impacts of climate change on human health and the environment that could result if the project is constructed. The Corps also cited Trump's order in April when announcing a truncated timeline for public comment on the project and its draft EIS, giving groups less time to review the statement and submit robust comments on it. The normal comment period is 60 days, and for a project this big it is usually extended up to 90, Keele said. In this case, the period was 30 days. The Line 5 tunnel project has been under scrutiny from lawmakers, environmentalists and tribes in the Great Lakes region for over a decade. In 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the Department of Natural Resources to revoke the permit allowing Enbridge to operate its dual pipelines in the Straits. Enbridge challenged that decision with a lawsuit filed the same year. Attorneys for the state are still seeking to dismiss the challenge. Another ongoing case, filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in 2019 against Enbridge, argues the 1953 permit for Line 5 was never valid. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up the case to determine whether it belongs in state or federal court. Duffy said Enbridge is looking forward to the high court's review. Keele said another concern is the precedent that the project could set should it move forward. If the project is approved without proper analyses of climate change, other companies may have more leeway to cite the project and executive order as reasons for why NEPA considerations aren't necessary, she said. Meanwhile, Keele said, Michigan has been prioritizing a renewable energy economy—it set a goal to generate 60 percent of state electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Moving forward with Line 5, she said, would go against the state's efforts to phase out fossil fuels. 'Michigan already knows it doesn't want to suffer those climate impacts, and we're moving in the other direction,' Keele said.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blackhawks GM Confirms First Move on Connor Bedard Extension Talks
Blackhawks GM Confirms First Move on Connor Bedard Extension Talks originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiations with wunderkind Connor Bedard on a potential contract extension, with the 2025–26 season marking the final year of his entry-level deal. Advertisement General manager Kyle Davidson confirmed the ongoing talks on Tuesday. Bedard became eligible to sign an extension on July 1, exactly a year from the date his current $2.85 million contract will expire. "I probably don't want to get too far into it, but we are talking," Davidson said. "So, I think that's an indicator of an openness to discuss. "He made his thoughts very clear at the end of the season, and subsequently in other interviews, that he's committed to Chicago and wants to be here long term. And we obviously want him here long term, so there's mutual agreement there." As Davidson noted, Bedard already stated his willingness to sign a long-term deal to stay in Chicago before the NHL Draft when asked about his future. Advertisement "We have a great relationship, and everyone knows I want to be a Hawk as long as I'm playing," Bedard said. "And I know they appreciate me and want me with the team." Bedard, however, said timing is not a concern and that he won't rush any decision with a year still left on his current deal. "Whether it's done next week or during the year or at the end of the year, that doesn't stress me out too much," Bedard said. "Anything can happen, but the relationship with me and the team is really strong." Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard (98) shoots during warm-up at Rogers Frid-Imagn Images Davidson pointed to the rising salary cap and the evolving market as the main reasons for the slow process in contract talks with Bedard. Advertisement "It's going to make some of these a little more drawn out than maybe they would have been in the past on a more flat cap," Davidson said. "But yeah, we've started and we'll see if something gets done." The NHL announced the projections for future salary cap upper limits at the end of January, with those figures listed at $95.5 million, $104 million, and $113.5 million for the next three seasons. Related: Connor Bedard Addresses Future with Blackhawks Before Contract Year Related: Connor Bedard Breaks Silence on Skipping Chance to Play with Sidney Crosby This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
