With the NHL Trade Deadline approaching on March 3rd, Al Cimaglia and I got together to discuss the status of Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks in what could be a pivotal two weeks in the future of the Chicago franchise and their rebuild. Will it also be the final days of Kane’s career in a Blackhawks uniform?
We also discuss other possible directions Kyle Davidson could go ahead of the deadline and in the coming months. We also take a look at NHL television ratings and how the IceHogs production team made a mockery of Rockford’s ‘Pride Night’ over the weekend and how the entire organization has, at least publicly, chosen to ignore it.
Scroll down to see the timestamps and some of the topics discussed. It was a fun, thorough discussion as always. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to listen. With some luck and proper planning, we’ll return around the deadline with some more fine analysis.
Timestamps
2:40 – Will Patrick Kane’s recent scoring outburst trigger a renewed interest from Cup contenders in number 88? What will the Blackhawks demand in return?
5:45 – Factors in Kane’s thinking when it comes to where he might go, or what will convince him to move his no-movement clause.
9:30 – Kane’s hip and the decision to play through the pain.
11:05 – Kane’s disappointment in the Rangers going in a different direction and more on Kane’s preferences.
13:50 – Jonathan Toews being taken off the trade market and dealing with ‘long-Covid’ again – Will this impact Kyle Davidson’s thinking trading Kane, or what he seeks in return? Or does Davidson change his focus to get whatever he can in dealing anyone else on the roster?
18:00 – Max Domi
21:30 – No matter where the Hawks land in the lottery, they still need a lot of luck to kickstart their rebuild. A look back at NHL Draft Lottery history. An argument to re-sign Kane and keep him in Chicago.
28:00 – Frank Nazar and what looks like it could be a strong 2022 Blackhawks draft class.
35:30 – How much value is there on a roster that was built to be terrible?
40:15 – Jason Dickinson and Lukas Reichel
42:25 – Theory of progression in development and how it changes once the next level is the NHL. More on why Davidson has chosen to hold Reichel down in the AHL.
45:50 – Isaak Phillips recalled to Chicago to sit in the press box
55:15 – Davidson’s goal to build a team designed for sustained success vs how he’s going about it so far. How the Blackhawks were rebuilt 15-20 years back.
59:30 – More recent NHL Draft Lottery history
1:07:30 – Maybe Kane stays and forces Kyle Davidson to be the one to run him off.
1:15:00 – Cole Guttman, Isaak Phillips and Kevin Korchinski
1:21:20 – There’s a lot of bad news and some good in the recent NHL national television ratings, and the NHL needs to get serious about growing its audience.
1:32:50 – Premier League soccer on USA doing better ratings many weeks than NHL on TNT and ESPN.
1:39:45 – Rockford IceHogs’ ‘Pride Night’ gone wrong and the organization stays silent about it.
1:50:00 – End show. And somehow I didn’t get hostile over Yanic Perreault. Maybe next time.
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