The 2023 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone, and most of the big free agency moves have already been made. But this just means things are picking up in the hockey world while everyone gets ramped up for a new season to start. Beyond the obvious success of selecting Connor Bedard as the No. 1 overall selection, the Chicago Blackhawks feel good about their draft and free agency acquisitions. Let’s get to some of the latest news and rumors as we head into mid-July and the heat of summer.
Blackhawks 2023-24 Schedule Released
The Blackhawks released their official 2023-24 schedule on June 27, in conjunction with the rest of the league. Opening night will be on Tuesday, Oct. 10, featuring a road contest versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. Assuming the young Bedard makes the roster (he will), his NHL debut will be against his childhood idol, Sidney Crosby. This also marks the beginning of a five-game road trip. What a perfect way for the team to bond right off the bat! Their home opener is slated for Saturday, Oct. 21, against the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Related – Ranking Blackhawks Draft Moves: From Bedard to Perry
The Blackhawks were able to add more lucrative home games to the schedule for the fans, featuring 25 weekend home games and seven afternoon home contests. February is a big month to take in a Blackhawks game at the United Center; they will host nine out of their 10 games in that month.
Related – Blackhawks’ 5 Must-Watch Games for 2023-24
The preseason schedule includes six exhibition contests from Sept. 28 through Oct. 7, where the Blackhawks will face the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota Wild and the Detroit Red Wings, with two games against each team (one home and one away).
Want to be the first to see Bedard in person? That will be on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. against the Blues.
Development Camp Different This Year
We discussed previously how the Blackhawks decided to do things a little differently for their prospect development camp this year, which ran from June 30 through July 6. There was no on-ice portion at all. Instead, the prospects participated in numerous group activities, including a cooking class, breathing exercises, boxing lessons, comedy club skits and playing floor hockey with Chicago youths. They were even treated by the organization to a Cubs game and a Chicago boat tour.
being real with the fellas 😎 pic.twitter.com/yAM0JW4mou
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 5, 2023
According to Blackhawks’ general manager Kyle Davidson, this approach was about the prospects bonding and becoming friends, but it was also more than that.
Just give them a little break from instruction on the ice and take it off ice, and teach them some different things that they wouldn’t be exposed to likely at their amateur team and not too much when they turn pro.
You almost assume they know things like media training and (things) like that. Just a little bit of a different education set.
Goalie prospect Drew Commesso talked about learning from the workouts and the nutrition meetings. Forward prospect Paul Ludwinki loved the breathing techniques taught to them by former Blackhawk and two-time Stanley Cup champion Johnny Oduya. And then there was the sparring lessons.
W O R K 🥊 pic.twitter.com/knVlCwiQwR
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 5, 2023
Can you imagine facing your future coach with boxing gloves on?! Yes, head coach Luke Richardson participated in the festivities as well. Top prospect Bedard showed his humble and sharing personality once again when asked what his favorite activity at camp was. “I liked the clinic we did with the kids. We played floor hockey and got to talk to them and see their excitement when we came. It was pretty cool.”
Wholesome mic’d up alert 🎙️🚨 pic.twitter.com/yLxq8i3VoB
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 6, 2023
All in all, it appears the camp was a success. The fans didn’t get to see the players on the ice, but this new approach seemed to highly benefit the prospects. Which, of course, is the whole point of a development camp.
Number Assignments for New Blackhawks
The Blackhawks acquired some new players surrounding the recent draft and free agency, so they obviously need to be given jersey numbers with their new team. It was pretty cool Bedard was presented with a No. 98 jersey upon being drafted instead of the customary No. 23 for the draft year. No. 98 is the number he chose for himself when he was just five years old. It will be the first time this number has been worn in franchise history.
Related – Meet the New Blackhawks: Connor Bedard
The team also picked up some veteran depth by adding forwards Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins, Corey Perry from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ryan Donato from the Seattle Kraken. Here are their new digits with the Blackhawks.
Numbers for Blackhawks’ new additions:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) July 5, 2023
Taylor Hall: #71
Corey Perry: #94
Ryan Donato: #8
Nick Foligno: #17
Jason Dickinson is changing to #16 (he was #17).
Hall and Foligno were able to keep the numbers they wore with the Bruins. While current Blackhawk Jason Dickinson wore No. 17 last season, he will switch to No. 16. This is the number he wore for his first three seasons in the league with the Dallas Stars. That obviously doesn’t bode well for Jujhar Khaira, who wore No. 16 last season for the Blackhawks. But he’s an unrestricted free agent who we already knew the organization was unlikely to re-sign.
Donato kind of got the short end of the stick. He’s worn four different numbers with four different clubs in his six-year NHL career. He originally wore No. 17 with Bruins (already take by Foligno with the Blackhawks), No. 16 with the San Jose Sharks (taken by Dickinson) and No. 9 with the Kraken (retired by the Blackhawks in honor of Bobby Hull). It’s a little unclear why Donato didn’t take No. 6, which is the number he wore with the Minnesota Wild (and last worn by Jake McCabe with the Blackhawks). Who knows, perhaps one of the defensive prospects has dibs on this number. No. 8, by the way, was most recently worn by defenseman Jack Johnson last season, and forward Dominik Kubalik before that.
It’s notable that Perry did not take the No. 10, which he wore with the Anaheim Ducks, the Stars and the Lightning. Instead, he went with the No. 94 that he donned with the Montreal Canadiens. Now, we all know Patrick Sharp wore No. 10 for the Blackhawks for 11 seasons, and of course he won three Stanley Cups with the team.
Fans are already leery of Perry from the huge rivalry between the Ducks and the Blackhawks in the 2015 Western Conference Final. But the veteran appears to be smart enough to not rub salt in the wound by taking the former number of the beloved Sharp. Check one positive mark for Perry!
Kurashev Headed to Arbitration
For my final piece of news, Philipp Kurashev was the only Blackhawks restricted free agent that was extended a qualifying offer, and he then filed for arbitration on June 5. But the Blackhawks said they were expecting that, and they are fully hoping to get a deal done before getting to arbitration.
Kurahev’s qualifying offer was $787,500 after his one-year contract with a cap hit of $750,000 last season. The Swiss forward has been with the Blackhawks for three seasons now, and many thought his breakout campaign would be last year. But he had another mediocre campaign where he registered nine goals and 25 points in 70 games, despite getting plenty of opportunities to play in the top-six. Sure those numbers aren’t horrible, but the 23-year-old just never seemed to take that next step to being a consistent playmaker.
Based on that, I would expect the Blackhawks to try to keep Kurashev on a short-term one or two-year prove-it deal. I wouldn’t expect him to sign for any more than $1-2 million, depending on the term. Heck, maybe he can finally break out this coming season.
Related – Philipp Kurashev Enters Pivotal Season With the Blackhawks
That’ll do it for today’s news and rumors. Now we wait for the rest of the summer to be over, and for training camp in the fall. We’ll keep you updated as any more news trickles in, and of course we’ll have some analysis pieces and thoughts on the upcoming season. It’ll be here before we know it!