Chicago Blackhawks place a player on waivers and release more from their PTO
Photo credit: Alpha Coders
On a day where many teams made their final cutdowns before the NHL season the Chicago Blackhawks sent down or cut 13 players.
This afternoon reports confirmed that the Chicago Blackhawks have cut down their roster heading into the upcoming 2024-25 season. The team's final cuts included a few surprises including notable names like Frank Nazar and Kevin Korchinski being sent down.
On top of these players being sent down without needing to clear waivers the Chicago Blackhawks also put a player on waivers. According to Blackhawks insider Scott Powers defenseman Isaak Phillips will be placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL.
Isaak Phillips has been a reliable player for the Blackhawks over 53 total games where he tallied 11 points. This standard for the Blackhawks was not good enough to guarantee a roster spot going forward.
Young stars head to the AHL for the Blackhawks looking to improve
When it comes to the younger players being sent down they will look to develop in the AHL and try to earn their way back to the NHL. Four of the standouts who were part of the final cuts that should be stars in the AHL are Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, Colton Dach, and Drew Commesso.
Kevin Korchinski was a surprise inclusion on the Blackhawks roster last season. During his first NHL season, Kevin Korchinski played 76 games with 15 points. Colton Dach heads into his second season in the AHL after a solid rookie season with 27 points in 48 games at 6'4 he will likely bring physicality to the AHL lineup. Finally, Drew Commesso was also an AHL rookie in 2023-24 and was the main starter for the Rockford IceHogs. At 22 years old Drew Commesso is the future of the Blackhawks in goal.
As for the NHL team, they will now be led by Nick Foligno after he was named the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. The eventual plan of course is for Connor Bedard to take over as the captain once the team feels he is ready. In the preseason Bedard got to be an assistant captain getting a taste of that responsibility.
The Chicago Blackhawks will likely go through one more season of rebuilding before they are truly contenders. Their AHL squad this season full of stars needs to perform if the players want to prove they are ready to play on a soon-to-be contending team.
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