Morning Chirps: Jones Talks 'Picking Up,' Korchinski AHL MVP

The Chicago Blackhawks will have another day of practice before the Edmonton Oilers come to town on Wednesday. Last night, a pair of Rockford IceHogs took to the ice for the Central Division at the AHL All-Star Challenge. And the Eastern Conference Wild Card playoff race is made even tighter with a series of injuries.

Blackhawks Chirps

Artyom Levshunov is spending a couple of days at Blackhawks practice during the AHL All-Star Break. Meanwhile, Anders Sorensen said that this team is at its best when they are forechecking, so he’s putting Connor Bedard between two of the best forecheckers in the lineup.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli updated his Trade Board and added Seth Jones to the list at No. 8. He notes that the salary cap increases over the next three years makes moving his contract easier. He finishes by saying that the Blackhawks are “willing to be creative to move a player who doesn’t necessarily line up with their timeline. Sounds like talks are picking up on that front.”
Seravalli has two other Blackhawks on his list of top 30 trade targets. Defenseman Connor Murphy is at No. 14, and Seravalli wonders if the Blackhawks can make a deal similar to the one they made with the Toronto Maple Leafs two years ago for Jake McCabe. Ryan Donato checks in at No. 17, and he’s reportedly on the Ottawa Senators’ radar.
Staying on Daily Faceoff, their prospects expert Stephen Ellis lists 2023 second-round pick Roman Kantserov as one of his top 10 NHL prospects playing in the KHL.
On this date in 1996, Brent Sutter scored his 350^th career goal, and Gary Suter recorded his 500^th NHL assist in a 4-1 win over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Happy 63^rd Birthday to Blackhawks Ambassador, former head coach, and Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Savard!

IceHogs Chirps

Kevin Korchinski and Cole Guttman had productive nights at the AHL All-Star Challenge. The format has all four divisions competing in a round-robin 3v3 tournament, with each game made up of two five-minute periods. In their opening contest, Korchinski had a goal and two assists in the Central’s 3-0 win over the Atlantic Division.

Kevin Korchinski making himself known in Team Central’s 1st win of the evening 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/eg2upHSWC0

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) February 4, 2025

The Central lost their second game 4-2 to the North, but the Rockford duo factored in all the scoring. Guttman scored the first goal, while Korchinski assisted on the other.

Cole Guttman says me too please ☝🏼 pic.twitter.com/nOsbKC5YUY

— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) February 4, 2025

The Central advanced to the championship game with a 5-2 win over the Pacific. Neither IceHog found the scoresheet during the final round-robin game. The last contest of the evening was a rematch with Atlantic. They won 2-1 in the shootout, thanks to a goal from Korchinski.
Korchinski capped off his night by being named the AHL All-Star Challenge MVP. I’m going out on a limb by saying this will be his only appearance at this event.

NHL Chirps

Ryan Hartman’s actions against Tim Stutzle were quite costly. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety suspended the Minnesota Wild forward for 10 games. He will forfeit $487,804.88 in salary, which will be added to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. This is Hartman’s fifth career suspension and fourth in less than two years. This undoubtedly was a factor in the length of his banishment. This couldn’t come at a worse time, as the Wild are already without superstar Kirill Kaprizov for the next few weeks.
The race for the final playoff berths in the Eastern Conference will come right down to the wire. A bevy of injuries makes the race even more interesting and might force some hands before the trade deadline. Mathew Barzal is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Russ Macias of New York Islanders Hockey Now writes that the week ahead could decide whether the team becomes buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko underwent surgery to repair a broken jaw on Monday, and he is out indefinitely. The Blue Jackets have been one of the season’s best stories and sit in the second Wild Card spot. However, the odds are stacked against them with the long-term injuries to Marchenko and Sean Monahan.
The Ottawa Senators sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division despite a rash of injuries. You can add Josh Norris to the growing injured reserve list in Canada’s capital. Head coach Travis Green revealed on Monday that Norris will miss a few weeks with a “mid-body issue.”
The injury news didn’t derail the Senators as they rolled to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators last night. Goaltender Linus Ullmark was back on the bench after the former Vezina winner was activated off injured reserve. Stutzle recorded an assist to become the third-fastest player in team history to score 300 points. He also beat out Marian Hossa as the youngest Senator to join the 300-point club.