It’s December, which means a lot of things around the hockey universe are about to collide. Which is awesome! Talk about holidays! The first big non-Blackhawks specific date on the calendar is this coming Wednesday, Dec. 4 when the full rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off are announced. As of right now, it sounds like the only Blackhawks player who’s a lock to be in the showcase is Teuvo Teräväinen for Finland. We’ll see if Connor Bedard makes it for Canada (he should) and Alex Vlasic makes it for the United States (he should, too).

4 NATIONS FACE-OFF IS GOING TO BE ELECTRIC ⚡️

Can’t wait for February 🍿 pic.twitter.com/b1RUyZiB0W

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 24, 2024

• The World Junior Championships are in Canada this year. It will be fascinating to see how many Blackhawks prospects are invited to participate with their respective countries. AJ Spellacy certainly made a name for himself at the USA’s summer showcase event, and the numbers Nick Lardis is putting up should force him into the conversation for Canada. As a reminder: Brent Seabrook is part of the management group for Canada again this year.
• The games begin at the World Junior Championship on Dec. 26. Even if there aren’t a lot of current Blackhawks prospects invited to the WJC, there could be a lot of draft-eligible players to watch in the tournament. Rachel Doerrie at ESPN did a nice job of breaking down the guys who stood out in the recent CHL-USA Prospects Challenge.

The CHL dominated the run of play over 2 nights in the inaugural #CHLUSAProspectsChallenge, but the scores didn’t really matter. Here are the guys who made really good impressions and likely raised their draft stock in the eyes of scouts & GMs. https://t.co/6z4ZSXKd4r

— Rachel Doerrie (@racheldoerrie) November 29, 2024

• And then there’s the 2025 Winter Classic, which will be played at Wrigley Field (in 2024). The Blues already made a coaching change and they’re reportedly poking around the trade market already as well.
• With all of those fun events surrounding the actual NHL schedule, the Blackhawks have a crazy game schedule between now and the end of the calendar year, beginning this afternoon with the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center for a mid-afternoon tilt. The Blackhawks have four games this week — three at home — before a week in New York, followed by another four-game week. Get ready to crank it up, Blackhawks fans. Plenty of hockey coming this month!
• This is a solid read from Ben Pope on Wyatt Kaiser. I’ve said for a while that I can see a lot of Trevor van Riemsdyk in his game. And, frankly, if Kaiser can play north of 600 games in the league he would probably take it. TvR has had a really nice career and been a solid player for the Blackhawks, Canes and Caps.

What will be Wyatt Kaiser's long-term role and identity in the NHL?

He and the Blackhawks are trying to figure that out.

"My style is defense first, offense second."

New story: https://t.co/b3DFgoU0Rf

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 30, 2024

• The future of defense in the Central Division added another layer on Saturday when the Wild acquired David Jiricek from Columbus. Think about this:
• Minnesota: Brock Faber, Zeev Buium, David Jiricek, Carson Lambos and Aron Kiviharju
• Chicago: Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski, Kaiser, Nolan Allan, Ethan Del Mastro
• That’s a stacked group of defensemen who are all young.

How about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?

• I already mentioned Lardis, so how about we start with him lighting the lamp again? This goal came on the power play.
• How about a goal from Oliver Moore? He was credited with four shots on net and won 12 of 17 faceoffs, starting as the third line center. Sam Rinzel scored into the empty net to close the books on a 5-2 win over Alaska-Fairbanks.

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 1, 2024

• For Providence, John Mustard scored this goal and added an assist. He was also credited with a team-leading five shots on goal in a 2-1 win over St. Lawrence. Remember goaltender Dominic Basse? He stopped 33 of 35 in the losing effort.

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 1, 2024

• In Ireland, Boston University co-captain Ryan Greene scored the game-tying goal in the third period as BU came back from a two-goal deficit to win 4-3. Greene put three shots on net and won 12 of 21 faceoffs.

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 30, 2024

• Frank Nazar and Colton Dach scored goals for the IceHogs last night in a 3-2 loss in Milwaukee. Korchinski, Levshunov and Gavin Hayes had assists. Check the nice helper in the clip of Nazar’s goal below. Dach’s goal came on the power play.