The Chicago Blackhawks have arrived. They are ready to play in their centennial season, the 2025-26 campaign. Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Sami Rinzel, and the Blackhawks are down in Sunrise to take on Gustav Forsling, Sergei Bobrovsky, and the Florida Panthers.
Before the game, the Panthers are going to have a ceremony that will see them raise a Stanley Cup championship banner for the second year in a row.
After that, the Panthers will take the ice without their two best forwards. Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov are going to be out for a long time. Although nobody wants to see anyone hurt at any time, this is a break for the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks are not without injuries themselves; the players just aren’t as consequential. Alex Vlasic, though, is a strong defenseman who the Blackhawks will miss in this game.
Landon Slaggert will also be out, as the team was forced to put him on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.
The Blackhawks are expected by many to be one of the worst teams in the NHL when it comes to the standings. With that said, the development of young players in the lineup is what the team sees as most important.
They’d also love to take down the champs on the road to open the season, as it could set the tone for an improved year.
Projected Lines
Donato-Bedard-Burakovsky
Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi
Dach-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Foligno-Greene-Lafferty
Grzelcyk-Rinzel
Kaiser-Levshunov
Del Mastro-Murphy
Knight
Söderblom
With Slaggert hitting IR, Colton Dach moved into his spot on the third line left wing. They called up Ryan Greene to play fourth-line center and moved Sam Lafferty to his right wing.
Alex Vlasic is ruled out for the first game, so Ethan Del Mastro will draw into the lineup. Grzelcyk will move up to the top pair with Sam Rinzel, while Del Mastro will play with Murphy on the third pair.
Spencer Knight will make his first start of the season, and it will come against the team that traded him away. Arvid Söderblom will be the backup.
Of the non-injured players, Lukas Reichel will be the non-dressed forward, and Louis Crevier will be the healthy scratch defenseman.
The most notable part of this lineup is the 1-2 punch down the middle in the top six. Jeff Blashill has a lot of faith in Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who should carry the load for this team offensively all year long. This game against Florida will be an early test for them, going up against an elite team.
How To Watch
Those looking for the game in Chicago and nationally can find it on ESPN and ESPN+. The event will start at Amerant Bank Arena at 4:00 PM CT. As mentioned before, the game will take place following the championship ceremony that Florida holds for itself.
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