Blackhawks Notebook: Soderblom Clears, Kane & Byram Skate, Line Combinations

The Chicago Blackhawks made a series of announcements on Sunday. Most of them came with a negative connotation following a 0-3-0 road trip in which they were blown out in all three games. 

Chicago is now 4-13-1 through 18 games played. They haven't won on the road and are lousy in every aspect of the game. Many expected heads to roll upon their return to Chicago on Sunday and Monday, but the changes aren't of that nature. 

Some thought that the road trip would solidify the fate of head coach Jeff Blashill, but that wasn't the case. A team source let it be known that they do not plan on firing him at this time. General Manager Kyle Davidson will speak on Wednesday. 

The first actual move to be made involved Arvid Soderblom, who has had a nightmare start to the year. At 0-3-1, Soderblom has a 4.67 goals-against average and an .842 save percentage, which is simply not good enough. Jeff Blashill has had to ride Spencer Knight, and that is unsustainable in the NHL these days.

On Sunday, the Blackhawks placed Soderblom on waivers. He went unclaimed by Monday and will report to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. 

Drew Commesso didn't have to wait to be called up, though, as he was brought up when the Blackhawks placed Patrick Kane on IR on Sunday. Kane's stint is retroactive to November 2nd. When it is time to activate Patrick Kane, they won't have to make a corresponding move (as of now) because of Soderblom's demotion. 

Speaking of Kane, he skated in a non-contact sweater on Monday ahead of practice. After missing the road trip, it is unclear how long he will be out. His hometown Buffalo Sabres are in town on Thursday, which is Chicago's next game. 

Bowen Bryam, Chicago's other big off-season acquisition, hasn't played in a couple of weeks. Like Kane, he skated in a non-contact sweater before practice, but doesn't appear close to returning yet. He has been back and forth between skating and seeing a specialist to address whatever the issue is. 

"He spent time with the specialist last week," Blashill said of Byram. "I think progress was definitely made. I don't want to get into it because I don't know enough about it. What that means, we'll see."

This is a tough situation. It seems like the Blackhawks are confused about what's going on just as much as those watching the team on a nightly basis. There is a sense of mystery surrounding what the issue is and what is taking so long. It's not a great look for a player whose lucrative extension hasn't even kicked in yet, and after the team traded the 4th overall pick for him. 

For a couple of days now, the Blackhawks have talked at length about studying potential changes for the group on the ice. Some thought that a system change could be in order. Their 2-1-2 defensive strategy leaks odd-man rushes and puts the goalies in a very bad position. It doesn't seem like they intend to make any meaningful change there, though. 

After practice, Jeff Blashill talked about how hard it is to pull off a mid-season system change and implied that such a change would not work. Well, that is likely what would happen if they brought in a new head coach, so it's an interesting opinion. 

This is what the lines looked like in practice:

Kantserov-Bedard-Bertuzzi

Mangiapane-Frondell-Teravainen

Moore-Nazar-Donato

Smith-Greene-Greenway

Vlasic-Cole

Del Mastro-Levshunov

Kaiser-Rinzel

Knight

Commesso

EXTRAS: Korchinski, Boucher

Are more changes on the horizon? With their next game not coming until Thursday, there is plenty of time for more transactions. There are trade rumors swirling on top of all thier internal issues, so you never know what smoke will lead to fire. 

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