No Jones, No Korchinski: Blackhawks Again With Depleted Defense As They Face Seattle

The Blackhawks will skate again without top defenseman Seth Jones and rookie rearguard Kevin Korchinski when they meet the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday night.

Jones will sit out a second straight game after suffering an upper-body injury late in a 4-2 home loss to Washington on Sunday. The 6-foot-4, 29-year-old leads the Blackhawks with an average of 25:25 minutes of ice time per game, a mark that's also fourth highest in the NHL. He hasn't scored this year, but has 11 assists.

Korchinski will miss a fourth game after he was placed on non-roster last Friday to deal with a family matter. The fleet 19-year-old has two goals and five assists in his first 25 NHL games, and is fifth among rookies in ice time per game, averaging 19:31 on 22.4 shifts.

For a second straight game, Chicago has a defense corps led by veteran Connor Murphy. Nikita Zaitsev, 32, is the only other Blackhawks blueliner with more than 47 games of NHL experience. Rookie D-men Alex Vlasic, Isaak Phillips, and recent call-ups Louis Crevier and Filip Roos will fill out the lineup.

Forward MacKenzie Entwistle is sick and will be a game-time decision. Arvid Söderblom is expected to start in goal. See coach Luke Richardson's comments in the video.

The Blackhawks held on to beat the Kraken 4-3 at the United Center on Nov. 28 on an emotional day. Tyler Johnson and Entwistle scored in the second period to put Chicago ahead in that one and Petr Mrazek made 33 saves.

A few hours before the contest, general manager Kyle Davidson placed forward Corey Perry on unconditional waivers to release the 38-year-old forward. Davidson choked up at a press conference as he said Perry had violated team policies in an "internal personnel matter."

Perry later released a written apology, saying he planned to seek help to deal with mental health and alcohol abuse matters.