Connor Bedard is red hot. What's more, the Blackhawks will skate into St. Patrick's Day weekend by getting their Irish up.
Slaggert talks to reporters Friday.Notre Dame's 2023-24 leading scorer Landon Slaggert will make his pro debut on Friday night as Chicago faces the Los Angeles Kings.
Coming off a 7-4 victory over Arizona and a 7-2 rout of Anaheim, the Blackhawks will try to win a third consecutive game for the first time this season. After scoring seven goals in back-to-back contests for the first time since 1992, Chicago has crawled past dead-last San Jose and into 31st place in the league standings.
Bedard Red Hot... Against Sea Of Green
Leading NHL rookie scorer Connor Bedard has three goals and eight points in his last two games. The Blackhawks 18-year-old center will have less space to work with as he skates again on a line with Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev... on a night when Chicago hands out green St. Patty's hats to fans.
The big, tight-checking Kings are squarely in a Western Conference playoff position and own the NHL's third-best goals-against average at 2.60. See story in link.
Slaggert signed a two-year contract on Sunday after Notre Dame's season ended hours earlier in a Big Ten tournament loss at Michigan. The 21-year-old scored 20 goals and 11 assists as a senior for the Irish in 2023-24. See story in link:
Drafted in the third round, 79th overall, in 2020, Slaggert was slated to skate on a the left wing of a line with MacKenzie Entwistle at center and Ryan Donato on the right side.
Slaggert in action for Notre Dame.Coach Luke Richardson remembered making his NHL debut at age 18 with Toronto against the Blackhawks at the old Chicago Stadium in 1987. The former rugged defenseman didn't want to overload Slaggert with too much information and detail. See video.
Slaggert is from South Bend, Indiana, home to Notre Dame and only about 100 miles away from the United Center. The rangy forward said he'd have a group of about 40 family members, friends, former teammates and Irish Hockey staff on hand for his debut.
"You can't really put it into words," Slaggert said after Friday's morning skate. "It's the dream of a lot of hockey players growing up. Tonight to live out that dream's pretty special." See video.