On Thursday night, the Chicago Blackhawks kicked off a three-game road trip, their final of the season, with a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. This loss officially eliminated them from postseason contention. On Saturday, they will continue working on building for the future with a match against the Seattle Kraken in the great Pacific Northwest. Scouting Seattle The Seattle Kraken held on to a playoff spot for a large portion of the 2025-26 season, but they have fallen on hard times. They are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and now sit 4 points below the playoff line. Not only would the Kraken have to make up those four points, but they'd also have to jump five teams to get in. It's a possible but improbable challenge. The players on the team will certainly make it hard to play against them; however, as they still have full belief. McCann - Beniers - Eberle McMann - Stephenson - Kakko Catton - Gaudreau - Schwartz Tolvanen - Fisker Molgaard - Melanson Dunn - Larsson Evans - Montour Oleksiak - Lindgren Grubauer Daccord The Seattle Kraken get mostly good goaltending. Joey Daccord has had his ups and downs, but Philipp Grubauer has been exceptional all season. No matter who starts, a good forecheck, smart shot selection, and tenacity in front of the crease are a must. Shane Wright is expected to be missing from the lineup, but most of their top scorers are ready. Jordan Eberle is their leading goal (24) and point (52) scorer. Those aren't big-time numbers; they are close to a playoff spot thanks to contributions from up and down the lineup. Seattle has eight players with 30 or more points, and 10 players with double-digit goal scorers. They are lacking a star who can take over a game, but their offensive depth is strong. On defense, Vince Dunn is their go-to guy offensively, but Brandon Montour is perfectly capable as well. Adam Larsson is their most steady defensive defenseman, but they play a strong game as a unit, which helps. This is a team that's one superstar away from being a playoff threat year in and year out. They have been actively trying to get one for a while, but they don't just come out of nowhere. Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago The Blackhawks are working towards something greater than this season. For them, it's all about the future. They have young and budding stars all over their lineup, and they are being played in key roles nightly. Greene - Bedard -Lardis Bertuzzi - Frondell - Mikheyev Donato - Nazar -Burakovsky Teravainen -Boisvert - Slaggert Vlasic - Rinzel Kaiser - Crevier Korchinski -Del Mastro Soderblom During Chicago's morning skate, there were no forward rushes, but Nick Lardis was on the ice after leaving the last game with an injury. It looks like he will play. These forward lines are projected based on how the last game started, rather than how it ended when they were losing. The defense pairs were going during the skate, however, and there was one noticeable change. Sam Rinzel jumped onto the top pair with Alex Vlasic, while Louis Crevier came down to play with Wyatt Kaiser. You can expect those to be the pairs to start the game, with Arvid Soderblom in the net behind them. LINEUP UPDATE: Teravainen-Bedard-Lardis Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mikheyev Donato-Nazar-Greene Slaggert-Boisvert-Burakovsky Kaiser-Crevier Vlasic-Rinzel Korchinski-Del Mastro Soderblom These lines reflect the changes that Jeff Blashill made mid-game against the Oilers. How To Watch The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally. Nationally, it is available to stream on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 9:00 PM CT. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/6df181b1-3f99-4dc3-8e29-26a5cd52c1b6.jpeg] Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay up to date on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
