Scott Powers put out a two mailbag pieces at The Athletic this week that got into a lot of good questions. There’s a lot in both sections — again, I highly recommend Part I and Part II. In the first piece, the biggest news nugget I took away was this quasi-update on injured Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser:
From what it sounds like, the injury isn’t as bad as the Blackhawks initially feared. We’ll soon see what that means for a timeline.
Powers’ second Blackhawks mailbag piece starts with a lengthy answer to a question asking to compare the current states of the rebuild in Chicago and San Jose. I already gave my take on that before the two teams played each other on Feb. 2. The comments there are pretty similar. He also answers a bunch of questions about the Panthers’ pick protection debacle (he also didn’t know it had a top-10 protection designation) and he answers a question that’s all-too familiar to me: when do we start giving up on prospects if they aren’t as good as we want them to be right now?
But what you have to understand about this path is that most of these young players need more time. …
… you need to let it play out a little longer. [Frank] Nazar is in his second full pro season and first in the NHL. [Ryan] Greene and [Oliver] Moore are in their first full pro seasons. [Kevin] Korchinski is 21, in his third full pro season, and is playing between 21 and 25 minutes a night in the AHL. It’s not like the Blackhawks have moved on from him.
Sound familiar?
Part 2 of my Blackhawks’ mailbag t.co/gh5XuPU3jk
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) February 13, 2026 The United States women should probably apologize to the parents and next of kin of Italy’s women’s team after yesterday. If not for a weak “shot” on net with 24 seconds left in regulation, the US would have scored more goals than Italy had credited shots on goal. In the 6-0 US victory, the Americans had a 51-6 shot advantage. Yes, I said 51-6. The game was chippy and the Italians were taking their share of cheap shots, so the US just didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal.Kendall Coyne Schofield netted two goals to power the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team past Italy, 6-0, in their #WinterOlympics quarterfinal. Up next: the semifinals! Game recap: t.co/8dNECncTJu pic.twitter.com/WXphkx5BHu
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 14, 2026 On the men’s side of the Olympics, the biggest news on Friday wasn’t Canada obliterating Switzerland. It was an ugly injury that will have significant implications in the NHL. Swiss / LA Kings forward Kevin Fiala got tangled up with Canada / Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson (totally clean play) and went down awkwardly. Fiala did not get up, and needed a stretcher to leave the ice. I’m not going to embed the video, but you can click here to see the play. As a rookie in the 2017 playoffs, Fiala broke his femur. We don’t have any additional clarification of what the exact injury is for Fiala yet (as of me writing this), but Elliotte Friedman reports this morning that his NHL season is over and he’s already had surgery.One update from last night: Kevin Fiala is having surgery this morning in Italy.No clarity yet on exact injury, but, unfortunately, it will be season-ending. All the best to him in his recovery.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 14, 2026 Fiala’s 18 goals and 40 points both rank second on the Kings this season. Yes, the Kings just acquired Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but Fiala is a huge part of that team. LA was rumored to still be searching the market for some additional help to make a playoff push in Anze Kopitar’s final season. This injury likely changes the calculus on their “needs” before the trade deadline. Here’s your men’s Olympic hockey schedule for Saturday: Sweden vs. Slovakia — 5:10 AM CT Germany vs. Latvia — 5:10 AM Finland vs. Italy — 9:40 AM United States vs. Denmark — 2:10 PM I keep seeing comments on social media and here that the Blackhawks “don’t like” and/or “don’t want to draft” Gavin McKenna. To be clear: I do not think the Blackhawks wouldn’t/won’t draft McKenna — I just believe he isn’t No. 1 on their board. Powers touched on that, too.I don’t think they’re sold on McKenna as the top pick in 2026. They’re not the only ones who think that. McKenna’s game has shown some flaws in college. If they’re drafting further down the top 10 and he’s still on the board, they’d have to consider him. His offensive ability can’t be ignored. I don’t think it’s certain that they won’t draft him.
Hey, Lemont-native Scott Darling is going to be in Rockford tomorrow!Scott Darling is returning to the @BMOCenter on Sunday as part of our @NHLBlackhawks Centennial Celebration weekend!! t.co/lCrCKp5x7F
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) February 13, 2026How about some Blackhawks prospect highlights?
Here’s Roman Kantserov‘s KHL-leading 30th goal of the season from Friday’s action. Powers was asked about why there isn’t more hype around a young forward (21) who’s putting up numbers comparable to what Kirill Kaprizov did in the KHL at the same age. He didn’t have an answer beyond his listed size being a possible flag for some folks. I don’t have a good reason for more people outside of Chicago to not be talking about him at this point, either.#Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov gets his 30th goal of the season!pic.twitter.com/WSBjK53Lx7
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) February 13, 2026 In college, John Mustard got Providence on the board last night with his 12th goal of the season. Julius Sumpf picked up the second assist on the Mustard marker. Unfortunately, the Friars’ nine-game win streak ended.Gamache sends Mustard down the left wing and he finishes on the backhand for his 12th of the season! Julius Sumpf also earns as assist on the play. t.co/fGIZhNe3B0 x @ESPNPlus t.co/6A8D1e9NQD pic.twitter.com/ImnZGdta7q
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) February 14, 2026 In the WHL, Nathan Behm picked up an assist on a 5-2 loss for Kamloops. In the USHL last night, Mason West went top shelf for Fargo last night.MASON WEST. TOP SHELF. NASTY. pic.twitter.com/lhWJsq2ICK
— Fargo Force (@FargoForce) February 14, 2026 In the OHL, Jack Pridham scored his 35th goal of the season. He also picked up two more assists for a three-point night. Pridham now has 70 points in 51 games on the season.This guy is Priddy good!Jack Pridham gets his 35th of the season for the @OHLRangers as they double up their lead in Kingston!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/cp37h8RihZ
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) February 14, 2026 With Pridham on his heels in the OHL scoring race, Marek Vanacker scored his 36th and 37th goals of the year last night. Vanacker now has 61 points in 45 games this season, and reached two big milestones in his OHL career last night.THAT’S TWO MILESTONES FOR MAREK!! With tonight’s goal, Marek Vanacker recorded his 100th career goal and 200th career point! Congratulations, Marek! #BFD pic.twitter.com/FVKyDTkZMZ
— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) February 14, 2026 Finally, a brief baseball note if I might. Shoutout to Luke Lawrence, St. Rita’s own and starting second baseman for the University of Kentucky. He hit a grand slam on opening day for the Wildcats, a 13-2 win at UNC Greensboro. He’s going to make a major league GM really happy in a few months after the draft. I see his dad around the United Center every once in a while. Great kid!BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
Joe Thuney’s first year with the Bears was transformative and historic Shelby Miller is reportedly closing on a multi-year deal with the Cubs. Matas Buzelis’ Team Vince wins the 2026 Rising Stars ChallengeHence then, the article about kaiser update usa women dominate fiala hurt prospect highlights and other blackhawks bullets was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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