So, noted hockey analyst Paul Bissonnette was taking in some of the playoff hockey last night from a hotel room apparently and decided to chirp at the Blackhawks for letting Brandon Hagel go. Because reasons.
You seeing this @NHLBlackhawks??? Your boy did it again. Hagel keeps it in and Kuch cleans up the garbage. We’re all tied up in Tampa. YOU ALWAYS KEEP THE DOGS. pic.twitter.com/J57ByMQLHg
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) April 22, 2026A couple thoughts from me on this one… since Hagel gets brought up here and in our mentions every once in a while still…
First: entering these Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hagel had six goals and 10 assists in 37 career postseason games for the Lightning. He’s played more than six games in a single postseason once — his first year in Tampa, when the Lightning lost to the Avs in the Stanley Cup Final. He had six points in 23 games that postseason. He’s a terrific player. Some might qualify him as a “dawg.” The Bolts haven’t won anything with him in four postseasons.
Second: the hardest thing to do for any front office in sports is, to borrow from Kenny Rogers, knowing when to hold ’em and knowing when to fold ’em. When Kyle Davidson was named the permanent general manager of the Blackhawks, he looked at the roster he inherited and didn’t see it winning a championship. But he had a vision of a path to where they might get back to the dynasty-level of success. He took the fork in the road. I’m not going to re-litigate all of the trades he’s made since he got the seat, but how many former Blackhawks have “led” their team to a Stanley Cup since leaving?
As a devout Maple Leafs fan, Biz should know that you can have a core group of players that might all put up Hall of Fame numbers individually and never wins anything. If the goal is to go to the Hall of Fame and take pictures with their plaques, cool. If you want a parade in your city, sometimes making hard decisions needs to happen.
[steps off soap box]
Let’s talk about Artyom Levshunov for a moment. The 20-year-old Blackhawks defenseman appeared in 68 games in his first full season in the NHL, averaging 19:34 per game. Of his 24 points, 11 came on the power play. It was undoubtedly an up-and-down year for him, which should be expected from a young defenseman. But how the Blackhawks put him in opportunities to succeed was interesting. He spent more than 200 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time with the Blackhawks’ top three left-handed defensemen this season. Here’s how much time he spent with each of them at even-strength: Wyatt Kaiser — 430:55 Matt Grzelcyk — 362:48 Alex Vlasic — 217:33 There’s no question he had the most rapport on the ice with Kaiser, who took a big step forward this year in his individual game after spending 91 games in the NHL and another 54 with Rockford over the previous 2+ seasons since signing his entry-level contract at the end of the 2022-23 season. It will be interesting to see if those two stay together when training camp opens, or if Levshunov sees more time with Vlasic as the Blackhawks begin a new season fresh. The Kaiser-Levshunov pair was out-scored 30-10 at 5-on-5 this past season. One noticeable difference from Levshunov after he got his pre-Olympics reset was he played more physically after the break. Before the Olympics (52 games), Levshunov averaged 19:11 one ice per game, 3.72 hits/60 min. and 3.06 blocks/60 min. After the Olympics (16 games), Levshunov averaged 20:51 on ice per game, 6.47 hits/60 min. and 4.32 blocks/60 min. He was playing his best hockey over those weeks after the Olympics in large part because he was more physically engaged. I keep coming back to this one comment from Chris Pronger when we spoke a couple weeks ago about the value of having a mentor on the blue line. It feels so simple and obvious… but it isn’t always that easy.“The issue with that is who are they going to lean on? Are they going to lean on one another? Well, they don’t know anything. They don’t have the experience to help one another.”
With that in mind, I will be interested to see what the future holds for Grzelcyk. He was a solid defenseman for the Blackhawks after signing a PTO to skate with the team in training camp and earning a roster spot; he appeared in 69 games this season. As we’ve discussed, the Blackhawks should look for a veteran to help the young group. He’s a known commodity — and might not have a long list of other options. To me, the Blackhawks should be looking for someone with more bigger-game experience. The crazy thing is: the resume the Blackhawks should be looking for on the back end right now is exactly what Alec Martinez brought to the table. Maybe just with a little more gas left in the tank. Really good conversation here from the guys at NHL.com with Dan Marr on the defensemen at the top of the 2026 NHL Draft class. As I mentioned in a piece on Monday looking at their new mock draft, the odds of the Blackhawks moving down from No. 2 in the draft lottery are fairly high. Which makes the top of the board on the blue line more noteworthy.NHL Draft Class … Check out our latest discussion with @NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr on the top defensemen eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. Why is @OHLHoundPower defender Chase Reid at No. 2?Apple: t.co/1aZ7MBr0ojSpotify: t.co/dUZu82gdRk pic.twitter.com/l6D2iw6PNd
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) April 17, 2026 While we’re on the subject of the possibility the Blackhawks move back from No. 2 overall, this tweet got some buzz yesterday. Of course the Blackhawks have seen a lot of Caleb Malhotra this season; he’s had two previously drafted Chicago prospects on his roster in Brantford in Marek Vanacker and Parker Holmes. But this is another noteworthy voice bringing up Malhotra as a potential top-four overall candidate in June.Jeff Marek: I think Chicago has had a lot of eyeballs on [2026 draft prospect] Caleb Malhotra…all season long – Sekeres & Price (4/17)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) April 21, 2026 The Canucks are reportedly going to chat with Kevyn Adams about their general manager job.The Canucks have requested and been granted permission to interview former Sabres GM Kevyn Adams for their vacant GM job, I’m told. He still had time on his contract when he was fired, hence the need for the request. Story from me and @ThomasDrance: t.co/hDbO2YTPra
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) April 21, 2026BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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