The Blackhawks will look to move on from a hard loss in Toronto tonight with a game against the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are under .500 on home ice and have won only four of their last ten games (4-5-1). The Blackhawks need to dust off the last game and move forward. And they need to find a way to score a third goal without Connor Bedard.
We’ve talked plenty here about the Blackhawks moving to the next step(s) of the rebuild. And we’ve also talked about how Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has been transparent about stockpiling draft capital into the future so he has assets for if/when the right trade opportunity presents itself at the right time. Really good read here from Ben Pope on that subject.The Canucks, Flames, Predators, Blues and Kraken are all discovering they actually cannot compete — to various degrees of severity — as currently constructed. The Bruins and Penguins have over-achieved but are nearing age cliffs, too.
Many of those organizations will pivot toward rebuilding or retooling in 2026 or 2027, whether they publicly admit it or not. Beyond then, cap growth should eventually return to a normal annual rate, re-establishing equilibriums within the free-agency and trade markets.
That’s when the Hawks, as they enter their own contention era, will be eager to flip from sellers to buyers. They’ll want to package together picks and prospects for established players — the opposite of what they’ve done so far during GM Kyle Davidson’s tenure.
Draft picks will continue to be important assets for the Blackhawks moving forward — but as trade chips as much as anything.They can put in work now to build up a supply of picks in 2027, 2028 and beyond to have at their disposal.New story: t.co/WdOpfduSNf
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 17, 2025 Chris Johnston updated his Trade Big Board on Wednesday for The Athletic. He has two Blackhawks on his list: Connor Murphy (No. 18) and Laurent Brossoit (No. 21). Like Ben, I would argue the market for Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev — two exceptional defensive forwards — will be strong by the deadline if the Blackhawks are in position to/want to move them. Those four (plus Matt Grzelcyk) could all help the Blackhawks’ efforts to add more draft capital into the future. With those pieces in mind, this quote from St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong in a piece from Jeremy Rutherford at The Athletic about the Blues beginning to consider their immediate future is noteworthy:“The majority of the (general managers), especially in Olympic years, the teams that are close to the cap, they want to make that deal the day after the Olympics because they don’t want that cap eating away at their cap when they’re not playing them,” Armstrong said. “When they’re not playing, they don’t want to pay. It’s not the money; it’s the cap space.”
Canada and Sweden played in a warm-up game for the World Juniors last night. Canada won 2-1. There were two Blackhawks prospects in action. Anton Frondell had the primary assist on Sweden’s only goal of the night (from Viggo Björck). Here’s what Corey Pronman wrote about Marek Vanacker on the Canadian side of the game:“Marek Vanacker (Chicago Blackhawks) was the only forward not to get a special team shift. He struggled with the puck at times but worked hard. He’s likely on the bubble as well.”
Thoughts from the Canada/Sweden World Junior pre tournament action t.co/uRb6Y7hoYY
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) December 18, 2025 Scott Wheeler at The Athletic wrote about what he’s hearing out of Canada’s World Junior camp. So, what did he say about Vanacker before last night’s game?“My impression entering camp was that up front, the Brantford duo of Blackhawks first-rounder Marek Vanacker and Kraken first-rounder Jake O’Brien were on the bubble. I still think that’s true, but both were noticeable in camp. …
Vanacker was hard on pucks, scored and played his style this week, and his fit would be clear: A bottom-six speed-size checker who can chip in around the net.”
at @TheAthleticNHL: What I saw and heard at Canada’s World Junior camp:On Gavin McKenna, Ethan Mackenzie, the bubble guys, plus other notes and the latest on potential NHLers t.co/Ck8SuTuwfU
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) December 17, 2025 The Rockford IceHogs announced forward Marcel Marcel was released from his AHL contract so he can pursue opportunities in Europe. The Philadelphia Flyers announced forward Tyson Foerster underwent successful surgery on his arm and is expected to miss the next five months. Foerster is a really good player and an important piece for Philly. We’ll see if they make a move to replace him soon. Congrats to Jonathan Toews for skating in his 1,100th career regular-season game last night.Time flies when you're having fun Congrats on 1,100 career NHL games, Jonathan Toews! pic.twitter.com/Iwsm7ASeZ0
— NHL (@NHL) December 18, 2025 Finally, it looks like there will be a Chicago-based ownership move in the NHL. No, the Wirtz family isn’t doing anything with the Blackhawks. But the Penguins are selling to an investment group out of Chicago.Sources say @FenwaySportsGrp has reached an agreement to sell the #NHL’s @penguins to the Hoffmann family, a Chicago-based investment group led by David Hofmann.Official announcement expected in coming days.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 17, 2025BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
In this week’s “WTF are you thinking?” moment, the Bears decided to release a statement about their next stadium last night. Hey! The Bulls won a game last night! The Giants want to trade for Nico?Hence then, the article about on to montreal asset management frondell vs vanacker toews milestone 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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