Who will be Kane’s linemates? Here’s an early indication originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Patrick Kane lost one of his favorite linemates of his career over the summer when the Blackhawks traded Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators in a blockbuster deal. He also lost his center Dylan Strome, who signed with the Washington Capitals after Chicago did not extend him a qualifying offer.
That means two lottery tickets became available on the top line as Kane looks to establish chemistry with some new faces, although you figure head coach Luke Richardson will do quite a bit of tinkering throughout the season.
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The Blackhawks are slated to hit the ice on Thursday at Fifth Third Arena for the first day of training camp, and Richardson said he expects to put newly-signed forward Max Domi on Kane’s line to start.
“I think we’re going to move things around, but tomorrow, just for Day 1, we want to see maybe some Domi speed with Kane on the same line,” Richardson said. “I think that’ll be good. They got a connection because they both played for the same junior organization. So [we’ll] see if something comes to that.”
The natural follow-up questions then become: will Domi be lined up at center or wing? And who could be the third player on that line? Andreas Athanasiou is one of the fastest players in the game and could be a potential option, but we’ll wait and see who gets the first crack.
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It also sounds like the Blackhawks are going to give No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski and some of the younger defensemen a spin with the veterans on the back end, perhaps with Seth Jones?
“We definitely, for training camp for sure, giving young guys like Korchinski and [Ethan] Del Mastro and having a chance to play with the veteran guys. I think that that’s a smart thing, especially the defensive position, given the first taste of that and make them feel comfortable that they have some security and let them do their thing.”
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