Phillips clears waivers, Reichel likely opens the season as a healthy rookie

The Blackhawks held their final preseason practice on Monday before Tuesday's season opener in Utah, but the first news we're getting this afternoon is a quick off-ice update:

Phillips was one of several players around the league to hit waivers on Sunday afternoon, which is often the case as teams work to trim their rosters down to what they will represent for the regular season. There was some concern that another team would ignore the Blackhawks' D prospect, but coach Luke Richardson said the move was necessary due to the status of several other D men in the organization:

As for what's happening on the ice, Monday's practice provided a glimpse of who will likely face the UHC (that's the Utah Hockey Club, by the way), and wouldn't you know: We're already at Lukas Reichel Healthy Scratch Watch!

The season is obviously long, but finding optimism about the 2020 first-rounder's development this season is a lesson in futility right now. Richardson discussed what went into the decision to hire Reichel and what it will take to get him into the lineup going forward:

The top line-up of Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev also caused quite a stir, considering that the latter of this trio was not known as a front-row talent in his career. But Richardson said Mikheyev's place at the top was based on traits Mikheyev observed in his preseason performances:

Elsewhere in Chicago's first-round pick news, defenseman Nolan Allan is expected to make his NHL debut in about 24 hours, which likely wasn't high on the list of expected events before this year's training camp:

The Blackhawks' first game of the 2024-25 regular season will take place on another night. We'll see you back here on Tuesday evening for the season-long group therapy session, which will likely happen again in our game threads!