The Chicago Blackhawks have been going some struggles lately. 

The Blackhawks have won just two out of their last 10 games and have suffered back-to-back blowout losses to the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. 

If the Blackhawks continue to struggle and find themselves out of the playoff race once we get closer to the deadline, they will likely be sellers again this season. Due to this, let's look at seven players the Blackhawks could trade if their season goes south. 

Connor Murphy, D

Murphy will certainly generate interest from playoff teams this season. Playoff clubs are always on the hunt for big and reliable right-shot defenseman, so he could get the Blackhawks a nice return if they move him. 

Ilya Mikheyev, RW

Mikheyev could be a popular target if made available by the Blackhawks, as the pending UFA is a solid two-way forward who kills penalties and scored 20 goals this past season. 

Nick Foligno, LW

If Foligno wants the chance to go for the Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks could move their captain by the deadline. However, if the pending UFA wants to stay put with the Blackhawks, they would likely honor that. 

Jason Dickinson, C 

Dickinson is another Blackhawks pending UFA who could generate interest around the league. The 2013 first-round pick would be a nice addition for a playoff team looking to improve their bottom six and penalty kill. 

Matt Grzelcyk, D

Grzelcyk's playoff experience and easily affordable contract could make him a popular target for contenders. He also showed last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins that he can chip in offensively, posting career highs with 39 assists and 40 points in 82 games. 

Sam Lafferty, RW/C

Lafferty's gritty style of play and versatility could help him generate interest from playoff clubs looking for more forward depth at the deadline. 

Laurent Brossoit, G

No matter what happens with the Blackhawks' season, a Laurent Brossoit trade is likely. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported late last month that the Blackhawks have given teams permission to talk to Brossoit.

The New York Islanders split their two games during their weekend trip to Florida, shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Saturday, before falling 4-1 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

The Islanders scored three total goals through two games, one of which came as an empty-netter with just over one second left against the Lightning.

Ilya Sorokin certifiably stole the game at the Benchmark International Arena on Saturday, as he made 32 saves. The Islanders, meanwhile, only managed 19 shots on net throughout the contest.

Sunday against the Panthers, they posted just 21 shots on goal. In 120 minutes of hockey, the Islanders recorded fewer shots than they did in 60 minutes against the Colorado Avalanche, when they pumped 42 shots on net en route to a 6-3 statement victory.

Against Jonas Johansson and Daniil Tarasov, the Islanders simply needed to get more shots through on net. Yes, they beat the Lightning in an extremely impressive win, but it's not a sustainable way to win.

More often, a game like that results in what happened against the Panthers, where they kept it close, aided by more great goaltending, but ultimately fall short.

So what's causing the issues?

First, the injuries to Kyle Palmieri and Jonathan Drouin certainly impact th offense. That's a guy who funnels puck like nobody's business. 

Maxim Shabanov and Maxim Tsyplakov have looked stronger in elevated roles, but the finishing hasn't been there.  Couple that with Simon Holmstrom's ongoing scoring issues and inconsistent offense, and all of a sudden, New York's offense has stalled. 

Emil Heineman's torrid start has slowed down. He's got just one point (a goal on 11/28 against Philadelphia) in his last nine games. 

The Islanders dressed 12 forwards in both games in Florida. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, and Heineman have combined for 36 goals. The other nine forwards have scored a total of 25 goals this season.

It's a massive disparity, one that can easily illustrate just how top-heavy the Islanders have become with Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Drouin out of the picture.

Those same nine forwards have a total of 59 points scored this season. Barzal, Horvat, and Heineman have 66 points between the trio.

Drouin, Palmieri, and Pageau combine for 15 goals and 45 points this season. That's a huge reason for the sudden crisis of goals missing.

Obviously, this team can score. They put six up on the Avalanche with this same group of forwards.

That level of explosiveness lives in the group, but they need to find a way to consistently find the back of the net and overcome injuries to stay afloat in such a tight playoff race. 

The schedule doesn't lighten up this week. The Vegas Golden Knights will be in UBS Arena on Tuesday night. After that, the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, and then, somehow, a third game against the Lightning in the span of 12 days.

Pageau and Drouin are best described as day-to-day at current times. Pageau's extremely likely to return this week, perhaps as soon as Tuesday.

Palmieri, however, won't be back this season.

Palmieri posted 71 shots on goal in his 25 games. Outside Horvat, Barzal, Heineman, and Lee, you can combine any other two Islanders' forwards' shot totals for the season and have a shot total within seven of Palmieri.

The biggest and most controllable thing that can change in the immediate term?

Other wingers desperately need to shoot the puck more. 

In a recent article for The Hockey News Buffalo Sabres, Adam Proteau argued that the Sabres should trade Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen due to their goalie surplus. 

If the Sabres do officially shop Luukkonen this season, he could be a very popular target for teams looking to improve between the pipes. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could make sense as landing spots for Luukkonen if he becomes available this season. 

Edmonton Oilers

It is not a secret that the Oilers could use some serious help in net. Because of this, it would be understandable if they had a goalie like Luukkonen on their radar. If they brought him in, he could take away some pressure from Oilers starter Stuart Skinner and form a nice tandem with him. The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta also noted the Oilers as a potential suitor for Luukkonen. 

Montreal Canadiens 

Pagnotta also recently mentioned the Canadiens as a possible suitor for Luukkonen. When looking at their group, Luukkonen could be a nice fit on their roster. Samuel Montembeault is having a nightmare season for the Habs, as evidenced by his 5-6-1 record, 3.61 goals-against average, and .861 save percentage. With this, perhaps the Canadiens could look to make a change between the pipes and bring in a goalie like Luukkonen. 

Philadelphia Flyers 

Dan Vladar has been a solid pickup for the Flyers this season, but Samuel Ersson has struggled big time for Philly. In 10 games for the Flyers this season, Ersson has a .871 save percentage and a 2.98 goals-against average. Thus, it would make sense if the Flyers wanted to get an upgrade from Ersson and bring in a goalie like UPL to form a tandem with Vladar. 

The Buffalo Sabres have made some roster moves ahead of their Dec. 8 contest against the Calgary Flames. 

The Sabres announced that forward Noah Ostlund has been assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In addition, the Sabres shared that defenseman Zach Metsa has been called up to Buffalo's roster. 

Ostlund has appeared in a career-high 20 games for the Sabres this season, where he has recorded three goals, three assists, six points, 12 blocks, and a plus-1 rating. This is after he had zero points in his first eight NHL games with the Sabres during this past season. 

Ostlund will now be looking to make a big impact with Rochester after being sent back down. The 2022 first-round pick has played in six games this season with the Amerks, posting two goals, five assists, and seven points. 

Metsa has played in his first four NHL games this season with the Sabres, where he has recorded zero points and a plus-3 rating. He has had a strong start to the year with Rochester, posting two goals, 11 assists, 13 points, and a plus-5 rating in 14 games. 

The Chicago Blackhawks played the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday night. After being blown out 6-0 by the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, they were beaten even worse by the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night. 

It was a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Anaheim, one week to the day after Chicago beat them at the United Center. In danger of being swept by the Blackhawks in their final regular-season meeting of the year, the Ducks came ready to play in this one. 

Jacob Trouba scored Anaheim’s lone goal in the first period. The Blackhawks were lucky to be down just 1-0 after being outshot 17-6 in the opening frame. In the second, however, four unanswered goals turned the game into a truly lousy loss for Chicago. 

Leo Carlsson, who went second overall after Connor Bedard went first in the 2023 NHL Draft, scored two goals in this one. They’ve both been spectacular this year, but Carlsson won this round. 

Bedard didn’t miss the scoresheet completely, though. He assisted on Tyler Bertuzzi’s power play goal, Chicago’s only marker in the match. That's now 40 points for Connor Bedard. Bertuzzi, who has been great this season, now has 15 on the season. 

The Blackhawks have had two back-to-back situations so far this season. In the second game of both, they were run out of the building. The first was a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. That, along with the 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, is the two worst losses of the season. Jeff Blashill must be working on ways to prepare them better for these situations, because that’s two bad ones in a row. 

Chicago’s next back-to-back comes next weekend. After a road match against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, they will take on the Detroit Red Wings at home a day later. 

When the Blackhawks defeated the Kings 2-1 on Thursday night, nobody saw them being outscored 13-1 over the weekend in two more Southern California games. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

we're on the board✅ pic.twitter.com/Uvng1f1sPE

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 8, 2025

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks are now off until Wednesday. They will be back home at the United Center for that one against the New York Rangers. 

 Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Less than 24 hours after their win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens were back in action at the Bell Centre as they hosted the St. Louis Blues, who were also playing a second game in as many days after taking on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Much of the talk in town on Sunday had been about who would be manning the net for Montreal, and in the end, with the Canadiens recalling Kaapo Kahkonen because Samuel Montembeault was ill, Jakub got a third start in a row, and a second in two days. The organization didn’t provide any details on the Becancour native’s sudden illness, after he had acted as backup on Saturday night in Toronto. In his post-game presser, Martin St-Louis confirmed that the initial plan was to start Montembeault.

Canadiens: Hage Makes Highlight-Reel Worthy Play
Canadiens Smother Maple Leafs In 2-1 Shootout Win
Canadiens: 2 Center Trade Targets To Consider

The Battle Of The Exes

Two players must have had that game circled on their calendar: Logan Mailloux and Zachary Bolduc, as they were traded against one another over the summer. The Canadiens’ faithful didn’t react much to Mailloux; there were the odd boos here and there and a few “Loooogan” during the night, but the crowd opted to bother goaltender Jordan Binnington instead.

Mailloux certainly didn’t have the start he hoped for, taking a hooking penalty on his first shift, but Bolduc followed him in the box minutes later. Before the end of the first frame, however, Bolduc manufactured the Habs’ first goal with a perfect pass to Lane Hutson, who was entering the slot all alone. It’s already Hutson’s fifth goal this season, after he had just six in 82 games in his rookie season. The fact that he’s already taken 44 shots might have something to do with it.

In the end, Bolduc had more of an impact on the game, even if he didn’t get a single shot on net. Meanwhile, Mailloux logged 15:35 of ice time, took a shot, landed two hits and blocked a couple of shots.

A Recurring Issue

After two games in which the Canadiens handled themselves well in the second frame, their aversion to the middle stanza was back in full force on Sunday night. By the end of the first period, the Canadiens looked completely in control; they had allowed only four shots to the Blues and were playing a good collective game, but it all came crashing down in 65 seconds.

Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway came through the Canadiens’ defence like a hot knife through butter while the Oliver Kapanen line was on the ice and tied up the game on a two-on-one 26 seconds into the frame. Then, with the first line and the first pairing on the ice, the man-to-man system malfunctioned and Pavel Buchnevich found himself all alone on Dobes, a chance he wasn’t about to miss. The result? Three Blues goals on just six shots, and they can’t just be hung at Dobes’ door.

As things stand, there’s only one team with a worse differential than the Habs in the second frame: the Blues, who are minus-14, while Montreal is minus-14, followed by the Utah Mammoth at minus-10 and the Chicago Blackhawks at minus-9. This has got to be a concern at this stage: to have looked so in control one minute and then completely lose it the next could end up being very costly for the Canadiens.

Asked what happened in those 39 seconds in which St.Louis scored twice, the bench boss said:

It was a little bit of everything, but no, it was that we were tired. Something did stand out, but I’ll correct it.

Clearly, he didn’t feel the need to share that that was, or how he would fix it.

The Coach Was Satisfied

When it was suggested to him that his team lacked pace tonight, St-Louis refused to agree:

No, not at all. We didn’t give them much, but when we did, they were quality opportunities. I believe we played a good enough game to go and get two points tonight, but it’s those two minutes in the second frame that hurt us.

While there’s no arguing that those two minutes were the Canadiens’ downfall, there were aspects of the game that just weren’t good enough. Lately, the Habs have had a lot of trouble winning faceoffs, and tonight, its four centermen had a below 45% success rate. Nick Suzuki was at 42%, Jake Evans at 25%, Joe Veleno at 40% and Oliver Kapanen at 33%.

In a league where puck possession is so important, you can’t afford to start without it so often, because then you have to waste a lot of time and energy chasing it. Furthermore, the Habs started the third frame down by one goal, and yet, they didn’t have a single shot until there was only 11:11 remaining in the game, and it came less than a minute after the Blues had taken a two-goal lead. There wasn’t much urgency up to that point. In the end, in a period where the Habs were chasing the game, they only took seven shots in the last 20 minutes; that’s just not good enough.

On the bright side, Lane Hutson has really taken a shine to shooting, and it’s making him much more dangerous. On Sunday night, he had eight shot attempts, five of which reached the net, accounting for 20% of the team’s shot total. As for Noah Dobson, he had seven shot attempts, and four of them reached the net. It’s no wonder he finished his evening with a couple of points. Of course, he was guilty of five giveaways, but given how hard he tried to generate some offence, it was hardly surprising.

Ce n'est pas fini tant que ce n'est pas fini

We are not done yet...#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/2JsY8tPWM5

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 8, 2025

As for sniper Cole Caufield, he kept his point streak going and now has a point in his last 11 games, which is just one short of Suzuki’s 12-game point streak at the beginning of the season.

After the game, the Canadiens sent Kaapo Kakko back down to the Laval Rocket. The move isn’t surprising since they have a day off tomorrow, but it will be interesting to see if they need to call him back up for Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.

Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.