Blackhawks lineup appears much different following the loss of a key forward

The Chicago Blackhawks' lineup looks considerably different after they traded Lukas Reichel to the Vancouver Canucks.

With Reichel gone, Head Coach Jeff Blashill has had to reevaluate the lineup.

Tyler Bertuzzi, a key forward, has also went down with an injury.

In his absence, he's promoted Ilya Mikheyev to the first line and Ryan Donato to the 2nd.

With Reichel headed to Vancouver, the team has given Sam Lafferty a spot in the fourth line, where his German counterpart held until now.

This could be the lineup that we see take on their rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, tomorrow at 7 P.M. on ESPN.

With former 1st-round pick Lukas Reichel gone, they'll have space to accommodate Sam Lafferty.

Lafferty, who is in his 2nd stint with the Blackhawks, has been a healthy scratch on October 13th and 19th recently. In 2 games played this season for the Blackhawks, he's been held scoreless, with 4 penalty minutes and a -1.

He was acquired by the Blackhawks on July 1st, during free agency, for a 6th-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft from the Buffalo Sabres.

What's more exciting is that we've seen players like Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev promoted in the lineup after their hard work during training camp.

The question is, will it be good enough to pull off a win against the Kings tomorrow?

The team is 4-2-2 in the NHL and 4th in the Central Division, already showing improvement compared to their beginning of the 2024-25 season, which began with a 2-6-0 record.