Chicago Blackhawks Luke Richardson Scratching Top Six Forward Against Canucks Tuesday

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Ryan Hall
October 22, 2024 (9:32)

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Daily faceoff Frank Seravalli reports that Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson is preparing to scratch Philipp Kurashev against the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow.

His recent play has not lived up to Richardson's standards and the head coach feels that he needs to sit out a game to give him a wake-up call to be a better player.

"I'm not saying he was the only guy, but to me, he's a guy I've gotten used to counting on & he can't play like he did the last game for me to continue to count on him like that. I know he'll use it as a wakeup call & be better."

The 25-year-old center has played for the Blackhawks for the past five seasons. He was drafted by the Hawks in 2018, fourth round 120th overall. As his game has rounded out he has improved offensively as last season he had played 75 games, scored eighteen goals with 36 says for 54 points and had 23 penalty minutes. He also held 19 minutes of ice time on average.

This season however, his play has been dismal and has watched his ice time cut by almost 5 minutes per game. Through six games of play, he's only scored one goal and has been a - 6 with four penalty minutes.

His decline has been a trend that the Blackhawks have had since the beginning of the season. The team at times seems to struggle to find ways to closeout games or even take control of games. Richardson and his staff are currently working on trying to sort out their lines and find out who will work best with whom as general manager Kyle Davidson added several new faces to the lineup to bolster offense and overall leadership.

The Blackhawks will be at home to face off against the Canucks on October 22nd and game time will be 8:15pm eastern.