🎬 HIGHLIGHTS

• Jaylon Johnson re-signs & Kevin Byard signs with the Bears!

• Bulls go 3-1 on their West Coast trip

• Blackhawks have a quiet trade deadline

🏒 Chicago Blackhawks

TROPHY TRACKER

1-❌-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

Results:

L - Avalanche 5, Blackhawks 0

Justus Annunen shut out the Blackhawks for the 2nd straight time as the Hawks get blown out for the third time in as many games. Seth Jones and Caleb Jones got to play against each other for the first time in their NHL careers and had their dad in the stands.

• Each team had 37 shots on goal, but the Hawks couldn’t capitalize on any opportunities

• Seth Jones had extensive comments after the game about the team playing too much for themselves instead of each other

W - Blackhawks 5, Coyotes 2

🚨 The 22 game road losing streak is finally over!! 🚨 The Blackhawks score 4 POWER PLAY GOALS in the decisive win.

• Seth Jones 2 goals, Tyler Johnson 3 assists, Connor Bedard 2 assists

• Arvid Soderblom snapped a 14 game losing streak in net, saving 37 of 39 shots

L - Capitals 4, Blackhawks 1

Back to their losing ways on the road. The Hawks came out flat in a 3-goal first period for the Capitals and couldn’t gain any significant momentum the rest of the game.

• Connor Bedard was maneuvering around Caps defenders all night and ended up with 16 shot attempts 😲

• Tyler Johnson scored the only goal on a redirection

W - Blackhawks 7, Coyotes 4

Looks like the Hawks need to face the Coyotes 82 times a year! How about an offensive explosion from this team?? Colin Blackwell led the way with his first career hat trick! (Thank you Kyle from Chicago for not trading him)

• Packed stat sheet in this one: Bedard 2g/1a, Blackwell 3g, Donato 1g/1a, Seth Jones 4a, Tyler Johnson 1g

• Hawks went 2 for 5 on the Power Play

• Arvid Soderblom started and got another W

Week Record: 2-2-0

Season Record: 17-43-5

Star of the Week: Connor Bedard

There were a legitimate number of options this week, but Bedard’s consistent offensive contributions were too much to ignore.

He finished with 2 goals and 3 assists, and the skills were on FULL display. It already looks like he is adapting more and more to the NHL level and is gaining confidence knowing he is more talented than most of the skaters on the ice at any given time.

Play of the Week: Connor Bedard goal

News & Notes:

• Traded Anthony Beauvillier to the Predators for a 2024 5th round pick

  • Beauvillier was acquired for a 5th round pick from the Canucks in November, so the Blackhawks recouped what they originally gave up

• No other moves at the Trade Deadline

  • Kyle Davidson said it was much quieter this year and did not find a worthwhile opportunity to use their cap space to take on more assets

• Prospect Landon Slaggert signed a 2-year entry level contract with the Blackhawks and will join the team this week

• Boris Katchouk was claimed off waivers by the Ottawa Senators

  • He came over in the Brandon Hagel trade (from the Lightning) and was a solid contributor over 117 games. Despite being in and out of the lineup and on a constant shuttle to and from Rockford, he played hard and had some highlight moments (like the shootout victory this January)

🏀 Chicago Bulls

TROPHY TRACKER

❌-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

Results:

W - Bulls 113, Kings 109

The Bulls STORMED back from 22 points down to beat the Kings and start their west coast trip on a high note!

• DeMar DeRozan singlehandedly outscored the Kings in the 4th quarter (19-18) on 7-7 shooting and ended the game with 33 points

• Coby White broke out of his slump with a statement game, scoring a career-high 37 points with 7 assists and 5 rebounds

W - Bulls 119, Jazz 117

DeMar DeRozan’s 4th quarter heroics again saved the Bulls as the Jazz almost completed a comeback, despite missing old friend Lauri Markkanen.

• DeMar had 17 4th quarter points to follow up his 19 point 4th quarter against the Kings

• Coby scored 25 points on 7-11 from 3! Vooch had 23p/12r

W - Bulls 125, Warriors 122

The Bulls eventually outshot the Warriors just enough to hang on for a wild win and their 3rd straight victory on the road trip. The Bulls controlled the first three quarters and had a 10 point lead heading into the 4th quarter.

• Bulls shot 52.9%/44.4%/73.9%, Warriors shot 45.4%/26.2%/82.1%

• Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski missed a wide open potential game-tying layup with 6 seconds left

• DeMar and Vooch each scored 33 points

L - Clippers 112, Bulls 102

A shot at an undefeated road trip went down the drain as the Bulls squandered an 11-point halftime lead and lost the lead for good at the start of the 4th quarter with an 11-0 Clippers run.

• Bulls 4th quarter: 17 points, 5-18 FGs, 1-9 from 3

• DeMar put up a near triple-double with 24p/10a/8r

Week Record: 3-1

Season Record: 31-33

Star of the Week: DeMar DeRozan

Steve Kerr: “DeMar is one of the great closers in the game. He has been for 10 years.”

Play of the Week: DeMar DeRozan And-1

News & Notes:

• Lonzo Ball has begun sprinting and cutting and has been cleared for advanced rehab activities. Finally some encouraging progress for Ball! Check out K.C. Johnson’s full update here.

• Zach LaVine said he feels great and is possibly a little ahead of schedule on his 4-6 month timeline for recovery from surgery

• Still sitting in the #9 seed in the East with 18 games left in the season

🏈 Chicago Bears

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-❌-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• Re-signed CB Jaylon Johnson to a 4-year, $76M contract

  • Bears placed the franchise tag on JJ at the franchise tag deadline on Tuesday - this clearly was just a stepping stone to buy time and get the two sides closer to the long-term deal

  • $54M guaranteed, $60M in the first 3 years, $19M AAV (Johnson got top-5 CB money even though he had stated his desire to set the market - great numbers for the Bears’ side)

• Signed safety Kevin Byard to a 2-year, $15M contract

  • Byard is a former All-Pro with the Titans with 28 career INTs. I love this signing - Byard is an elite player, veteran, leader, takeaway artist, and can quarterback a young defensive backfield. There are SO many safeties available this offseason, so I’m surprised the Bears signed one already. But that clearly shows they love Byard and saw him as the perfect match for this defense.

  • I am SO excited for the secondary - Jaylon Johnson (24 years old), Tyrique Stevenson (23), and Kyler Gordon (24) are all in place for many years at CB. Jaquan Brisker (24) can now be paired with Byard at safety 🔥

• Traded a 2024 5th round pick to the Bills for OL Ryan Bates

  • The Bears attempted to sign Bates in 2022 shortly after Ryan Poles was named GM. The Bills matched their offer sheet and hung onto him. It seems like Poles never lost sight of a guy he really wanted.

  • Brad Biggs and others have reported that Bates is expected to be the starting center 🤔

    • Bates can play center and guard, and I’m expecting him to be the backup iOL after Cody Whitehair was released

  • Bates is under contract for 2 more years with a $4M cap hit each year

  • Now down to 5 total draft picks in 2024 - I’m assuming there will be more trades coming up to help add to their draft capital. For a GM who always talks about building through the draft and has made some crafty trades to acquire draft capital, Ryan Poles has also traded away draft picks fairly often (to acquire Ryan Bates, Montez Sweat, Chase Claypool, Dan Feeney, and N’Keal Harry).

• Re-signed long snapper Patrick Scales to a 1-year deal - Scales remains the longest tenured member of the Bears (joined in 2015)

• Reports came out that Darnell Mooney turned down a 3 year extension offer from the Bears before the 2023 season

  • It’s tough to see how poorly this last season went and to most likely see Mooney move on to a new team in free agency this offseason

⚾ Chicago Cubs

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• Justin Steele was named as the Opening Day starter

• Cody Bellinger made his Spring Training debut on Wednesday

• Injury updates at Spring Training:

  • Jameson Taillon (back) - scratched from his first potential Spring Training start on Saturday, no details yet

  • Ian Happ (hamstring) - should be ready for Opening Day

  • Nick Madrigal (hamstring) - does not seem serious, timeline is uncertain

  • Caleb Kilian (shoulder) - diagnosed with a teres major strain and will be out until midseason

  • Brennen Davis (concussion) - has resumed some on-field activities

• Dansby Swanson sat down with Dodgers star Mookie Betts for a long conversation - watch here. Lots of great baseball talk, but you can’t beat Dansby realizing Mookie could take his spot in the All-Star game since Mookie was named the starting SS for the Dodgers 😆

• Spring standouts so far:

  • Owen Caissie - .440 AVG/1.197 OPS

  • Dom Smith (4 games) - 5-11 with a 1.318 OPS

  • Seiya Suzuki - .353 AVG/.977 OPS

  • Christopher Morel - .300 AVG/.914 OPS

📣 SAY WHAT?

😎 GOOD ONE ALERT

Jack Sanborn

🥇 Bears 2023 Ed Block Courage Award winner

Congrats to Jack Sanborn for being recognized for his work ethic and impact in the community!

Check out some of the ways he has served the Chicagoland area:

🍽 Follow-up from 2/19: Dinners with DeMar Episode 2 with Dwyane Wade is now out on YouTube

🔥 MILD TAKE ❄

The Blackhawks don’t need to collect more assets.

Headed into Trade Deadline week, Colin Blackwell and Tyler Johnson were the only two Blackhawks reported to be included in trade talks. Only two players were desirable contributors for contending teams. This was a major deviation from the last two deadlines for Kyle Davidson.

Part of this was because Davidson extended Petr Mrazek, Nick Foligno, and Jason Dickinson in recent weeks. All were on expiring contracts and could have made a significant impact in the playoffs for other organizations.

The other factor is that their valuable assets have already been traded away.

Patrick Kane, Max Domi, Sam Lafferty, Jake McCabe, Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, Marc-André Fleury, Brandon Hagel, and others have all been shipped off in the last two calendar years.

The draft capital cupboard is full ⬇

At a certain point, you can’t take on more contracts. You don’t have enough spots for young players. It all comes down to quality of young players and their development. The Hawks are in development mode, and they have 2-3 more years of high draft picks that will soon be added to the pipeline.

There was no pressing need to trade Blackwell or Johnson this week. Anthony Beauvillier was surprisingly traded for a 5th round pick, but no other moves were necessary. I’m not freaking out about not acquiring an extra late round draft pick.

The Hawks are past the asset-collecting stage of the rebuild 2 years into Davidson’s tenure. Now we have to watch the young guys develop and make it to the pros.