The Chicago Blackhawks put up a fight against the Nashville Predators but ultimately lost, 4-3, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Patrick Kane marked his 1,100th career game with his 25th goal of the season, and Dominik Kubalík and Riley Stillman also scored for the Blackhawks.
The result will be rendered meaningless in what has been a lost season and the impetus for a rebuild.
However, one development will have a long-term impact on the Blackhawks.
Lukas Reichel celebrated his 10th game in the NHL with his first point — a secondary assist on Kubalík’s second-period goal. Reichel’s 10th appearance meets the threshold for this season to count as the first of his three-year entry level deal ($925,000 cap hit), which means the Hawks could’ve delayed the clock by sending him back to Rockford.
“It doesn’t really matter, I just want to play as many games as I can,” Reichel said after the game. “It feels good to be here and I’m always happy to be here. We’ll see.”
Teams typically want to exercise control for long as possible — particularly on a player’s entry-level deal. But now the Hawks will negotiate with Reichel based on two full seasons of experience instead of after his contract slides with three seasons under his belt and numbers likely boosted by a better supporting cast.
It was enough of a crucial decision that coach Derek King checked in with general manager Kyle Davidson to make sure he wanted to go forward with burning the contract year.
“He said, ‘Yep, he’ll play his 10th and then we’ll make a decision after,’ ” King said Friday after practice. “I don’t know what makes sense nowadays. They want to give him a look and give him so many games. ... If it burns a year, it burns a year. If they’re OK with that, that’s fine.
“If they do send him back down, whether it’s after his 10th game or after the end of the season so he can play in the playoffs down there, that’s up to (management).”
Earlier this season, Davidson said he wasn’t too concerned about burning Reichel’s contract because if the numbers aren’t in Reichel’s favor, his agent could ask for a bridge contract anyway.
“It kind of goes both ways,” Davidson said in April. “You don’t really know because the agent can always offer, ‘OK, let’s go really short so we can get back some of that.’ So you can’t really game plan it that much. ... I think once we’re looking at really spending to that cap and utilizing every dollar, I think he’s probably going to be in a different contract anyway out of his entry-level (deal).
“We burn it, we burn it.”
Regardless of the contract situation, the Blackhawks will at least be pleased to see Reichel pick up his first point.
“I think I had great chances the last few games,” Reichel said of his first NHL point. “My first call-up I had some chances. It does feel better when you make your first point. The game battled to the end but we lost. Just learn from it and keep going.”
