Ex-Oilers Ahead Surprisingly A Wholesome Scratch

Taylor Corridor’s tenure in Chicago hasn’t gone as deliberate.

After lacking nearly all of final season with a knee damage, Corridor’s early struggles this season have led to him being a healthy scratch in Chicago’s sport in opposition to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

When the Blackhawks traded for the previous Oiler in the summertime of 2023, he appeared like the right linemate for his or her younger franchise participant, Connor Bedard. Who higher than a fellow first-overall choose with a Hart Trophy on his shelf to point out the younger famous person the ropes within the NHL?

However that pleasure was tempered nearly instantly when he tore his ACL simply 10 video games into 2023-24, requiring surgical procedure that ended his season.

The hope was that Corridor would return at full power to affix a Blackhawks crew bolstered by the additions of Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen as they might slowly begin to energy out of their rebuild.

However Corridor has contributed simply two objectives and 6 factors in 17 video games this season because the Blackhawks sit tied for final place within the NHL. Worse but, he isn’t even taking part in on a line with Connor Bedard; he is spent most of his season subsequent to Bertuzzi and Philipp Kurashev on a line that is been outscored 4-1 in 86 minutes collectively.

Now, after a surprising scratch, it is clear that somebody with the Blackhawks, be it head coach Luke Richardson or common supervisor Kyle Davidson, is not pleased with Corridor’s efficiency. This has been a typical theme in Chicago — they just waived one other former Oiler, Andreas Athanasiou, after his personal sluggish begin.

So the place do they go from right here?

Corridor is within the closing season of a four-year contract with a $6 million cap hit that he signed with Boston in 2021. With the Blackhawks nonetheless in the midst of a rebuild, there have already been whispers that Corridor is on the trading block.

Regardless of the latest scratch and the dearth of manufacturing, Corridor can nonetheless be a helpful contributor to a contender. His anticipated objectives share of 44.7% is not something to put in writing residence about, nevertheless it’s higher than the 43.2% the Blackhawks generate when he isn’t on the ice (per MoneyPuck).

We have additionally seen Corridor reinvigorated by a commerce from a cellar-dweller to a contender earlier than. He in fact gained the Hart Trophy with New Jersey in 2017-18 simply two years after being traded away from the moribund Oilers, and had a short renaissance after being traded from Buffalo to Boston in 2020-21.

Whoever trades for Corridor will certainly want Chicago to retain some wage to deliver his cap hit down, however the 33-year-old winger can nonetheless present useful secondary scoring in the fitting state of affairs. Sadly, it is trying doubtless that Chicago will not be the fitting state of affairs.

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