Chicago Cubs (Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
A couple of tough losses for the Chicago Cubs against the Cleveland Indians. Here were five takeaways from the two-game set.
The Chicago Cubs came away with no wins in their two-game series with the Cleveland Indians in what was generally a matchup of good pitching from both the starters and relievers, to go along with timely hitting. The Cubs have played a lot of tight ballgames lately, losing by a final score of 3-2 on Tuesday and winning on Wednesday 2-1.
In fact, if you look back at the Cubs’ last ten games, nine of their last ten games have been decided by one run.
Jason Heyward noted over the weekend the importance for the Cubs to learn how to win these tight ballgames.
“I think it’s very big,” Heyward said after Saturday’s win over the Pirates. “They’re not easy games to win. It’s nice to be able to pull those victories out, and gain some trust, whether it’s the pitching staff or the offense. I think it’s good to have that experience, and it’s good to gel that way.”
Here were my five takeaways from the Cubs’ two-game set against the Indians.
1. Cubs had Shane Bieber on the ropes and let him off
Against one of the game’s best pitchers, the Chicago Cubs looked like they were going to make Shane Bieber‘s outing on Tuesday night a short one. After Anthony Rizzo led the inning off with a double, Willson Contreras hit a slow chopper up in the middle and into centerfield, plating the Cubs first baseman.
As a side note, it was good to see Contreras get a base knock, as the Cubs catcher went 1-for-17 on the homestand.
The visitors proceeded to load the bases with the potential to really open the floodgates. Instead, Ildemaro Vargas struck out, and Eric Sogard bounced into an inning-ending double play. Speaking of Sogard, he would plate the Cubs’ only other run of the game, a towering home run in the fifth inning.
Sep 15, 2019; Denver, CO, USA; A Chicago Bears fan celebrates after the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Ahead of the NFL released their full 2021 NFL Regular Season schedule on Wednesday night, the full regular season scheduled for the Chicago Bears has leaked for the 2021 season. Danny Parkins of 670 The Score has been all over the leaks for the Bears’ 2021 regular seasons and was the first to leak the full slate of games for the Bears.
The biggest takeaway from the full 2021 regular season schedule for the Bears is that the team has a total of five primetime games. The amount of primetime games that the Bears have in 2021 is an indicator that the NFL fully believes that Justin Fields will be the Bears’ starting quarterback by at least midway through the season.
One game that Fields may have circled on his calendar is the Week 8 game against the San Francisco 49ers. During the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers overlooked Fields in favor of North Dakota State product Trey Lance. Fields could be looking to give the 49ers’ the Patrick Mahomes treatment from when the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback taunted the Bears during a game after throwing a touchdown pass.
This schedule for the Chicago Bears makes it feasible that Justin Fields could be the Week 1 starter.
For as much nonsensical talk that there has been regarding the idea that the Bears need to hide Fields during the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. It’s worth noting that the next five games after Week 1 are against mediocre defenses at best. Furthering the logical idea that there is no reason for Fields to not be the Bears’ starting quarterback at the start of the season.
The encouraging sign is that there is no gauntlet stretch of games for the Bears during the 2021 regular season. The Bears’ strength of schedule heading into the 2021 NFL Regular Season schedule was among the worst but the “tough games” are spread out throughout the season as opposed to in a consecutive stretch. That makes it much more likely for the Bears to avoid a six-game losing streak like the one they had during the 2020 NFL Regular Season.
In regards to the Bye Week, it could not be at a better time for the Bears. The Bears’ bye week during the 2021 regular season is in Week 10 and that is about as close to the halfway point of the regular season that a team can get. With a team that has aging veterans on defense in the form of Akiem Hicks and Danny Trevathan, a bye week halfway through the season is the perfect time to recharge the batteries for a run during the second half of the season.
Though Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office says no final decision has been made on someone to take over the top job at the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, reform advocates think they know who’s going to get the job — and they’re not happy about it. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times
Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.
Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 61 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 42 degrees. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 67.
Police reform advocates are mobilizing behind the scenes to stop Mayor Lori Lightfoot from appointing the chief operating officer of the Public Building Commission to run Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Lori Lypson’s only experience in investigating police wrongdoing was more than 20 years ago when she spent a year as supervising investigator for the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards.
The chief administrator of OPS at that time? Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot and Lypson teamed up again in May 2005 at the city’s Department of Procurement Services.
At the time, Lightfoot and longtime friend Mary Dempsey were sent into Procurement Services by Mayor Richard M. Daley to clean up the mess after the Hired Truck and minority contracting scandals.
Taverns across the state would be able to reward patrons who can prove they got a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine with a free beer — or other alcoholic beverage — under a bill introduced by state Rep. Mike Zalewski. The bill would limit the promotions to one free alcoholic beverage.
If Copenhagen can install raised bike lanes to prevent motorists from invading space reserved for cyclists, why can’t Chicago try it?
Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi asked essentially that question during a virtual address to the Rotary Club of Chicago yesterday, then answered it in a way that delighted her fellow cyclists.
Biagi noted Chicago’s cycling plan is “a decade old.” It’s high-time to “update the technology, think differently about it and get some of those measures and policies in place where we can do the carrot and the stick at the same time,” she said.
Wikimedia CommonsChicago wouldn’t be the first city to copy Denmark’s bicycle lanes. This is a “Copenhagen style” bike lane in Melbourne, Australia.
“Our curb management planning will be taking on these issues. Whether it’s enforcement. Whether it’s some street design that we can do. How do we set the conditions so we’re actually creating places where pick-ups and drop-offs — there’s a way that it’s less of an impediment,” the commissioner said.
“We’re also experimenting with raised bike lanes, by the way. You see those in Copenhagen, one of my favorite cities to cycle around,” Biagi said.
“We’re not Copenhagen,” she added, but the city is exploring ways to “embed into the infrastructure” bike lanes that keep cars out. It also makes enforcement easier: “It’s very clear: I don’t have to be here to ticket you. You can’t even use this space.”
As the weather slowly warms up, some swimmers are already taking to Lake Michigan. When is the lake warm enough for you to swim?
Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday it was National Eat What You Want Day, so we asked you: What are you having for dinner tonight? Here’s some of what you said…
“New York strip steak, broccoli, baked potato, and fresh green salad.” — Thomas Gregory Ray
“Mixed vegetables, broccoli, orange, yellow peppers, garlic, thin slice of lemon, ginger thin slices, and shrimp stir-fried. And on the side, white rice, soy sauce and fish sauce with cayenne pepper!” — Ivan Ruíz
“Filet mignon, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms, corn, and garlic bread!” — Judy Fish Freshley
“Six Pack Of Beer And A Package Of Oreos!” — Leroy Altman
“I just had cereal for lunch, breakfast was a scotch egg and dinner will probably be pizza, considering I’m making the dough for it right now.” — Leslie Kollene Warren
“I don’t care, what do you want?”— Judd Fox
Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Brothers Inmer Rivera Tejada, 39, Rafael Rivera Tejada, 36, and their nephew Guillermo Rivera Tejada, 26, were killed May 6, 2021 near Starved Rock State Park. | Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C.
The attorney said there is no reason to believe the three men were handling or “knowingly using explosive devices.”
A lawyer hired by the family of three men killed in an explosion near Starved Rock State Park raised questions Wednesday about their deaths, saying “there is no reason to believe” they were “knowingly using explosive devices.”
Attorney Tara R. Devine raised the possibility that the deaths of brothers Inmer Rivera Tejada, 39, and Rafael Rivera Tejada, 36, and their nephew Guillermo Rivera Tejada, 26, were connected to nearby demolition work for a bridge project.
The three men were found last Thursday about 100 yards west of the Route 178 bridge in Utica.
“We will be hiring some of the best experts in the country to assist us in our investigation and hopefully bring peace of mind to Inmer, Rafael and Guillermo’s family,” Devine said in a statement.
LaSalle County Coroner Rich Ploch told the Sun-Times last week that the men may have been fishing along the Illinois River and ignited black powder while trying to light a fire to cook food.
Autopsy results will likely take a few weeks as Illinois State Police continue to investigate the explosion.
State police have not provided any update on the investigation.
His store drew legions of jazz and blues fans from around the world. His devotion to the music boosted the genres alive and helped make recordings accessible.
Bob Koester, longtime owner of Chicago’s legendary Jazz Record Mart and founder of the Delmark record label, died Wednesday at 88.
His store drew legions of jazz and blues fans from around the world. His devotion to the music boosted the genres alive and helped make recordings accessible.
Bruce Iglauer, founder of Chicago’s Alligator Records label, has called Mr. Koester “the spiritual godfather of a whole generation of entrepreneurs who put the music ahead of the money.
“Bob deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the popularity of blues in America today, much more credit than he’s ever been given,” Iglauer told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1993. “Without Bob, not only would Alligator not have happened but Living Blues magazine wouldn’t have happened because a bunch of us who hung out at the Record Mart started that. Probably Flying Fish” — another Chicago record label — “wouldn’t have happened because [founder] Bruce Kaplan was part of that crowd, too.”
“He was a one-of-a-kind guy,” his friend John Holden said. “He probably brought more to the Chicago music scene than any other individual in the last 50 years.”
Mr. Koester, who previously had had a stroke, was in hospice care, according to a relative who confirmed his death.
Mr. Koester ran the Jazz Record Mart for decades at various downtown locations, calling it the “World’s Largest Jazz and Blues Specialty Store.” He said high rent contributed to his decision to close in 2016, when the store was at 29 W. Illinois St.
The same year, he opened Bob’s Blues & Jazz Mart at 3419 W. Irving Park Rd., which hosted live concerts and an 87th birthday celebration for him last year.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Koester sold records from his dorm room before dropping out of St. Louis University. He and a partner started the Blue Note record shop in that city in 1952, “and we stole the Blue Note label logo for our sign,” he once told the Sun-Times.
A year after opening that record store, he founded Delmark, which grew into a significant label that recorded stars including Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Big Joe Williams. It also reissued work by artists including Dinah Washington.
“I felt that, if I was going to operate a jazz store, I would do it from the ground floor and do it from a major market,” he said in the Sun-Times interview. “I decided, if I’m going to deal with discounting, I’d better go to Chicago. I moved here in August 1958.”
The following year, he bought Seymour’s Jazz Record Mart at 439 S. Wabash Ave. Over the years, he operated at different locations before reopening on Irving Park Road. He sold Delmark in 2018.
He knew plenty of jazz greats but also a few rock legends. Friends said Mr. Koester told them he was responsible for the name of Iggy Pop’s band, the Stooges. According to the story, Pop had been staying with him when Mr. Koester woke up one night and heard him and his musician buddies playing loud music and bouncing off the furniture in his home. As The New York Times later wrotet, he threw them out, shouting, “ ‘You guys are a bunch of stooges.’ ”
He acknowledged he could be irascible at times. He’d sometimes admonish customers to close the store’s front door so the heat wouldn’t escape.
A fan of classic Hollywood movies, he’d invite friends to his home for screenings from his extensive film collection.
“I wanted to be a movie cameraman, but I got seduced by the music,” he told the Sun-Times.
And though he was a member of the Blues Hall of Fame, he remained self-effacing.
Holden said he would explain his legacy by saying: “I recognized good talent when I heard it.”
Smokejumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) helps 12-year-old Connor (Finn Little) flee assassins in “Those Who Want Me Dead.” | New Line Cinema
The tense story is compelling, and the Montana scenery is breathtaking.
One of the things I love about Taylor Sheridan’s exhilarating neo-Western “Those Who Wish Me Dead” is how the movie spends a minimum amount of time explaining the launching point for a violent and breathtakingly suspenseful chain of events — and then plunges us into one of the best thrillers in recent memory.
Here’s what we learn early on. There’s a Big Sweeping Scandal brewing and it will take down a cauldron of law enforcement and high-ranking political officials — so hits have been ordered on a Florida district attorney and the forensic accountant. After the D.A. and his family are wiped out, the aforementioned accountant, a widower named Mr. Casserly (Jake Weber), hits the road with his 12-year-old son Connor (Finn Little) in the hopes of making it to Montana, where his brother-in-law Ethan (Jon Bernthal) is a sheriff.
Mr. Casserly knows he can trust Ethan. He’s not so sure about the rest of the world. That’s all we really learn about that Big Sweeping Scandal, and we just go with it.
By the time the father-and-son assassin duo of Jack and Patrick Blackwell (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult, respectively) ambush the Casserlys in Montana, leaving Connor on his own, in shock and running for his life in the woods, we’ve already been introduced to Angelina Jolie’s Hannah, a smokejumper who is in the throes of PTSD a year after she failed to save three boys who were trapped in a raging forest fire. Assigned to the relatively safe duty of monitoring the land from a one-person lookout tower, Hannah comes across the panicked Connor, hears his story — and becomes his guide and protector as they try to stay one step ahead of the Blackwells against the backdrop of an electrical storm that has cut off all power and has caused a raging forest fire that threatens to engulf everything in its path. Oh, and Hannah has just been struck by lightning, so she’s bruised and battered and seems a little weird, though she claims she was a little weird before she was zapped.
So, yes: there’s a lot going on in “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” and we’re just getting started. Director Sheridan and his co-writers Charles Leavitt and Michael Koryta (whose novel is the source material) have fashioned a thoroughly engrossing tale filled with memorable characters, dryly funny dialogue and show-stopping, often brutal confrontations in which the weapon of choice varies from semi-automatic firearms to a deer rifle to a fire extinguisher to handguns to an axe to bare fists, depending on the circumstances. To be sure, there are moments when we think, “Couldn’t they just …” or “Why doesn’t somebody …,” but we quickly dismiss those questions because we’re so caught up in this gripping story that plays a little like a Big Sky version of “The Client,” with a hard-bitten, world-weary woman suddenly finding herself in fiercely protective mother mode when a boy who has witnessed an unspeakable tragedy drops into her care.
Bernthal is his usual likable self as the hard-shelled, soft-hearted sheriff, but it’s Medina Senghore who steals the show as Ethan’s six-months-pregnant wife, Allison, who runs a wilderness survivalist camp and is thus quite well-equipped to deal with those menacing Blackwells when they came banging on the door of the Sawyers’ cabin in search of young Connor. Not everyone is going to survive this ordeal, but when Allison climbs aboard a trusty steed and they gallop into the blackness, it’s the polar opposite of going gently into any good night. She is such a badass.
New Line CinemaMedina Senghore steals the show as a trained survivalist who knows what to do when bad guys show up at her wilderness cabin.
Cinematographer Ben Richardson and the special effects team deliver one visually arresting set piece after another; one of my favorite moments is when a team of smokejumpers with deep red parachutes swoop down on a patch of land so strafed by wildfire it looks like the surface of the moon. “Those Who Wish Me Dead” has great old-fashioned storytelling set against a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop, and there’s never a wasted moment or throwaway line of dialogue in this expertly constructed story. Angelina Jolie returns to peak movie-star form with her powerful and resonant performance, and young Finn Little is a natural who breaks our heart as he tries his best to keep it together even as he weeps for his father.
As the writer and/or director of such works as “Sicario,” “Hell or High Water,” “Wind River” and the TV series “Yellowstone,” Taylor Sheridan has compiled an astonishingly strong library of stories about men and women who drive pickup trucks and ride horses, who know their way around guns and knives, who wake up every morning knowing they’ll be covered in sweat and grime, and maybe blood, by the end of the day. He has created numerous memorable antiheroes who rise to the occasion when the occasion threatens to end their world, and “Those Who Wish Me Dead” ranks among his very best work.
A man was fatally shot May 12, 2021 in East Garfield Park. | Sun-Times file photo
Chicago police say a man fired into a crowd in the 3100 block of West Madison, Chicago police said.
A man was shot and killed after leaving a funeral service Wednesday afternoon in East Garfield Park, according to Chicago police.
A group of people had gotten into an argument in the 3100 block of West Madison and one of them fired into the crowd leaving the service about 12:05 p.m., Chicago police said.
A 29-year-old man was shot and pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
The men fled into a nearby alley and left in a car, police said.
A Chicago real estate agent who lost her job with @properties because of her ties to the U.S. Capitol breach in January is suing over an MSNBC report in which she claims the network wrongly told viewers she had been criminally charged, court records show.
The Jan. 6 Capitol riot interrupted the Electoral College vote count and has led to criminal charges in federal court against hundreds of people, including at least six Illinoisans. Libby McCarten Andrews is not among them, according to court records.
Still, the real estate group @properties announced on Jan. 7 that Andrews had been fired, saying it received “a tremendous amount of outreach” following social media posts in which Andrews appeared to acknowledge being in Washington, D.C., for the event.
Andrews allegedly posted a photo of herself standing on the Capitol steps with supporters of then-President Donald Trump along with the caption, “History! It’s not done yet!” In another post, she allegedly wrote, “After storming the capital a good glass of champagne is needed!”
Now, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago against NBC Universal Media LLC, Andrews alleges that her name and photograph wrongly appeared in a graphic broadcast Jan. 10 on “Weekends with Alex Witt” that was titled, “Charged In Connection With Riot.”
An NBCUniversal representative could not immediately be reached for comment. Nor could a lawyer for Andrews.
In the complaint, Andrews’ lawyers wrote that she left Chicago the morning of Jan. 6, flew to Washington and arrived in the early afternoon. By 1:30 p.m., she was part of a crowd present on the east side of the Capitol, it said.
“Unbeknownst to Libby, while she was present on the east side of the United States Capitol Building, a group of individuals apparently forcibly entered the United States Capitol Building without authority by breaching the doors on the west side of the building and then and there engaged in offensive and vile criminal acts within the United States Capitol Building,” her lawyers wrote.
They also insist in the complaint that Andrews did not instigate any confrontation, enter the Capitol, participate in any damage or destruction, threaten anyone or trespass on public property. It said she left the Capitol around 3:15 p.m. and walked to a hotel where she had made reservations that evening.
The lawsuit claims that, prior to the Jan. 10 broadcast of “Weekends with Alex Witt,” Andrews “had no notoriety of any kind in the community at large,” though her name appeared in multiple news reports after @properties announced her firing Jan. 7.
Andrews’ lawyers wrote that NBCUniversal published “its false and defamatory accusations against [Andrews] in order to advance its own political agenda that anyone present outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was there to engage in violence and cause criminal damage.”
Bears general manager Ryan Pace artfully addressed a need for an upgrade at offensive tackle when he traded up to take Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins in the second round (39th overall) of the draft. Until then, the only other tackle Pace had drafted in six seasons as GM was Texas Christian’s Tayo Fabuluje in the sixth round of the 2015 draft.
Jenkins was rated a first-round talent by most draft analysts and was projected to go to the Bears with the 20th overall pick in some mock drafts — a plug-and-play replacement, presumably, for the departed right tackle Bobby Massie. For Pace to get Jenkins at No. 39 seemed like a masterstroke that was a little overshadowed by Pace’s trade up to get Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields at No. 11. When you’re hot, you’re hot.
But the next major move at tackle seemed to neutralize the upgrade. Two days later, the Bears’ cut veteran left tackle Charles Leno, who had started 95 consecutive games since replacing Jermon Bushrod in 2015.
Leno, who signed a one-year contract with the Washington Football Team on Wednesday, was the ultimate good-but-not-great NFL offensive tackle. He was an overachiever as a seventh-round draft pick who made the Pro Bowl as an alternate in 2018, and missed just 16 snaps out of 6,229 in six seasons. But he wasn’t the stud you need at left tackle on a team that’s as shaky at quarterback — among other offensive positions — as the Bears have been. Leno didn’t make as many mistakes as his detractors think. But on the Bears, it seemed like every penalty and the occasional whiff turned into a glaring disaster that stunted the offense.
Still, it doesn’t seem like the Bears’ offensive line will be better without Leno than it was with him. Jenkins can’t replace two players at once. Even if he’s an upgrade over Leno at left tackle, that still leaves a hole at Massie’s old spot, which Germain Ifedi filled in the final seven games last season (including the playoffs) after Massie suffered a knee injury.
Bears offensive line coach Juan Castillo thinks Ifedi can solve that problem. A former first-round draft pick (31st overall in 2016), Ifedi underachieved as a starting tackle with the Seahawks, who let him go when his rookie contract expired after the 2019 season. In fact, when the Bears signed him last year, they played him at guard, which was his more natural position.
But Ifedi ended up moving to tackle after Massie was injured, and he played well enough to convince the Bears he could solve their offensive line quandary.
“[He] improved tremendously from where he came from Seattle,” Castillo said. “You can just look at the stats — how many pressures [allowed]; how many sacks he gave up when he was playing right tackle.
“Germain Ifedi is blessed with god-given talent. He was a first-round draft pick. My job is to get that out of him. I know he hadn’t been playing like that at Seattle. But I think he improved. He cut his penalties over half from what he had at Seattle [four last season after 13 in 2019]. And I think everybody would say that if you watched the tape, he played square, which was his problem at Seattle. I think he’s just gonna get better.”
Castillo said Ifedi would have competition for the job, but it was his to lose. In fact, the more Castillo talked about Ifedi, the more effusive he became.
“You need to talk to Germain one day,” Castillo said. “This is a big 36-and-a-half-inch arm, 345-pound guy. As we talk, he’s busting his ass in Texas in 100-degree weather. Works as hard as any guy I’ve been around. I don’t want to make predictions, but I would not be surprised if this kid made the Pro Bowl next year. Why not, right? Everything is possible.”
Blackhawks forward Dylan Strome made his frustrations about his nightmarish 2021 season clear at his exit interview Tuesday.
“When you get scratched or you don’t expect to be scratched…it sucks,” he said. “It pissed me off a lot.”
Strome, 24, missed a month with a concussion and saw his production decline precipitously, finishing with only 17 points in 40 games. The scratches, though, were the biggest source of contention — particularly April 21 against the Predators.
At 6:30 that night, Strome took warmups on a third line with Dominik Kubalik and Philipp Kurashev. But 30 minutes later, he was listed as a healthy extra.
Coach Jeremy Colliton explained Wednesday that defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk had been a game-time decision. If Kalynuk felt good enough to play (which he ultimately did), he would. But if Kalynuk didn’t, Strome would’ve played instead.
“In that situation, the wrong thing to do is…in the morning say [to Strome], ‘Hey, you’re going to be a healthy scratch tonight, but if Kalynuk can’t go, you’ll play, so get ready to play.’ You never like letting a guy know late like that, but I feel like that was best.”
The lack of transparency upset Strome, however.
“I took warmups and didn’t know I was going to be scratched, and then I got scratched,” he said. “That’s never fun. I had no idea that day.”
That memorable night was one of four occasions Strome was scratched in the Hawks’ last 10 games, underlining how far he plummeted down the organizational depth chart. As a result, he enters this highly uncertain offseason low on confidence.
“It’s been a crazy year and I don’t want to say I’m thankful it’s over, but…” he said.
He has one contract year left with a $3 million cap hit, but it’s unclear if he’ll spend it with the Hawks. He might be exposed to the Kraken in the expansion draft. He could also be floated on the trade market or included in an acquisition package.
“I’ve been a really good NHL [player], a good point producer and someone that can be relied upon,” Strome said. “Hopefully I can get back to that and they see me as a valuable asset.
“I love [Chicago]. I’ve had my best NHL success here. [I have] great friends here. But at the same time, you don’t really know what’s going to happen, especially with Seattle. I’m prepared for anything.”
If Strome is the biggest question mark this summer among the Hawks’ forward group, though, then Nikita Zadorov is an equally big question mark among the defensemen.
Nikita Zadorov was a polarizing defenseman for the Blackhawks this season.AP Photos
Zadorov, 26, will be a restricted free agent with a sizable price tag ($3.2 million at minimum, probably more like $4-4.5 million). His contrast of stout defense but poor puck management makes him polarizing, and the Hawks considered offers for him at the trade deadline.
Yet the hulking Russian enters this uncertain offseason with a far more positive, confident mentality than Strome.
“I was actually thinking last night, it was probably the most solid season of my career,” Zadorov said Tuesday. “I was really solid defensively. I improved in that area a lot. Playing against top lines every night…averaging around 20 minutes, it’s hard to do in this league, and I did a pretty good job.”
Bowman’s comments Wednesday seemed to support Zadorov’s confidence. Bowman said he has started the contract negotiation process with Zadorov and “a few other guys,” shortly after insisting Zadorov was — after Connor Murphy — “in that top group of two or three” defensemen on the team.
Zadorov disclosed his wrist wasn’t 100% healthy at the start of this season, and he’s anticipating a summer of “getting healed” from the bumps and bruises caused by his physical play all spring.
Like Strome, the healed version of Zadorov might be back at Fifth Third Arena come September — or might be somewhere else in North America.
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