Former Red Wings Joe Veleno and Christian Fischer appeared for the first time with their respective new employers on Saturday, with Veleno playing in Chicago’s 3-2 overtime loss to Nashville, and Fischer preparing for a road game in which the Blue Jackets will play against the New York Rangers on Sunday evening.
After his game, Veleno checked in with the The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus regarding his status as going to a rebuilding team to take on a bigger opportunity to play regularly…
“Obviously, playing meaningful hockey gets a little bit more intense,” said Veleno, the newest Blackhawks forward. “When you’re not playing for anything — well, I wouldn’t say ‘for anything,’ but when you’re not playing for a playoff spot, it’s not as intense. The games aren’t as intense. You probably don’t have the same feeling in the locker room and all that.”
Still, Veleno told Lazerus that he’s happy to be joining a new team with the opportunity to re-set his career at 25 years of age…
“The beginning of the season didn’t go as well as I’d like in terms of production and ice time and the way that I wanted to play,” he said. “I thought I’d have a good opportunity there, but things weren’t working out. I couldn’t really tell you why. But everything involved with the coaching change (Todd McLellan replacing Derek Lalonde right after Christmas) and all that stuff — just couldn’t find a real groove to the year, didn’t feel too good about my game, getting out of the lineup a little bit and having to deal with that. Just a lot going on. I thought another opportunity somewhere else (could be good) and see what that brings.”
Life in general, and hockey in particular, is a series of contradictions, and Veleno embodies that as well as anyone. He went from a playoff hunt to the top of the draft lottery, but it might be the best thing for him. At 25, he’s too old to be considered a prospect but too young to be considered a comfortably entrenched veteran. Even the start of his Blackhawks career is a bit confounding. He gets nine days on the road to get to know his new team but doesn’t get a chance to get his bearings in his new home of Chicago, where he’s signed through the end of next season.
Again, it’s a lot to process.
“I don’t like to think of myself as an old guy … but it does happen fast,” he said. “Just that age where you’re not really a young guy but not necessarily an old guy. Just trying to bring whatever I’ve learned with the Wings and that experience, and try to mold that into the younger group that’s over here as best as I can. Especially being a really, really young team. I’m just really excited.”
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope offered a scouting report on Veleno…
In the previous two seasons, Veleno had filled a steady bottom-six role and also had played some on the Wings’ penalty kill and second power-play unit. He had 20 points in 2022-23 and 28 in 2023-24. His overall analytics weren’t great, but they were OK defensively.
The Hawks hope they can elevate Veleno at least back to that level of play, if not unlock a new level in his game. He’s 6-1 and 201 pounds and was a first-round pick in 2018, after all. And he’s a very good skater — he ranked in the top quartile of the league in every speed-related stat last season — which always seems to appeal to Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson.
‘‘He’s got some pace [and] some size to his game,’’ Davidson said Friday. ‘‘He came [into the NHL] very highly touted; he’s a talented guy. We’ll give him some opportunity and see if we can pull some additional value out of him.’’
….
The year remaining on his contract theoretically will give him some runway to find his niche, but nothing is guaranteed with a summer roster overhaul on the horizon. Plus, he’s too old to be considered a prospect anymore, so he will feel some urgency during this 19-game stretch run to prove himself.
‘‘I think I’ve got more to my game offensively than I’ve shown,’’ Veleno said. ‘‘[But] just being a factor all over the ice — playing a complete game, winning faceoffs, penalty-killing and chipping in offensively — is the kind of game I’ve always been able to [bring].’’
And 27-year-old Christian Fischer told the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger that he’s heading into the Blue Jackets’ playoff push with an obvious inspirational reason to dedicate himself to his new team:
The Blue Jackets didn’t just add forward depth prior to Friday’s NHL trade deadline passed. They also got two more products of the U.S. National Team Development Program in forwards Luke Kunin and Christian Fischer, and the newcomers can’t wait to help the Jackets honor Johnny Gaudreau’s memory with a strong finishing playoff push.
“That was the first thought that popped into my head was, obviously, Johnny,” Fischer said Saturday. “What a situation to rally for. We’ve all, obviously, paid attention throughout the year with this team and how they’ve rallied, and how well they’ve played. Just to get through that, alone, it’s very impressive and I’m just completely honored to be a part of this group.”
Fischer, who was claimed off waivers Thursday from the Detroit Red Wings, didn’t know Gaudreau quite as well as Kunin or his new teammates. That doesn’t mean he’s any less motivated joining a locker room that still has a stall with Gaudreau’s nameplate at the top and his No. 13 jersey hanging inside after games.
Fischer, who faced the Blue Jackets a week ago at Ohio Stadium, proudly wore Gaudreau’s USA jersey as part of the Red Wings’ chosen arrival “fit” for a game that included multiple tributes to Gaudreau, his brother Matthew and their surviving family.
“All the USA boys (on the Red Wings), we all snagged those jerseys right away,” Fischer said. “I think (captain Dylan Larkin) put that together for our group. Him and Johnny were really close, and that was a cool thing we got to do.”
Here’s wishing Veleno well in Chicago, and Fischer well in Columbus…but not too well. This spring, anyway.
