The Chicago Blackhawks have released defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky and forward Tomas Kopecky from their professional tryouts, the team announced on Monday.
Both had been a part of a group of veterans the team brought in with the hopes of plugging some of the holes they’ve encountered with the offseason loss of players like Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, Antoine Vermette, Kimmo Timonen and others.
Visnovsky, 39, believes he still has at least another season in the tank. The number of successful defenseman in the league over 35 each year is notably low. However, a team like the Boston Bruins could be interested seeing that they’re fielding a very young blue line following Dennis Seidenberg’s surgery.
#Blackhawks release Tomas Kopecky and Lubomir Visnovsky from camp. Active roster sits at 34. http://t.co/1fH9x1Bj2W
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 28, 2015
Kopecky, 33, has had a downward turn in recent seasons and may have a difficult time finding work with many notable veterans getting cut from camp this week, like Curtis Glencross and Devin Setoguchi, who were both cut from Maple Leafs camp on Sunday.
These two cuts bring Chicago’s camp down to 34 players, including 20 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders.
Keep up with all the tryout contracts and their results with The Hockey Writers’ 2015 PTO Tracker.
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NOTE: Previous version of this piece incorrectly identified Jan Hejda as still being on a PTO. He’s been cut from camp.
Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
