Hawks move Hagel to COVID protocol, acquire Hinostroza

The Blackhawks placed forward Brandon Hagel in COVID protocol Friday morning, meaning he will not travel to Nashville for Saturday's game.

Hagel played in Thursday's loss to Carolina at the United Center, scoring his fifth goal of the season in the second period. It's unknown if Hagel tested positive or if he must quarantine due to a close contact.

"No update other than he's in the COVID protocol and we'll see," said coach Jeremy Colliton, who ran the team through a 30-minute practice at Fifth Third Arena.

Vancouver has had its next three games called off due to eight players testing positive.

"We're still in it, no doubt," Colliton said. "Hopefully we're closer to the end than the beginning at this point. Everyone can get excited about things that are happening and looking ahead. But just like everything else, you've got to take it day to day."

With Hagel out, Colliton had Kirby Dach centering the top line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane as his wingers. Pius Suter moved down to the third line with Mattias Janmark and Dylan Strome. David Kampf centered the second line with Dominik Kubalik and Philipp Kurashev.

Said Colliton on Dach, DeBrincat and Kane: "They're going to play together, whether it's a bunch of shifts or all the shifts or some shifts. We haven't settled on a lineup yet, so we thought we'd get them some reps."

Hinostroza back with Hawks

The Blackhawks Friday acquired forward Vinnie Hinostroza from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Brad Morrison. Hinostroza's contract has a salary cap hit of $1,000,000 and is signed through the 2020-21 season.

Hinostroza, from Bartlett, returns to the Hawks after appearing in 106 regular season games for the Blackhawks from 2015-18, tallying 13 goals and 26 assists. He also skated in one postseason game during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Hinostroza skated in nine games with the Panthers this season. Hinostroza played two seasons (2018-20) for the Arizona Coyotes, recording career highs in games played (72), goals (16), assists (23) and points (39) during the 2018-19 campaign. In 255 career National Hockey League games, Hinostroza has 34 goals and 66 assists.

Morrison scored three goals and had two assists in six games for the Rockford IceHogs.