Hawks' Pius Suter becomes fifth member of organization to be loaned originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
On Tuesday, forward Pius Suter became the fifth member of the Blackhawks organization to be loaned to another team since the Hawks' season ended. He was loaned to GCK Lions of Switzerland’s National League-B.
Related: Blackhawks sign forward Pius Suter to one-year contract
Suter, 24, signed a one-year contract with the Hawks on July 16 that runs through the 2020-21 season ($925,000 salary cap hit). The forward recorded 53 points (30 goals, 23 assists) in 50 games for ZSC Lions of Switzerland’s National League-A last season and was named league MVP.
Over five seasons with ZSC Lions, Suter recorded 168 points (81 goals, 87 assists) in 210 regular-season games, 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 34 playoff contests and helped ZSC Lions to the 2017-18 NLA Championship.
He also represented Switzerland in the 2018 Winter Olympics, picking up five points (3G, 2A) in four games.
It's clear the Hawks want certain players in their pipeline to be skating as much as possible ahead of the 2020-21 NHL season and its potential Nov. training camp start date for clubs.
Forward Matej Chalupa, 22, was loaned to Mountfield HK of Czech Extraliga on Aug. 15. Chalupa signed a two-year contract with the Hawks on May 29 that begins with the 2020-21 season. He spent the majority of last year with HK Hradec Kralove of the Czech Republic League where he skated in 50 contests and recorded 24 points (7G, 17A).
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Winger Tim Soderlund, 22, was loaned to Sweden’s Almtuna IS of the HockeyAllsvenskan League on Sep. 1. Soderlund recorded one goal and two assists in 29 games with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL and two goals and four assists in seven games with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL last season. He was drafted by the Blackhawks in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.
On Sep. 5, the Hawks loaned forward Philipp Kurashev to HC Lugano of Switzerland’s NLA and forward Michal Teply to BK Mladá Boleslav of Czech Republic’s Czech Extraliga.
Kurashev, 20, recorded 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 36 games with the IceHogs last year. The Hawks selected Kurashev in the fourth round (120th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Teply, 19, recorded 63 points, (29 goals, 34 assists) in 53 games with the Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League last year for his first season in the WHL. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the fourth round (105th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
