Blackhawks Make Taylor Hall and Seth Jones Late Scratches During Warmups

During warmups of Friday night's game, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that Taylor Hall and Seth Jones would not play against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

These are late scratches as both of them appeared to be ready to play. Hall is deemed to be a healthy scratch and Jones is said to be out with an illness.

Both of these players find themselves in trade rumors for different reasons. The Blackhawks want to rid themselves of Seth Jones' cap hit and Hall is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

Certain contenders would make sense for both of them. With what the team announced, it sounds like Hall may be sitting for that reason but if Jones is sick, he would have been out of the lineup anyway.

For the game itself, Patrick Maroon draws into the lineup. He is expected to play on the fourth line with Ryan Donato and Philipp Kurashev. As for replacing Jones, TJ Brodie draws in. He will play with Ethan Del Mastro on the third pair.

With news like this, speculation is going to run rampant. It is certainly something to keep an eye on.

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