A yr in the past, Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach was on the verge of an NHL call-up.
Then inconsistency and accidents disrupted his rhythm, forcing him to — within the phrases of Rockford coach Anders Sorensen — “begin over slightly bit” this season.
After extra ups and downs this fall, Sorensen, who all the time appears extra important of Dach than the Hawks’ different AHL prospects, sat down with him Tuesday morning for a critical chat. That night time towards Texas, Dach was denied on two golden scoring probabilities within the first interval, which could have rattled him prior to now.
However he caught with it and broke by way of with two targets lower than a minute aside within the second interval of Rockford’s eventual win. Sorensen described it as Dach’s “most full sport” of the season, a uncommon occasion of reward.
“I’m not going to lie: I used to be undoubtedly slightly bit pissed off once I couldn’t put one in [early on],” Dach mentioned. “However once I scored that first one, I let all of it out and calmed myself down, and we went to work after that.
“I have to play with confidence. After I’m doing that, I’m shifting my toes, moving into guys, being bodily and profitable numerous stick battles. That’s one thing I’ve obtained to maintain doing.”
Dach entered Saturday with 11 factors in 14 video games, trailing solely prime prospect Frank Nazar for the workforce lead.
“It’s [about] the work off the puck,” Sorensen mentioned. “We’ve talked quite a bit in regards to the first 4 strides in transition, whether or not it’s someway — much like Frank, though they’re completely different physique varieties clearly. [Dach is working on] getting his toes going early to get to spots or get in on the forecheck. When he does that, he’s actually efficient.”
In his pursuit of an NHL call-up, Dach is usually competing towards Nazar, Landon Slaggert and Cole Guttman. The race might get extra crowded quickly if Boston College junior Ryan Greene and Minnesota sophomore Oliver Moore signal entry-level contracts in March or April after their faculty seasons finish.
Dach wants to take care of this inkling of momentum to have an opportunity to interrupt by way of. He wants his December 2024 efficiency to be simply as spectacular as his December 2023 efficiency — and his January 2025 efficiency to tremendously exceed his January 2024 efficiency.
Waivers looming
When the Hawks signed goaltender Laurent Brossoit in the summertime, they knew they might ship Arvid Soderblom to Rockford with out the chance of dropping him on waivers.
If Brossoit misses rather more time, nonetheless, that not will be the case. Soderblom’s six appearances this season have him as much as 56 profession NHL appearances; as soon as he will get to 60, he’ll require waivers.
Contemplating how a lot Soderblom has elevated his inventory — he has a .926 save share in comparison with .879 final season — that’s a threat the Hawks can be reluctant to take. As a substitute, they might be caught with a logjam of three NHL goalies.
For now, it’s solely a tutorial concern as a result of Brossoit seemingly has made no progress towards a return after his meniscus surgical procedure.
Bizarre stats
After their 3-2 extra time loss to the Flyers, the Hawks have gone 5 video games with just one power-play alternative in every sport. That’s a franchise document and the longest such streak by any workforce since 2019.
Ahead Lukas Reichel, however, appears to like Philadelphia. He has three multipoint video games because the begin of final season, and two have occurred in Philly.
He scored the Hawks’ first objective and assisted on the second.
