Earlier this season, when the Blackhawks had been dropping most video games and deploying one of many oldest rosters within the NHL, the losses weren’t solely unsatisfying for followers but additionally meaningless to the workforce’s long-term plans.
Now that the Hawks have turned over their roster to youth — a course of that’s anticipated to proceed by way of April — they’re nonetheless dropping most video games, however not less than their youngsters are gaining expertise driving the waves.
That was the case but once more within the Hawks’ 4-2 loss Sunday to the Wild. It was an terrible efficiency by way of two intervals. The Hawks generated solely 5 pictures on aim earlier than racking up 15 within the third and almost rallying again from a 3-0 deficit.
A couple of months in the past, a dull outing like that may’ve been nothing however miserable. At this level, nonetheless, one can take a look at it from a glass-half-full perspective: The extra issues the workforce does mistaken, the extra issues their younger gamers can be taught from.
“[They] need to be taught that this league is hard,” interim coach Anders Sorensen mentioned. “It’s a tough league to play in, particularly as a younger participant. It’s important to discover your alternatives to create offense. However you even have to seek out your shifts the place it’s important to notice: There’s not a lot occurring; I simply need to play [it safe].
“Particularly as a D-man, it’s important to advance pucks, hold it environment friendly that means and clearly defend arduous. Typically [for] younger gamers, that may be a studying lesson. At present, it was for lots of them.”
These classes aren’t coming solely from Sorensen, both. For instance, rookie ahead Frank Nazar has been receiving recommendation about figuring out the best occasions to take dangers — and the best occasions to keep away from them — from veteran middle Jason Dickinson for weeks.
“[We’ve talked about] little issues, about situational consciousness [based on] time of the sport, interval or shift,” Dickinson mentioned. “[We’ve talked about] when to make a sure play or a sure learn as a result of you realize sure guys on the ice are drained, and also you’ve bought to assist them out.”
Nazar continues to enhance. His third-period rating — which was arrange by an assertive drive to the web by rookie defenseman Ethan Del Mastro — gave him objectives in consecutive video games and 5 factors in his final 4 video games.
He additionally dedicated a few turnovers, reminding everybody he’s not a completed product. However no 21-year-old is, and by discovering out on the fly what to not do in a sure scenario, he’ll have a greater sense of what he ought to do the subsequent time.
Ethan Del Mastro performed 18:22 tonight and recorded his first NHL help however was additionally on for 2 objectives in opposition to.
Sorensen: “He battled. [He] bought caught a few occasions within the D zone, possibly attempting to perform a little bit an excessive amount of. However that wasn’t simply him; it was us as a bunch.”
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 27, 2025
The most recent youthful addition to the Hawks’ roster is Landon Slaggert, who was referred to as up Sunday to fill Taylor Corridor’s spot. If Slaggert performs Tuesday on the Lightning, it’s potential 9 of the Hawks’ 18 skaters will likely be 23 or youthful: Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic, Lukas Reichel, Nolan Allan, Del Mastro, Nazar, Colton Dach, Louis Crevier and Slaggert.
In some video games in October, that quantity was as little as three.
Within the Hawks’ 4-3 extra time loss Friday in opposition to the Lightning, all three objectives had been scored by rookies — Dach, Nazar and Crevier — and younger goalie Arvid Soderblom had 36 saves.
A recreation like that, regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard, virtually actually advantages the group’s long-term future greater than, say, the 4-2 win of their house opener in opposition to the Sharks in October, when Corridor, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno and Dickinson had been the scorers and Petr Mrazek tended aim.
The presence of youth doesn’t completely excuse the losses, that are getting outdated for everybody. Basic supervisor Kyle Davidson, who will communicate publicly Monday for the primary time since firing Luke Richardson in early December, realizes there’s some urgency now. But it surely does make the losses a bit simpler to abdomen.
