NEWSLETTER
On Tuesday morning the Blackhawks sent forward Lukas Reichel to Rockford.
I’m just going to sit back and let that sink in for a second. Because, based on what I’m reading on social media, it isn’t easily settling on that reality for many Blackhawks fans.
Reichel, who will play this entire season as a 20-year-old, was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He came over and was pretty, pretty good in Rockford last season, posting 57 points in 56 games — an IceHogs rookie record.
Based on what he did last season — a season in which he burned the first year of his entry-level contract by playing in 11 NHL games — many felt it was common sense that he’d get the call up to the big club to start the new year.
Based on what the front office did to the roster over the summer, trading away young players with skill and allowing others to leave via free agency, many felt there was plenty of opportunity for Reichel to get a solid role with the Blackhawks.
Based on what Reichel did in the offseason — putting on some muscle and continuing to work on his game — many felt he had shown the commitment level to get an NHL spot.
Heck, Reichel should think he deserves a roster spot in the NHL.
But he’s headed back to Rockford.
So how do we digest this reality as fans?
There are a couple things to keep in mind here, and these are realities that need to be mitigated — and that won’t be easy for everyone. But here goes…
This one is the toughest to handle for some fans. If you read the comments on our Facebook page or replies to our tweets, there is a portion of the fan base who cannot and will not accept the idea that the Blackhawks are not going to be good this season with cause.
Please read this statement: The Blackhawks’ players are not throwing games. They aren’t going to half-ass their game prep and they aren’t going to lose because they don’t care.
But the roster the front office has built is intentionally temporary and intentionally not great. Davidson knows that, if the Blackhawks want to return to the heights they enjoyed a decade ago, they need to inject a lot of high-end talent and skill into the organization. And the easiest and best way to do that is through the draft.
Chicago has a crop of really good, talented defensemen starting to matriculate its way to the NHL level. Guys like Alec Regula and Alex Vlasic and Jakub Galvas and Isaak Phillips — and Ian Mitchell if he hadn’t injured his wrist — are all building blocks for the future on the back end. The Blackhawks do not have a significant number of legitimate, high-end NHL forwards under contract — yet.
Reichel is the first player with high-end skill to start the next generation of Chicago Blackhawks. And, unlike Davidson’s predecessor, he wants to make sure he has a good coach in place to teach his prospects and has the patience to allow players to mature and grow their game to the point they can confidently join the NHL and not look back.
So should we be happy about Reichel heading to Rockford? In a way, yes. With the roster the Blackhawks have and what we’ve seen from Reichel this fall, he could have made the team right away. But they’re staying to their plan and allowing themselves the time to get it right. And we should at least appreciate their willingness to make sure they’re doing everything as an organization to do it right.
