The Blackhawks’ prospects hit the ice for the first time together since this time last year on Wednesday morning as they prepare for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in Minnesota this weekend.
There was one significant player missing from the group: Connor Bedard. The first overall pick in this summer’s draft is still on his way back from Las Vegas where NHL players were doing their preseason media availability. But a practice — roughly 90 minutes on the ice, I might add — gave us a lot of time to watch players other than the future star.
Here are a few takeaways from what I saw on the ice earlier today:
Kevin Korchinski looks like he’s here to win a roster spot. Rockford coach Anders Sorensen, who is running the team this week, said during the development camp earlier this summer that Korchinski looks “more like a man” now than he did a year ago, and he doubled-down on that after practice on Wednesday. Korchinski’s skill and speed stood out in a group that’s been built to have lots of both of those two attributes. He is also noticeably more physically built than a year ago, and still has a nice battle scar under his right eye from a stick during the WHL playoffs earlier this year. He laughed when saying he was glad it wasn’t his teeth.
Ryder Rolston was another player whose speed popped. His final collegiate season at Notre Dame was cut short by an injury that kept him from joining the IceHogs down the stretch last season, but he’s healthy and ready to compete this year. At 6-2 and 185 pounds, Rolston has good size on the wing. But Sorensen named Rolston as one of the guys who impressed him in the drills on Wednesday.
We’ve talked a few times here about the Blackhawks needing to identify defensemen who can play the right side; the majority of their young defensemen are left-handed. In the brief time they skated 5-on-5 on Wednesday, Nolan Allan was on the right side with Korchinski. Which makes a lot of sense; Allan has played his off-side before and was teammates with Korchinski in Seattle after being traded to the Thunderbirds last season. We’ll see if that pair sticks through the weekend.
When Bedard arrives, he will join Colton Dach, Ethan Del Mastro, Allan and Korchinski in the room. That gives the Blackhawks five players from Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the most recent World Juniors. Both Dach and Del Mastro said it’s nice to have that familiarity with players before getting on the ice together in a professional setting.
Center Alex Pharand, a fourth-round pick by the Blackhawks this summer, has a heavy shot. He’s another big player (6-3, 205) who had a nice season in the OHL last year. With so many of the Blackhawks’ center prospects not being bigger players, I’ll be watching guys like Pharand while we have the chance with the rest of Chicago’s prospects to see how he looks at the dot.
Jaxson Stauber is practicing with the prospects this week but is not going to Minnesota. Drew Commesso and Mitchell Weeks will handle the crease in the games this weekend.
There was a noticeably good vibe on the ice. Samuel Savoie was chirping constantly (no surprise there). And there was a lot of playful shoving between players. Every guy we talked to in the room said the camaraderie amongst the Blackhawks prospects is great, thanks in large part to spending their week together during this summer’s development camp off the ice. Every player knows the Blackhawks are building something and is excited to be a part of it, but they get along well and play together — which is great to see.
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