The Blackhawks had another scrimmage on Monday morning with one minor tweak to the lineups for the two teams. Landon Slaggert was moved to the “C” team (note: zero hierarchy implied by A, B or C) which was not involved in the scrimmage. AJ Spellacy jumped in between veterans Joey Anderson and Ryan Donato for the scrimmage.
I thought that line of Donato-Spellacy-Anderson was pretty good on Monday morning. Donato had a lot of juice in his game; maybe he was happy being on the wing again? Spellacy continues to show signs that he can play against NHL players. Again (again again again) he’s a project and there are rough areas of his game that need work. But it’s incredibly encouraging that he’s able and willing to get after it with the big boys.
A good day from Donato was a good sign. He’s a guy who a lot of folks wonder how/where/if he fits in the forward group this season. He had his best day of camp on Monday.
Blue Line Changes
I spoke with Seth Jones for a few minutes about the competition between the young defensemen in camp. He confirmed that the Blackhawks coaches are indeed going to split him from Alex Vlasic to start the season. He’s been working with Alec Martinez in practice and said they’re going to start the season together.
That information got my attention not only because the Blackhawks’ top pair, that played well together last year, is apparently going to separate to begin the season, but I have also been closely watching Wyatt Kaiser working with Connor Murphy. They appear to be pretty comfortable with each other.
Impressive Kids Line
I really wish the Blackhawks could keep Nick Lardis in Rockford this season and not have to send him to Brantford for another OHL season. Lardis figures to be one of the better scorers in the league this season; he scored 29 goals in 37 regular-season games last year and a wrist injury sidelined him in the second half. He’s been skating on a line with Frank Nazar and Colton Dach throughout camp and that line has been really good together. If that ended up being the top line in Rockford this season I would be thrilled… but it can’t be because Lardis doesn’t turn 20 until next June.
Lardis’ shot is legit.
Blackhawks Odds & Ends
- The scrimmage ended in a 1-1 tie. Connor Bedard spoke briefly after practice about working with Tyler Bertuzzi. He said there isn’t any secret to learning how to play with a new linemate, it’s all about reps and spending time together on the ice.
- Kevin Korchinski has spent a lot of time with Louis Crevier thus far. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson brought up Crevier’s development earlier in camp. TThat might be a pair for Rockford to start the year?
- Pat Maroon set up Andreas Athanasiou for a goal in camp. As I noted in my bullets on Monday morning, I’m still trying to rationalize the line of Maroon, Athanasiou and Craig Smith.
- I’m still waiting for Lukas Reichel to show me something. He remains on the wing with Teuvo Teräväinen and Philipp Kurashev. If the Blackhawks do mix up the forward lines at some point I would love to see Nazar between Teräväinen and Kurashev.