Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, NBC Sports Chicago, The Athletic Chicago
Day 5 of Blackhawks training camp was a full team scrimmage so no news from practice and drills. More on the scrimmage below including highlights and observations. The Hawks host the Red Wings in the preseason opener this evening at 7:30pm CDT at the United Center.
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Scrimmage Highlights
Opening Goal by Dominik Kubalik
While the set up by Kirby Dach and the cash in by Dominik Kubalik were great to watch, the alarming parts were the turnover in the neutral zone and non-existent defensive coverage on the backcheck by the Red Team. It's a scrimmage but some effort would still be nice.
OT GWG by Kirby Dach
Dach's goal is what should be expected of him as one of Chicago's top offensive weapons. What was fun to watch was Philipp Kurashev not admiring his drop pass and getting open for a shot plus the shiftiness and stickhandling by Caleb Jones to deke around the defense.
Iso Cam on Kirby Dach
What's to like about this shift by Dach is his hustle up and down the ice. He chased down pucks being the first one in the offensive zone but would still have giddyup to get back on defense if play abruptly went the other way. Dach went to the action rather than sit back.
Iso Cam on Dylan Strome
This actually was a solid shift by Dylan Strome and could generate more staying power and fan excitement for him if he can do that all game. He carried the mail to start the attack, drove hard to the net, and made plays down low to create space and chances for his teammates.
Iso Cam on Lukas Reichel
While the iso cam was on Lukas Reichel, I couldn't help but notice how defensively wired and responsible Nolan Allan was. Allan was tethered to the post constantly protecting the net front. Even when he went to make a defensive play elsewhere, he quickly reset to the slot.
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Scrimmage Lineup Observations
Team Red
Observations for Team Red are the top forward lines and the top D pairs. Up front, Tyler Johnson centering Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane seems cemented in stone at this point for opening night: high-end offense with loads of competitive fire despite them being diminutive.
Jonathan Toews paired with Brandon Hagel and having another skilled winger like Reichel could be an effective line that can dominate in all zones and put up points. However, if Reichel starts on the 3rd line or even in Rockford, Kubalik is an ideal linemate instead.
A few days ago head coach Jeremy Colliton commented on the coaching staff expecting big minutes from Seth Jones and Connor Murphy. Both are RHD so it makes sense for them to be anchoring different pairs leaving another minute muncher Jack McCabe as partner to one of them.
Team Black
The key observation for Team Black is the top forward line of Dach centering Kubalik and Kurashev. Of the lines on that team, this one is most realistic as far as being a realistic one that the Blackhawks could go to war with once the regular season commences.
This trio has a mix of offensive skill, defensive acumen, and youthful energy. Kurashev is underrated in hunting down pucks and digging them out. Dach is a playmaker with size to create space and draw defenders to him which would leave a volume shooter like Kubalik open.
When looking at the top lines on Team Red and the top line on Team Black, Strome and Henrik Borgstrom could be on the outside looking in unless one or both of them outplays Reichel and/or Kurashev for top 9 roles. Strome and Borgstrom simply aren't 4th line material.
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Lesson of the Day
Kubalik's comment is spot on and illustrates a lesson discussed in Sunday's blog about how a successful breakout to move the puck out and up will be critical for the Blackhawks to not only contend for a playoff berth but go as deep as possible in the postseason.
A key element of the breakout is every skater -- and even the goalie -- being where they need to be so that they can use instinct to react to developing plays and trust that a teammate will be in position to support them no matter the situation or what zone the team is in.
In terms of the transition game from defense to offense, the D-men need the forwards to do their duty to get open in order to receive outlet passes but also be ready to revert immediately back to defending if the opposition forces a turnover before the puck breaches the blueline.
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Colton Dach
After requesting a trade last week, Colton Dach is now headed from the Saskatoon Blades to the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for Trevor Wong who was draft eligible this summer but was passed over despite being ranked as high as the 3rd round on some draft boards.
Kelowna also has rights to Blackhawks D prospect Michael Krutil. Had the pandemic not severely impacted the WHL last season, Krutil would have been in juniors rather than in the AHL where he struggled mightily. Not the optimal choice but he will be with the IceHogs again.
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Athlete vs Project
Blackhawks strength and conditioning coach Paul Goodman: "Is this player an athlete or is he a project? For Lukas, he's an athlete." Great compliment to pay to Reichel. Hopefully it's a compliment that can be paid to other prospects and youngsters in the system.
Yet, this isn't to say all athletic players won't be projects and all players who aren't projects are naturally athletic. How would roster players like Strome and Alex Nylander be classified? What about youngsters like Michal Teply who may be rounding the corner toward top 6 potential?
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