Changes have been made following Tuesday’s Blackhawks debacle at the Winter Classic but it’s not exactly the type of move that’s going to inspire confidence of a sudden turnaround.
Just before Thursday’s practice, the Blackhawks recalled Colton Dach from the IceHogs, who’s now expected to make his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night — versus his brother, Kirby.
Blackhawks recall Colton Dach, which means he could make his NHL debut tomorrow night against his brother, Kirby, and the Habs. Joey Anderson to Rockford.
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 2, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Colton Dach said he got dinner with Kirby last night. Their dad is flying into Chicago to watch their matchup against each other tomorrow night.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 2, 2025
"I think [I've] found that mentality that I need to have every single night — to play consistent and play heavy — and that’s just what…
Colton Dach was a second-round pick (62nd overall) of the Hawks in the 2021 draft and has been one of Rockford’s top producers this season with 25 points (12 G, 13 A) in 30 games. Dach’s been knocking on the NHL door for a while, so this it adds a level of intrigue to Friday’s game that wasn’t there 24 hours ago, considering Dach could very much be part of the long-term puzzle here.
Now for the annoying part of that Dach news, which is in the tweets below:
Inserting Dach and removing Reichel just seems like one step forward, one step back with the youth movement to me.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 2, 2025
So, Reichel is the one who gets demoted after the whole team laid the biggest of eggs in the Winter Classic? Thought this was supposed to be a rebuild.
At least Dach will get some power-play time:
Colton Dach is on PP2 with Nazar, Vlasic, Smith and Hall.
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 2, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Anders Sorensen offered this reasoning for Reichel’s return to the press box:
Sorensen on scratching Reichel: "We've got to make some decisions here, and [we're] making room for Colton as well."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 2, 2025
Asked what he's not seeing from Reichel: "The finishing product… I'd like to talk to him about having more of an attack mentality and utilizing his shot more." https://t.co/VMwnYBhQJl
If there’s one small grasp at straws to be made here, it’s that Reichel certainly flourished in Rockford under Sorensen’s tutelage there, so perhaps he knows how to best maximize what Reichel can do on the ice. But this move seems counter-intuitive to everything that’s supposed to be happening with the Blackhawks this season, which is prioritizing the development of young players in hopes that embarrassments on a national stage like Tuesday’s Winter Classic won’t happen again in the future.
This isn’t necessarily about Reichel, either, as he continues to seem less and less likely to be part of the future here. But it does feel like the Hawks have not done much to aid his development over the last few seasons and what does that say about how they’ll handle the development of other forward prospects like Dach? Or Nazar? Or Nick Lardis? Or Sacha Boisvert? Or Marek Vanacker?
Oh, and here’s an update on some veteran blue-liners:
Alec Martinez still out tomorrow, but he had a good day. Connor Murphy (groin) will be evaluated in the morning.
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 2, 2025 at 12:45 PM