Another D prospect officially joined the Blackhawks organization as the team returned to practice ice on Tuesday afternoon.
That prospect is a big one: 6-foot-6, 235-pound defenseman Taige Harding, who signed an entry-level contract on Tuesday after Providence was eliminated from the NCAA tournament over the weekend:
everyone say hi Taige!👋
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 1, 2025
Harding agrees to terms📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/3qprfsNgMh pic.twitter.com/G3ztbXoPlg
Harding was a third-round pick (91st overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft and turned 23 back in January, which makes him older than the majority of the skaters among Chicago’s suddenly youthful group of blue-liners. Combining Harding’s age with the fact that he’s being sent to Rockford and not Chicago offers some hints on where he stands on the organizational depth chart and suggests it’ll be a rather steep climb for him to carve out a long-term spot on the Blackhawks crowded blue line. While helping Providence reach the NCAA for the first time since 2019, Harding had 14 points (2 G, 12 A) in 37 games this season, leading the team’s defensemen in points.
As for the one-ice matters from Tuesday, the Blackhawks practice saw another small lineup shuffle, with Oliver Moore moving to center on the third line while being flanked by Landon Slaggert and Lukas Reichel.
Blackhawks lines in practice:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 1, 2025
Donato-Bedard-Mikheyev
Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi
Slaggert-Moore-Reichel
Foligno-Veleno-Maroon
Vlasic-Rinzel
Kaiser-Levshunov
Korchinski-Murphy
That third line should be absolutely flying around the ice given the youth and speed all three players possess, although whether or not that energy leads to hockey results is another question entirely — but it should be fun to watch. Also fun to watch will be another prospect-heavy blue line corps, even if it has a tall task awaiting with the Colorado Avalanche coming to town on Wednesday night.
One specific practice focus from Tuesday was a carryover from Sunday’s game: power-play breakouts, which were downright putrid against Utah.
#Blackhawks working on their power-play breakouts before practice after a rough performance in that area on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/B5wZ2pAVs7
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 1, 2025
One other news item to address from Monday: 2024 No. 18 overall pick Sacha Boisvert has entered the transfer portal following his freshman season at North Dakota, not long after UND fired head coach Brad Berry.
NCHC Rookie of the Year Sacha Boisvert has entered the transfer portal. He's one of three UND players to enter today. https://t.co/tfQEpKJYJW
— Brad Elliott Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) March 31, 2025
Boisvert had 32 points (18 G, 14 A) in 37 games during his first college season and could explore turning pro around this time next year should he be equally as productive — or more productive! — during his upcoming sophomore season.