The Blackhawks announced some roster moves Sunday morning ahead of traveling to Seattle to face the Kraken for Monday night’s game.
Top forward prospect Lukas Reichel was reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs:
Lukas Reichel has been sent back to Rockford.
He averaged 15:23 ice time in his 2 NHL games. No points, 5 shots on goal on 7 shot attempts. 5/14 on faceoffs. I thought he looked as good as promised for his first taste of the NHL.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 16, 2022
The move was expected: coach Derek King stated last week that Reichel was expected to only play a few games with the Blackhawks before returning to the AHL to continue his development. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Reichel up again with the Blackhawks later in the season.
Derek King on Lukas Reichel: “There’s a game plan with this kid. We don’t want to ruin him. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” #Blackhawks https://t.co/mIXpRBDpHH
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 12, 2022
Second, defensemen Jake McCabe was removed from COVID-19 protocol after missing three games. The Blackhawks have four players — defensemen Seth Jones and forwards Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome, and Brett Connolly — still in protocol.
The Blackhawks also re-assigned defensemen Ian Mitchell to the IceHogs and recalled forward Mike Hardman and goalie Cale Morris from Rockford and assigned them to the NHL taxi squad.
The Blackhawks also removed Jake McCabe from COVID-19 protocol, re-assigned Ian Mitchell to Rockford and placed Mike Hardman and Cale Morris on the taxi squad.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 16, 2022
Mitchell was no longer needed with McCabe returning to the line-up; the former played in only two games and averaged less than 10 minutes in each game. Hardman has had four points (3 G, 1 A) in five AHL games since being assigned there mid-December. With the goalie jam in Rockford, Morris has spent most of the season with the Indy Fuel in the ECHL, but he had a .923 save-percentage in seven AHL games last season.
The Blackhawks are back on the road to face the Seattle Kraken Monday afternoon for a 4 p.m. start.