Some interesting Blackhawks news emerged Thursday morning, with defenseman Ethan Del Mastro being recalled from the Rockford IceHogs.
Del Mastro, who turned 21 in January, was a fourth-round pick (105th overall) of the Blackhawks in the 2021 NHL Draft. He is yet to make his NHL debut but has been playing professional hockey throughout this season in Rockford, where he has 37 points (7 G, 30 A) in 66 games. As detailed in our most recent IceHogs update — which is linked below — Del Mastro has been one of the best IceHogs players this season and there’s an argument to be made that he’s been Rockford’s MVP this season.
Along with the points he’s racked up, Del Mastro is skating on the IceHogs’ top defensive pair and has been playing in all situations, taking significant steps forward in his ongoing development. Here’s a sample of the offensive side of the game from Del Mastro, when he jumped into this 2-on-1 rush with Lukas Reichel during 3-on-3 overtime to score the game-winner:
Chicago practices on Thursday morning ahead of Friday night’s game against the Nashville Predators. It would seem like Del Mastro is not being recalled to watch that game, so his NHL debut seems imminent with a pair of home games on Chicago’s schedule this weekend. Considering how dreadful the Blackhawks’ defense was against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, there’s certainly nothing to be lost by giving Del Mastro some NHL ice time before he returns to the IceHogs for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
We talked to Del Mastro at the start of the season back in September about his expectations for the first professional hockey season of his career:
[UPDATE] Coach Luke Richardson said after Thursday’s practice that Del Mastro is likely going to play this weekend and his NHL debut could coincide with the return of Connor Murphy from an injury: