Amid changes, Ladd trying to fit back in

Andrew Ladd looked awfully comfortable Saturday.

Comfortable skating around the ice at Johnny's IceHouse West, sharing a laugh with Jonathan Toews.

Comfortable during his first drill, firing a puck past Scott Darling.

And comfortable wearing that familiar No. 16 Blackhawks jersey.

As it turns out, though, looks can be deceiving.

"I was telling the guys when I got off the ice it still feels a little weird," Ladd said while surrounded by reporters after his first Hawks practice in about six years. "This is the third time I've been traded now. The first couple days everything seems to be going 100 miles per hour.

"Even coming back here (I'm) a little nervous about what's going on and wanting to contribute right away. It takes a couple days, but I'm sure obviously knowing a lot of guys here and the training staff and Q (Joel Quenneville), it shouldn't take very long."

The Hawks certainly hope it doesn't. Ladd is one of four new (well, in his case, old) faces that general manager Stan Bowman brought in via trades with Winnipeg, Los Angeles and Montreal as the Hawks look to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champs since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings.

The others are forwards Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise, and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff. Once Marian Hossa returns, Fleischmann and Weise will likely get a long look at left and right wings, respectively, on the third line with Teuvo Teravainen at center.

When the postseason arrives, don't be shocked if Marcus Kruger, Andrew Shaw and Andrew Desjardins form the team's fourth line, just like they did in the 2015 postseason.

But that's all speculation and there's plenty that could change between now and mid-April.

What is certain is that Bowman has made the Hawks deeper and even more dangerous than they've been in compiling an impressive 38-20-5 record to this point.

"We're in a much better position today than we were two or three days ago," Bowman said. "That's what it's about. It's about getting our team a chance and a better opportunity."

Bowman added he has all the confidence in the world that Quenneville and his staff will put the new players exactly where they belong.

"That's the genius of Joel," Bowman said.

When Quenneville was told of that comment and asked if he felt more pressure because of it, the coach smiled and said:

"Well, the way you raised that question that really did put the pressure on me, but certainly we like our team. We got a lot more options as far as integrating the guys into our team ...

"As we go about it, in the coaching business we're (into) short-term thinking. And that's winning your shift and winning that game or winning that period. That's our motivation and as a team, and as a staff I think we're all excited about what just transpired here. …

"Pressure is something we don't think about. We're worried about doing our jobs as best we can."

As for Ladd, he's only felt playoff pressure once since leaving the Hawks in 2010 and that came last year when Winnipeg went on a monster run in the second half of the season, only to be swept in the first round.

The comfort factor only figures to increase for Ladd as the days and weeks go by. He remained very close with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, and stayed in touch with Toews as well.

"Duncs is one of my best friends," Ladd said. "We train together in the off-season, have kids the same age. They enjoy each other in the summer. I'm really close with him.

"And Seabs, I've known since I was 10 years old. Good friends with him too."

Said Keith: "We're excited. I can't say enough how excited we are to have him."