Beaudin gets his chance with Chicago Blackhawks

Nicolas Beaudin isn't normally the nervous type.

But he wouldn't be human if the butterflies didn't start swirling a bit in the moments leading up to his NHL debut, which came when the Blackhawks hosted San Jose on Wednesday night at the United Center.

"I'm not really stressed in life, but I think it's coming right now today to me," said a smiling Beaudin as he faced the media about eight hours before puck drop. "I've got family members coming. It's gonna be fun."

Beaudin, who started on the top pairing with Duncan Keith, is the 12th defenseman to skate for the Hawks this season and the seventh to make his debut with the team. Four of those seven - Beaudin, Lucas Carlsson (6), Dennis Gilbert (21) and Adam Boqvist (41) - are all rookies and learning the fast-paced life of the NHL on the fly.

The constant roster jockeying has created headaches in terms of chemistry among 'D' partners and, more recently, problems with the Hawks cleanly exiting their own zone.

General manager Stan Bowman and coach Jeremy Colliton believe Beaudin, drafted 27th overall in 2018, can remedy that second issue. A bit undersized at 5-feet-11, 168 pounds, Beaudin is considered a smart, instinctive player who has some creativity to his game.

"He's got the ability to play offense as well as be defending and learning at his size how to play against bigger players," Bowman said earlier this season. "Have a good stick. Use his feet and his brain to defend.

"All the attributes you want a player in the NHL to have."

Beaudin spent three full seasons playing in the Quebec Major Junior league before coming to Rockford this season. The leap was "a little bit eye opening" at first, according to Rockford IceHogs assistant Anders Sorenson, but Beaudin has steadily gotten better at his gap control and defending in front of the net.

"We've shown him some videos of Duncan Keith, how he operates around the net front," Sorenson said. "He lifts guys sticks, and it's hard to score with your stick up the air, right? He's made some progress in that area, for sure."

Beaudin, who has 3 goals and 12 assists with the IceHogs, dished out 106 assists during his last two junior seasons, so he clearly has offensive upside.

Sorenson has been impressed with how the 20-year-old makes sharp, accurate passes from a variety of distances. That especially has been true when he's moving out of the defensive zone, an area the Hawks have struggled in since losing Erik Gustafsson (trade) and Boqvist (concussion).

Sorenson believes Beaudin has the potential to grow into "a puck-moving, two-way defenseman that can contribute offensively but still be reliable defensively." He may also be able to contribute on the power play, likely more as a puck distributor.

More than anything, Sorenson loves how Beaudin takes instruction and pores himself into 1-on-1 video sessions.

"Great kid," Sorenson said. "He has a lot of questions and a lot of good ideas. ...

"Brian Campbell's been working with him as well. Between the three of us we've made some progress in his game. He's really eager to learn and to get after it every day."

Said Beaudin: "When I got to Rockford this year I just wanted to grow my game and lately in the last month I've been playing some good hockey down there."

Beaudin showed his offensive instincts early against San Jose, picking up a loose puck at center ice, gliding into the offensive zone and putting 2 quick shots on goal on Aaron Dell. Two shifts later, he snapped off a long shot that was nearly tipped into the net by Patrick Kane.

These remaining games will be important for all of the Hawks' young defensemen.

But one question that must be asked is what their unit will look like next season? Because as it stands right now, there's not much size other than the 6-foot-4, 212-pound Connor Murphy and - if he returns - the 6-3, 220-pound Brent Seabrook.

One has to figure Keith (6-1, 192), Calvin de Haan (6-1, 195) and Olli Maatta (6-2, 206) all return. Then there's the up-and-comers in Beaudin, Boqvist (5-11, 179), Ian Mitchell (5-11, 173) and Lucas Carlsson (6-0, 189).

That's not a lot of size and strength to combat teams such as St. Louis and Dallas, who impose their will on opponents all over the ice.

"You never say no to size, no question," Colliton said. "But it's got to come with mobility and puck movement and it's the whole picture. I don't think there's any one formula to how you build a team. ...

"We like what a lot of these guys are bringing (and) we think they can help us. We're talking about we can't break out, we're having trouble - we've got to move the puck better. If those guys can defend for us and find a way to be in our lineup, it's going to help us in a lot of ways."