About time: Hawks send Reichel to Rockford
It took a while, but the Blackhawks finally did the right thing Sunday by assigning Lukas Reichel to the Rockford IceHogs.
The move came exactly one month after I suggested demoting the struggling forward to the AHL, thinking it would help him find his game and increase his confidence.
The Hawks, when they were run by GM Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville, did the same thing with Nick Schmaltz in December 2016. Schmaltz came back a different player and finished with 5 goals and 19 assists in 35 games.
Obviously there's no guarantee the same thing happens with Reichel, who has just 3 goals and 7 assists in 50 games. If he takes the demotion the wrong way, it would only continue his downward spiral.
Coach Luke Richardson admitted Friday this is a possibility.
“Sometimes it’s a little bit of an instant blow to someone’s confidence,” Richardson said. “Their personality feels like it’s taken a hit (and) they're embarrassed a little bit that they didn’t succeed.”
My sense, however, is Reichel — who had 7 goals and 8 assists in 23 games during two NHL stints last season — uses this as a motivator.
He certainly has the speed, stickhandling skills and shot to become a 20-goal scorer. But he hasn't looked like himself almost all season. It's difficult to know why, so we won't guess here as it would simply be conjecture.
What we do know is Richardson has done everything in his power to get Reichel going. He's moved him up and down the lineup, played him at center and wing, moved him on and off the top power play and, finally, resorted to scratching him in four of the last nine games.
One reason Richardson gave Friday for not making this move earlier stems from the spate of injuries the Hawks have suffered this season. They've been without Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou most of the season and lost Connor Bedard, Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno for long stretches. Anthony Beauvillier, who hasn't played since Jan. 2, should return this week.
“We never thought our team would be banged up as much this year,” Richardson said.
The Hawks, who snapped an eight-game winless streak Saturday against Ottawa, are at Carolina on Monday then return for a five-game homestand.
The highlight of that stretch will come Sunday against Detroit when Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat return. The Hawks will also retire Chris Chelios' No. 7 that night.
Slap shots:
Despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw, Connor Bedard retook the points lead among rookies Saturday. Bedard has 36 points (16) goals, which is 3 more than Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber. … Petr Mrazek has a .926 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average in his last 13 games. He's give up 4 goals just once over that span in games that ended in regulation. He tied his season high with 40 saves during the Hawks' 3-2 win over Ottawa. … Nick Foligno is on his first five-game point streak since a six-gamer in 2016-17.