King decides to move Blackhawks' Dach to wing

Derek King made a significant change to the Blackhawks lineup for Tuesday's game against Anaheim, moving Kirby Dach from center to wing.

King said the change was made to balance out the lines, but this is a move the Hawks have been contemplating for more than two weeks.

GM Kyle Davidson was on board with the decision.

"I brought it to Kyle and said I might use him on the wing once in a while and he said, 'Yeah. Try it out,' " said King, who played Dach on the second line with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Hagel. "It's got nothing to do with Kirby struggles at faceoffs (33.8%) cuz I still think he's a good centerman. I'm still looking for him to check some top lines and being solid that way."

Jeremy Colliton made the same move with Dylan Strome two years ago, with mixed results for quite a while. Strome, who has moved back to center, is now enjoying perhaps the best stretch of his career with 14 goals and 13 assists in his last 31 games. He notched a hat trick and added an assist during the Hawks' 8-3 win over the Ducks.

When the Hawks drafted Dach No. 3 overall all in 2019 they figured they were getting a 200-foot center who could do it all. After 136 games, though, the 21-year-old has just 18 goals and 36 assists.

In his defense, Dach was probably rushed to the NHL too quickly, he's had to deal with a difficult wrist injury, and King has asked him to play a defensive role for much of this season.

Asked what he thought about a possible position change, Dach said this on February 20: "I don't know. I've always been a center, always seen myself as a center. My skating and my defensive ability allows me to be so good at this position.

Being a winger is something I've done in the past and I'm not against it, but it's not for me to decide. But I feel pretty comfortable in my role and what I'm playing."

Slap shots:

Henrik Borgstrom (4G, 3A) checked back into the lineup for the Hawks after sitting three games as a healthy scratch. He replaced MacKenzie Entwistle. Defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Riley Stillman were the other scratches. Gustafsson has sat nine of the last 12 games. ... Brandon Hagel shooting percentage of 20.0 was tied for 16th through Monday's games (minimum 50 shots). ... The Hawks do not have a power-play goal by a defenseman. They had only 3 last year in 56 games.