Chicago Blackhawks taking a look at rookies to close season
The Blackhawks dressed a whopping 10 rookies during their 4-2 victory over Dallas on Sunday at the United Center.
With the playoffs out of reach it was an excellent opportunity for them to prove they can help the Hawks next season.
"There's not going to be room for everybody, so there needs to be urgency," said coach Jeremy Colliton. "Each and every player needs to take the opportunity that they have and ... make the most of it. Because you never know how many (chances) you're going to get."
The top rookies for the Hawks this season have been Brandon Hagel (9G, 14A in 51 games), Pius Suter (13G, 12A in 54 GP), Philipp Kurashev (8G, 8A in 53 GP), defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk (4G, 5A in 20 GP) and goalie Kevin Lankinen (17-14-5, .909 save percentage, 3.01 goals-against average).
Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin also performed admirably. Recent additions Mike Hardman, MacKenzie Entwhistle and Alec Regula have shown flashes as well, including Sunday when Entwistle opened the scoring at 6:23 of the first period off an assist from Hardman.
In addition to those 10 players, Lucas Carlsson (12 GP) and Reese Johnson (5) also saw playing time.
"I'd say the exciting part is all of them have come in and shown they can handle the level," Colliton said. "It doesn't mean there's not ups and downs - and that's gonna continue. I mean we've got all these guys having their rookie seasons, but when you flip the calendar it doesn't mean it's all figured out.
"But this experience and their ability to show they can come in and handle the level is a huge positive for us going forward."
Worth it:
Although Kirby Dach played in just 18 games, coach Jeremy Colliton is happy that the second-year forward was able to return. Dach scored 2 goals and had 8 assists while averaging 18.5 minutes.
"It's a hard league and there's lessons to learn about how you need to play to have success that he'll continue to build on," Colliton said. "Getting in these games - and they were important games and we were right in the mix - he'll take that with him and hopefully have an excellent summer of training and be better than ever come fall."
Slap shots:
Patrick Kane had 2 assists in the Hawks' 4-2 win over Dallas on Sunday, giving him 51. That matches his total from last season when he played in all 70 games. It is the seventh time Kane has had a 50-assist campaign. ... Alex DeBrincat's 3 overtime goals were tied for third through Saturday's games. ... Nikita Zadorov's 26 minutes, 14 seconds of ice time at Carolina on Thursday was a season high.