Raddysh relishes his opportunity with Blackhawks, and could be team's leading scorer

Going from a Stanley Cup contender to a team in full rebuild mode can be tough for many players to swallow.

But that's not how Taylor Raddysh looked at the situation last March when he was traded to the Blackhawks in exchange for Brandon Hagel.

"I'm excited," Raddysh said at his introductory news conference. "Tampa was kind of a tough situation with how good of a team they had. They had a lot of guys that I was behind. ... So I'm excited to be here, get a good opportunity to play and be able to prove myself out there."

The 25-year-old forward has certainly done that this season, racking up 17 goals while also being the only Hawk to play in all 66 games. There's a good chance Raddysh will lead the team in goals, too, as he needs just 2 to pass Max Domi, who was traded to Dallas.

The Lightning drafted Raddysh late in the second round of the 2016 draft after he scored 24 goals for the OHL's Erie Otters. The year before, Raddysh was on an Erie team that included Alex DeBrincat, Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome. The quartet combined to score a ridiculous 206 goals (including playoffs) in 2014-15.

In 2016-17, Raddysh (54 goals) and Alex DeBrincat (78) lit up the league once again.

After one more year in juniors, Raddysh cut his teeth in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay's affiliate) before finally cracking the Lightning's lineup last season.

Still, he was in a bottom-six role and only averaged 11 minutes a game.

This season, his ATOI increased to 16½ minutes, and he's been over 18 minutes nine times.

"More confidence," Raddysh said when asked what has improved the most in the last year. "Your time out there is the biggest difference I find, whether it's holding onto the puck (more) or shooting more or just making plays in general. That's the biggest step I've taken."

Raddysh broke out of a 15-game goal drought at Detroit last Wednesday when he scored a pair of first-period goals. He also scored against his former team Saturday at Tampa Bay, popping a shot over goalie Brian Elliott at 5:23 of the third period to tie the game 1-1.

While obviously a talented scorer, it's Raddysh's improved defensive play that has impressed coach Luke Richardson most.

"(That) has really picked up," Richardson said. "His responsibility on the wall - or the red zone as I call it. ... He's been really good in those areas."

While Richardson also likes how Raddysh quietly conducts himself behind the scenes, he admits his 25-year-old forward may need to start speaking up more often.

"As this team seems to be getting younger," Richardson said, "a guy like that with a little more experience, maybe he's got to come out of that quiet shell ... and be more (in) a leadership role next year. That's something we'll look for from him as well."

Guttman done:

Hawks coach Luke Richardson said forward Cole Guttman will have a procedure done on his shoulder and miss the rest of the season. Guttman scored 16 goals in 39 games for Rockford, then was called up to the Hawks and scored four times in 14 games. He also won 52% of his faceoffs.

"I think he wanted to keep playing," Richardson said. "But the decision between his side and our side was the right thing to get ready for next year 'cause he's shown he can play here. So he wants to have a chance to be 100% at training camp to show that he can again."

Toews update:

Luke Richardson said Jonathan Toews has not returned to the ice and is only doing gym workouts. Toews hasn't played since January 28.

Slap shot:

The Hawks recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Buddy Robinson from Rockford on Monday. The 6-foot-2, 204-pound Hardman has 4 goals and 12 assists in 49 games for the IceHogs. He had 60 hits in 21 games for the Hawks in 2021-22. The 6-6, 232-pound Robinson played a career-high 32 games with Anaheim last season. He has 9 goals and 10 assists with Rockford.