Every team -- especially to elevate the chances of being playoff eligible and ideally championship caliber -- needs elite players to fill key roles on the roster like top 6 forwards, top 4 defensemen, and a starting goalie. The Blackhawks are no different.
However, each individual player and the lineup as a collective whole needs to "play the right way" no matter what their position is, which line or pair or goalie slot they are assigned to, or how much of the team's salary cap their contract takes up.
What does "play the right way" mean, though?
Although there can be varied definitions, one way to describe it is having players up and down the roster who think the game quickly yet efficiently, have acute hockey sense, and execute fundamentals in every zone, every game situation, and every shift.
One can certainly profess all they want to play the right way but where do you find players who play the right way? When thinking about it in general for any team, such players can be found anywhere whether through the draft, free agency, overseas, or trade market.
In the case of the draft, players who play the right way aren't just confined to the top 10 or even just the 1st round. All rounds will harbor such talent. The hardest part for the scouting and player development staffs is to unearth then develop them properly.
Crevier & Del Mastro
Case in point are defensive defensemen Louis Crevier (2020 7th round) and Ethan Del Mastro (2021 4th round). Unheralded at the time, both have shown marked growth and promise since then. Crevier signed his ELC in November while Del Mastro inked his on Friday.
Both prospects were featured recently in separate articles by the Athletic Chicago:
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Click here to view the Crevier article.
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Click here to view the Del Mastro article.
Note:
a subscription is needed to read the articles.
A common theme across these articles by Scott Powers is Crevier and Del Mastro use their immense size and reach, defensive acumen, and underrated skating to maintain tight gaps and close in fast on a puck handler to choke off options and force turnovers.
As defensive defensemen, that's all you can ask for as long as they do that consistently. Their offensive contributions may be minimal yet enough where they can advance the puck up and out either with their feet or with a solid first pass out of the D zone.
A consideration is whether a prospect who plays the right way at lower levels -- whether juniors, high school, college, etc -- can translate that productivity to the NHL. Sometimes playing the right way at lower levels may translate to the minors but not to the big show.
It's one thing for prospects like Crevier and Del Mastro to excel at being mobile shutdown defenders in juniors but it's another thing to maintain that effectiveness at each level of progression in their hockey careers. The question is can they keep this up in the NHL.
Regula & Vlasic
A peculiar case study is Alec Regula where his AHL version hadn't been impressive but his NHL version has been a different story as he has played a steady two-way game using his skating, shot, defensive prioritizing, long reach, and size to execute at both ends.
There could be a number of reasons why Regula was rather pedestrian and honestly somewhat forgettable during the early half of his first full pro season when he was frequently getting beat to pucks, losing positioning, and not using his strengths to lead rushes.
Now as a starter on the Chicago blueline along with fellow rookie Alex Vlasic, he's showing he can be dependable to keep it simple defensively to apply smart coverage then carry the puck up ice, feather crisp passes, and fire shots on net without hesitation.
Forwards & Goalies
When you think of forwards who play the right way, look at prospects like Josiah Slavin, Andrei Altybarmakian, Landon Slaggert, and Jalen Luypen. This foursome are prime examples of not just hustle and compete level but also capacity to impact the game in noticable ways.
As for goalies who play the right way, Drew Commesso doesn't just rely on his athleticism and size but also his patience and control to let pucks hit him then soak in any rebound chances before the opponent can pounce on them. He displays great technique and poise, too.
Role Players & Elite Players
By no means does this all point to the aforementioned prospects being the next coming of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Corey Crawford or that they will even make it to the NHL and have some staying power once in the big leagues.
Many may scoff and say the Hawks prospects -- besides Lukas Reichel -- are a mere collection of personnel to select from to fill the bottom 6 and 5/6/7 D spots or even the entire lineup. Just trying hard without elite skill isn't enough to contend for Cups.
That last statement is true but teams still need those role players who coaches can plug and play knowing they will apply fundamentals every second of their allotted TOI in order to pave the way for the elite players to capitalize when it's their turn on the ice.
Furthermore, none of this means that elite players don't play the right way and instead only rely on world-class skill to stamp their ticket to stardom in the NHL at the expense of giving a darn on defense or making an impact when the puck isn't on their blade.
Sure, there are elite players who are one-trick ponies that fans pay to see and have top-grossing entertainment value. However, many elite players are excellent in all zones. Think of Keith and Toews in their prime as they led the Hawks to a trio of championships.
Rebuilding the Right Way
For the Hawks specifically during the rebuild, a guiding philosophy of how to reconstruct both the pro roster and the prospect system is to stock up with players who play the right way. Turn over every rock to find them so there's a critical mass to engrain that philosophy.
Make it an organizational culture on the ice, on the bench, and in the locker room to live and breathe this philosophy. Once a culture is established, the prospects who fit this philosophy like a glove get to stay while those who don't will get weeded out.
In the draft, the more picks there are the more lottery tickets there are to hit on some of them. Similarly, the more prospects in the system who play the right way the more likely that there's a perpetual pipeline ensuring the roster is replete with such players.
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Blackhawks Game Summary
Thursday Boxscore
DeBrincat - Strome - Kane
Kubalik - Toews - T Johnson
Kurashev - Lafferty - Raddysh
Katchouk - R Johnson - Borgstrom
Vlasic - S Jones
McCabe - Regula
Stillman - de Haan
Delia
Lankinen
Scratches:
Dach, Entwistle, Gustafsson, C Jones
1st Goal (0-1): Danault (Kempe, Durzi) PP
2nd Goal (0-2): Kopitar (Edler, Kempe)
3rd Goal (1-2): Kane (Strome, DeBrincat) PP
4th Goal (1-3): Athanasiou (unassisted)
5th Goal (1-4): Moore (Arvidsson, Edler)
SOG For/Against: 16/36
PP: 1-for-3
PK: 2-for-3
Faceoffs Won: 52%
Highlights
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Blackhawks Notebook
The Hawks are in San Jose on Saturday to battle the Sharks before their last week of the season with home cooking against the Flyers and Golden Knights then a roadie in Buffalo to cap things off versus the Sabres. The misery will be over a week from today.
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IceHogs Notebook
The Hogs are at home this weekend playing host to the Moose on Saturday then to the Wild on Sunday. They can clinch a Calder Cup Playoff berth with a win this weekend. Their final stretch of the regular season has the Wild, Admirals, and Wolves on the docket.
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See you on the boards!
Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, NBC Sports Chicago, The Athletic Chicago
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