Theo Fox: As Advertised A look at how this past season's Blackhawks rookies fared compared to what they were advertised as being.

Plus, an early prediction of which prospects to watch for in 2021-22.

Does anyone know how much TOI the Blackhawk players received whom represented Canada in this tournament? Beaudin in particular. And you can omit Pirri because he has no future with Chicago.

Does anyone know how much TOI the Blackhawk players received whom represented Canada in this tournament? Beaudin in particular. And you can omit Pirri because he has no future with Chicago.
- jhawk59

Beaudin was #5 on the blueline for Canada, often paired with Bernard-Docker. Canada relied heavily on their Top 4 of Power, Stecher, Walker and Ferraro, as evidenced by Beaudin playing only 9:48 in the final game and similar in other playoff games before. In one of the group games against a lesser opponent, Beaudin was icetime leader for Canada, but that means little, I suppose. I did not pay too much attention to Canada throughout the tournament, but he wasn’t noticeable at all, other than occasional lack of strength in front of the goal.

Hagel was meh, I suppose I was not the only one who expected more of him. He played mostly on 3rd line with Danforth, but ended without a point and was quite forgettable, to tell you the truth. I expected he could thrive on bigger ice surface.

Pirri on the other was noticeable a lot. He played about the same amount of time as Hagel, but scored three goals and missed quite a few solid chances, one or two in the final.

Congrats to all three of them for winning the Gold!

Overall, it was not a bad, nor a great tournament for the Blackhawks. Kurashev and Reichel both started bright and were driving the play, but faded significantly to the point where they not only disappeared from the scoresheet, but hurt their teams with penalties or costly mistakes. Reichel was not on the ice when Germany pushed to equalize against Finland in the last few minutes on the semifinal. Early on, he was very noticeable and in a good way.

Shalunov was in and out, forgettable. Zadorov played his part for Russia, not great, not terrible. Kubalík, difficult for me to access as I am obviously biased. He spent the whole tournament on 1st line with Kovář and scored 3+3, but having lost QF against Finland 0:1, he was the go to guy who you’d expect to score. Czechs relied on scoring from him, Kovář and Red Wings duo Vrána–Zadina, and although he delivered, they needed more. Czech team had many other and more pressing problems than Kubalík, though, never found its’ identity.

Elsewhere, Mangiapane was excellent and Brown/Stecher looked great also, much more clutch than what you would expect based on their reputation in the NHL, I’d say. Both Seider and Power looked the real deal. And Määttä was quite solid throughout the tournament. There were many surprise results, especially early on, but Sweden finishing so quickly, that was a shock. Canada advanced to the playoffs with more than just a little luck, but it did not matter in the end. Two most compact, team-work oriented teams clashed in the final, and while Finland had more structure, Canada found their groove over time in the tournament and had just a little bit more spark to get them the Gold.

Scoresheet from the Gold medal game (.pdf)

Beaudin was #5 on the blueline for Canada, often paired with Bernard-Docker. Canada relied heavily on their Top 4 of Power, Stecher, Walker and Ferraro, as evidenced by Beaudin playing only 9:48 in the final game and similar in other playoff games before. In one of the group games against a lesser opponent, Beaudin was icetime leader for Canada, but that means little, I suppose. I did not pay too much attention to Canada throughout the tournament, but he wasn’t noticeable at all, other than occasional lack of strength in front of the goal.

Hagel was meh, I suppose I was not the only one who expected more of him. He played mostly on 3rd line with Danforth, but ended without a point and was quite forgettable, to tell you the truth. I expected he could thrive on bigger ice surface.

Pirri on the other was noticeable a lot. He played about the same amount of time as Hagel, but scored three goals and missed quite a few solid chances, one or two in the final.

Congrats to all three of them for winning the Gold!

Overall, it was not a bad, nor a great tournament for the Blackhawks. Kurashev and Reichel both started bright and were driving the play, but faded significantly to the point where they not only disappeared from the scoresheet, but hurt their teams with penalties or costly mistakes. Reichel was not on the ice when Germany pushed to equalize against Finland in the last few minutes on the semifinal. Early on, he was very noticeable and in a good way.
Scoresheet from the Gold medal game (.pdf)
- stonefire

He made one mistake which lead to game winning goal for Finland. He didn´t hurt their team at all overall. It was a strong first showing in men´s international games for Reichel. You could point out that he wasn´t on the ice when USA scored in bronze game six times. Reichel is very fast skater and has good awareness on ice. Is really responsible without the puck. Sure he needs some more strength but that is not unheard of from a young player. He´s got top 6 upside on him but he won´t be your go to guy. He should train his shooting to be more effective in scoring chances.

Gallant leaned heavily on two lines and four dman. It probably didn´t made easy adjustment for Hagel and Beaudin.

More related to the last blog on prospect traits:

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/team/prospects

More related to the last blog on prospect traits:

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/team/prospects
- Quetzalcoatl

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing

Obviously the Hawks don't consider Dach a "prospect" any more based on the article's criteria of playing in less than 40 NHL games, but wonder where he would fit in these categories. Same for Boqvist.

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing

Obviously the Hawks don't consider Dach a "prospect" any more based on the article's criteria of playing in less than 40 NHL games, but wonder where he would fit in these categories. Same for Boqvist.
- boilermaker100

Forty NHL games my ass! It is obvious, as it should be to you, they are busts. As Darth would say, “another Stan fail”.

Forty NHL games my ass! It is obvious, as it should be to you, they are busts. As Darth would say, “another Stan fail”.
- paulr

We should just reduce it to an acronym at this point...ASF!

He made one mistake which lead to game winning goal for Finland. He didn´t hurt their team at all overall. It was a strong first showing in men´s international games for Reichel. You could point out that he wasn´t on the ice when USA scored in bronze game six times. Reichel is very fast skater and has good awareness on ice. Is really responsible without the puck. Sure he needs some more strength but that is not unheard of from a young player. He´s got top 6 upside on him but he won´t be your go to guy. He should train his shooting to be more effective in scoring chances.

Gallant leaned heavily on two lines and four dman. It probably didn´t made easy adjustment for Hagel and Beaudin.
- MjulQvist

Don’t get me wrong, I really liked what I saw from Reichel. He looked quick, smart, certainly not out of place. He set the bar high for himself over the first few games. I haven’t seen the Bronze medal game, so my lasting impression was from that semifinal against Finland…

More related to the last blog on prospect traits:

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/team/prospects
- Quetzalcoatl

So the Balckahwaks are out of contention on the links and one of the paid press guys decides it is time to survey the teams 15 employees/scouts and surprise the results are
Philipp Kurashev
Lukas Reichel
MacKenzie Entwistle
Alex Vlasic

I agree totally with Theo Fox on Kurashev, and I don't know how the winning categories are anything but team public relations since their experiences in the pros are nill or tiny.
No one knows they can play until the do, and no one knows they can play impact fully game in and game out until they do, and that takes. muscle, confidence and some grit.
For a couple 50 years In have read press clipping on the new hawk slice and other teams....interesting how many teams get moldy bread after the initial insertion into the NHL toaster.

We should just reduce it to an acronym at this point...ASF!
- HawkintheD

Forty NHL games my ass! It is obvious, as it should be to you, they are busts. As Darth would say, “another Stan fail”.
- paulr

No coincidence that they don't include Dach and Boqvist. Write a story on the "other" kids to distract from Stan's failures on these two!

Don’t get me wrong, I really liked what I saw from Reichel. He looked quick, smart, certainly not out of place. He set the bar high for himself over the first few games. I haven’t seen the Bronze medal game, so my lasting impression was from that semifinal against Finland…
- stonefire

Ok! That was his worst game of the tournament and besides that one mistake it wasn´t that bad either.

In the Worlds for Canada. Beaudin averaged 12;06, Hagel 13;15, and Pirri 12;38. Both Beaudin and Hagel were -4, Beaudin had an assist and Hagel drew a bagel.

Obviously the Hawks did not enter Gallant's circle of trust. Even if Stan offered Gallant the job, he would probably decline, saying even he can't mold a winner from the bunch of manure on the team.

In the Worlds for Canada. Beaudin averaged 12;06, Hagel 13;15, and Pirri 12;38. Both Beaudin and Hagel were -4, Beaudin had an assist and Hagel drew a bagel.

Obviously the Hawks did not enter Gallant's circle of trust. Even if Stan offered Gallant the job, he would probably decline, saying even he can't mold a winner from the bunch of manure on the team.
- LAHawk

Gallant would demand the Hawks re-sign Pirri and would play him in the Top Six. Sign Gallant, stat!

Gallant would demand the Hawks re-sign Pirri and would play him in the Top Six. Sign Gallant, stat!
- mohel

If the Hawks were to fire JC and hire Gallant, the same posters screeching for JC’s dismissal would be screaming for Gallant to be fired after two losses.

If the Hawks were to fire JC and hire Gallant, the same posters screeching for JC’s dismissal would be screaming for Gallant to be fired after two losses.
- paulr

2 losses in the Exhibition games!!

2 losses in the Exhibition games!!
- LAHawk

Two shifts of the first scrimmage in camp.

For all you fancy stats fans:

Zadorov is a perfect example of a player who might fail the eye test, but the analytics prove otherwise. When you watch him chase a puck carrier above the faceoff dots to make a big hit while leaving the front of the net exposed, you want to rip your hair out of your head. However, the numbers show he was one of the best defensive defensemen on the team.


Out of the “regular defensemen,” only Ian Mitchell had a lower CF%. However, Zadorov’s 30.48 SA/60 were the third-best behind Murphy and Calvin De Haan. It may surprise you that his 1.95 GA/60 was by far the best among the defensemen at the end of the season. In fact, he was the only blueliner that had a GA/60 under 2. De Haan was the worst at 3.4, followed by Duncan Keith at 3.11. Among Blackhawks who played in at least 20 games, only Alex DeBrincat had a higher PDO (team’s shooting % + save % when a player is on the ice). So, when you look at the metrics, even though he was spent more time on his end of the ice, he did a good job at preventing shots and goals against; the main job of an NHL defenseman.

For all you fancy stats fans:

Zadorov is a perfect example of a player who might fail the eye test, but the analytics prove otherwise. When you watch him chase a puck carrier above the faceoff dots to make a big hit while leaving the front of the net exposed, you want to rip your hair out of your head. However, the numbers show he was one of the best defensive defensemen on the team.


Out of the “regular defensemen,” only Ian Mitchell had a lower CF%. However, Zadorov’s 30.48 SA/60 were the third-best behind Murphy and Calvin De Haan. It may surprise you that his 1.95 GA/60 was by far the best among the defensemen at the end of the season. In fact, he was the only blueliner that had a GA/60 under 2. De Haan was the worst at 3.4, followed by Duncan Keith at 3.11. Among Blackhawks who played in at least 20 games, only Alex DeBrincat had a higher PDO (team’s shooting % + save % when a player is on the ice). So, when you look at the metrics, even though he was spent more time on his end of the ice, he did a good job at preventing shots and goals against; the main job of an NHL defenseman.
- LAHawk

I don’t buy it.

“There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there’s statistics”
-Winston Churchill

Beaudin was #5 on the blueline for Canada, often paired with Bernard-Docker. Canada relied heavily on their Top 4 of Power, Stecher, Walker and Ferraro, as evidenced by Beaudin playing only 9:48 in the final game and similar in other playoff games before. In one of the group games against a lesser opponent, Beaudin was icetime leader for Canada, but that means little, I suppose. I did not pay too much attention to Canada throughout the tournament, but he wasn’t noticeable at all, other than occasional lack of strength in front of the goal.

Hagel was meh, I suppose I was not the only one who expected more of him. He played mostly on 3rd line with Danforth, but ended without a point and was quite forgettable, to tell you the truth. I expected he could thrive on bigger ice surface.

Pirri on the other was noticeable a lot. He played about the same amount of time as Hagel, but scored three goals and missed quite a few solid chances, one or two in the final.

Congrats to all three of them for winning the Gold!

Overall, it was not a bad, nor a great tournament for the Blackhawks. Kurashev and Reichel both started bright and were driving the play, but faded significantly to the point where they not only disappeared from the scoresheet, but hurt their teams with penalties or costly mistakes. Reichel was not on the ice when Germany pushed to equalize against Finland in the last few minutes on the semifinal. Early on, he was very noticeable and in a good way.

Shalunov was in and out, forgettable. Zadorov played his part for Russia, not great, not terrible. Kubalík, difficult for me to access as I am obviously biased. He spent the whole tournament on 1st line with Kovář and scored 3+3, but having lost QF against Finland 0:1, he was the go to guy who you’d expect to score. Czechs relied on scoring from him, Kovář and Red Wings duo Vrána–Zadina, and although he delivered, they needed more. Czech team had many other and more pressing problems than Kubalík, though, never found its’ identity.

Elsewhere, Mangiapane was excellent and Brown/Stecher looked great also, much more clutch than what you would expect based on their reputation in the NHL, I’d say. Both Seider and Power looked the real deal. And Määttä was quite solid throughout the tournament. There were many surprise results, especially early on, but Sweden finishing so quickly, that was a shock. Canada advanced to the playoffs with more than just a little luck, but it did not matter in the end. Two most compact, team-work oriented teams clashed in the final, and while Finland had more structure, Canada found their groove over time in the tournament and had just a little bit more spark to get them the Gold.

Scoresheet from the Gold medal game (.pdf)
- stonefire

Thanks for sharing your observations and thoughts!

Definitely agree on your assessment of Moritz Seider. He's going to be a beast in the mold of Victor Hedman. Maybe a notch below but same style and similar impact.

In IceHogs-Griffins games last year (2019-20), he was easily one of the best players on the ice as a teenager.

He made one mistake which lead to game winning goal for Finland. He didn´t hurt their team at all overall. It was a strong first showing in men´s international games for Reichel. You could point out that he wasn´t on the ice when USA scored in bronze game six times. Reichel is very fast skater and has good awareness on ice. Is really responsible without the puck. Sure he needs some more strength but that is not unheard of from a young player. He´s got top 6 upside on him but he won´t be your go to guy. He should train his shooting to be more effective in scoring chances.

Gallant leaned heavily on two lines and four dman. It probably didn´t made easy adjustment for Hagel and Beaudin.
- MjulQvist

Your take on Reichel's outlook is spot on. He's got top 6 talent but more so in a supporting role, not necessarily the go-to player.

He plays a full 200 foot game supporting up and down the ice to snuff out pucks, fight for them, and make plays to set up teammates.

His strength will come in time as he physically matures. What he has in spades over Teravainen at the same point in their careers is a willingness to go to the tough areas.

Reichel will take a hit but pop up quickly to rejoin the play.

Your take on Reichel's outlook is spot on. He's got top 6 talent but more so in a supporting role, not necessarily the go-to player.

He plays a full 200 foot game supporting up and down the ice to snuff out pucks, fight for them, and make plays to set up teammates.

His strength will come in time as he physically matures. What he has in spades over Teravainen at the same point in their careers is a willingness to go to the tough areas.

Reichel will take a hit but pop up quickly to rejoin the play.
- Theo Fox

Sharp 2.0?

For all you fancy stats fans:

Zadorov is a perfect example of a player who might fail the eye test, but the analytics prove otherwise. When you watch him chase a puck carrier above the faceoff dots to make a big hit while leaving the front of the net exposed, you want to rip your hair out of your head. However, the numbers show he was one of the best defensive defensemen on the team.


Out of the “regular defensemen,” only Ian Mitchell had a lower CF%. However, Zadorov’s 30.48 SA/60 were the third-best behind Murphy and Calvin De Haan. It may surprise you that his 1.95 GA/60 was by far the best among the defensemen at the end of the season. In fact, he was the only blueliner that had a GA/60 under 2. De Haan was the worst at 3.4, followed by Duncan Keith at 3.11. Among Blackhawks who played in at least 20 games, only Alex DeBrincat had a higher PDO (team’s shooting % + save % when a player is on the ice). So, when you look at the metrics, even though he was spent more time on his end of the ice, he did a good job at preventing shots and goals against; the main job of an NHL defenseman.
- LAHawk

Never use facts here it taboo Big Z is garbage it has been decided Boqvist is the golden boy we will see how far that gets us in the playoffs .lol

Never use facts here it taboo Big Z is garbage it has been decided Boqvist is the golden boy we will see how far that gets us in the playoffs .lol
- oldduffman

I wanted Zadorov to be good. However....he reminds me too much of Boris Mironov. A clueless dolt.