Blackhawks Training Camp Opened And They've Dropped A Commercial To Get Us All In The Mood

This commercial was basically made for me. I don't know what it is, but my body clock/calendar still thinks I should be getting ready for the season. I haven't played competitive hockey in 15 years and I still get this weird internal like itch or anxiety when the calendar hits September. This commercial played that note perfectly for me. Almost like they made it for me specifically. And believe it or not that itch was the reason why I wanted to start with Barstool to begin with 10 years ago. I wanted to feel connected or "involved" in hockey beyond just being a fan. The blog felt like an appropriate avenue for a guy who loved the game, talking about the game, and didn't want to be skating at midnight and showing up to work bumps, bruises, and lacerations. Somewhere along the way it turned into a full career as opposed to the volunteer part-time writing gig it started out as. And that is largely thanks to you all who clicked this blog because you've been clicking and following for a decade now, so thank you. 

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I think Reichel is going to be a very solid top 6 type of guy. I have to adjust my brain for the amount of scoring that is happening in the NHL. I think the expectation for him in his rookie year with all the PP time and top 6 minutes should be between 50-60 points. The organization trying to make him a center again is interesting. He got a lot of games at center in Rockford. Maybe he can do it, I don't know. His skill set looks better suited to the wing in my opinion. 

The Blackhawks have an interesting dilemma with rebuild/prospect pool. They've drafted Bedard, Reichel, Oliver Moore, and Frankie Nazar. They're all listed as centers. I am not sure any of them can shoulder than load for a team with Cup aspirations in the playoffs. They're all a bit undersized and while that is fine in the regular season, the game is still the game and what is still winning at the end of the day are big dudes. Especially down the middle. It makes sense to see if they can convert Reichel to center from an organizational depth perspective and if you're not winning anyways you might as well give it a go this year to find out. 

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The NHL draft is such a crap shoot that the Blackhawks should be in best player available mode basically forever. Having said that…as I said above…they need some big dudes up front. Colton Dach is really the only big body in the pipeline. Maybe Misiak can be something at some point too, but that is about it. So tie goes to the guy who will win in the hard areas. If they're somehow in the top 3 again then the names are Macklin Celebrini and Cole Eiserman

My gut says neither. Admittedly I don't have an eye for young goalies. It's impossible to project. The Hawks also drafted Gajan early. I've seen bits of all three. None really look like Vezina types. Soderblom has some Scott Darling to his game with size and athleticism. Commesso is probably a better version of Colin Delia. Sound fundamentals. Plays bigger than his size. Makes stops he should. I think he's a guy who will be better as a pro than he was in college. Excited to see what Jimmy Waite can do with him. 

Korchinski is in a weird spot because he's not eligible to play in the AHL, too good for juniors, but probably not quite ready for the NHL. Good thing for the Blackhawks is that it doesn't matter if he's not good enough for the NHL. I'd say leave him in the NHL for the entire season. Burn off the year. Have Seth Jones and Connor Murphy hold his hand through the ups and downs. Keep his confidence up and if he needs to watch a 2-3 game stretch from the press box every once in a while that is fine. 

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Bedard is already the most talented guy on the team. I think the Blackhawks could have a ton of rookie-ish guys get games this year. First full year for Reichel who should get PP and top 6 mins all year. I expect Wyatt Kaiser to play 15+ minutes a night. Vlasic could be a full time NHL guy. Just talked about Korchinski. I liked what I saw from Guttman last year. I think Colton Dach will get some run in the NHL this year. Also wouldn't be surprised if Nolan Allen got some games here and there if there are injuries on the back end too. We could see as many as 9 guys with less than a year of NHL experience play in the United Center this year. That's exciting. Great opportunity for internal evaluation of young players (something the previous regime REALLY struggled with) because losing games 5-3 isn't a bad thing this year. 

Absolutely nothing and that is okay. This is a teaching year. 

Probably not that active. Largely depends on how these veteran guys with expiring deals play. Tyler Johnson, Perry, Foligno, Blackwell, etc. They didn't trade Anthanaseou last year on a cheaper and expiring deal. Makes me think there won't be much of a market for him this year. If anything the Blackhawks can be a bank/money launderer for other teams trying to make trades. That cap space is still there. The Hawks can have Danny Wirtz write a check and add a draft pick for his trouble. 

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Lottery balls again

No

He was drafted to score. He was born to score. He will be paid to score. He needs to score to have a "successful" season. I think he will. Vegas has his goal total at 31.5 and point total at 68.5. I think he will be over on both. I've also seen a ton of Bedard scoring props that I like. Bedard to score against every team in the Central is +600. Anyways…scoring is the foundation of his game so he needs to do at least that and then I'd like him to show a willingness to play 200ft. Not knocking his defense, but just haven't seen it. 

I think one of Nazar or Oliver Moore. They'll probably try to space out the prospects a bit for contract reasons unless they're undeniably NHL ready. 

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Guttman can play. I don't know where exactly he fits in with this team because they did sign a ton of veterans. My guess is that he starts in Rockford and as soon as Tyler Johnson or Donato gets hurt he will get a call up. 

They'll give Soderblom every chance to be the #1 with Commesso getting the bulk of the work in Rockford. The position does feel light though. Maybe they like Jaxon Stauber more than we realize. I do think it'd be a good idea to add another veteran goalie. Ultimately I guess it doesn't really matter because if they need to bring in a men's league and they lose a by 5 instead of 2 that's fine. 

We are so close. 18 days away. Let's. Go.