Chicago Blackhawks’ Training Camp Roster Released For 2017-18

This morning/early afternoon, the Chicago Blackhawks determined which men would be competing for roster spots with the 2017-18 version of the franchise

While a few things have happened involving the Chicago Blackhawks in the last month and a half — the most recent, and unfortunate, being the death of legend Pierre Pilote yesterday — there really hasn’t been a ton to talk about for the upcoming season.

Of course, that’s typical when it comes to the NHL offseason. Once the draft is over, things tend to get quiet. But that makes it all the more exciting when something like a roster release occurs. And today, the Blackhawks announced who would be participating in their upcoming training camp.

Thirty-two forwards, 19 defensemen and six goaltenders make up the roster for training camp, which will be held Sept. 15 through Oct. 4. For more information on training camp itself, along with the team’s preseason fan festival, check out one of our posts from late last month.

This roster contains a slew of names Blackhawks fans are familiar with, as well as a few new ones. Let’s take a look:

Forwards — 2016-17 team(s)

Artem Anisimov — Chicago Blackhawks

Kyle Baun — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Radovan Bondra — Vancouver Giants (WHL), Prince George Cougars (WHL), Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Lance Bouma — Calgary Flames

Laurent Dauphin — Tucson Roadrunners (AHL), Arizona Coyotes

Alex DeBrincat — Erie Otters (OHL)

Alexandre Fortin — Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)

Ryan Hartman — Chicago Blackhawks

John Hayden — Yale Bulldogs (NCAA), Blackhawks

Matthew Highmore — Saint John Sea Dogs (OHL)

Vinnie Hinostroza — Rockford IceHogs (AHL), Chicago Blackhawks

Marian Hossa — Chicago Blackhawks

Da Windy City

Matheson Iacopelli — Western Michigan Broncos (NCAA), Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Thomas Jurco — Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL), Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks

Luke Johnson — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

David Kampf — Pirati Chomutov (Czech)

Patrick Kane — Chicago Blackhawks

Tanner Kero — Rockford IceHogs (AHL), Chicago Blackhawks

Graham Knott — Niagara IceDogs (OHL), Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Anthony Louis — Miami of Ohio RedHawks (NCAA), Rockford Ice Hogs (AHL)

Drew Miller — Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL), Detroit Red Wings

John Mitchell — Colorado Avalanche

Nathan Noel — Saint John Sea Dogs (OHL)

Richard Panik — Chicago Blackhawks

Will Pelletier — Norwich Cadets (NCAA D-III), Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Brandon Saad — Columbus Blue Jackets

Nick Schmaltz — Rockford IceHogs (AHL), Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Sharp — Dallas Stars

Tyler Sikura — Toledo Walleye (ECHL), Manchester Monarchs (ECHL), Iowa Wild (AHL)

Jonathan Toews — Chicago Blackhawks

Jordin Tootoo — Chicago Blackhawks

Tommy Wingels — San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators

Defensemen — 2016-17 team(s)

Carl Dahlstrom — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Gustav Forsling — Rockford IceHogs (AHL), Chicago Blackhawks

Cody Franson — Buffalo Sabres

Erik Gustafsson — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Henri Jokiharju — Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Duncan Keith — Chicago Blackhawks

Michal Kempny — Chicago Blackhawks

Connor Murphy — Arizona Coyotes

Robin Norell — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Jordan Oesterle — Bakersfield Condors (AHL), Edmonton Oilers

Ville Pokka — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Robin Press — Indy Fuel (ECHL), Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Darren Raddysh — Erie Otters (OHL)

Michal Rozsival — Chicago Blackhawks

Jan Rutta — Pirati Chomutov (Czech)

Brent Seabrook — Chicago Blackhawks

Mark Stuart — Winnipeg Jets

Luc Snuggerud — Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (NCAA), Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Viktor Svedberg — Rockford IceHogs (AHL)

Goaltenders — 2016-17 team(s)

J.F. Berube — New York Islanders

Corey Crawford — Chicago Blackhawks

Collin Delia — Merrimack Warriors (NCAA)

Jeff Glass — Toronto Marlies (AHL), Chicago Blackhawks

Anton Forsberg — Cleveland Monsters (AHL), Columbus Blue Jackets

Matt Tomkins — Ohio State Buckeyes (NCAA)

A closer look at the roster

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This is certainly an interesting group. The first thing that stands out to me is the number of guys on the roster who played solely for the Blackhawks in 2016-17. That figure is a lowly 12 — just enough to make four forward lines (though not all 12 are forwards, obviously).

The Blackhawks have certainly dipped into a number of pools this season to fill out their training camp roster. Their draft picks and farm team in Rockford will be supplying many names, but the Blackhawks have also gone to other NHL teams a solid amount here.

There are nine guys on this roster who spent the entire 2016-17 campaign with an NHL team that wasn’t the Blackhawks. A few of these are recent entrants who have joined on professional tryout contracts — forwards Drew Miller and John Mitchell and defensemen Cody Franson and Mark Stuart.

Franson’s case was highly publicized because the Blackhawks had been rumored to be interested in him for some time. But the other three have just shown up on the radar. Check back with Blackhawk Up later today for Sean Fitzgerald’s take on Miller, Mitchell and Stuart.

There are other interesting inclusions on this year’s roster as well. Jokiharju was Chicago’s first-round draft pick this year, but he suffered a left knee injury at the World Junior Summer Showcase in August. It appears he’ll be good to go for training camp, though, music to the ears of general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville.

Raddysh is also a fun inclusion. A teammate of DeBrincat’s with the Otters and the brother of Tampa Bay prospect Taylor Raddysh, Darren signed with the Blackhawks this offseason after being named the OHL’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2016-17. It’ll be interesting to see how long he and Jokiharju stick around.

Sikura was also a recent signing, possibly a move to induce Dylan Sikura, Tyler’s brother and a Blackhawks prospect, to eventually sign an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks. If this really is Chicago’s plan, it’ll be worth noting how much rope Tyler gets in camp.

It’s also worth noting Hossa is on this roster because the Blackhawks still need to put him on long-term injured reserve. This isn’t some sign he’s magically healthy, unfortunately.

Next: Saying Goodbye To Blackhawks Legend Pilote

Overall, this is about what we could expect for the Blackhawks’ training camp roster — a pretty uncertain group compared to those of previous seasons. This camp may be one more worth watching than some of the other recent ones, as there could be a lot of the above names appearing in Blackhawks box scores sooner rather than later.