A First-Look at the Blackhawks’ Top Prospects is not Far Away

The Blackhawks’ prospects will travel to Minnesota for a pair of scrimmages against the Wild’s prospects.

The Blackhawks are set to send their top prospects over to Minnesota, where fans will get their first look at names like Lukas Reichel, Colton Dach, and Jakob Galvas. The Rockford IceHogs coaching staff will man the bench. Scrimmages can be found on the Minnesota Wild’s YouTube channel, not the Blackhawks’, starting on September 17 at 7 pm and September 19 at 1 pm.

This is an exciting time for fans to get their first glimpse at the future of the franchise, especially Lukas Reichel, who has a decent shot at a roster spot this training camp. Based on the scouting report, he is a hard-working player who can score from the dirty areas and control the play. Playing against men in Germany, Reichel will have a decent welcome into North American hockey against the best the Minnesota Wild’s prospect pool has to offer.

Fans will also get their first look at what Colton Dach is capable of in the small sample size. Dach is a physical player with a great shot, so fans can expect to see him chip in offensively while adding a physical punch to the game. I really think that he has a decent shot at the NHL roster with his skillset, but it is still more likely that he spends more time in juniors or Rockford.

Also on this roster is Mike Hardman, which is puzzling (to me). Hardman was in the lineup for 8 games, putting up 3 points, coming into his own as the season ended with all of his points scored in the last four games played. He really should be on the NHL roster as the team now has the players for a checking, energy style for the third and fourth lines, something teams need to win in today’s NHL. I’m guessing that Hardman was added to warm him up before training camp in order to get more out of him to start the season.

The Blackhawks’ prospects have a LOT of physicality, with Hardman, Dach, Evan Barratt, Nolan Allan, and more. They won’t be pushed around with a few willing combatants in a potential scrap. It is encouraging to see the type of size and aggressiveness in the prospect pool as the days of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews contained a lot of pushing around but winning with resilience.

The next wave of potential Blackhawks will have a great mix of speed, skill, and grit, something, again, that you need to win. The showcase will show what they have to offer before the preseason, where we will get another look at what these young guns have to offer.