5 players who will thrive under Blackhawks Head Coach Jeff Blashill

After listening to Jeff Blashill's opening comments in his introductory press conference, I am more at peace with the Chicago Blackhawks decision to hire him.

Is he a homerun? Maybe not. But I do see him as a clear and obvious upgrade over former Blackhawks head coaches Luke Richardson, Anders Sorenson, Derek King and Jeremy Colliton. That makes him the best head coach that the Hawks have had since the legendary Joel Quenneville. Of course, his performance behind the bench will dictate whether this hire was a success or not.

Based on what Blashill said in his opening comments, it seems that he favors a certain style of Hockey. He mentioned aggression, forechecking, pressure and speed as the characteristics that he sees in winning hockey teams. So the question is, which Blackhawks players will benefit the most from playing under him?

5 Blackhawks who will benefit from playing under Jeff Blashill

1. Alex Vlasic

When I heard Blashill talking about defense and how important it is to apply pressure to the puck carrier to force turnovers, my mind went immediately to Alex Vlasic.

Vlasic is a legitimate 6'6 defender and he has a very long reach. he closes the distance between himself and attackers effortlessly and uses his reach to disrupt pucks and break the flow of opponents zone entries. If he is asked to dial up his aggression when attacking the puck carrier, he will become one of the hardest defensemen to play against in the NHL.

2. Sam Rinzel

I will preface these comments by saying this: I expect Rinzel to start next season in Rockford. I know that he was highly impressive last season in his brief sample size but he is still just breaking into the professional ranks and the Hawks have a track record now of letting young players over-mature in the minors before being called up full time as NHL players.

The reason that I think Blashill and Rinzel will work together is because of how much Rinzel reminds me of Moritz Seider.

Both are highly intelligent, big and strong, great skaters and possess otherworldly offensive instincts. Seider developed exceptionally under Blashill and had some of his best offensive seasons playing under him. I think Rinzel will have a similar trajectory when paired with the new "bench boss".

3. Frank Nazar

Nazar already plays a fast and relentless style of Hockey. He is a player that thrives when being instructed to skate fast, forecheck hard and think aggressively rather than systematically. I think under Blashill he will continue to develop into a superstar.

The interesting question that Blashill will need to answer is whether he prefers Nazar at center or on the wing. He dominated at the IIHF world championship mostly playing as a winger. I think a full season pairing Bedard at Center with Nazar on his wing would be perfect for the two young forwards.

4. Tyler Bertuzzi

Bertuzzi has already come out and endorsed this hire based on his multi-year experience playing for Blashill in Detroit. What is really exciting though is to see Bertuzzi utilized more in the way that he was in Detroit.

I think that when the Hawks made the Bertuzzi signing, fans were expecting something more like what Sam Bennett has been for Florida this year. We thought Bertuzzi would be extremely aggressive, relentless on pucks and laying big hits constantly. While I liked Bertuzzi's game last season, I agree with the consensus that he was wildly inconsistent.

Bertuzzi was a consistently effective player under Blashill, utilizing his uniquely chaotic style of hockey to break defenses and wear down his opponents. I want to see that version of Bertuzzi next season, because honestly, he scored 23 goals this past season, but I still believe that he could score over 30.

5. Connor Bedard

This is obviously the most important player for Jeff Blashill to mentor.

One comment that Blashill made in his press conference really stuck out to me. He was asked by Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune what his offensive and defensive philosophies were. Blashill described his desire for his players to be predictable to one another on offense so that they can understand where each player should be.

I saw that comment as being directed at Bedard. Not to say that Blashill was taking a shot at him or anything, but something that Bedard has been accused of in his young career is playing "cowboy hockey" or "pond hockey."

That means that he has been accused of making decisions that are unpredictable to his teammates in an effort to individually take over a play. While Bedard has the raw talent to one day be able to single handedly take over a shift, it is best for now if he focuses on perfecting the fundamentals of offense.

I think Bedard will develop tremendously under Jeff Blashill. If Bedard can improve his skating speed as he mentioned was his desire in his end of season press conference, he should become an ideal number one center for Blashill to construct an offense around.

Hearing Blashill say outright that he knows Bedard will become that generational superstar that he has been projected to be was very comforting as well. Time will tell if this hire was the right one, but if these several players develop well under their new coach, the Hawks trajectory will be pointing up right away.