Blackhawks' "physical" start to 2026 Prospect Showcase, Spellacy, Boisvert & more

The Chicago Blackhawks kicked off their prospect showcase with their first practice on Sept. 11.

22 prospects were in attendance as they skated for over an hour, practicing different things.

Rockford IceHogs head coach Jared Nightingle, who is leading the practices, described today as "a little more physical" since the players tend to focus on more skill work with less contact over the summer. They want the players "off and running and ready to go for Monday" for the two games ahead against the St. Louis Blues prospects.

Here are some more notes.

Sights from the ice

On the ice, there were some shooting drills where players would skate in and take a shot off the goalies. There were also some 1-on-1 battle drills, 3-on-3, and 2-on-2 work.

You could definitely see the intensity as the players worked hard in their battles.

Notes from the coach

When asked what Nightingale saw from the physical drills, "Well, I think it's just a good measuring stick. We knew that they were going to be tired coming out of summer. Right away, you can see who's in better shape, who's prepared. I thought for the most part the whole group (was). But yeah, you can see players that can make plays through contact that didn't tire out. Quite a few guys stood out. That was good to see."

Later on, when Nightingale was asked about his impressions of Sacha Boisvert, he named him as one of the players who didn't tire out: "You can tell he's committed himself off the ice this season. I wasn't around him a ton before. I watched him a little bit, you know, at the Hawks games. But he took a step. He looks like he's put on quite a bit of muscle. I was impressed with his puck play today and his conditioning. He's one of the guys that didn't tire out, like those were tough drills. You can tell that he had a taste of the NHL. He had some confidence, but he's a talented player. Really good centerman. He's another great prospect."

Player(s) quote of the day

After the practice, Boisvert, A.J. Spellacy, Ty Henry, and Marek Vanacker spoke with the media. Here are some highlights:

Spellacy

The skilled and feisty Spellacy is one of the players who are looking to fight for a spot on the Blackhawks out of training camp, and he spoke about it: "Yeah, 100 percent. Obviously, there's an opportunity, and obviously, take it day by day. But I'm going to do everything I can to show myself the best and just go out there and be a good teammate and play for the guys out there, and obviously just use my strengths. And whatever happens, happens. But yeah, I mean, I think just trying to get better each day, and obviously I have a lot of experience from the past couple years. So, I'm pretty confident going into this one, and so I feel the best."

This will be his first pro season coming from the OHL, whether he ends up with the Blackhawks or in Rockford. He mentioned, "This is the best I've ever felt being a hockey player."

He is definitely one to watch in the prospect games, and in camp, as he's impressed at training camp before.

Vanacker

Like Spellacy, Vanacker will be heading into his first pro season and is ready for it. Saying, "I feel good. I feel more confident than ever, especially my third year here doing rookie camp and camp itself. So yeah, extremely confident, and just gonna kind of put my best foot forward."

Vanacker also elaborated on what he is looking to prove, "I think just trying to prove that I deserve a spot in the lineup eventually at some point. I'm not here to take a back seat to anyone. You know, I want to make the team, and that's the goal at the end of the day. But it's going to be hard. A lot of young prospects that are fighting for spots. So yeah, just kind of put my best foot forward and give it my all."

Having come off an OHL season leading in goals (47), he spoke before about his big, power-forward type game being one of his best attributes, and that is how he can stand out in the showcase and camp.

Henry

Defenseman Henry missed all of last season, as he was dealing with an injury he suffered in last year's prospect camp. But he said he was not limited in his offseason training, saying, "Yeah, it was perfect. It was a really, really good summer." He will also return to the Erie Otters in the OHL, instead of going to the University of St. Thomas.

A fun quote from him when asked about the practice: he said with a smile, "It was really hard. I'm not gonna lie. [chuckles]. It was fun. But like off the first drill, like my legs are a little bit gassed, obviously. But it was good, though. We had to push through it. It's more in the mind than anything. You just have to stay strong in the mind, and then you can just have a good practice throughout the rest of the time. It was a rough practice, but I had fun. I'm not gonna lie. "

Boisvert

Boisvert is one of the Blackhawks' prospects already in the NHL conversation for this season. He explained his offseason accomplishments: "I think just kind of getting prepared for the season. I think I did a lot physically, and it kind of got me ready and gave me the confidence I needed for on the ice and mentally. So, kind of goes hand-in-hand. And I'm really happy with the offseason I had, and like I said, I'm happy to be here and show everyone what I can do."

He also gave a shoutout to a player who stood out to him, "Probably, like Spellacy... obviously he's really fast, like you can see him... He's a power forward, takes the puck to the net, and it's fun to watch."

Boisvert impressed early and remains one to watch.

Add us as a preferred source on Google