Blackhawks Prospects of the Week: Lardis, Pridham, Gajan

The Chicago Blackhawks are off today as they travel to Tampa for tomorrow's tilt with the Lightning. So, this is the perfect time for our weekly Tuesday feature: Blackhawks Prospects of the Week. While the National Hockey League teams are off to a good 3-2-2 start, the future is even more exciting with a deep talent pool making waves around the globe.

Nick Lardis Dominates the Weekend

Last week, we focused on Oliver Moore’s big opening weekend in the American Hockey League. This week, it’s his linemate, Nick Lardis, who took the AHL by storm. He scored his first two professional goals and added five assists. His seven-point weekend helped the Rockford IceHogs win two of their three games and earn him Player of the Week honors.

His big weekend started with an assist on Oliver Moore’s overtime goal that beat the Texas Stars on Friday. On Saturday, he gave the IceHogs a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Wolves in the second period with his first professional goal.

Later on, he assisted on the game-winning goal for the second straight night. Lardis extended his point streak to four games with a goal and three assists in Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Wolves. He now leads the AHL with eight points. He and Moore have Blackhawks fans salivating over what they can bring to the Blackhawks lineup when they get called up. That will be a hot topic for the coming weeks, much like with Frank Nazar last season.

Jack Pridham Keeps Rolling

Jack Pridham was initially supposed to play this season at Boston University, but he decided to stay in the Ontario Hockey League instead. The move has paid off for him so far, as he’s been the top producer for the Kitchener Rangers. The 2024 third-round pick is on a four-game point streak after a six-point weekend.

Last Tuesday, Pridham scored two goals and assisted on two others in a 6-1 win over Guelph Storm. The Rangers stepped up in competition with a home-and-home series against the London Knights over the weekend. Pridham scored the Rangers’ lone goal in Friday’s 6-1 loss before assisting on the overtime goal on Saturday.

Pridham leads the Rangers with six goals and is tied for the team lead with 11 points. He’s scoring at a slightly higher rate than last season, when he scored 27 goals and 54 points in 48 games. At his current pace, he’ll finish this season with 45 goals and 83 points in 68 games.

No Sophomore Slump For Adam Gajan

Goaltending is a position of strength for the Blackhawks these days. Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom have the NHL crease handled. Drew Commesso and Stanislav Berezhnoy are off to good starts in Rockford. And below them, Adam Gajan is showing why he was a second-round pick in 2023.

Gajan’s first two seasons after being drafted left much to be desired. He finished his final season in the United States Hockey League with a 3.35 goals-against average (GAA) and .893 save percentage (SV%) for the Green Bay Gamblers. Injuries marred his freshman year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He won only seven games with a 3.33 GAA and .885 SV%.

There is no sophomore slump in the Duluth crease this season. Gajan is 5-1-0 with a 1.51 GAA and .922 SV%. On Friday, he allowed three goals for the first time this season in a 7-3 win over Bemidji State. He was back in the crease for Saturday’s rematch and made 22 stops in a 5-1 win, his fourth one-goal game in his first six starts of the season.