Lukas Reichel finds a way into the Chicago Blackhawks' doghouse by not packing a phone charger

The Chicago Blackhawks bear some responsibility for Lukas Reichel's stunted development.

That does not mean Reichel is completely innocent in why he has not reached his immense offensive potential.

His latest benching is solely on him.

Reichel was scratched from Friday's loss to the Washington Capitals because he missed a team meeting that morning.

His excuse is that he forgot to pack a phone charger. Therefore, his phone died overnight, and his alarm never went off.

Someone might want to explain to him the concept of the hotel front desk provides wake-up calls through the landline in the room. Yes, they do still exist.

This is not about criticizing a 22-year-old for being overly dependent on his phone. It is more about Reichel finding new and creative ways to kill any momentum he gets.

The cycle has always been with Reichel is he gets benched whether it is for hypocritical reasons or self-inflicted ones.

He eventually makes his way back on the ice on the fourth line and plays well. Eventually, he gets moved up a line or two, does not play as well, and then gets healthy scratched. The whole cycle starts all over again.

Reichel has shown he can reach his floor, which is being an NHL player. It is unusual to have such a talented offensive player prove he can contribute on what is normally a gritty, defensive fourth line, but he has shown he can play there.

If Reichel was a sixth-round pick, that would be fine.

Reichel is a former first-round pick. He was once considered one of the team's top prospects before Connor Bedard and the rest of the kids showed up.

So far, he has produced just fourth-line production, especially when you watch how amazing he can be starting an offensive rush.

He is not completely blameless, as the Hawks buried him in the AHL because he was playing too good during his brief cameo in the 2022-23 season. The thought was that he would help the team win too many games and kill any chance at getting Bedard.

Then instead of pairing him up with Bedard last season, they tried to make him the second-line center. When he failed, he has been buried ever since.

Teams were interested in trading for him at the deadline, but for some reason the Hawks just cannot quit him.

On the flip side, Reichel tends to lose confidence the moment things get hard for him, or he has immature moments, like what happened on Friday.