Two good things to come out of the Chicago Blackhawks recent two home defeats

The Chicago Blackhawks racked up two losses to close out the home portion of the 2023-24 schedule. That does not mean everything was bad.

While it is not fun to see the Blackhawks' losing streak reach four games, two bright spots happened over the weekend.

Ethan Del Mastro defended well during his first two NHL career games.

Del Mastro had an excellent debut season for the Hawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He was rewarded with a call-up to the NHL to get a taste of the next level.

The Blackhawks' fifth-best prospect according to the Athletic's Scott Wheeler (access to the link requires a subscription) shined.

He was the highest-rated player according to HockeyStatCards in Friday's loss to the Nashville Predators.

His defense was rated well again in Sunday's defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.

By looking at the charts, you can see Del Mastro did not have much of an impact on the offensive side. Considering he did not look overwhelmed in two games and was positive in the main part of his job objectives (you know defense), you will take that for an NHL debut. He was trusted to be on the ice for just a little bit over 18 minutes in both games.

The Hawks got a peak into a player who can be a solid defender in that Johnny Oduya or Niklas Hjalmarsson role on the next great Blackhawks team.

Del Mastro did register 30 assists in 66 games for Rockford, so it is just a matter of putting everything together at the next level. Del Mastro will likely head back to the IceHogs to help them with their Calder Cup playoff run.

Frank Nazar shines in his NHL debut.

Nazar signed his entry-level contract on Saturday and was immediately inserted into the lineup. He did not seemed overwhelmed from going to playing in the Frozen Four for Michigan on April 11th to skating against one of the best teams in the NHL in the Hurricanes.

Nazar scored his first NHL goal on a breakaway during the first period to put the Hawks up 1-0.

Nazar got 15:55 minutes of ice time and even logged some time on the penalty kill. That is a lot of trust to put into a rookie who was literally three days removed from playing in a college game. The Hawks have a lot of faith in their 2022 first-round choice.

Losing is what happens during an extensive rebuild, but at least we got to see a glimpse of better days ahead.