With Lukas Reichel being an important part of Chicago’s rebuild, it was only a matter of time before he was given another look with the Blackhawks. That time has come as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the winger has been recalled from AHL Rockford although he was a healthy scratch tonight against Los Angeles. In a corresponding move, winger Zach Sanford was assigned to the IceHogs.
Expectations were high for the 21-year-old coming into the season after how he fared last season in Chicago when he collected seven goals and eight assists in just 23 games. With the Blackhawks having several openings up front, the hope was that Reichel could grab hold of a full-time top-six role.
However, that didn’t happen. Instead, Reichel struggled in a variety of spots on the depth chart while also getting a look at center for a handful of games. He wound up notching just three goals and seven helpers in his first 50 appearances, resulting in Chicago deciding to send him down last month for a bit of a reset.
While Reichel didn’t light it up with the IceHogs, he did have some success with a goal and six assists in nine appearances. Last year, Reichel made his biggest impact following a post-deadline recall and now, the Blackhawks hope that history will repeat itself. With Reichel being a restricted free agent this summer, he’ll be counting on a big finish to help his case in contract discussions in the offseason.
As for Sanford, he has split the season between Arizona and Chicago, who claimed him off waivers back in January. He has played in 29 NHL games between the two organizations, collecting six assists while averaging just under 11 minutes a night of action. Sanford cleared waivers last month and had been papered down at the trade deadline, permitting him to play in Rockford moving forward.
They should have left Reichel at the wing and never tried to have him transition to C. I played Ice Hockey and was a C most times but also liked LW cuz I am a right handed shot. Now, Obviosuly you always have your tasks on the Ice, but as a C, your taking faceoffs, shadowing their C, helping out your wingers if they need it, and then you are on Offense trying to make plays, and then have to get back as fast as possible to help on D. Your out of Position, they get a scoring chance. We have the depth, the prospects, this 2024 Draft, and the FA’s this summer and it will not be hard to find a 2C.
look at this:
Kurashev-Bedard-Hall (Lets say nest season as of now)
Reichel-Moore-Demidov (Yea, I am not a fan of Russians on Hawk teams and that goes back to Krivo, then the year we took Radulov and Yakubov (both 1st ROunders that were just busts in the European Drafted players only years) but BreadMan was a Star we should have never let go, and if this kid is in the mold of Ovechkin as far as goalscoring, you gotta take him. Thoughts?
This is a excerpt on Celebrini:
“Some scouts also like to draw some parallels to Jonathan Toews. Like Celebrini, Toews went to Shattuck and fast-tracked through high school to get to the University of North Dakota in his NHL draft year. And while Celebrini’s 6-foot, 190-pound frame isn’t quite as big as Toews 6-foot-1, 195-pound numbers in 2006, their relentless drive, attention to detail, strong 200-foot game and flair for the dramatic in big moments are inarguably similar.
Also worth noting, Toews went back to UND for his sophomore season after being drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2006.” I had heard a similar comparison. It also called the Kid Crosby Light which is not fair to him. Toews is also in my opinion always been better than Crosby. Toews never let scoring influence what was best for the team. If they handed out a 3rd Assist, Tazer woulda led the league year after year.