The Blackhawks are reassigning defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to AHL Rockford for the balance of the season, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720 reports. Doing so gives the rookie some extra tune-up time before kicking off the Calder Cup Playoffs with the IceHogs later this month.
So ends a promising rookie season in the NHL for Del Mastro, whom Chicago selected in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. The 6’4″, 210-lb lefty skated in a pair of games to end last season but only got an extended look in the Blackhawks lineup this year. He didn’t make the opening night roster and needed to wait until January for his first recall, leapfrogging Wyatt Kaiser on the depth chart after a strong start to the season in the AHL.
While he’s never likely to put up flashy point totals at the professional level, he’s not a pure defensive specialist. He’s a good outlet passer and will get involved in rush plays, evidenced by a promising 2-4–6 scoring line in 24 showings in Chicago this year. He averaged 18:19 per game and was among the Hawks’ more physical players, ranking eighth on the team with 5.46 hits per 60 minutes.
Possession-wise, Del Mastro looked promising – and that may be an understatement. He had the best outright and relative shot attempt impacts at even strength of any Blackhawks skater, controlling 47.4% of shot attempts. In contrast, Chicago only controlled 42% of shot attempts without Del Mastro on the ice in games he played. That’s excellent work for a 22-year-old and goes a long way toward vaulting him into consideration for their 2025-26 opening night roster.
Del Mastro was on the AHL roster on deadline day, though, making him eligible to play in the minor-league postseason. He has eight assists and a plus-five rating in 42 AHL appearances this year. That’s not the offensive production he flashed in his rookie year, putting up 7-30–37 in 69 games for Rockford in 2023-24, but he’s continued to log heavy minutes while showing his strengths as a physical, intelligent, smooth-skating defender.
As for Chicago’s final few regular season games, the demotion indicates either Wyatt Kaiser or Connor Murphy should be returning tomorrow against the Jets after sitting out of last night’s win due to illness. Del Mastro appeared in that win, posting a plus-one rating in over 20 minutes of ice time after serving as a healthy scratch for the previous three.