When Blackhawks defenseman Ethan Del Mastro entered the Hawks’ locker room last year, he saw numerous veteran players. After getting called up Thursday for the first time this season, Del Mastro felt more at ease.
“This year, it feels like I’m seeing all these guys that I’ve already been playing with and known for so long,” Del Mastro said.
Del Mastro saw familiar faces from Rockford in forwards Colton Dach and Frank Nazar and defensemen Nolan Allan, Louis Crevier and Wyatt Kaiser, although Kaiser was assigned to Rockford after practice. Even interim coach Anders Sorensen was Del Mastro’s coach with the IceHogs.
Del Mastro texted Dach on Wednesday night after the defenseman learned from interim IceHogs interim coach Mark Eaton that he would be getting another shot at the NHL level. Dach, Del Mastro, Allan, Kevin Korchinski and Connor Bedard all played together on Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2023 world junior championships.
“It’s awesome,” Dach told the Sun-Times. “[Ethan is] someone I’m a little bit closer with and saw every day. We’re going through this together, so it’s nice. We can be there for each other.
“The way he can be patient and hold on to pucks is his poise is unreal. He’s a big body and can skate, well, he’s shifty. I think he’s going to do well here.”
Teammates lauded Del Mastro’s mobility despite his huge frame and ability to protect and win puck battles. Seeing familiar faces like Dach, Allan and Kaiser made it easier for Del Mastro.
“It’s more comfortable being able to come up, and you have guys that you’ve already played with and created that relationship with,” Del Mastro said. “You’re pretty comfortable doing anything with them, talking to them and it’s a lot easier to communicate versus a guy you’ve never played with that has played a lot of years in the NHL. That’s a little bit more intimidating.”
Del Mastro got a cup of coffee at the NHL level last season, playing two games toward the end of the season. He credited the experience with helping him get a taste of the speed of NHL players.
With Rockford, Del Mastro recorded eight points in 38 games. He said he’s worked on being more sound defensively this season, and Hawks brass has been pleased with his play. He said playing faster has been a message he’s received since the beginning of the season.
“Coming from junior last season, I was holding onto pucks a little longer [since I could] spin off guys in junior,” Del Mastro said. “Coming into this year, I know that was a big message: moving pucks quick, getting back to pucks quick. A lot of speed things, not just skating-wise, but more so just a mindset of moving quick. That’s how it is up here.”
The Hawks now have seven healthy defensemen on the roster, four of whom are 6-4 or taller. Sorensen said the surplus of defensemen helped the numbers at practice and gave the team some flexibility.
“With the range there, we talked about [the fact] we’ll be able to smother teams quicker,” Sorensen said. “It helps a lot with that size advantage, but we play a lot of big teams, as well. It’s something that we’d like to see.”
Developing young players has been a priority for the Hawks throughout this disaster of a season. Del Mastro is just the latest Hawks young player to get his opportunity to see if he can make a difference in the NHL.
“We’ve always talked about [how] we wanted me, [Ethan] and Nolan to be up here together and go through this journey together,” Dach said. “We’re just super excited everyone’s up here, and we get to try and prove ourselves.”