Inspired by one of the most memorable goals from the 2024 NHL playoffs, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson made a small system tweak that he believes will take advantage of the Hawks’ plentiful team speed this season.
In short, he’s giving Hawks wingers green lights in certain situations to take off behind the opposing defense and try to create more breakaways.
If two Hawks forwards are battling for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone, for example, he wants them to try to win the puck backward to a waiting defenseman. In the meantime, he wants the weak-side winger to take off toward the far goal, creating an opportunity for the defenseman to hit him with a stretch pass or fire the puck off the far end-wall as a kind of bank pass.
That’s exactly what won Game 7 for the Bruins against the Maple Leafs this past spring: David Pastrnak burst down the boards early in overtime, Hampus Lindholm ripped a puck in from the neutral zone and Pastrnak gathered it on the ricochet and scored one-on-one against the goalie.
Two new Hawks — ex-Leaf Tyler Bertuzzi and ex-Bruin Pat Maroon — saw that in-person, but it might prove to be a revolutionary play throughout hockey. Richardson recalls watching Leafs forward Mitch Marner and Rangers forward Chris Kreider try it before, too.
“A lot of teams are starting to go to that stretch-and-blow [play] and look for a long bomb and catch a team sleeping,” Richardson said Saturday. “We have to make sure we’re always ready for that but also put that into our game plan.”
In one training-camp scrimmage this week, Seth Jones tried to hit a streaking Andreas Athanasiou with that specific play, but it was called offside. Athanasiou, Ilya Mikheyev and Lukas Reichel are three Hawks wingers definitely fast enough to make it possible.
Camp continues
The Hawks promised a more competitive camp this year, and they stayed true to their word by holding scrimmages on each of the first three days of camp. After an off-day Sunday, they’ll scrimmage again Monday before focusing more on system intricacies and special-teams work Tuesday ahead of their preseason opener Wednesday against the Red Wings.
Taylor Hall has particularly stood out in the scrimmages, garnering praise from Richardson. Landon Slaggert, even though he’s likely Rockford-bound, has also been hustling.
Once the preseason slate begins, roster cuts will begin. However, Richardson said players on the roster bubble will be allowed to play in four, five or even all six preseason games to give them the most time to make their cases.
200-foot Nazar
The Hawks have made it clear that Nazar will need to significantly exceed expectations in order to make the team by initially placing him on an all-prospect line with Colton Dach and Nick Lardis.
He has nonetheless been noticeable, demonstrating his speed, offensive craftiness in tight spaces and dedication to getting back on defense. Every forward describes himself as a 200-foot player, but Nazar truly exemplifies that cliche — even though it comes with a cost in terms of energy exertion.
“He likes to be in on the forecheck, and he likes to be down low in the ‘D’-zone,” Richardson said. “That’s a lot of skating, so he’s going to have to take short shifts.”
It’s also obvious he’s still learning what he can and cannot get away with against NHL defensemen. He futilely tries to skate one-on-two down the slot too often — something Connor Bedard did early last season, too.