With more NHL-caliber players at his disposal, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has the ability to distribute playing time with a more critical eye this season.
On Monday, he demonstrated just how freely he’s willing to wield that hammer. Philipp Kurashev, who had been the Hawks’ second-line center in each of the first six games, was demoted to an extra forward in practice. He will likely be a healthy scratch Tuesday against the Canucks.
“I don’t consider it my own leash,” Richardson said. “It’s their own leash, really. That’s how they have to look at it.”
The reason for the drastic demotion was simple enough: Richardson didn’t think Kurashev’s performance was acceptable in the Hawks’ 4-2 loss to the Sabres on Saturday.
The way Richardson addressed it with Kurashev was equally reasonable — they met one-on-one Monday morning before practice to review video clips of things he did wrong — and the transparent way he explained the situation publicly was admirable, too.
But this move not only substantially shuffles the Hawks’ lineup Tuesday, with Andreas Athanasiou taking Kurashev’s spot between Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi, but also sends an eye-opening message to the rest of the team about the consequences for poor play.
The days of the head coach being patient with mistakes and losses — days that aren’t too far in the past, considering that’s basically how things worked during the last two seasons — are over, as players can now clearly see.
“[He was] just not physical in the one-on-one battles to get a puck,” Richardson said about Kurashev. “He was on the wrong side of the man, and part of that is a subconscious choice of trying to steal a puck and go on the offense and not play the right way. He didn’t really have much argument.
“I’m not saying he was the only guy [at fault], but he’s a guy that, to me, I’ve gotten used to counting on. He can’t play like he did the last game for me to continue to count on him like that. I know he’ll use it as a wake up call and be better, so we’ll go with that.”
Kurashev’s stats so far this season are indeed subpar, with just one point in six games. Over the last three games specifically, he has recorded zero points, one shot on goal and a minus-four rating while taking two minor penalties.
On Saturday, in the seconds leading up to Sabres forward Tage Thompson’s opening goal, Kurashev was ineffective on a forecheck, got behind the play and then didn’t exactly hustle on the backcheck. However, the Hawks outshot the Sabres 5-0 during all of his other five-on-five shifts combined, so he wasn’t getting regularly burned defensively.
“I even talked to Taylor [Hall] today, and he said he wasn’t at his best last game,” Richardson added. “Maybe some of that leads to his linemates, like [Kurashev] not playing well.
“[Kurashev] took ownership and said, ‘I’m going to be better tomorrow.’ He doesn’t say, ‘I have to be better.’ He already knows that. We all know that. He said, ‘I will be better.'”