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Lukas Reichel was a bit surprised he didn’t make the Chicago Blackhawks out of training camp but remained undeterred.
“It was a little bounce back, but you get stronger from there and try to make it a hard job” for Hawks management, Reichel said Thursday. “If I play good in Rockford, they kind of have to call me up.
“That’s what I felt like I did pretty good and I want to show it here now.”
Reichel and linemate Brett Seney were called up Wednesday as MacKenzie Entwistle and Jujhar Khaira were placed on injured reserve.
Coach Luke Richardson said both will play in Friday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, trying to ignite a Hawks team that has a league-low 20 points and has lost 21 of their last 23 (2-20-1).
The lineup is a game of musical chairs right now because of injuries and a bug going around.
Patrick Kane took a rest day from Thursday’s practice at Fifth Third Arena to “let the inflammation get out of” an unspecified lower body injury, Richardson said.
Richardson and forward Tyler Johnson just got over unrelated illnesses.
“I was more fluish and just sweat it out for a couple nights and a bit of a cough,” Richardson said. “But he was more (of a) stomach virus, just throwing up and couldn’t hold any food down.”
Andreas Athanasiou sat out sick from practice Thursday.
“If it’s starting to move around the team, it could be anybody tomorrow,” Richardson said. “Hopefully we’ve caught it and kept everybody away from each other enough.”
It just places more importance on the development of the Hawks’ top prospects.
If the roster continues to churn through injuries and trades — rumors for the rebuilding Hawks continue to mount — then more prospects might stream in.
Here’s a breakdown of prospects’ seasons to date.
Forward, 6-0, 170 pounds, 20 years old
The lowdown: Reichel made one appearance this season, playing 14 fairly uneventful minutes against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 6. But he made a lot of hay with Seney with the Rockford IceHogs, tying for the second-most goals on the team with 14.
“I just want to show everyone what I can do here and play the same way as I played the whole season in Rockford,” Reichel said. “I want to be creative here too and bring some energy and play my game.”
However, he learned from IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen to be happy with “50-50 shifts.”
“Not every shift has to be a highlight reel,” Reichel said. “I’m always trying to do something cool, and sometimes it works and it’s pretty sick, but sometimes it doesn’t work and it’s a turnover and I go play D-zone.
“As a coach, you always say ‘Stay good in D-zone,’ and that’s what he tries to tell me. I got better at it.”
Sorensen he and Reichel have built a relationship and have had a good dialogue about some of the finer points in his all-around game.
“Once you’re in the NHL there’s going to be a lot of shifts where maybe you don’t have a scoring chance, but you still have to do all those other things to influence the game,” such as faceoffs and defense, Sorensen said. “And then all of a sudden when he does get the scoring chances, we know what he can do there.
“So for him it’s been an evolution of the rest of his game, and he’s handling it really well.”
Reichel has never seemed to lack confidence that his skill will translate to the NHL, but Richardson didn’t mince words Thursday about what holds Reichel back from sticking as an everyday player.
“He shows some brilliant flashes, but it just doesn’t look like he’s consistently and physically ready for the NHL and to be a center man especially,” Richardson said. “You want to start him on the wing here … and not be so responsible (for) 200 feet. … I don’t think that’s naturally in him.
“But if he wants to get the puck back in the offensive zone, he’s going to have to learn to do that in this league and separate (from) guys that are bigger than him and stronger than him. But he’s quicker and he’s an intelligent player, and he’s got to learn how to put that into his game plan in our team philosophy and make it work.
“And he’s a bright guy, so he’s got to figure out that quickly. And if he wants the longer opportunity to do that, I think he will.”
That’s not to say Reichel hasn’t shown signs of maturation.
“His game away from the puck is improving a lot, his positioning defensively, understanding the dangerous guys in the D-zone, where they are and how to find those threats,” Sorensen said. “He’s done a really good job of evolving in that area.”
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Forward, 5-9, 156 pounds, 26 years old
The lowdown: The winger, who signed a one-year, $750,000 contract in July, stood out during training camp but really made the most of his opportunity in Rockford. He’s second in the AHL with 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists).
“It’s always nice to play at the top level,” Seney said about being called up.
Seney knows his lane, something Sorensen impressed on him.
“Being a smaller guy, sometimes going in a battle with a bigger guy, you may not be able to overpower them, but using other areas of your game like my speed and my quickness to win those battles,” Seney said. “And then it’s just being in the right areas for guys and always putting yourself in a position where you can help the guys.”
Sorensen raved about him.
“First of all, he’s a really good skater. … He floats on the ice,” he said.
And Seney most consistently beats net presence.
“He’s brave,” Sorensen said. “He gets in there and he you know plays like he’s 6-3.”
The Rockford coach said there’s a little Tyler Johnson in him as well as a New Jersey Devils winger he’d like Seney to emulate.
“Jesper Bratt is a smaller player, too, but a really good skater, left-hand shot,” Sorensen said. “And then he plays kind of similarly. Seney reminds me a lot of him.
“But Tyler Johnson is a good example too. They’re smaller guys, but they’re still feisty. They still get inside, they still get around the net a lot and they don’t shy away from contact.”
Richardson said Seney’s consistency stands out most to him.
“That’s why they wanted to reward him — he’s just consistently a good player,” Richardson said. “You have to be if you’re second in scoring in the American League. … When you play like three and four nights and you’re traveling on a bus and on a commercial plane, it’s a tough league.
“So for a guy to do that, to be consistent, that’s a really good accomplishment for him. And he’s not a big, big guy. He’s just a smart player. … He’s also offensive, too, which can help us right now.”
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Defenseman, 6-3, 205 pounds, 21 years old
The lowdown: Phillips has seven NHL games under his belt this season (11 career) after producing three goals and 14 assists in 25 games with the IceHogs.
The highs and lows of play at the NHL level were illustrated in one game: He leveled Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon in the first period Tuesday, but nine minutes later Maroon sneaked behind him to score the Lightning’s first goal.
“I don’t know if he thought he was staying with him, so he took a step out from the net, and he just lost him for a second,” Richardson said after the game.
But the Hawks like Phillips’ aggressiveness and physicality.
“Phillips is a big strong guy and he looked good down low in the defensive zone especially — closing guys out, hitting and pinning guys and then he has the legs to make plays as well,” Jones said.
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Defenseman, 5-11, 193 pounds, 23 years old
The lowdown: Mitchell played just five games in Rockford, but he had two goals and four assists. He has three assists in nine games for the Hawks, pairing mainly with Jack Johnson.
“Mitchy is just a smart player,” Jones said. “He uses his body and he had a couple point shots (against the Lightning) that were nice as well.”
Mitchell’s highlight of the season came when he kept a puck in the zone and found Kane in the middle for a goal Sunday against the San Jose Sharks.
“Great play all-around by him,” Kane said.
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Goalie, 6-3,180 pounds, 23 years old
The lowdown: Söderblom wasn’t supposed to get as much run as he had with the Hawks — 15 games and 13 starts — but he never seemed to crumble under the pressure no matter how bad things got.
He has a 2-10-2 record with a 3.45 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.
“He’s a big, calm guy that has composure and he’s mature,” Richardson said in December.
Things didn’t go well either in Söderblom’s return to the IceHogs. He played in three games and suffered a groin injury against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Dec. 28.
“The first game he was back, in Texas, we didn’t play very well in front of him,” Sorensen said. “That was not the start he wanted to come back. “
Söderblom was placed on injured reserve after the Griffins game and is looking at about two more weeks before his return.
“It’s progressing nicely,” Sorensen said. “I believe he’s going to get on the ice tomorrow and just see some pucks I don’t think he’s going to do much work.
“When he gets healthy, he’s going to be carrying the load for us. With this season he had last year and even the start of this year, being up (in Chicago) a lot, getting the feel for the NHL game has been really beneficial for him.”
