What Should the Chicago Blackhawks Do with Nick Lardis & Oliver Moore?

What Should the Chicago Blackhawks Do with Nick Lardis & Oliver Moore?

Nick Lardes and Oliver Moore are thriving in the AHL, but the Blackhawks are currently in a playoff spot. Mario Turbosi, what do we do about Nick Lardes and Oliver Moore? You wait. All right, good show. That’s what I call a mini pot. You wait patiently. I I I think with Kyle Davidson and the rebuild, patience has always been preached. It’s It’s been a key thing. And I think letting these players, these young players grow their games at the professional level in the AHL is is a good thing. There’s no such thing of a player that, oh no, he played too much AHL time. He’s he’s ruined his development. He’s it’s the bell curve. He’s going back down the other. I don’t I really don’t think that you’ve ever run into a situation like that. I think what we’ve seen from those two guys early on is their chemistry is really good playing together. Uh Oliver Moore, the questions about him being able to finish chances at the professional level. He’s been able to do that so far so good. And Nick Lardis coming off of a 71goal OHL season, a lot of people thought, oh, he’s just going to be a goal scorer. We’re seeing a little bit more of his game uh starting to evolve early on in his professional career. So those are all things that you you want to see those guys, especially those two do in the AHL, round out their game. and and this is the first time that they’ve really been asked, I’d imagine, to play a system that is thinking like, okay, defense will create offense. Oliver Moore has been a guy that, yeah, he’s he’s a little bit more defensively minded than I would say Nick Lardis has been, but he’s been a guy that speed creates offense, and Nick Lardis has been my shot creates offense. But I think what we’re seeing through what Jeff Blash has been preaching, what Jared Nightingale has been then trickle down preaching as well in the in Rockford and the way they’ve been playing is the habits that you see in Chicago is what you want to see in Rockford. And I think that that is starting to uh marinate with those young players. Yeah, we talked about this a little bit on Wednesday. I oddly had the same shirt on. Um, but like we have to I know that as as fans and observers and media, whatever you want to call us, fanalists, whatever you want to say, like we are always excited about the next new shiny toy and we wanted to get here as quickly as possible and trade deadlines go by where the team stands patent, people are mad simply because they wanted someone new to, right? Like there’s always that what’s the next thing? What’s the next thing from fans? But I think Lordis and Moore themselves understand what’s happening. They’re seeing what’s happening at the NHL level. They got friends up there playing very well, doing very well. Um, and I don’t think that if you ask them that they expected to be the guys that would begin their pro career, even if it’s, you know, 10 games late or whatever, in the NHL, those are guys that we all expected to spend time in Rockford and develop. And the fact that they’re doing well there doesn’t mean eject button, get them to the NHL right away because look, they’re doing well in Rockford. We want them to do well in Rockford. The expectation was for them to do well in Rockford. You don’t have to immediately pull them into a tougher situation simply because it’s come maybe come a little bit easier for them than expected. We got to go back and look at Lucas Reichel who had year after year after year of dominant AHL play and was never really able to put it together at the NHL level and any sort of consistent basis. So, you’re right. There’s no such thing as over marinating a prospect. No one has said, “Man, I wish I just well maybe for the money reasons, but no one has said my game would have really benefited from less time in the American Hockey League.” No one’s ever said that. So, let’s be patient. I do believe that there will be opportunities for them maybe sooner than on a permanent level because injuries are going to happen. Sure. You never know. Maybe someone else is pregnant. We don’t know about, right? Like, and so someone has to miss a game. Sure. Yeah. Whatever it might be. And maybe when those call-ups happen, those guys become the first call-ups. And maybe that wasn’t the expectation, right? Coming into the season, maybe they’ve earned that right. But in terms of like let’s just promote these guys and move out these vets as quickly as possible. Pump the brakes. Let’s see what happens at the NHL level here because look, we’re we’re 10 games in. They’re in a playoff spot. If it continues this way, then you want to have vets around. You want to have guys that have been there before and can lead them through these moments when, hey, you know what, we’ve lost three or four or three or five or whatever it might be. Let’s get this back. Let’s gain it back. Whereas, if you’ve got a k a roster of entirely children, it’s going to be hard to recover from something like that. So, I think things are going as well as can be expected this year. There’s no reason to force a change right now. There’s not. There’s not. I think you just you stay patient. Let those guys keep doing their things. And and just as I think the Blackhawks are due for a bit eventually for a streak of a couple games where things don’t go great, I think Moore and Lardis will probably have the same experience in Rockford at some point. You just got to let let it play out. Take your time. I know it’s very tempting, but yeah, it’s been a it’s been a really good start to the season for them, but I I I don’t know if point and a half per game for Nick Lardis is the full season expectation. Um, I I I think for me with these two guys, I also kind of look at like comparing it to Frank Nazar. He came up after 21 games in the AHL and it was right after the Blackhawks last season had fired Luke Richardson. It was, you know, they’re pulling the the parachute on on the way that they were going to go about things last year. And it was like, okay, we’re going we’re going with we’re going to promote Rockford’s head coach. we’re going to bring up young guys. Frank Nazar is going to lead the group and then eventually at the end of the year you saw Renzel and Moore and uh those guys get added to the to the to the team and you saw how kind kind of things change. The Blackhawks this season are not in that position where you need to pull the parachute and and and make a make a sweeping change like because the group is so far is is is working. And I’ I’d think you look at Lardis and Moore, they’re likely top six, top nine players. you don’t really have those openings right now, right? Things obviously, like you said, things can kind of figure themselves out with injuries or anything like that. But if this progresses for the Blackhawks through November and December and January, you’re not really looking for like, okay, things are bad in the NHL, things are good in the AHL, let’s give the AHL guys a run in the NHL. I don’t think you’re you’re thinking of that right now. Well, let’s remember too, like you’re right about how poor things were going for the Hawks last year. Uh, when they brought up Nazar, they also basically left a spot open for Nazar in training camp to win and he didn’t win it. So, I think they were planning on him being there from the beginning to start and he just did not have a good preseason and did not earn a job so they couldn’t just give it to him, right? So that was sort of the plan to me all along was to have Nazar start the year last year from game one and then that changed. And also keep in mind who did he come up and replace? It was Joey Anderson. Right. Right. It it you’re at this point if you’re bringing up Moore and you’re bringing up Lardis that means you’re going to sit you’re going to sit Slagert, you’re going to sit Doc. You’re like Sam Leaf is already sitting right. You’re not going to scratch Dickinson. Are you taking out Ryan Green, one young guy who’s playing really well in the NHL to give another young guy who may play well in the It’s That’s I don’t I don’t know if you’re doing that either. I don’t know if that solves anything for you. I think Ryan Green is giving you faceoffs, solid two-way play, some decent offensive touch when given the opportunity. So, yeah, I I just think right now there’s no reason to mess with anything. Let’s keep everybody thriving. More and Lordis’ time will come. Mhm. It’ll be here before you know it. There’s no reason to force it. And I think you give them more time in the AHL, they keep playing this way, you give that Rockford group a lot of confidence and a lot of positivity, and you give them some wins and and like th that young group can get experience of of playing this style, playing with those guys, having the success when they get to February, March, April, they’re pushing for the playoffs to get like that’s all valuable experience. So if Oliver Moore and Nick Lartis are playing longer in Rockford than expected, they’re contributing to that. And that’s that’s benefiting guys like Samuel Savvois and Aiden Thompson uh and and Kevin Cchinsky, Nolan Allen, Ethan Delm Masher, like those guys down there. They still benefit from that experience of playing those meaningful games even if they’re not in the NHL. Like it still matters. Yes, it’s important. And just think about what sort of experience and what sort of uh tightness came from that game against the Wolves where they beat the crap out of the Wolves the other day, right? And things got a little nasty towards the end. That sort of stuff brings that team together. So you’ve got the guys who are on the outside of the NHL looking in, bonding, playing together, playing for each other. The same stuff Jeff Flash was preaching in Chicago, it’s happening in Rockford, and eventually it’s all going to come together in Chicago. And that’s what we’re hoping for. But there’s absolutely no need to rush it at this point. Let’s hope the Hawks can keep things going the way they’ve been going and Mor and Lardis can keep doing the same and we can keep having this conversation because it means things are going very well. Stanley Cup and Calder Cup in the same year. Do it. Let’s go.

What should the Chicago Blackhawks do with Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore, who are both thriving in the AHL? With Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and new head coach Jeff Blashill leading the next phase of the rebuild, the pressure is on to decide when these young stars join the NHL roster. Are Lardis and Moore ready to make the leap? Join Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabassi as they break down what’s next for the Blackhawks’ top prospects and the future of Chicago hockey.

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