Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed on Tuesday morning that defenseman Alex Vlasic was cut on the leg by a skate blade during the team’s preseason contest against the Minnesota Wild. The incident occurred early in the third period when Vlasic was skating along the boards and got bumped into by a Wild forward.
Fortunately, Vlasic was wearing cut-resistant socks on Sunday, which helped him avoid a more serious injury. While the 24-year-old defenseman is likely to miss the Blackhawks’ final three preseason games, he should be ready in time for the season opener next week against the Florida Panthers.
“I can’t even say it’s a freak [accident] anymore because it happens so often,” Blashill said, referring to the increase in players getting cut by skate blades in recent years. “I think there’s an even higher level [of cut-resistant socks] that Vlasic will go to and something we’ll talk to our guys about.”
Blackhawks forward Landon Slaggert has missed most of training camp so far due to an injury, but he was a full participant at practice on Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena. Like Vlasic, Slaggert should be fully healthy come October 7th. Blashill said he hopes to get the 2020 third-round pick into the lineup for one of the final two preseason games at the United Center.
“I hope to get him in for an exhibition game this weekend, but I can’t say that 100 percent. We’ll see how he progresses through the week.”
Entering training camp, Slaggert seemed likely to crack the Blackhawks’ NHL roster. The 23-year-old forward played in 33 NHL games last season and began camp skating on the third line with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev.
However, during Slaggert’s absence, three young players vying for an opening-night lineup spot in Oliver Moore, Ryan Greene, and Colton Dach have been preseason standouts. That could potentially cause Slaggert to be the odd man out of the team’s forward group heading into the year.
Blashill offered an inside look at his mindset on Slaggert’s current situation.
“I’ve got a pretty good read on Landon, having watched him a decent amount and knowing him since he was 16. He’s somebody that can help us in certain roles. We hope to get him up to speed and see where he’s at. It’s just part of the whole mix. But I wouldn’t say that’s going to take away his ability to make the team, have a good role, things like that.”
TRAINING CAMP BATTLES
The Blackhawks’ bottom-six forward group will be determined during the final three preseason games. Both Moore and Greene, who are entering their first NHL seasons, seem ready to play with the big-league club right from the jump. But there’s also a benefit to playing an increased role with the Rockford IceHogs, which seems to still be in the cards for each player.
Blashill was asked about how he weighs the pros and cons of both levels when deciding on where certain players should begin the regular season.
“I think it’s an individual case. For example, if there’s a forward who’s a young guy that could go to Rockford, and we think he could benefit from the confidence offensively, then it’s kind of 50/50. If it’s a guy who we think could benefit from learning the defensive side and getting put in certain defensive situations, we might keep him up. It really depends on the player.”
Defensively, it appears that Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, and Matt Grzelcyk are fighting for the final left-handed defenseman position on the opening roster. While there aren’t enough spots for all three of them with the Blackhawks, Blashill doesn’t see that as a negative whatsoever.
“Whoever we end up sending down, whoever doesn’t start here, are guys that are capable of being NHL defensemen. We’re going to be making hard decisions on which guys start [in the NHL]. Hopefully over the next few games, some guys grab these roles and separate themselves. We’ll have a few guys down in Rockford that are capable, and I think organizationally that’s a good thing.”
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