{"id":198112,"date":"2025-09-18T11:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/198112\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:47:10","slug":"3-questions-as-training-camp-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/198112\/","title":{"rendered":"3 questions as training camp begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Chicago Blackhawks begin training camp Thursday at Fifth Third Arena, there are more questions than answers. A long list of impressive young talent will be competing for limited NHL roster spots.<\/p>\n

Here are three questions facing the Hawks heading into camp.<\/p>\n

1. Which forwards will make the team?<\/p>\n

The Hawks camp roster<\/a> lists 30 forwards. About a third of them can be comfortable they will make the opening-day roster, players such as Connor Bedard, Ryan Donato and Frank Nazar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Several young forwards impressed last weekend<\/a> in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in Minnesota. Ryan Greene<\/a> had a great performance Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, though he followed it up with a shaky Sunday versus the Minnesota Wild. Oliver Moore displayed his speed both days, getting ahead of defenses in transition and scoring a game-winning overtime goal against the Blues.<\/p>\n

AJ Spellacy made his presence felt with aggressive shots on goal and by dropping the gloves. Nick Lardis<\/a> skated well, and the line of Lardis, Greene and Jack Pridham created quality scoring opportunities. Lardis scored 71 goals for the OHL\u2019s Brantford Bulldogs last season.<\/p>\n

So which forwards will grab the last few roster spots? It\u2019s a large pool and only a few can swim.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the question of Lukas Reichel, whose name has been mentioned in trade rumors<\/a> lately. There\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll be on the roster if he does stay in Chicago, which would close up another spot.<\/p>\n

2. What will a Jeff Blashill camp look like?
\n\"NewNew Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill speaks during an introductory news conference at the United Center on May 27, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

As the new Hawks coach takes the reins<\/a>, we\u2019ll get a first look at how he views his team.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Blashill\u2019s first go-around with a rebuilding team. He took over the Detroit Red Wings in 2015-16 but was unable to get his hometown team turned around, posting a 204-261-72 record in seven seasons before his firing in 2022.<\/p>\n

After spending the last three seasons as a Tampa Bay Lightning assistant under coach Jon Cooper,\u00a0Blashill will have a lot to improve upon in Chicago. The 2024-25 Hawks ranked in the bottom half of the league in nearly every offensive and defensive category. He doesn\u2019t have a timetable for when the Hawks will become contenders again, but the young players he has could turn the clock on its head.<\/p>\n

General manager Kyle Davidson is banking on what Blashill learned from previous coaching gigs. Blashill has an ever-growing group of players who have shown flashes of what they can do. We\u2019ll see if any are ready to make that leap.<\/p>\n

3. How ready is Sam Rinzel?
\n\"BlackhawksBlackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzel stays focused on the puck against the Jets on April 12, 2025, at the United Center. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Against the Blues in the prospect showcase, the 21-year-old defenseman collected a pass. Three Blues prospects swarmed around Sam Rinzel to hinder his shot, so instead he found defenseman Taige Harding by himself for the game\u2019s first goal.<\/p>\n

Rinzel\u2019s ice vision had the Blues defense confused all game. His equal abilities as a defender and a playmaker<\/a> probably will earn him a spot on the Hawks roster.<\/p>\n

He impressed in nine NHL games late last season, tallying five assists, three of them on the power play. He averaged 23 minutes of ice time.<\/p>\n

Rinzel could be leading the first power-play unit when the season opens. The Hawks ranked 19th in power play goals last season, so they could use a boost in that area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Chicago Blackhawks begin training camp Thursday at Fifth Third Arena, there are more questions than answers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,33665,37,96,5263,508,5,3140,1755,4,33666,857,518,1570],"class_list":{"0":"post-198112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-blackhawks","9":"tag-blackhawks-training-camp","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-connor-bedard","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-jeff-blashill","16":"tag-matt-grzelcyk","17":"tag-nhl","18":"tag-nhl-training-camps","19":"tag-oliver-moore","20":"tag-sam-rinzel","21":"tag-wyatt-kaiser"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115225142715951032","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}