{"id":431006,"date":"2026-01-27T18:21:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/431006\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T18:21:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:21:49","slug":"chicago-blackhawks-reassign-nick-lardis-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/431006\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks Reassign Nick Lardis \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Blackhawks <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/blackhawks\/news\/release-blackhawks-assign-lardis-to-rockford-icehogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">announced today<\/a> that forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lardini01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Nick Lardis<\/a> has been reassigned to the club\u2019s AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.<\/p>\n<p>While Lardis has performed admirably in his first two months as an NHL player, he finds himself returning to the AHL as a result of the wider numbers game that gets played when planning an NHL roster.<\/p>\n<p>Lardis, 20, has been able to maintain his spot on Chicago\u2019s NHL roster, in part, because of how many injuries the Blackhawks were facing up front. But with veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/teravte01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Teuvo Teravainen<\/a> set to return to the lineup tomorrow after a six-game absence, Lardis found himself the odd one out in Chicago\u2019s forward picture.<\/p>\n<p>While one could certainly make the argument that Lardis has played better than some of the forwards who remain on the Blackhawks\u2019 roster, the fact of the matter is he\u2019s a rookie still navigating his first year in the pro ranks.<\/p>\n<p>The Blackhawks\u2019 interest in maximizing Lardis\u2019 development likely outweighs their interest in making marginal improvements to the bottom half of their NHL lineup at this point. Lardis\u2019 development is almost certainly better served playing a key role in the AHL rather than a role as a fourth-liner or even spare forward at the NHL level. A veteran such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/laffesa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sam Lafferty<\/a> (who has been a recent healthy scratch) or even an older prospect with more pro experience like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dachco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.prohockeyrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Colton Dach<\/a> are better fits for that kind of role.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, Lardis finds himself back in Rockford after a solid first stint in the NHL. The former OHL star was able to flash his signature qualities (competitiveness, fearlessness, instincts as a goal-scorer) at times during his first recall, finishing with five goals and seven points in 21 games. With Rockford mired near the bottom of the AHL league standings, Lardis will get the chance to lead a turnaround and try to help spark a push for an AHL playoff spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that forward Nick Lardis has been reassigned to the club\u2019s AHL affiliate, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[401,521,37,96,5263,5,4,20307],"class_list":{"0":"post-431006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-ahl","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nick-lardis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115968458383916264","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431006","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=431006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}