The first practice of Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena didn’t have quite the same buzz as a typical camp practice last year, when it was common for kids to shout out to Connor Bedard.
“He wasn’t here today?” joked Rockford IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen, who’s presiding over the Hawks prospects leading up to this weekend’s Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in suburban St. Louis.
“It was different last year for sure. But the first day there’s always so much going on for these players. They have their medical testing, a lot of stuff going on and just some anxiousness to get on the ice. So for us as a staff, maybe calmer in terms of that, but didn’t notice much honestly.”
Camp might not have the same sizzle without Bedard, but this year’s roster won’t lack for talent when the Hawks take on the St. Louis Blues prospects Friday and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.
Those names include Artyom Levshunov — he won’t play, but more on that later — Frank Nazar, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, Colton Dach and Gavin Hayes, any of whom could be knocking on the door of a Hawks roster spot coming out of training camp next year, if not sooner.
“A lot of guys are sticking around, and it’s kind of exciting to see how many faces are out there right now (that) you could be potentially playing with (in Rockford),” Del Mastro said.
“Yeah, it’s definitely exciting,” Sorensen said. “You look at the player pool, the potential of guys who could end up with us, some maybe (who were) with us last year but also the infusion of new talent. The up-and-coming players look exciting for sure.
“There is depth now and we’ve kind of built up a player pool that’s deeper than I remember.”
Here are three things we learned on the first day of camp.
1. Artyom Levshunov injured his foot, ending his camp.
Photos: Inside look at Chicago Blackhawks practice ahead of the prospects showcase
Before practice officially started, the defenseman and No. 2 pick in this year’s NHL draft took a shot off his right foot. As a precaution, the Hawks ruled out Levshunov’s participation in the rest of prospect week.
“I’m not sure of the exact timeline, but it doesn’t seem to be too bad,” Sorensen said. “I spoke to him quickly today. He was kind of bummed. He wanted to play, he wanted to get going. The encouraging thing was he said he didn’t feel much pain.”
"He was kind of bummed. He wanted to play and he wants to get going. The encouraging thing was he said there wasn't much pain."
–IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen on Artyom Levshunov missing the upcoming prospect showcase because of a foot injury pic.twitter.com/Yu7s3GMBcU
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 11, 2024
Nazar said he felt for Levshunov.
“Being out with an injury, it sucks to go through, (especially) this early,” he said. “But knowing him as a person, I’ve seen him work, and just in this little time I’ve seen how determined he is. I know he’s going to come out and work hard and work on things that maybe he couldn’t do if he was skating every day.”
Nazar (Michigan) and Levshunov (Michigan State) were on opposite sides of a bitter college rivalry last season — but one Nazar very much savored.
“I loved it,” he said. “Playing Michigan State as a Wolverine is the best game of the year every time you play them.
“He’s really tough and hard as a defender, and he’d always somehow sneak away with a point or two. It was fun to go against him and challenge him in that way.”
2. Frank Nazar made a new friend this summer: Patrick Kane.
In mid-August, Nazar got in some ice time with Kane and J.T. Compher, a Northbrook native and Kane’s Detroit Red Wings teammate, during a skate at Fifth Third Arena.
It was Nazar’s first time meeting the Hawks legend and “it was unbelievable,” the 2022 first-round pick said.
“Being able to learn from him and see him go out on the ice and do all of his tricks,” Nazar said. “He actually hit me with one of his signature spin-o-ramas one time. He didn’t score, so that was good. I was shocked.”
"It was unbelievable. He's an unbelievable player. … He actually hit me with one of his signature spin-o-ramas. He didn't score."
–Frank Nazar on meeting Patrick Kane pic.twitter.com/Dye4fkVFlf
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 11, 2024
Nazar, 20, said the 35-year-old Kane gave him some advice.
“We just talked about stuff on the ice, off the ice — pretty simple stuff,” he said. “I didn’t want to ask him a bunch of questions. I was there to skate and he was there to get better, and I wasn’t going to go out of my way and put him in an uncomfortable spot to talk about it.”
Nazar said he hopes to use this week’s two prospect games to get used to the pace of play.
“I played college and everything, but just be able to go out there and get my legs back and get the feeling of playing hockey and all the small details,” he said.
Sorensen said Nazar has “high-end stuff.”
“Today, for example, in practice, especially toward the end, I thought he looked really good with some of his habits and some of the things that’ll be really important for him to show in (training) camp to (Hawks coach) Luke (Richardson) and his staff to make this team,” Sorensen said.
But if Nazar does land in Rockford when camp breaks, “he’s a No. 1 center type of guy,” Sorensen said. “If he’s with us, then, yeah, he’ll get a lot of minutes for sure.”
3. AJ Spellacy almost took out his coach.
Sorensen said Spellacy made a good impression on him. He almost made a literal one.
“Man, oh, man, can he skate. He almost took me out in the one drill,” Sorensen said about the former high school football player. “I saw him coming and I’m like, if he hits me, it’s over. But he didn’t, so he saw me, so that’s a good sign, right? But he looks like he can fly out there.”
Incidentally, Spellacy said earlier that he worked on his awareness this summer. It’s a good thing for Sorensen.
The 2024 third-round pick hopes to play a more prominent role in his third season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, this time under new coach Greg Walters.
“I think I’m definitely (going to) be leaned on as a leader on the team,” Spellacy said, “so I want to earn a contract here (with the Hawks) and have a good season in Windsor and then see where that takes me next year.”
