A couple of Chicago Blackhawks prospects didn’t even have time to put on slides.
“Excuse my no shoes,” a barefoot Drew Commesso said. “We had to pack ’em up, they’re getting out of here quick.”
The Hawks had to beat feet Thursday to get out of Fifth Third Arena and make an afternoon flight to St. Louis, illustrating how little time they’ve had — two days — to prepare for the Tom Kurvers Prospects Showcase, which includes a game against the Blues on Friday and one against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
“It’s two games and it’s in and out, but (we’re) trying to fit some guys together, see how the first game goes,” Rockford IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen said when asked about lineups. “It is a benefit that we know them, so we know what their strengths and weaknesses are. … We may mix it up after a period.”
Hawks prospects have at least one advantage: For several of them — Colton Dach, Nolan Allan, Ryder Rolston, Nick Lardis, among others — it’s not their first rodeo.
“This is my fourth rookie camp and each year they’ve had some pretty high picks, like Kevin (Korchinski) was unreal, and then we had Connor (Bedard),” Dach said. “And now we have some younger kids out here that I’ve gotten to know a little bit and it’s amazing to see how skilled they are.”
Meanwhile, Sorensen had no update on defenseman Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NHL draft who was ruled out of camp after taking a shot to his right foot.
Here are three other things we learned Thursday.
1. Colton Dach isn’t stewing over his stunted path to the NHL.
Since the Hawks drafted the center in the second round in 2021, Dach’s development periodically has been waylaid by injuries.
“It’s always frustrating, especially when you miss a long period of time over things you can’t really control,” Dach, 21, said. “But in the end, there’s a path that’s going to be for me and I’ve just got to take that one step at time.
“And with those injuries, it allows me to work on little areas of my game.”
To further muddy the picture, the Hawks signed several veteran forwards — more obstacles for prospects such as Dach — but he compared it to his sibling rivalry with former Hawk Kirby Dach.
“I grew up with Kirby and he was always an older guy, and I always challenged myself to beat him every time we would do something, so I just kind of look at it that way,” he said. “I’m going in here and trying to earn a spot and take a job, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Dach said he knows and embraces his playing style: nothing flashy.
“It’s all power, using my body, my size, my feet trying to protect the puck, hold onto pucks, being physical,” he said. “That’s the area that’s going to earn me a spot in the paint, getting pucks in and out and just playing heavy.”
Still, there’s room for discovery.
Said Sorensen: “His biggest thing is figuring out what he’s going to be in the NHL. In juniors and even sometimes last year (in the AHL), he may have gotten away with some stuff that may not translate to the NHL. I think he’s aware of it. It’s just a matter of doing it consistently on the ice.”
Sorensen said Dach is a future power forward.
“(Be) good on the end wall, win a lot of pucks, get to the net,” Sorensen said. “He plays his best when he plays with emotion but not emotional. … Don’t teeter over to where you get emotional and that leaks into his game.”
2. Cutting no slack to Landon Slaggert.
Slaggert, who also was barefoot during his media session, spent part of the summer training with his former Notre Dame teammates in South Bend, Ind.
“I think they’re getting annoyed with me,” he said. “I’m always over at the hockey house. It feels like I’m the annoying uncle that’s not leaving anytime soon. It’s been a lot of fun hanging out with those guys.”
In Chicago, Slaggert has been reunited with extended family of sorts. Sorensen coached him as a kid at Chicago Mission.
“I feel like he helped my game a ton when I was at the Mission,” Slaggert, 22, said. “We were together in my U14 and U16 years, and I think both of those years ended in national championships, so I hope that we can continue that success.
“But he’s great at developing guys and just a guy to lean on.”
Sorensen said the forward had a good prospect camp.
Slaggert had 16 games with the Hawks in the final stretch of the 2023-24 NHL season, experience that will help him this fall, whether it’s in the AHL (his first) or the NHL.
“It just kind of creates a roadmap for you,” he said. “(Working on) the low play, just different things that I found some areas in my game that I could improve on and really make me a guy that can stick in the NHL.
“It takes those nerves off and it really allows me to play my game.”
3. Shipping up to Boston paid off for Drew Commesso.
The IceHogs goalie, who spent three seasons at Boston University, returned to his old haunts to train with a mentor: the Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman.
Commesso studied Swayman’s technique, but “the biggest thing skating with him is his compete level and how he tracks pucks and just how focused he is, even in a summer skate,” he said.
“We had multiple skates at Boston College at 6:45 a.m. — that’s a time where guys are a little groggy — and just seeing him at the other end, competing as hard as he could, pushed me.”
Sorensen liked the progress he saw from Commesso over the summer.
“Looks like he filled out a bit, but I think with goalies it’s just staying patient,” Sorensen said.
Samuel Savoie (67) and Paul Ludwinski (90) shoot against goalie Drew Commesso during Blackhawks prospects camp. pic.twitter.com/bvV2qwPsXr
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) September 12, 2024
Goalies typically have a long runway to get to the NHL.
“We’ve seen in the past in Chicago,” Sorensen said. “Corey Crawford was in the minors four, five years before he got his opportunity. (We) just try to remind him, it’s a longer process for goalies at times.
“At the same time, things happen quickly. All of a sudden, a couple of injuries and you’re up here. So you have to be ready.”
Commesso, 22, said it’s best not to look too far ahead.
“For me, it’s just getting better every single day, playing the best I can on the ice and when the time’s ready, it’ll come,” he said.
