As of Saturday, the Blackhawks are officially on break, with the team not returning to game action until Saturday, February 22 in Columbus. As we discussed last week, that lengthy break could spark several roster moves for Chicago. The team entered the break rostering six skaters who could be sent to Rockford without having to clear waivers, and the Blackhawks obviously aren’t headed to the playoffs, so their young skaters need more reps rather than needing the two-week break. Between the two Chicago games are five games for the Rockford IceHogs, so it’s a great time for Chicago to give its skaters extra reps without making them forfeit NHL time.
As a result, it was a surprise this week when the Blackhawks sent only one skater to get extra reps with the IceHogs during the NHL break. On Sunday, Chicago sent defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to Rockford.
In his time in Chicago, Del Mastro played in six of a possible eight games. He was originally recalled on January 22 and was solid for the past few weeks, breaking even at a plus-minus of zero and playing a smart defensive game, despite only putting up one point – an assist – on the offensive end. Assuming he’s brought back up at the end of the break, Del Mastro certainly won’t hurt the Blackhawks, and he figures to be a pretty big part of their future, despite being drafted in the fourth round in 2021.
There’s a chance that the reason is so that they can keep the minimum 18 skaters on the NHL roster, but it’s certainly worth noting that the Blackhawks haven’t sent anyone else down. While Chicago can’t be expected to send Connor Bedard or Frank Nazar to the AHL, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to give a player like Nolan Allan, or even Landon Slaggert, one last look to improve their confidence before making them full-time NHLers in the long term. Allan in particular could use a look in Rockford – he’s been a healthy scratch several times over the past few weeks and hasn’t seen much game action (inexplicably, because TJ Brodie is still in the lineup).
The argument against Allan going to the IceHogs is that they already have plenty of left-side defensemen in Kevin Korchinski, Wyatt Kaiser, Dmitry Kuzmin and Del Mastro. Someone would lose ice time if Allan was sent down, or at least have to play on their off side. Then again, Del Mastro and Korchinski were playing together in Rockford earlier this season, with the former playing on the right side. The Blackhawks have Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel waiting in the wings, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to turn another defenseman into a RHD.
The explanation for a player like Slaggert not being sent down could be as simple as the fact that it’s a reward for his strong play. Slaggert has shown that he can be a bona fide NHL player, spending plenty of time on the top line next to Bedard. The break would offer him a chance to head somewhere tropical, a situation he’d certainly prefer over grinding out more AHL games in Rockford.
