Royal Reads

While a lot of fans expected more excitement during the off season with signings, expected trades or different draft picks, this has not been the case. This leads us to the realization that the Blackhawks who skated off the ice in Ottawa in April will almost be the same guys returning this October. But where does that leave the younger guys? Is there room for them? While there aren’t many spots in Chicago come October, there are three players who are coming up on the final year of their contract: Drew Commesso, Lukas Reichel, and Nolan Allan. 

Drew Commesso is embarking on his third year of professional hockey as the expected goaltender for the Rockford Icehogs. This past year was an improvement with 39 games played and a .911 save percentage. His best performance of the season was towards the end of the regular season and going into the playoffs. There were many games during the Play-In Round against Chicago and the First Round against Milwaukee that Commesso was one of the main reasons they were still competitive. Additionally, after the Icehogs were eliminated from playoff contention, Commesso admitted that he was not at one hundred percent during the end of the playoffs, but still put up an incredible performance. So where does that leave Commesso for this year? Ideally he begins where he left off or comes in and is better than when he got off the ice in April. Commesso’s biggest need going into the season is to continue the consistency that he had during the second half of last season. While there isn’t a spot up in Chicago when it comes to goaltending in October, if he’s able to create the same consistency he had and improve even more then there’s no question that when there will be an opening spot be it from trade or injury that he is the obvious choice. 

Prior to this past season, Lukas Reichel fluctuated between the Blackhawks and Icehogs. This past year was the first year he was consistently up in Chicago from October to April. During this season, Reichel has been plugged everywhere from the second to the fourth line. There were weeks at a time where he shined more than others. His speed and ability to be an offensive threat was shown in periods throughout the year. For example, Reichel’s game was more consistent being paired with veterans Craig Smith and Pat Maroon. But there were other periods of time where Reichel struggled in different slots on the roster. Some will say the cause of that being the lack of depth in his defensive game and physicality. On the other hand, some may attribute his struggles to the lack of structure behind the bench this past season. This is the final year of his current contract with Chicago. It’s no guarantee that he’s still on the team come April, but if he is, then he will be eligible for arbitration as a Restricted Free Agent. If his game improves combined with additional structure from behind the bench then Reichel could be a contender for a permanent position on this team, or a permanent position on another team with a greater opportunity for him to succeed. 

This was the first year that Nolan Allan spent half in Chicago and half in Rockford. Allan’s strengths as a defenseman are his defensive abilities and his gritty and aggressive game. He has been able to use that both in Rockford and Chicago, playing more of a shutdown role but also being paired with more of an offensively set defenseman to balance out the pairing. One of the biggest things that have not worked in his favor is that the “Davidson rebuild” is developing faster on the defensive end in terms of players being brought up to Chicago. While a lot of these young players are more offensively skilled defenseman like Korchinski or Levshunov, there are some veterans on the back end that provide a veteran element to the defensive aspect of the roster. Both in tandem make open spots very limited for Allan to have a consistent roster spot in Chicago. So where does that leave Allan? Similar to Reichel, Allan is in his last year of his contract and will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the year. Every games matters whether he’s in Chicago or Rockford to show Davidson and the rest of the Chicago management what he brings to the table and what makes him stand out compared to the other defensive prospects. But to show other teams as well, because there’s no guarantee Allan is still with Chicago after the Trade Deadline. Eyes are on him in Chicago but also throughout the NHL as well. 

As we approach another year into the Kyle Davidson’s rebuild there are a lot of different prospects in different stages of their developmental growth. Some have just been drafted and are still working on growing with their junior or home league. Some have made the jump to the NHL and are working on their developmental game at this level. While some are in the trickier position of proving their right for a spot to Chicago management and other eyes on them this season. With that being said, wherever the prospects are in their development this year in particular is this year should be more enlightening to fans on the state of the rebuild. 

As we approach the final weeks of the 2024-25 Chicago Blackhawk season there is one major point of discussion that has been on the minds of many Chicago Blackhawks fans, and that is who will be the Head Coach come October? It’s no secret that this team has had its ups and downs with coaching changes at the NHL and AHL this year. They started off with Luke Richardson at the helm in Chicago, but in December of 2024 he was let go. This caused a domino effect of promotions with Anders Sorensen, who was the head coach for the Rockford Icehogs previously, into that NHL Head Coaching role. As well as Mark Eaton moving from Player Development to the Head Coach position for the Rockford Icehogs. 

However, it is evident that the next step in this rebuild is to have a clean sweep with not only the coaching in Chicago but Rockford as well. It would be in Davidson’s best interest to move this off his back burner and to the front come the offseason. Once the Head Coach position has been filled the rest should fall into place in terms of what the rest of his team will look like as well as what Rockford will look like. The type of hires for the rest of the positions will be very dependent on the Head Coach and what their system will look like. Chicago is looking for a coach who has more experience than the previous coaches since Quenneville’s departure. With all of these young kids coming from college, juniors, or even overseas it is vital for them to come here with an established structure not only just in the locker room in Chicago but also one that can be easily translated down to Rockford. A structure that can not only weed out the bad habits but also elevate their game to the next level. Many have speculated different names ever since it was clear that Chicago needs a coaching shakeup: like David Carle, Mike Sullivan and Todd Nelson. But exactly who are these guys and what makes people think that they are the next piece in the Kyle Davidson rebuilding era?

One of the most popular if not the most popular name that has come up when discussing Chicago’s coaching change is Mike Sullivan. Currently, Sullivan is the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins where he has been since the winter of 2015. It hasn’t been announced if he will hit the market during the offseason or if he will continue with Pittsburgh. One has to wonder with the downward trajectory the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently having if a coaching change is inevitable. If Pittsburgh does decide to part ways with Sullivan at the end of the season and go in a different direction, could he be the right fit for Chicago? One of the biggest issues of former Chicago Blackhawks coaches in this rebuild has been the lack of experience, which Sullivan does not lack. Prior to his position with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sullivan has extensive coaching experience at the AHL and NHL level going back to 2002. However when he joined Pittsburgh, they were off to a rough beginning of the season with being 15-10-3 but ended up being incredibly successful the rest of the season and went on to win the Stanley Cup. There weren’t many trade acquisitions after Sullivan was brought on as Head Coach either that year. Usually Head Coaches are responsible for taking command of the locker room and having the ability to push success out of their players. But what does a Head Coach really have to do when your Captain is one of the most respected players in the league and arguably of all time? But Sullivan has also been successful enough to not only his first year but coached them to win back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 and to consistently be in the playoffs until the 2022-23 season. 

All of Sullivan’s experience gives the expectation that he could be one of the leaders for the new Head Coach in Chicago. But that can also be seen as a downside to coming to Chicago. If he hits the free market will he choose to take a chance on a team that is still in the dark ages of this rebuild or will he choose another opportunity that is less risky or perhaps he wants to stay in the Metropolitan Division. Again when it comes to experience, Davidson was given carte blanche when it came to the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2022. Since then, there hasn’t been a person that has really questioned Davidson’s authority or tried to shake things up in a different direction. Some can say that hiring coaches with moderate to no experience is a way for Davidson to make sure that that never happens. So that bodes the even larger question. Will Kyle Davidson hire a Head Coach that has been in the NHL longer than he’s been able to drive? Or will he want someone with less experience so he’s able to still be the smartest person in the room? 

One of the most talked about men in the NHL since USA won in World Juniors this past January has been their Head Coach David Carle. Currently, he’s coaching at University of Denver where he's been leading the helm of their team since 2018, bringing the team two NCAA National Championships in 2022 and 2024. He’s also coached Team USA and won Gold at the IIHF World Junior Championships in back to back years in 2024 and 2025, both of these teams included many future stars for the Chicago Blackhawks. Many Blackhawks fans and Blackhawks reporters seem excited at the potential of a young up and coming Head Coach to go with the young up and coming kids that are in Chicago currently or are expected to be there within the next few years. While that does sound like a lovely narrative. The lack of experience coaching at the professional level is one of the biggest concerns about hiring Carle. 

There are a variety of differences between coaching at the collegiate level versus coaching at the professional level: length of season, amount of games, travel and level of talent on your team and everyone else’s. The environments of University of Denver and the current Chicago Blackhawks are polarising. One is a consistently competitive team of young stars in the NCAA and the other is a NHL team with a lack of identity and numerous young talented kids with no real structure when it comes to elevating their game. Will Carle’s winning ability at the collegiate level be able to translate to the professional level and take this team from simple scaffolding to serious structure? One thing that bodes well for Carle when it comes to his lack of experience at the professional level is the ability for him to be compliant to Davidson’s actions as General Manager. Davidson has the ability to mold Carle into the coach that he wants for this team and dictate the leadership around Carle as well. Carle has the potential of making an ideal “Yes Man” for Davidson. Is this opportunity appealing enough to Carle to leave home and the team that he built in Denver? 

Another option in the search for the next Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach, and one that is not really talked about, is Todd Nelson. Nelson has been on various coaching staffs at the AHL and NHL level since 2003. Currently he is the head coach of the Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears, minor league affiliates for the Washington Capitals. While Nelson has coached in the NHL, it was only for the 2014-15 season for the Edmonton Oilers. However the Edmonton Oilers that year and the roster they have today are vastly different. Leon Draisatl was only in his first year and the only other key piece that has stayed the same is Nugent-Hopkins. It was only on an interim basis and was relieved of his duties in May of 2015. Some may say that it wasn’t the best opportunity to show what he could do in terms of coaching. He didn’t necessarily do anything to give serious cause for his termination at the end of the year, but it decided that Nelson wasn’t necessarily the best fit for the future they had in mind for the Edmonton Oilers. Since then he has bounced between NHL Assistant Coach positions and AHL Head Coach positions. 

When Nelson arrived in Hershey they were bouncing between not making the Calder Cup Playoffs and a first round exit. Since coming to Hershey in 2022 he’s morphed the team to not only greatness but Kilpatrick Cup and repeat Calder Cup Champions. With his gained confidence from winning in Hershey, many anticipate him to make the jump back into the NHL in one of the next potential Head Coach openings, since Spencer Carbery is not going anywhere anytime soon. But then the question comes up once again, does Chicago want another Head Coach with limited experience coaching in the NHL? What makes Todd Nelson different from Derek King, Luke Richardson, or Anders Sorensen? While Nelson has not been a long term Head Coach at the NHL level he does come in with significantly more coaching history than his predecessors. Similar to Sullivan who came into a team with structure already in place, how will his current style of coaching translate to a team with a lot of young prospects and veterans that do not have a long term future on this roster? He was able to transform Hershey but can that be replicated on a much larger scale in Chicago. The other piece is will Nelson be able to create structure within this roster while also falling in line with Davidson’s agenda. Some would say that with a coach with this much experience it’s less than ideal to have your position potentially dictated a certain way. While others would say his lack of NHL Head Coaching experience allows Davidson to dictate how he wants this team to look and what type of team they will be in the future. Could the balance between experience and opportunity land Nelson in Chicago?

If anything has been abundantly clear this season is that it is time for a new coaching system to be implemented in Chicago and down in Rockford for consistency. The constant change is not only baffling for fans but can do significant damage to the current locker room in Chicago as well as harm the development of the prospects that are en route in this rebuild. There’s plenty of coaches that are either on their way out of their current position, like Mike Sullivan. Or you have established head coaches that are in the NHL Head Coach free agency: John Tortorella, Jay Woodcroft, and Gerard Gallant. While there’s also the option to run with the momentum of an up and coming Head Coach in David Carle from the University of Denver. But there’s also diamonds in the rough in coaches that have fluctuated between AHL and NHL in different coaching positions that have yet to have a solid opportunity to be a Head Coach at the NHL level like Todd Nelson. Whichever way Davidson and his team go in terms of selecting the next Head Coach the thing has been abundantly clear is that this needs to not just be a good match, but a great one. Chicago does not have the ability to have another miss in the coaching department and go through this process again. It’s time for this see through scaffolding to become some serious structure. 

Another weekend, another opportunity to go watch a Blackhawk prospect. This time I headed up to Kalamazoo, Michigan to watch Sacha Boisvert for the University of North Dakota face off against Western Michigan University. It was exciting to see him for the full sixty minutes and not just the goal clips that circulate social media every weekend. With this being only his freshman year at University of North Dakota, I tried to go in with no expectations and just see how Boisvert is handling the jump from the USHL to the NCAA. 

When Boisvert was drafted this past June, one of the biggest things the media spoke about was the physicality in his game. Not only did he grow up inside of a boxing ring but he was a very physical player in the USHL as well. Throughout the game last Saturday that was one of the biggest things I was impressed with in his game, the confidence in being physical. Up and down the ice Boisvert was either hitting people or putting himself in tough situations where he was left vulnerable to be hit. Typically when players jump up to the next league in their development there may be a period where they lack confidence even in areas that are considered their strengths. All of a sudden everyone is faster or bigger or more of a pest. And I was expecting Boisvert to fall into that category but he seems to be acclimating very quickly to the NCAA. 

Another take away from his game was his constant offensive pressure on the ice. RIght now he’s playing second line center and seems to have a fair amount of chemistry with his linemates. Either he’s taking it up the ice to create something for himself or positioning himself in the right area for his linemates to pass it to him to put the puck in the net. Currently he is on North Dakota’s second powerplay and was consistently on the ice the shift after a penalty kill for North Dakota. Whether it’s full strength or on the powerplay Boisvert seems to be constantly hungry for the puck to put it on net. 

When it comes to Boisvert and his role for the foreseeable future, it seems more straightforward compared to other Blackhawks prospects that are being drafted during this Kyle Davidson rebuild. As I mentioned earlier, Boisvert is in his freshman year and is currently playing second line center behind Cameron Berg, a prospect of the New York Islanders. Berg is currently in his senior year at University of North Dakota so regardless if New York decides to sign him or not, he will not be there next year. This gives Boisvert the opportunity to not only play on the top line for his Sophomore year but also an opportunity to play more minutes and in different scenarios. Boisvert’s already having an extremely impressive Freshman year on off the stat sheet and his ceiling continues to get higher and higher the more he grows this year and next year. 

The last time I saw Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel play in person was back in November 2023 against the University of Michigan. Both of them were in their first couple of weeks of their Freshman season. Since then they’ve played countless NCAA games as well as played through two World Juniors Championships. 

Oliver Moore was drafted nineteenth overall in 2023 and was praised by many for his speed, high motor and goal scoring ability. He’s been consistently one of the fastest if not the fastest man on the ice for University of Minnesota. However, now he’s not just a guy that can score and has great speed. His game has elevated and pivoted to be more aggressive overall. I don’t mean aggressive like Colton Dach or A.J. Spellacy, but aggressive when it comes to Moore's playmaking. His reach to not only just cherry pick his opponents but then convert it to an opportunity of his linemates was very exciting to watch. Last year the speed was there but there seemed to be a lack of structure in his game. There was hesitation to get into the corner and get physical with the opponents to get the puck. That’s not the case for him so far this season. 

Many have commented that Moore has been going through a Sophomore Slump because his point production is not what it was compared to this time last year. While yes, the stats have changed for him I don’t see this has a huge cause for concern. Moore’s confidence level as a playmaker opens up the possibility that he’s not regressing as a player but just fitting into a different type of role that benefits him in the long run. Moore seems to be evolving from the guy that will score to a guy with great vision that can set up a play for a potential elite goal scorer on wing. One thing that comes with this new role for Moore is the need to be more confident when having puck possession. It’s not just about getting the puck from the other team, but having the ability to hold on to it as you move from your end to the neutral zone or the other end of the ice. The necessary urgency and vision are there, but the moment of maintaining puck possession before setting it up for their linemate is where it seems their confidence falters. There were a couple of potential rushes where Moore had the puck but was unable to convert it to a play by either being surrounded by too many opponents or dumping it into the offensive end instead of attempting to enter the offensive side of the ice. However that confidence comes with time and experience that he’ll receive finishing this year at University of Minnesota and assumingly next year in Rockford. 

In terms of next year for Moore I’d be surprised if he’s not on the Icehogs opening roster come October. But when it comes to where he ends up in the lineup is contingent on factors beyond his performance. The first being if Ryan Greene does make the journey to Rockford next year as well or does he stay another year at Boston University. Out of the list of prospects potentially coming to Rockford for the 2025-26 season Moore and Greene are your two with the greatest chance of consistently being centerman in the long run. The other factor is whether or not Brett Seney or Cole Guttman are given an additional contract. Both of them are set to his Free Agency July 1, but I imagine one of them is signed again by Rockford prior to that date. Ideally I’d like to see Moore start the season at the number one or two center with either Seney or a player with a bit more veteran reliability under their belt and a goalscorer such as Aidan Thompson or Nick Lardis. 

Typically defensemen take a bit longer to develop compared to forwards but are on a faster development track than goaltenders. With the exception of top draft picks most defenseman take more than four years to significantly develop. So initially after Sam Rinzel was drafted in 2022 most were figuring that we wouldn’t see major progress until maybe the end of his junior year and would still need more work once they made the jump to Rockford. Even when I saw him in the beginning of his Freshman year, I was impressed with his game at the time but assumed that it would be a few more years until we saw him at the AHL level. However, he is having a breakout year becoming a serious offensive threat for the University of Minnesota but also his consistency in peak performance this season has caught the eyes of many Blackhawks fans and more. 

His size was already a huge asset for him going into college, standing proudly at six foot three. Rinzel’s current style resembles how Alex Vlasic is developing at the NHL level. Where he’s able to use his size to be an effective defenseman, not necessarily in an aggressive physical manner but more his reach and ability to cover so much ice so quickly. This is really highlighted during Minnesota’s power play, which he’s currently running one of the power play units this season. He’s able to take the puck out his own end and up the neutral zone with such ease. Not only that but his general confidence is blooming. He’s more comfortable in not only being on the ice for more minutes than before but also taking charge on the ice as well. 

When it comes to Rinzel’s defensive game there seems to be more of a lack of confidence than a lack of skill. He led his team with five blocked shots during last Saturday night’s game. However there were glimpses throughout the game where he was unsure of where to be or trying to be everywhere at once at the same time. Ohio’s third goal Saturday night was definitely a moment that Rinzel looked unsure of where to be and in the wrong space at the wrong time. However, he was benched for a couple of shifts after that goal and when he got back onto the ice towards the end of the third period it didn’t seem to affect his game. Similar to Artyom Levshunov and other offensively skilled defenseman prospects, gaining confidence in the defensive end is going to come with maturity as well as consistent structure from behind the bench. 

More than likely Rinzel makes the jump to Rockford alongside Moore next year. The options for defensive pairings in Rockford next year are contingent on the off season acquisitions as well as what other prospects are signed to Rockford. Logistically it makes sense to pair him with Kevin Korchinski, being that Rinzel is a right handed defenseman and Korchinski is a left handed defenseman. Not to say that you have to pair opposite stick handling players together, however if you have the opportunity it makes the most sense. This pairing could also be mutually beneficial to Rinzel and Korchinski come next year. With Rinzel’s size it does take some of the physicality aspect off Korchinski. He doesn’t have to get pinched into the corners by guys twice his size. It’ll be Rinzel’s job to battle in the corners for the puck, which will only strengthen his defensive game in the long run. I imagine there will be growing pains during that process, similar to how Levshunov has been going through some growing pains this season making the jump from NCAA to the AHL. But I also figure that he’ll have a considerable amount of breakout moments just like Levshunov is starting to show us. 

A lot of things are uncertain in terms of what this rebuild will look like in two years from now. There’s certainly a lot of exciting potential coming out of the KHL, CHL and the NCAA this year. But we all know it’s a big jump from juniors to the AHL and an even larger jump from the AHL to the NHL. With that being said, the potential is there for these two and the ceiling is very high. By the end of this season I’m confident that they will be more than ready for their next jump in their hockey career.