The Blackhawks have high expectations for Lukas Reichel at training camp

The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of young players to keep an eye on throughout training camp. One player flying under the radar has to be Lukas Reichel.

This is a big training camp for Reichel. Reichel’s career development has not been the typical path to the NHL. The 22-year-old has played in 99 NHL games, including 65 this past season where he put up 16 points.

Last season was not perfect for Reichel. After starting the year looking like a major part of the roster, he struggled to find his game through the first 50 games. A late February early March trip to to Rockford, seemed to help Reichel’s game as once he came back to Chicago he looked more confident in the final 15 games of the season.

The Chicago Blackhawks have high expectations for Lukas Reichel.

While last season Reichel was basically handed a spot on the NHL roster, general manager Kyle Davidson said this year roster spots are going to have to be earned.

“My expectation is that he competes hard for a top six spot… he’s gonna have to earn that,” said Davidson on Friday. “He’s gonna have to come in and take that role. It’s on it’s on him in a way. We don’t want him playing on the fourth line or anything like that. He’s been around enough to know what the expectation is and and what the NHL requires from a consistency standpoint.”

Last year the Blackhawks roster lacked depth, and Davidson addressed that this offseason. If players are not playing up to the standards of the NHL night in and night out, they will lose their job this season.

Reichel is still young. He was drafted 17th overall in 2020. While he may still be a promising young player, the organization needs him to take a step forward this year.

Richardson on Reichel

“He is still young and so he’s got to figure that out and find his way and last year was obviously a bit of a a speed bump for him,” said Davidson. “We know what he’s capable of and very confident he can come and be a an impact player for us. Hopefully over the next few weeks and months, he can he can prove that and and take a spot.”

While speaking with the media on Friday. Head coach Luke Richardson said the team will continue to experiment with the second line center spot. Reichel has been playing wing on a line centered by Philipp Kurashev and with Teuvo Teravainen. Reichel is someone managment might have expected to take hold of the second line center spot by now. Still, Richardson has liked what he has seen from Reichel early at training camp.

“I think he’s definitely got more confident in his personality off the ice and it’s showing on the ice,” said Richardson. “I thought today he was excellent, I thought that line played well. They scored a nice goal yesterday, but today I thought they had the puck quite a bit and used their speed.”

Richardson spoke of the importance of holding puck possession for Reichel.

“I think he feels like he has to make something happen where I think, he’s gotta be a little bit smarter with the puck, it doesn’t have to be a home run every play,” Richardson said. “We need him to be an offensive guy and that doesn’t mean you score every shift. It just means we manage the puck better every shift and then we’re gonna have more opportunities to strike when it’s open.”

The Blackhawks have just a few days before their first preseason game on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings. It’s crazy to think hockey games begin tonight. The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to Buffalo. The Blues are in Dallas and the Wild face off in Winnipeg against the Jets. Hockey is almost here everybody!

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