The Chicago Blackhawks kick off their six-game preseason schedule Tuesday night with a road matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. With the opener approaching, head coach Jeff Blashill used Monday’s training camp session to stage the first intrasquad scrimmage while putting extra emphasis on special teams work.
Blashill explained afterward that he had held off on scrimmaging earlier in camp because he wanted his players to have a foundation in his new systems first. Following several demanding practices last week and through the weekend, he felt the team was finally ready for live game-like action.
“By now, most of our core systems are in place,” Blashill said. “The benefit of scrimmaging is that players get a true feel for playing five-on-five again… and hopefully that helps us as we head into the exhibition schedule.”
Here’s a closer look at the biggest takeaways from the Blackhawks’ final tune-up before preseason play begins tomorrow.
POWER PLAY PRACTICE
On Monday, the Blackhawks remained divided into two groups, each spending time on special teams work before the scrimmage began. The session opened with power-play drills, offering an early glimpse at some potential five-man units.
For Team Red, the top power-play group featured Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen, Frank Nazar, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Sam Rinzel. Blashill noted that he designed the split so these specific players could build chemistry, suggesting this could be the current blueprint for PP1.
Team Red’s second unit included Ryan Greene, Lukas Reichel, Oliver Moore, Nick Foligno, and Matt Grzelcyk. On the other side, Team White’s top unit was Colton Dach, Andre Burakovsky, Ilya Mikheyev, Ryan Donato, and Artyom Levshunov. The eventual PP2 at the NHL level will likely be a mix from both squads, with roster spots still up for grabs for players like Greene, Moore, Levshunov, Grzelcyk, and Dach.
As part of the scrimmage, both groups were granted 1:15 of set power-play time to open the second period. Neither side managed to score, which wasn’t unexpected given the limited time together. The real test for the special teams will come Tuesday night in Detroit.
PENALTY KILL PROWESS
Before the scrimmage, both groups also worked through penalty-kill drills. For Team Red, Frank Nazar, Teuvo Teravainen, Sam Rinzel, and Ethan Del Mastro formed the top PK unit, while Team White countered with Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Dickinson, Alex Vlasic, and Connor Murphy.
It’s clear that Blashill sees promise in the Nazar–Teravainen duo. Not only have they been skating together on the second line during camp, but they’ve also been paired on both top special-teams units. Nazar logged significant penalty-kill minutes in the NHL last season and was effective at generating shorthanded chances. The question now is whether he can start capitalizing on those opportunities more consistently.
Mikheyev and Dickinson were mainstays on the penalty kill last year, so their pairing comes as no surprise. Meanwhile, Sam Lafferty and Nick Foligno rounded out Team Red’s second PK unit on Monday, and both bring proven shorthanded experience, giving Blashill more reliable options.
On the back end, Vlasic and Murphy figure to be the defensive anchors of the PK once the season begins. Del Mastro, if he cracks the NHL roster, is another strong candidate for minutes. Interestingly, Rinzel, known more for his offensive skill set, seems to be ahead of Artyom Levshunov for the final PK spot.
Blashill confirmed that the Blackhawks are using the same PK system he ran last season in Tampa Bay. It took the Lightning about a month to fully grasp, but once they did, they finished with the league’s best penalty kill after November 1 and ranked sixth overall.
That system emphasizes aggression on the puck — a natural fit for Chicago’s roster. Speedy forwards like Nazar, Mikheyev, Lafferty, Oliver Moore, and Ryan Greene can pressure opponents quickly, limiting space while also threatening with shorthanded chances. Tampa Bay scored 11 shorthanded goals under Blashill, the third-most in the NHL last season.
“We definitely want to score shorthanded goals. That’s a huge part of the penalty kill,” Blashill said. “I don’t know why NHL.com separates PK percentage from shorthanded goals. I think they should be combined.”
LINEUP NOTES
After keeping the forward lines and defensive pairings fairly steady through the early days of camp, Blashill shuffled things up for Monday’s scrimmage. The lone combination that stayed intact was the Bertuzzi–Nazar–Teravainen trio. Following practice, Blashill explained that his priority was structuring the power-play and penalty-kill groups rather than locking in forward lines, so Monday’s combinations shouldn’t be viewed as long-term indicators.
TEAM RED
Moore-Bedard-Reichel
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen
Foligno-Greene-Lafferty
Misiak-Ludwinski-Behm/Pridham
Del Mastro-Rinzel
Grzelcyk-Crevier
Kuzmin-Harding
Fitzgerald-Mast
TEAM WHITE
Dach-Donato-Lardis
Mikheyev-Dickinson-Anderson
Thompson-Toninato-Savoie
Vanacker-Cates-Hayes/Holmes
Vlasic-Murphy
Kaiser-Levshunov
Korchinski-Allan
Cumby-Perrott
One of the most entertaining combinations during the scrimmage was the Moore–Bedard–Reichel line, with all three bringing plenty of speed. Bedard, in particular, has looked noticeably quicker in camp compared to his first two NHL seasons, crediting offseason training that placed a heavy emphasis on improving his pace.
Elsewhere, Colton Dach and Nick Lardis had the chance to skate alongside Ryan Donato. It was a valuable opportunity for two young forwards looking to prove themselves. Dach appears to have the stronger case for a roster spot thanks to his size and physicality, traits that could earn him a meaningful role if he sticks with the NHL club. Lardis, meanwhile, has impressed in his first professional camp and continues to show promise.
